The aim of the present paper deals with free vibration analysis of laminated composite skew plates with single and multiple cut-outs. For complete understanding of the dynamic behavior of laminated skew plates with cut-out a numerical analysis has been carried out by developing a computer code in FOTRAN. Special attention is drawn on the formulation of mass matrix by considering effect of rotary inertia. The results obtained by the finite element formulation using nine noded isoparametric plate bending element are validated by comparing the results from relevant published literature. Few new results on laminated skew plates with cut-out have been presented.

The Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) procedure is currently known as a robust tool for estimation of seismic collapse capacity. However, the procedure is time-consuming and requires significant computational efforts. Recently some simplified methods have been developed for rapid estimation of seismic collapse capacity using pushover analysis. However, a comparative review and assessment of these methods is necessary to point out their relative advantages and shortcomings, and to pave the way for their practical use. In this paper, four simplified pushover analysis-based methods are selected and applied on four regular RC intermediate moment-resisting frames with 3, 6, 9 and 12 stories. The accuracy and performance of the different simplified methods in estimating the median seismic collapse capacity are evaluated through comparisons with the results obtained from IDAs. The results show that reliable estimations of the summarized 50% fractile IDA curve are produced using SPO2IDA and MPA-based IDA methods; however, the accuracy of the results for 16% and 84% fractiles is relatively low. The method proposed by Shafei et al. appears to be the most simple and straightforward method which gives rise to good estimates of the median sidesway collapse capacity with minimum computational efforts.

In this paper, buckling analysis of hybrid functionally graded plates using a novel four variable refined plate theory is presented. In this theory the distribution of transverse shear deformation is parabolic across the thickness of the plate by satisfying the surface conditions. Therefore, it is unnecessary to use a shear correction factor. The variations of properties of the plate through the thickness are according to a symmetric sigmoid law (symmetric S-FGM). The principle virtual works is used herein to extract equilibrium equations. The analytical solution is determined using the Navier method for a simply supported rectangular plate subjected to axial forces. The precision of this theory is verified by comparing it with the various solutions available in the literature.

Residual deformation is a crucial index that should be paid special attention in the performance-based seismic analyses of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. Owing to their superior re-centering capacity under earthquake excitations, the post-tensioned self-centering (PTSC) RC frames have been proposed and developed for engineering application during the past few decades. This paper presents a comprehensive assessment on the seismic fragility of a PTSC frame by simultaneously considering maximum and residual deformations. Bivariate limit states are defined according to the pushover analyses for maximum deformations and empirical judgments for residual deformations. Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA) are conducted to derive the probability of exceeding predefined limit states at specific ground motion intensities. Seismic performance of the PTSC frame is compared with that of a conventional monolithic RC frame. The results show that, taking a synthetical consideration of maximum and residual deformations, the PTSC frame surpasses the monolithic frame in resisting most damage states, but is more vulnerable to ground motions with large intensities.

Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) is a by product obtained from iron and steel industries, useful in the design and development of high quality cement paste/mortar and concrete. This paper investigates the applicability of relevance vector machine (RVM) based regression model to predict the compressive strength of various GGBS based concrete mixes. Compressive strength data for various GGBS based concrete mixes has been obtained by considering the effect of water binder ratio and steel fibres. RVM is a machine learning technique which employs Bayesian inference to obtain parsimonious solutions for regression and classification. The RVM is an extension of support vector machine which couples probabilistic classification and regression. RVM is established based on a Bayesian formulation of a linear model with an appropriate prior that results in a sparse representation. Compressive strength model has been developed by using MATLAB software for training and prediction. About 70% of the data has been used for development of RVM model and 30% of the data is used for validation. The predicted compressive strength for GGBS based concrete mixes is found to be in very good agreement with those of the corresponding experimental observations.

Herein, the thermo-magneto-elastic wave dispersion answers of functionally graded (FG) double-nanobeam systems (DNBSs) are surveyed implementing a nonlocal strain gradient theory (NSGT). The kinematic relations are derived employing the classical beam theory. Also, scale influences are covered precisely in the framework of NSGT. Moreover, Mori-Tanaka homogenization model is introduced in order to obtain the effective material properties of FG nanobeams. Meanwhile, effects of external forces such as thermal and Lorentz forces are included in this research. Also, based upon the Hamilton's principle, the Euler-Lagrange equations are developed; afterwards, these equations are incorporated with those of NSGT to reach the nonlocal governing equations of FG-DNBSs. Furthermore, according to an analytical approach, the governing equations are solved to obtain the wave frequencies and phase velocities of FG-DNBSs. At the end, some illustrations are rendered to clarify the influences of a wide range of involved parameters.

