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- Civil engineering (2)
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- Bridge inspections (1)
- Buckling (1)
- Building (1)
- Building codes (1)
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- Collapse; Bridge failures; Canada; St. Lawrence River; Failure investigations (1)
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- Construction site accidents Read More: http://ascelibrary.org/doi/abs/10.1061/%28ASCE%290887-3828%282005%2919%3A2%28178%29 (1)
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- Forensic engineering; Structures; Reinforced concrete (RC); Progressive collapse; Concrete strength; Concrete maturity; Construction safety; Finite-element analysis; Punching shear; Education. (1)
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Articles 1 - 24 of 24
Full-Text Articles in Structural Engineering
Development Of Non-Proprietary Ultra-High Performance Concrete Mixtures, Tawsif Mohammad Hasan, Levi Gilbert, Srinivas Allena, Josiah Owusu-Danquah, Anthony Torres
Development Of Non-Proprietary Ultra-High Performance Concrete Mixtures, Tawsif Mohammad Hasan, Levi Gilbert, Srinivas Allena, Josiah Owusu-Danquah, Anthony Torres
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
The development of non-proprietary Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) is one way to reduce the initial cost of construction. However, workability is a major issue for which such mixtures are not practical in field conditions. Ultra-high performance cannot be achieved in field conditions if the concrete is not placed, finished, and compacted properly during placement. In this research, six UHPC mixtures were developed (three with steel fibers and three without fibers) using materials which are readily available on the local marketplace with water-to-cementitious materials ratios ranging between 0.17 to 0.30. The workability was determined using standard ASTM flow table apparatus, and …
Bridge Inspection: Human Performance, Unmanned Aerial Systems And Automation, Sattar Dorafshan, Marc Maguire
Bridge Inspection: Human Performance, Unmanned Aerial Systems And Automation, Sattar Dorafshan, Marc Maguire
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
Unmanned aerial systems (UASs) have become of considerable private and commercial interest for a variety of jobs and entertainment in the past 10 years. This paper is a literature review of the state of practice for the United States bridge inspection programs and outlines how automated and unmanned bridge inspections can be made suitable for present and future needs. At its best, current technology limits UAS use to an assistive tool for the inspector to perform a bridge inspection faster, safer, and without traffic closure. The major challenges for UASs are satisfying restrictive Federal Aviation Administration regulations, control issues in …
Stress-Based Topology Optimization Of Steel-Frame Structures Using Members With Standard Cross Sections: Gradient-Based Approach, Navid Changizi, Mehdi Jalalpour
Stress-Based Topology Optimization Of Steel-Frame Structures Using Members With Standard Cross Sections: Gradient-Based Approach, Navid Changizi, Mehdi Jalalpour
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
This article presents a computationally efficient methodology for stress-based topology optimization of steel frame structures with cross-sectional properties that are mapped from I-beam sections of a design manual. To account for the natural variability of the data, this mapping is achieved via quantile regression to derive continuous relationships between cross-sectional area (the design variable) and other section properties. These relationships are used for deriving the gradient of structural performance, which allows using computationally efficient gradient-based optimization schemes. Three frame structures are designed using the proposed algorithm, the resulting designs are compared with traditional compliance-based topology optimization algorithms, and changes in …
Numerical Evaluation Of The Extended Endplate Moment Connection Subjected To Cyclic Loading, Mehdi Ghassemieh, Mehdi Jalalpour, Ali Akbar Gholampour
Numerical Evaluation Of The Extended Endplate Moment Connection Subjected To Cyclic Loading, Mehdi Ghassemieh, Mehdi Jalalpour, Ali Akbar Gholampour
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
In this paper, the seismic behaviour of extended endplate moment connection is analysed using finite element method (FEM). First, an existing test setup is modelled and analysed using ANSYS computer program. The model is validated by comparing the results from the finite element with the experimental ones. Afterwards, by changing the dimensions of members of the connection, their effect on the overall seismic performance of connection is investigated. The results show that by enlarging the column depth and stiffening the connection, the seismic performance is improved and the thickness of endplate should be chosen in a way that its moment …
Reliability-Based Topology Optimization Of Trusses With Stochastic Stiffness, Mehdi Jalalpour, James K. Guest, Takeru Igusa
Reliability-Based Topology Optimization Of Trusses With Stochastic Stiffness, Mehdi Jalalpour, James K. Guest, Takeru Igusa
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
A new method is proposed for reliability-based topology optimization of truss structures with random geometric imperfections and material variability. Such imperfections and variability, which may result from manufacturing processes, are assumed to be small in relation to the truss dimensions and mean material properties and normally distributed. Extensive numerical evidence suggests that the trusses, when optimized in terms of a displacement-based demand metric, are characterized by randomness in the stiffness that follow the Gumbel distribution. Based on this observation, it was possible to derive analytical expressions for the structural reliability, enabling the formulation of a computationally efficient single-loop reliability-based topology …
