Engineering Structures最新文献

{"title":"Integrated multiscale topology optimization of frame structures for minimizing compliance","authors":"Kui Liu ,&nbsp;Kirk Ming Yeoh ,&nbsp;Yehui Cui ,&nbsp;Ang Zhao ,&nbsp;Yangjun Luo ,&nbsp;Zheng Zhong","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120561","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120561","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Frame structures are widely used in aerospace and other engineering fields due to their efficient provision of structural stiffness with minimal material usage. Recent advances in manufacturing technologies, such as 3D printing, have made it feasible to fabricate multiscale structures with complex microstructures, enabling further weight reduction. To fully exploit the design space of multiscale frame structures while circumventing the prohibitive computational costs in conventional solid-element-based direct numerical simulations, this paper proposes an Integrated Multiscale Topology Optimization (IMTO) method for frame structures. The method aims to minimize structural compliance by simultaneously optimizing both the macroscale (topological connectivity of the frame geometry) and microscale (material distribution within Representative Volume Elements, RVEs) in a unified framework. The macro- and micro-scale design variables are simultaneously‌ embedded in the compliance formulation while the sensitivity analysis is systematically computed via the chain rule to unify the multiscale optimization into a single-scale framework. Compared to concurrent multiscale approaches, this strategy not only achieves computational efficiency with a single optimization loop, but also allows ‌adaptive volume fraction allocation‌ across RVEs. Numerical examples demonstrate the importance of considering shear deformation effects in the topology optimization of frame structures, and also validate the feasibility of the method for performing multiscale topology optimization design of large-scale frame structures in engineering applications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"339 ","pages":"Article 120561"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144088999","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Predicting shear strength of RC slender beams with small web openings by artificial neural networks and regression analysis","authors":"Halmat Ahmed Awla ,&nbsp;Ali Ramadhan Yousif ,&nbsp;Aryan Far H. Sherwani","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120559","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120559","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this study, the shear behavior of RC slender beams with small web openings was investigated. After an intensive review, only three prediction models were found in the literature. In the review study, 77 experimental shear test datasets of un-strengthened specimens were collected from the different articles of literature. Based on the collected dataset, two new prediction models were proposed using ANN and nonlinear regression analysis. The efficiency of the proposed models compared to the available models in the literature was assessed based on the collected experimental dataset using standard statistical metrics. Furthermore, a parametric analysis was conducted for further verification of the proposed and literature models. It was concluded that the results of the proposed models were found to be more consistent with experimental data than those of the models found in the literature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"339 ","pages":"Article 120559"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144089179","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experimental investigation and numerical analysis on fire response of parallel-wire cable exposed to open-air fire","authors":"Hao Wan,&nbsp;Gang Zhang,&nbsp;Feng Xu,&nbsp;Yuhang Ding,&nbsp;Mingxuan Li","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120546","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120546","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents experimental and numerical studies on fire behaviors of a parallel-wire cable subjected to an open-air fire and applied tension. A novel fire resistance test of cable was designed for observing mechanisms of fire propagation and structural deformation; subsequently, a numerical method is established for evaluating corresponding fire behaviors of the cable exposed to the pool fire. The experimental results showed that, a coupling fire of pool fire and cable surface fire could occur; the sheath sequentially provided the insulation effect in the pre-ablation and combustion-supporting effect in the post-ablation; thermal conductivities in the radial and axial directions of the wire bundle differed; and deformation of the cable was characterized by three stages. The numerical results illustrate that, the established method can successfully reproduce the fire behaviors from the fire’s feature to the cable’s performance; a failure signature of the loaded cable exposed to the pool fire can be captured. In addition, the numerical method is utilized for analyzing fire resistance limits of cables with different fire scenarios, surface layer states, section diameters, and degrees of prestressing. The acquired experimental measures and the established numerical method contribute experience and access to fire behavior research of cable, respectively.