4 research outputs found

    Factors affecting the response of steel columns to close-in detonations

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    [EN] Explosions produced in urban areas by the detonation of explosives are low-probability but high-impact events. When they occur in the immediate vicinity of buildings, the explosions can pose a high risk to the structural integrity (local/global failures) and to the occupants (risk of injury, death). Therefore, the design and the construction of the buildings should contain preventive measures to increase the robustness of the structures. The paper presents the results of recent research carried out on the safety of building structures under extreme actions. Blast tests performed on two identical 3D specimen extracted from a typical moment resisting steel frame structure, allow to calibrate the numerical models of a full scale building structural frame system and evaluate the consequences of close-in detonations on the structural elements. The data of the experimental testing, combined with the numerical modelling, allow to investigate different factors, such as dynamic factors that affect the local failure mechanism and the residual capacity of steel columns under different blast scenarios.This work was supported by a grant of the Romanian National Authority for Scientific Research and Innovation, CNCS/CCCDI - UEFISCDI, project number PN-III-P2-2.1-PED2016-0962, within PNCDI III: “Experimental validation of the response of a full-scale frame building subjected to blast load” - FRAMEBLAST (2017-2018).Dinu, F.; Marginean, I.; Dubina, D.; Khalil, A.; De Iuliis, E. (2018). Factors affecting the response of steel columns to close-in detonations. En Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Advances in Steel-Concrete Composite Structures. ASCCS 2018. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 873-880. https://doi.org/10.4995/ASCCS2018.2018.7186OCS87388

    A methodology to quantify debris generation after a seismic event

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    Seismic damage simulation at the regional scale can potentially provide valuable information that can facilitate decision making, enhance planning for disaster mitigation, and reduce human and economic losses. When an earthquake happens, building damage assessment is one of the important issues in earthquake loss estimation. The amount of debris generated and the effects on related critical infrastructures is also an essential information to evaluate. Indeed, as cascading consequence of debris accumulation, the road network can be interrupted. This entails an overall increase in the average number of people who have difficulty evacuating, with high risk that residents cannot evacuate any areas. This study proposes a method to evaluate the debris affected area and the debris amount as a function of the geometric characteristics and the level of damage of the buildings. The first part of this work is focused on the evaluation of the debris area’s extension by numerical simulations. Comparison of the results with images of real seismic damaged structures allows the validation of the results. Besides, experimental tests on a small shaking table are performed to validate the numerical simulations. A mathematic model based on the results is also proposed

    Reliability of collapse simulation - comparing finite and applied element method at different levels

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    Numerical prediction of progressive collapse of buildings due to extreme loading is still a challenging task. However, increased computational power makes it nowadays possible to analyze not only small-scale connections and mid-size building elements, but also full buildings with considerable height and complexity. The present paper compares the results of Finite Element Method (FEM) and Applied Element Method (AEM) simulations to experimental results when performing blast or earthquake analysis on those three scales. The aim is to highlight which level of physical detail and complexity is required to predict progressive collapse numerically, and which level of accuracy can be expected. For the full scale level, the progressive collapse of the Pyne Gould Corporation Building in Christchurch, New Zealand, was simulated and compared to the final collapse shape. It is shown that the FEM is able to predict the structural response of small scale models well, but fails to achieve realistic collapsed shapes in case of the large structure, whereas the AEM shows convincing results in all cases
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