Master of Science / Department of Architectural Engineering / Kimberly Waggle Kramer / Braced frames are a common seismic lateral force resisting system used in steel structure. Eccentrically braced frames (EBFs) are a relatively new lateral force resisting system developed to resist seismic events in a predictable manner. Properly designed and detailed EBFs behave in a ductile manner through shear or flexural yielding of a link element. The link is created through brace eccentricity with either the column centerlines or the beam midpoint. The ductile yielding produces wide, balanced hysteresis loops, indicating excellent energy dissipation, which is required for high seismic events. This report explains the underlying research of the behavior of EBFs and details the seismic specification used in design. The design process of an EBF is described in detail with design calculations for a 2- and 5-story structure. The design process is from the AISC 341-10 Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings with the gravity and lateral loads calculated according to ASCE 7-10 Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. Seismic loads are calculated using the Equivalent Lateral Force Procedure. The final member sizes of the 2-story EBF are compared to the results of a study by Eric Grusenmeyer (2012). The results of the parametric study are discussed in detail.

Concrete-filled buckling restrained braces (BRBs) was first developed in 1988 in Tokyo, Japan, to prevent the steel plates in the core portion from buckling, leading the steel core to exhibiting a more stable and fully hysteretic loop than conventional steel braces. However, past studies have shown that buckling restrained braced frames (BRBFs) have a large residual deformation after a median or high seismic event due to steel’s residual strain. In order to address this issue, innovative self-centering SMA braces are proposed and installed in the originally unbraced bays in existing BRBFs to become a hybrid frame system where the existing steel BRBs dissipate energy induced by external forces and the newly added self-centering SMA braces restore the building configuration after the steel BRBs yield. A case study of conventional three-story BRBF retrofitted by the proposed self-centering SMA braces is carried out to develop systematic retrofit strategies, to investigate the structural behavior, and to probabilistically assess their seismic performance in terms of interstory drifts, residual drifts, and brace deformation, as compared to the original steel BRB frames. Finally, the developed brace component fragility curves and system fragility curves will be further used for the assessment of downtime and repair cost.

Modular construction is a relatively new technique where prefabricated units are assembled on-site to produce a complete building. Due to detailing requirements for the assembly of the modules, these systems are prone to undesirable failure mechanisms during large earthquakes. Specifically, for multi-story Modular Steel Buildings (MSBs), inelasticity concentration in vertical connections can be an area of concern. Diaphragm interaction, relative displacements between modules and the forces in the horizontal connections need to be investigated. In this study, two 4-story MSBs with two different structural configurations were chosen to be analyzed. In the first model which was introduced in a study by Annan et al. (2009 a), some of the unrealistic detailing assumptions were challenged. To have a more accurate assessment of the structural capacity, in the second model, a more realistic MSB model was proposed. Using OpenSees, Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA) have been performed and conclusions were made.

Modular construction is a relatively new technique where prefabricated units are assembled on-site to produce a complete building. Due to detailing requirements for the assembly of the modules, these systems are prone to undesirable failure mechanisms during large earthquakes. Specifically, for multi-story Modular Steel Buildings (MSBs), inelasticity concentration in vertical connections can be an area of concern. Diaphragm interaction, relative displacements between modules and the forces in the horizontal connections need to be investigated. In this study, two 4-story MSBs with two different structural configurations were chosen to be analyzed. In the first model which was introduced in a study by Annan et al. (2009 a), some of the unrealistic detailing assumptions were challenged. To have a more accurate assessment of the structural capacity, in the second model, a more realistic MSB model was proposed. Using OpenSees, Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA) have been performed and conclusions were made.

The diploma thesis deals with solution of construction commercial and administrative building in Ostrava. The general aim is realization of building foundition. This work also deals with studies of the building. Building is located in the center of Ostrava on a flat terrain. The components of this thesis are technological specification, project construction site, schedule of work, financial plan and rough construction cost.