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"338 ","pages":"Article 120546"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090706","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Economic impact of performance-based fire design of composite steel frame structures","authors":"Chenzhi Ma,&nbsp;Thomas Gernay","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120542","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120542","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Adopting a performance-based design approach can often result in superior technical solutions for structural fire safety, for example increasing structural resilience, but the economic implications remain poorly understood. Prescriptive fire designs are still the default method, despite advances in structural fire engineering showing the potential to deliver higher levels of performance and/or more efficient designs. Here we evaluate the lifetime costs of various fire designs for composite steel-concrete structures considering investments, co-benefits, and averted fire-induced losses. The proposed method integrates construction and maintenance costs, potential direct and indirect damage losses from fire incidents, co-benefits such as compressed construction schedule, and lifetime CO₂ emissions. We study multi-story residential buildings with four variations of structural fire designs for the composite floor systems. The performance-based design, which leverages membrane action in the floor, is generally more cost-effective than the prescriptive design, owing to its lower probability of integrity failure and lower amount of fire protection material. The superiority of the performance-based design becomes more pronounced as material and labor costs increase, and as indirect losses from building closures grow. The fire load influences the relative cost-effectiveness of the designs through the expected fire severity, so optimum designs can be identified as a function of statistical fire load models based on occupancy. These findings can support decision-making and code advancements by providing economic data that complement previous technical studies on the merits of the performance-based design approach for structural fire design.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"338 ","pages":"Article 120542"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090713","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A novel bidirectional friction damper for retrofitting of RC precast structures: Experimental and numerical assessment","authors":"Eleonora Grossi ,&nbsp;Raffaele De Risi ,&nbsp;Matteo Zerbin ,&nbsp;Flavia De Luca ,&nbsp;Alessandra Aprile","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120529","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120529","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Precast RC structures, commonly used since the '60 s for industrial and commercial buildings, often feature poor connections among the main structural elements and between structural and non-structural components due to sub-standard old building codes. Such a high vulnerability, in combination with the considerable exposed value, leads to a disproportionate seismic risk. To address this, a novel Bidirectional Rotation Friction Damper (BRFD) for RC precast structures is introduced. This easy-to-install, low-cost, and reusable damper simultaneously behaves as a beam-to-column joint and a damper with bidirectional dissipative capacity, improving seismic performance and preventing brittle failures. The BRFD's bidirectional capacity requires a unique testing methodology, validated through experimental and numerical analysis. An ad hoc setup with two orthogonal actuators was used to test the damper's behavior, measuring forces, displacements, and temperatures at varying levels. The experimental results are validated with FEM analysis in the Opensees environment by developing a refined numerical model that reproduces the behaviour of all the BRFD elements. Results show the promising bidirectional behaviour of the BRFD, both in terms of hysteresis steadiness and good damping capacity.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"339 ","pages":"Article 120529"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144088998","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An intelligent method for leakage segmentation and area quantification to evaluate the safety performance of tunnels","authors":"Tao Tian ,&nbsp;Dechun Lu ,&nbsp;Fanchao Kong ,&nbsp;Yiding Ma ,&nbsp;Jiulin Li ,&nbsp;Xiuli Du","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120581","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120581","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Water leakage in tunnels affects the structural stability and operational safety of tunnels, and timely inspections and repairs are needed. Traditional manual inspection methods are less automated and less efficient, which cannot meet the rapid inspection of tunnels. In this study, YOLO v8-DBC is proposed for tunnel water leakage segmentation and area quantification. In the backbone, a new Cross Stage Feature-Dynamic Snake Convolution (C2f-DSC) module is designed to improve the ability of the network to extract features of complex