Another Look At The Collapse Of Skyline Plaza At Bailey’S Crossroads, Virginia, Jeffrey Schellhammer, Norbert Delatte, Paul A. Bosela
Another Look At The Collapse Of Skyline Plaza At Bailey’S Crossroads, Virginia, Jeffrey Schellhammer, Norbert Delatte, Paul A. Bosela
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
On March 2, 1973, the Skyline Plaza apartment building in Bailey’s Crossroads, Virginia collapsed while under construction. The Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) requested an investigation from the National Bureau of Standards [(NBS); now the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)]. The NBS team concluded that the most likely cause of the collapse was a punching shear failure of the 23rd floor slab. The two factors that contributed to this were premature removal of shores below the 23rd floor slab, and the low strength of the 23rd floor concrete in the area supporting the weight of the 24th …
Interfacing Building Response With Human Behavior Under Seismic Events, Z. Liu, Mehdi Jalalpour, C. Jacques, S. Szyniszewski, J. Mitrani-Reiser, James K. Guest, T. Igusa, B. W. Schafer
Interfacing Building Response With Human Behavior Under Seismic Events, Z. Liu, Mehdi Jalalpour, C. Jacques, S. Szyniszewski, J. Mitrani-Reiser, James K. Guest, T. Igusa, B. W. Schafer
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
The goal of this paper is to model the interaction of humans with their built environment during and immediately following a natural disaster. The study uses finite element simulations to evaluate the response of buildings under input ground motions and agent-based dynamic modeling to model the subsequent evacuation of building occupants in the study area immediately following the seismic event. The structural model directly captures building damage and collapse, as well as floor accelerations and displacements to determine nonstructural damage, injuries and fatalities. The goal of this research is to make connections between building damage and occupant injuries, with geographic …
Structural Topology Optimization: Moving Beyond Linear Elastic Design Objectives, James K. Guest, Reza Lotfi, Andrew T. Gaynor, Mehdi Jalalpour
Structural Topology Optimization: Moving Beyond Linear Elastic Design Objectives, James K. Guest, Reza Lotfi, Andrew T. Gaynor, Mehdi Jalalpour
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
Topology optimization is a systematic, free-form approach to the design of structures. It simultaneously optimizes material quantities and system connectivity, enabling the discovery of new, high-performance structural concepts. While powerful, this design freedom has a tendency to produce solutions that are unrealizable or impractical from a structural engineering perspective. Examples include overly complex topologies that are expensive to construct and ultra-slender subsystems that may be overly susceptible to imperfections. This paper summarizes recent tools developed by the authors capable of mitigating these shortcomings through consideration of (1) constructability, (2) nonlinear mechanics, and (3) uncertainties.
Optimal Design Of Trusses With Geometric Imperfections: Accounting For Global Instability, Mehdi Jalalpour, Takeru Igusa, James K. Guest
Optimal Design Of Trusses With Geometric Imperfections: Accounting For Global Instability, Mehdi Jalalpour, Takeru Igusa, James K. Guest
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
A topology optimization method is proposed for the design of trusses with random geometric imperfections due to fabrication errors. This method is a generalization of a previously developed perturbation approach to topology optimization under geometric uncertainties. The main novelty in the present paper is that the objective function includes the nonlinear effects of potential buckling due to misaligned structural members. Solutions are therefore dependent on the magnitude of applied loads and the direction of resulting internal member forces (whether they are compression or tension). Direct differentiation is used in the sensitivity analysis, and analytical expressions for the associated derivatives are …
Probabilistic Assessment Of The Friendship Trail Bridge, Rajan Sen, Gray Mullins, Niranjan Pai
Probabilistic Assessment Of The Friendship Trail Bridge, Rajan Sen, Gray Mullins, Niranjan Pai
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
The analysis performed in this study is theoretical and uses data found in the open literature rather than actual data for the bridge. The results presented indicate that the bridge is unlikely to meet a service life of an additional 20 years at reliability levels required by prevailing design codes while foregoing routine maintenance. In the light of the lower than typical reliability predicted by the analysis, more frequent bridge inspections will be needed to maintain safety in the event the bridge is repaired. vii The predictions are critically dependent on assumptions relating to the corrosion rate and statistical distributions …
Remote Monitoring Of Bridges, Rajan Sen, Gray Mullins, Alberto Sagues, Julio Aguilar, Danny Winters
Remote Monitoring Of Bridges, Rajan Sen, Gray Mullins, Alberto Sagues, Julio Aguilar, Danny Winters
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
This report summarizes findings from a 24-month study in which the performance of cathodic protection systems for substructures of two interstate bridges was remotely monitored. The two bridges #860050 and #860054 are located on the “Alligator Alley” toll portion of eastbound I-75 in Broward County, FL. Each bridge spans two pilesupported piers inside a drainage canal. The seven steel H-piles supporting the piers are jacketed in concrete to a level just below the water surface and are cathodically protected by three magnesium anodes spaced uniformly over their submerged length.