In this paper a new numerical method to determine the elastic curve of the simply supported beams of variable cross-section is demonstrated. In general case it needs to solve linear or small nonlinear second order differential equations with prescribed boundary conditions. For numerical solution the initial values of the slope and the deflection of the end cross-section of the beam is necessary. For obtaining the initial values a lively procedure is developed: it is a special application of the shooting method because boundary value problems can be transformed into initial value problems. As a result of these transformations the initial values of the differential equations are obtained with high accuracy. Procedure is applied for calculating of elastic curve of a simply supported beam of variable cross-section. Results of these numerical procedures, analytical solution of the linearized version and finite element method are compared. It is proved that the suggested procedure yields technically accurate results.

The modal frequency responses of functionally graded (FG) sandwich doubly curved shell panels are investigated using a higher-order finite element formulation. The system of equations of the panel structure derived using Hamilton's principle for the evaluation of natural frequencies. The present shell panel model is discretised using the isoparametric Lagrangian element (nine nodes and nine degrees of freedom per node). An in-house MATLAB code is prepared using higher-order kinematics in association with the finite element scheme for the calculation of modal values. The stability of the opted numerical vibration frequency solutions for the various shell geometries i.e., single and doubly curved FG sandwich structure are proven via the convergence test. Further, close conformance of the finite element frequency solutions for the FG sandwich structures is found when compared with the published theoretical predictions (numerical, analytical and 3D elasticity solutions). Subsequently, appropriate numerical examples are solved pertaining to various design factors (curvature ratio, core-face thickness ratio, aspect ratio, support conditions, power-law index and sandwich symmetry type) those have the significant influence on the free vibration modal data of the FG sandwich curved structure.

The Big Bang-Big Crunch (BB-BC) algorithm is an effective global optimization technique of swarm intelligence with drawbacks of being easily trapped in local optimal results and of converging slowly. To overcome these shortages, an improved BB-BC algorithm (IBB-BC) is proposed in this paper with taking some measures, such as altering the reduced form of exploding radius and generating multiple mass centers. The accuracy and efficiency of IBB-BC is examined by different types of benchmark test functions. The IBB-BC is utilized for damage detection of a simply supported beam and the European Space Agency structure with an objective function established by structural frequency and modal data. Two damage scenarios are considered: damage only existed in stiffness and damage existed in both stiffness and mass. IBB-BC is also validated by an existing experimental study. Results demonstrated that IBB-BC is not trapped into local optimal results and is able to detect structural damages precisely even under measurement noise.

In the present study, a methodology for developing fragilities of arch concrete dams to assess their performance against seismic hazards is introduced. Firstly, the probability risk and fragility curves are presented, followed by implementation and representation of the way this method is used. Amirkabir arch concrete dam was subjected to non-linear dynamic analyses. A modified three dimensional rotating smeared crack model was used to take the nonlinear behavior of mass concrete into account. The proposed model considers major characteristics of mass concrete. These characteristics are pre-softening behavior, softening initiation criteria, fracture energy conservation, suitable damping mechanism and strain rate effect. In the present analysis, complete fluid-structure interaction is included to account for appropriate fluid compressibility and absorptive reservoir boundary conditions. In this study, the Amirkabir arch concrete dam is subjected to a set of 8 three-component earthquakes each scaled to 10 increasing intensity levels. Using proposed nonlinear smeared crack model, nonlinear analysis is performed where the structure is subjected to a large set of scaled and un-scaled ground motions and the maximum responses are extracted for each one and plotted. Based on the results, fragility curves were plotted according to various and possible damages indexes. Discrete damage probabilities were calculated using statistical methods for each considered performance level and incremental nonlinear analysis. Then, fragility curves were constructed based on the lognormal distribution assumption. Two damage indexes were introduced and compared to one another. The results indicate that the dam has a proper stability under earthquake conditions at MCE level. Moreover, displacement damages index is more conservative and impractical in the fragility analysis than tensional damage index.