structures. C2f-DSC adaptively focuses on meandering and slender local structures, which better captures information about the edges of water leakage. In the neck, Bi-directional Feature Pyramid Network (BiFPN) enhances the fusion of deep and shallow information features. Convolutional Block Attention Module (CBAM) enhances the attention of the model to local and spatial information and reduces the interference of noise and irrelevant features. The results showed that YOLO v8-DBC segmentation is better than YOLO v8, YOLO v6, and YOLO v5, with the <em>mAP</em>50 (S) of 0.881 and the <em>mIoU</em> of 0.823. The area of tunnel leakage is calculated by the binary segmentation technique of the image. The tunnel water leakage hazard level is evaluated based on the area of leakage and technical code for waterproofing of underground works. The proposed method applies to the leakage segmentation and safety performance evaluation of tunnels, offering a reference for construction personnel in decision-making.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"338 ","pages":"Article 120581"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090707","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A lightweight pendulum tuned mass inerter system for enhanced vibration control","authors":"Li Zhang ,&nbsp;Ruifu Zhang ,&nbsp;Yuying Xia ,&nbsp;Zhipeng Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120555","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120555","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Traditional tuned mass dampers (TMDs) have been effectively adopted in engineering structures owing to their reliable vibration control performance. Previous studies demonstrate that the apparent mass amplification effect of inerter devices can significantly reduce the required mass of TMDs while maintaining their vibration control effectiveness. However, this approach lacks an explicit experimental validation. Moreover, existing studies neglect the relationship between the physical implementation mechanisms of inerters and their lightweight control effects. To address these gaps, this study proposes a pendulum tuned mass inerter system (PTMIS), which incorporates an inerter with high apparent mass amplification into a conventional pendulum TMD. This achieves a lighter design without compromising the vibration control efficacy of the tuned-type device. A coupled dynamic model integrating the PTMIS with a single-degree-of-freedom primary system is developed to analyze the influence of the inerter’s apparent mass amplification factor on lightweight vibration control performance. A demand-oriented optimization framework is also introduced. The results indicate that inerter devices with low apparent mass amplification factors in the PTMIS do not sufficiently enable the lightweight control effect. Experimental results demonstrate that under comparable control objectives, PTMIS requires 39 % less tuned mass than a traditional TMD. A case study in a wind turbine application demonstrates that the PTMISs achieve comparable control efficacy to conventional TMDs while reducing the tuned mass by 10–26 % and the mass block displacement amplitude by an average of 17.3 %. This work validates the engineering feasibility of the PTMIS and provides an efficient lightweight vibration control solution for weight-sensitive structures by employing a so-called “replacing mass with inertia” paradigm.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"338 ","pages":"Article 120555"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144084729","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Seismic behavior of bridge columns with FRP-reinforced ECC at plastic hinge zones","authors":"Wanying Yuan ,&nbsp;Zhenlei Jia ,&nbsp;Menghan Hu ,&nbsp;Qiang Han ,&nbsp;Weizhang Liao ,&nbsp;Yulei Bai","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120573","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120573","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The plastic hinge region of bridge columns dissipates seismic energy under earthquakes, effectively constraining the extent of structural damage through localized plastic deformation. To enhance the seismic resilience of this critical region, this study proposes replacing the conventional concrete in the plastic hinge zone with engineered cementitious composite (ECC) and externally wrapping it with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP). This approach is expected to significantly enhance structural damage tolerance, mitigate longitudinal bar buckling and steel reinforcement corrosion. The seismic performance of this new type of bridge column was investigated via quasi-static tests. The parameters were FRP type (large rupture strain FRP and traditional glass FRP) and the number of FRP layers (1, 2, and 3 layers). The combination of ECC and FRP exhibited outstanding seismic performance in terms of ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and damage control capacity. The existing equivalent plastic hinge length expressions of FRP-confined reinforced concrete (RC) members were evaluated and the proposed formula considering the confinement stiffness for FRP-confined ECC bridge columns delivered more accurate predictions. Nonlinear finite element analysis was performed and was shown to reproduce the hysteretic curves of the column models with acceptable accuracy. A parametric study was conducted to further analyze the effects of the wrapping height of FRP, axial compression ratio, and longitudinal reinforcement ratio on the peak lateral force and ductility of FRP-reinforced ECC bridge columns. Finally, design recommendations were provided for the engineering design of FRP-reinforced ECC structures.