Failure Literacy In Structural Engineering, Norbert J. Delatte
Failure Literacy In Structural Engineering, Norbert J. Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
The history of the development of practice in many engineering disciplines is, in large part, the story of failures, both imminent and actual, and of the changes to designs, standards and procedures made as the result of timely interventions or forensic analyses. All engineers, and more particularly structural engineers, should be failure literate. Failure literacy means knowing about the critical historical failure cases that have shaped the profession: not merely the surface technical details, but the environment, the communications difficulties and the procedural issues. In the US, an intensive effort has been under way for nearly a decade to promote …
Design And Evaluation Of Steel Bridges With Double Composite Action, Rajan Sen, Steven Stroh, Niranjan Pai, Purvik Patel, Dennis Golabek
Design And Evaluation Of Steel Bridges With Double Composite Action, Rajan Sen, Steven Stroh, Niranjan Pai, Purvik Patel, Dennis Golabek
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
This report presents findings from a cooperative USF/URS/FDOT research study undertaken to develop design rules for double composite steel bridges. In the study, a 48 ft long, 16 ft wide, 4 ft. 10⅛ in. deep trapezoidal HPS 70W box section designed to AASHTO’s LRFD 2004 specifications was fabricated and tested. The section has an 8 in. thick top slab and a 7 in. thick bottom slab and represented the entire negative moment region of a full-size, continuous bridge. The specimen was tested to evaluate fatigue, service and ultimate provisions of the AASHTO code. Instrumentation was provided to monitor load, strain, …
Optimal Design Of Trusses With Geometric Imperfections, Mehdi Jalalpour, Takeru Igusa, James K. Guest
Optimal Design Of Trusses With Geometric Imperfections, Mehdi Jalalpour, Takeru Igusa, James K. Guest
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
The present paper focuses on optimization of trusses that have randomness in geometry that may arise from fabrication errors. The analysis herein is a generalization of a perturbation approach to topology optimization under geometric uncertainties. The main novelty in the present paper is in the consideration of potential buckling due to misaligned structural members. The paper begins with a brief review of the aforementioned perturbation approach, then proceeds with the analysis of the nonlinear effects of geometric imperfection. The paper concludes with some numerical examples.
Collapse Of The Quebec Bridge, 1907, Cynthia Pearson, Norbert Delatte
Collapse Of The Quebec Bridge, 1907, Cynthia Pearson, Norbert Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
In the late 19th century, the transportation needs of Quebec led to proposals for bridging the St. Lawrence River. The Quebec Bridge was the longest cantilever structure attempted until that time. In its final design, the clear span was 548.6 m (1,800 ft) long. The bridge project was financially troubled from the beginning. This caused many setbacks in the design and construction. Construction finally began in October 1900. In August 1907, the bridge collapsed suddenly. Seventy five workers were killed in the accident, and there were only 11 survivors from the workers on the span. A distinguished panel was assembled …
Ronan Point Apartment Tower Collapse And Its Effect On Building Codes, Cynthia Pearson, Norbert Delatte
Ronan Point Apartment Tower Collapse And Its Effect On Building Codes, Cynthia Pearson, Norbert Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
In the early morning hours of May 16, 1968, the occupant of apartment 90 on the 18th floor of the 22-story Ronan Point apartment tower, in London, lit a match to brew her morning cup of tea. The resulting gas explosion initiated a partial collapse of the structure that killed four people and injured 17 (one of whom subsequently died). On investigation, the apartment tower was found to be deeply flawed in both design and construction. The existing building codes were found to be inadequate for ensuring the safety and integrity of high-rise precast concrete apartment buildings. The Larsen–Nielson building …
Failure Of Cold-Formed Steel Beams During Concrete Placement, Norbert Delatte
Failure Of Cold-Formed Steel Beams During Concrete Placement, Norbert Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
During a concrete placement on the second story of a building under construction, the supporting cold-formed steel beams collapsed. Four workers were injured. The collapse occurred while concrete was being placed onto steel decking on the second floor of the structure. Cold-formed steel beams, without shoring, supported the steel decking. Analysis of the steel beams under the weight of concrete and workers using the applicable American Concrete Institute and American Iron and Steel Institute documents indicated that the beams were overstressed for construction loads. After the collapse, part of the structure was rebuilt using thicker beams. For the reconstruction, the …
Collapse Of 2000 Commonwealth Avenue: Punching Shear Case Study, Suzanne King, Norbert Delatte
Collapse Of 2000 Commonwealth Avenue: Punching Shear Case Study, Suzanne King, Norbert Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