The objective of this research is to examine how to design low-noise transport aircraft using Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO). The subject is approached by designing for low-noise both implicitly and explicitly. The explicit design approach involves optimizing an aircraft while explicitly constraining the noise level. An MDO framework capable of optimizing both a cantilever wing and a Strut-Braced-Wing (SBW) aircraft was developed. The framework employs aircraft analysis codes previously developed at the Multidisciplinary Design and Analysis (MAD) Center at Virginia Tech (VT). These codes have been improved here to provide more detailed and realistic analysis. The Aircraft Noise Prediction Program (ANOPP) is used for airframe noise analysis. The objective is to use the MDO framework to design aircraft for low-airframe-noise at the approach conditions and quantify the change in weight and performance with respect to a traditionally designed aircraft. The results show that reducing airframe noise by reducing approach speed alone, will not provide significant noise reduction without a large performance and weight penalty. Therefore, more dramatic changes to the aircraft design are needed to achieve a significant airframe noise reduction. Another study showed that the trailing-edge (TE) flap can be eliminated, as well as all the noise associated with that device, without incurring a significant weight and performance penalty. To achieve approximately 10 EPNdB TE flap noise reduction the flap area was reduced by 82% while the wing reference area was increased by 12.4% and the angle of attack increased from 7.6 degrees to 12.1 degrees to meet the required lift at approach. The wing span increased by approximately 2.2%. Since the flap area is being minimized, the wing weight suffers only about a 2,000 lb penalty. The increase in wing span provides a reduction in induced drag to balance the increased parasite drag due to a lower wing aspect ratio. As a result, the aircraft has been designed to have minimal TE flaps without any significant performance penalty. If noise due to the leading-edge (LE) slats and landing gear are reduced, which is currently being pursued, the elimination of the flap will be very significant as the clean wing noise will be the next 'noise barrier'. Lastly, a comparison showed that SBW aircraft can be designed to be 10% lighter and require 15% less fuel than cantilever wing aircraft. Furthermore, an airframe noise analysis showed that SBW aircraft with short fuselage-mounted landing gear could have similar or potentially a lower airframe noise level than comparable cantilever wing aircraft. The implicit design approach involves selecting a configuration that supports a low-noise operation, and optimizing for performance. A Blended-Wing-Body (BWB) transport aircraft has the potential for significant reduction in environmental emissions and noise compared to a conventional transport aircraft. A BWB with distributed propulsion was selected as the configuration for the implicit low-noise design in this research. An MDO framework previously developed at the MAD Center at Virginia Tech has been refined to give more accurate and realistic aircraft designs. To study the effects of distributed propulsion, two different BWB configurations were optimized. A conventional propulsion BWB with four pylon mounted engines and two versions of a distributed propulsion BWB with eight boundary layer ingestion inlet engines. A 'conservative' distributed propulsion BWB design with a 20% duct weight factor and a 95% duct efficiency, and an 'optimistic' distributed propulsion BWB design with a 10% duct weight factor and a 97% duct efficiency were studied. The results show that 65% of the possible savings due to 'filling in' the wake are required for the 'optimistic' distributed propulsion BWB design to have comparable $TOGW$ as the conventional propulsion BWB, and 100% savings are required for the 'conservative' design. Therefore, considering weight alone, this may not be an attractive concept. Although a significant weight penalty is associated with the distributed propulsion system presented in this study, other characteristics need to be considered when evaluating the overall effects. Potential benefits of distributed propulsion are, for example, reduced propulsion system noise, improved safety due to engine redundancy, a less critical engine-out condition, gust load/flutter alleviation, and increased affordability due to smaller, easily-interchangeable engines. / Ph. D.

No description available.

Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre as estruturas espaciais em forma de cúpulas abordando os seguintes aspectos: histórico, desenvolvimento, descrição dos tipos mais utilizados, comportamento, análise e alguns aspectos de projeto e execução. Enfatizam-se as cúpulas constituídas por elementos tubulares com seção transversal circular e, em particular, as que necessitam da estampagem da extremidade de seus elementos para confecção do sistema de ligação. Descrevem-se vários sistemas de ligação utilizados em vários países e os utilizados no Brasil. A influência da variação de inércia causada pela estampagem das barras foi estudada via método dos elementos finitos com a devida modelagem da região afetada. A região modelada foi inserida em uma treliça espacial plana e seus resultados comparados com resultados experimentais desta estrutura. Apresentam-se também, os procedimentos básicos para elaboração do projeto de uma cúpula considerando as hipóteses utilizadas nos escritório de projeto, ou seja, comportamento elástico linear e nós rotulados. Para a mesma estrutura, um breve estudo sobre ruína progressiva, é apresentado. / This research presents a study about dome space structures about the following aspects: history, development, description of the more utilized types, behavior, analysis and some project and design aspects. It\'s emphasized the tubular element domes with circular section, particularly, those which need stamping at the end to wake the joint system. It\'s described many joint systems which are utilized in several countries and also in Brazil. The variable stiffness influence caused by the stamping on the bar ends was studied using the Finite Element Method by a suitable model of the affected region. The modeled region was inserted into a plane space truss and the analysis results were compared to the experimental values. It\'s also presented the basic procedures to dome project development, considering linear-static behavior. For the same model, a short study about failure downfall is presented.

Este trabalho aborda, de uma forma geral, os sistemas estruturais normalmente adotados no projeto de cúpulas metálicas. Foi dado ênfase a um arranjo derivado do sistema Schwedler, recentemente utilizado em projetos desenvolvidos no interior do estado de São Paulo. O trabalho pode ser divido em duas partes, a primeira delas versando sobre as ligações que compunham o sistema estrutural estudado, e a segunda versando sobre a influência dessas ligações no comportamento da estrutura e sobre a influência da forma de contraventamento. As ligações foram estudadas sob dois aspectos diferentes, que foram: a) revisão e aperfeiçoamento dos critérios de dimensionamento adotados em algumas ligações, e b) proposição de modelos para descrição do comportamento momento-rotação de ligações com dupla tala de alma parafusada e de aparelhos de apoio. A influência do tipo de contraventamento e da rigidez das ligações foi investigada por meio do efeito exercido nos deslocamentos verticais e na distribuição de esforços internos da estrutura. Para tanto, foram utilizados programas computacionais de uso já consagrado, cujos resultados foram comparados entre si. / In a general way, this work deals with structural systems usually adopted in the project of metallic domes. Emphasis was given to a derived arrangement derived of the Schwedler system, recently used in projects developed the state of São Paulo. The work can be divided in two parts, the first one is about the connections that compose the structural system studied, and second one treats the influence of those connections in the structure behavior and the influence in the brace configuration. The connections were studied under two different aspects, that were: a) revision and improvement of the design criteria adopted in some connections, and b) proposition of models for the momentrotation description for double plate connections of web. The influence of the brace type and of the rigidity of the connections were investigated by means of the effect in the vertical displacements and in the distribution of internal efforts of the structure. So, two commercial softwares were used, and the results were compared.

In current design of steel eccentrically braced frames (EBFs), the yielding link is coupled with the floor beam. This often results in oversized link elements, which leads to over-designed structures and foundations. In addition, the beams are expected to sustain significant damage through repeated inelastic deformations under design level earthquakes, and thus the structure may require extensive repair or need to be replaced. These drawbacks can be mitigated by designing EBFs with replaceable shear links. Two different replaceable link types with alternate section profiles, connection configurations, welding details and intermediate stiffener spacing were tested. A total of 13 cyclic quasi-static full-scale cyclic tests were performed, which included tests on eccentrically braced frames with the replaceable shear links, to study their inelastic seismic performance. The links exhibited a very good ductile behaviour, developing stable and repeatable yielding. Additional inelastic rotation capacity can be achieved with bolted replaceable links when allowing bolt bearing deformations to occur. The on-site replaceability of the link sections is confirmed even in the presence of residual deformations of 0.5% drift.