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"338 ","pages":"Article 120573"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144084741","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Experimental study on the shear behavior of cold-formed steel clamped thin steel plate shear walls and screw connections","authors":"Yao Xinmei ,&nbsp;Zou Yuxuan ,&nbsp;Zhou Ziming ,&nbsp;Hou Shiqi ,&nbsp;Zhou Xuhong ,&nbsp;Shi Yu ,&nbsp;Xiang Yi ,&nbsp;Guan Yu","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120550","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120550","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In this paper, the shear performance of cold-formed steel clamped thin steel plate shear wall (CFS-CTSPSW) was experimentally investigated, utilizing clamped end columns to enhance the confinement of thin steel plates. Firstly, four self-tapping screw connection specimens were subjected to monotonic and cyclic loading. The results indicated that cyclic loading caused progressive damage to the thin steel plates and reduced the load-bearing capacity of the screw connections. Furthermore, quasi-static loading tests were conducted on four full-scale CFS-CTSPSWs. The damage characteristics, hysteresis curves, skeleton curves, energy-dissipation capacity, strength degradation, and stiffness degradation of the CFS-CTSPSWs were evaluated. The results demonstrated that, compared with a pure steel frame, the clamped steel plate improved the integrity of the shear wall and formed tensile bands under load action, thereby increasing the initial stiffness by 4.93 times, ultimate load-bearing capacity by 1.75 times, and energy-dissipation performance by 70 %. The rigid strips resisted horizontal loads along with the thin steel plates, thereby increasing the peak shear capacity by 45 %. However, the rigid strips restricted the horizontal plastic deformation of the steel frame and decreased the ductility by 45 % of the steel walls. Finally, the recommendations and comments on the design methodology of the CFS-CTSPSW s were given.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"338 ","pages":"Article 120550"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144090702","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Two-stage dynamic shear response of square RC columns under lateral impact: Mechanisms, inertial force analysis, and punching shear resistance model","authors":"Fei-Fan Feng ,&nbsp;Lin Chen ,&nbsp;Dai-Jiang Zhou ,&nbsp;Tao Liu ,&nbsp;Dao-Gang Ou ,&nbsp;Yong Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120579","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.engstruct.2025.120579","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reinforced concrete (RC) columns are critical components vulnerable to lateral impact loads (e.g., vehicle collisions, ship strikes), yet existing studies inadequately address the distinct shear resistance mechanisms between punching shear and diagonal shear failures under dynamic conditions, as well as their implications for assessment methodologies. To address these gaps, this study systematically investigates the dynamic shear behavior of square RC columns through high-fidelity finite element (FE) simulations validated against pendulum impact tests, with emphasis on two-stage shear mechanisms, inertial forces, and parametric effects. The simulation results indicate that the impact response of RC columns can be divided into two distinct stages: a local response stage characterized by the synchronous growth of the forces in the upper and lower sections at the impact point and a global response stage governed by flexural-shear interactions. The peak dynamic shear force in the shear plug decreases with increasing impact velocity beyond a critical threshold, which is essentially consistent with the transition between these two mechanisms. Parametric analyses reveal the sensitivity of shear resistance to impact velocity, shear-to-span ratio, boundary conditions, axial compression ratio, and cross-sectional dimensions. Crucially, the inertial force of the shear plug is proven to correlate with both the peak impact force and the shear plug mass, enabling the development of a semi-empirical inertial force formula. Furthermore, an analytical model for predicting the punching shear resistance in the local stage is proposed, explicitly incorporating inertial forces and validated against 80 experimental and numerical cases. This work advances the understanding of dynamic shear resistance mechanisms and provides a validated analytical framework for predicting punching shear failures in laterally impacted RC columns, offering both mechanistic insights and practical design implications.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11763,"journal":{"name":"Engineering Structures","volume":"338 ","pages":"Article 120579"},"PeriodicalIF":5.6,"publicationDate":"2025-05-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144084743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}