On January 25, 1971, two thirds of a 16-story apartment building collapsed while under construction at 2000 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts. Four workers died after a failure on the roof instigated a progressive collapse all the way to the basement, where the men were found. Fortunately, the collapse occurred slowly enough for most of the other workers to run to safety. An investigation, conducted by a commission assembled by the Mayor of Boston, painted a picture of a troubled project, with considerable confusion about responsibility for structural safety. The surviving workers’ descriptions of the failure provide a textbook definition of …
Undergraduate Summer Research In Structural Engineering, Norbert J. Delatte
Undergraduate Summer Research In Structural Engineering, Norbert J. Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
For the last seven years, a summer Research Experiences for Undergraduates site in structural engineering, funded by the National Science Foundation, has operated at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. During this time, 33 students from 22 colleges and universities have participated in the site. Participants are recruited nationally and have come from as far away as California and Puerto Rico. The program is intended to provide students interested in graduate studies with an introduction to research methods, and to provide students who will not continue their studies past a bachelor of science in civil engineering with a better understanding …
Agricultural Product Loads And Warehouse Failures, Norbert J. Delatte
Agricultural Product Loads And Warehouse Failures, Norbert J. Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
Two manufactured metal building warehouses loaded with agricultural products failed in service. Inspection revealed considerable damage to the structure and the foundation. The building owner filed suit against the building supplier, the building erector, and the soils testing laboratory whose engineer had designed the foundation. The agricultural product imposed substantial outward lateral pressures on the walls of the structures. Review of the available design documents indicated that these loads had not been accounted for in design. A structural analysis revealed that elements of the structure were underdesigned for the agricultural product loads. In addition, the foundation did not have any …
Closure To “Another Look At The L’Ambiance Plaza Collapse,” By Rachel Martin And Norbert J. Delatte, Norbert J. Delatte
Closure To “Another Look At The L’Ambiance Plaza Collapse,” By Rachel Martin And Norbert J. Delatte, Norbert J. Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
No abstract provided.
Another Look At Hartford Civic Center Coliseum Collapse, Rachel Martin, Norbert J. Delatte
Another Look At Hartford Civic Center Coliseum Collapse, Rachel Martin, Norbert J. Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
Only a few hours after five thousand basketball fans had left, the roof of the Hartford Civic Center Coliseum collapsed under a heavy snowfall. Fortunately, the arena was empty. The design of the space frame roof had been based on an innovative and extensive computer analysis. However, when deflections twice as great as those predicted by the computer analysis were observed during construction, the warning was ignored. Overconfidence in computer analysis results played a large part in this failure. A useful lesson from this case is that the computer is only an analytical tool and computed results must be checked …
Another Look At The L'Ambiance Plaza Collapse, Rachel Martin, Norbert J. Delatte
Another Look At The L'Ambiance Plaza Collapse, Rachel Martin, Norbert J. Delatte
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
The collapse of the L'Ambiance Plaza building, under construction in Bridgeport, Conn., in 1987, killed 28 construction workers. A number of concurrent investigations were undertaken to attempt to determine the cause. At least six separate theories were developed. However, a prompt legal settlement kept these investigations from being completed. This paper reviews the collapse and discusses the competing theories. The failure focused controversy on the safety of the lift-slab construction method. Because there is a need in civil engineering education for case studies to illustrate ethical and professional issues as well as technical principles, this paper also addresses these aspects. …
Investigating Performance Of Bonded Concrete Overlays, Norbert J. Delatte, David W. Fowler, B. Frank Mccullough, Stefan F. Gräter
Investigating Performance Of Bonded Concrete Overlays, Norbert J. Delatte, David W. Fowler, B. Frank Mccullough, Stefan F. Gräter
Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications
A bonded concrete overlay (BCO) is a concrete pavement rehabilitation method used to extend the life of an existing concrete pavement. The BCO should bond fully with the existing concrete, leading to a thicker composite pavement section, a much stiffer pavement, and a considerable decrease in pavement stresses. For one project, cost estimates for a BCO were half as much as for full-depth replacement of a pavement. In some cases BCOs have delaminated shortly after construction. This paper proposes a framework for identifying the causes of early age delamination in BCOs. The early age behavior of newly constructed BCOs is …