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Table of Contents
1
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................... 1
LOADING ......................................................................................................................................... 39
4.1
LOADING TYPES............................................................................................................................ 41
5.1
STATIC LOADING ....................................................................................................................... 41
5.1.1
Own Weight .......................................................................................................................... 41
5.1.2
Lumped Weight (mass) ......................................................................................................... 41
5.1.3
Load Control ........................................................................................................................ 42
5.1.4
Displacement Control........................................................................................................... 42
5.2
DYNAMIC LOADING ................................................................................................................... 43
5.2.1
Calculation Time Step........................................................................................................... 43
INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................... 55
CONTACT TYPES ........................................................................................................................ 55
Corner-Face type.................................................................................................................. 55
Edge-Edge Type.................................................................................................................... 56
Corner-Ground Type ............................................................................................................ 56
CONTACT STIFFNESS .................................................................................................................. 56
ENERGY DISSIPATION DURING CONTACT .................................................................................. 57
TIME STEP .................................................................................................................................. 59
VERIFICATION SAMPLES........................................................................................................... 66
9.1
STATIC LOADING ....................................................................................................................... 66
9.1.1
Elastic stage.......................................................................................................................... 66
9.1.2
Non-linear Stage................................................................................................................... 66
9.2
DYNAMIC LOADING .................................................................................................................... 68
9.2.1
Elastic Stage ......................................................................................................................... 68
9.2.2
Non-linear Stage................................................................................................................... 68
9.2.3 .................................................................................................................................................... 68
9.2.4
Demolition and Blast ............................................................................................................ 69
10
CASE STUDIES................................................................................................................................ 70
11
REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................. 71
1 Introduction
Structural analysis and design has been practiced using the finite-element method for
over five decades. Design code, in most cases, allow the use of linear elastic analysis to
calculate internal forces in each element. Design procedures account for internal force
values, with safety factors, to return applicable concrete dimensions, reinforcement areas
and estimated deflection and serviceability assurance that will ensure the safety of the
structure for its intended use.
Previous approximate analysis and design techniques are adequate with structures
subjected to traditional vertical gravitational loads and earthquake equivalent static loads.
In brief, approximate analysis methods may work fine when the purpose is to design
structural elements to withstand the applied loads. However, a structure may be subjected
during its lifetime to extreme loading conditions that exceed its design loads. Amongst
these loading conditions are major earthquakes, blast-effects, unexpected impact forces,
and fire. Unfortunately, many structures are not being designed to resist such extreme
loads due to economic reasons. Life safety considerations necessitate that in the event of
an extreme loading condition on a building, people can be evacuated safely before the
building collapses. This requires a forecast about whether a building would eventually
collapse in such an event or not, and such a forecast is applicable for future structures as
well as existing structures. By reviewing the casualties caused by previous major
earthquakes around the world, it was found that more than 90% of the death toll was due
to structural collapse of buildings and bridges. A forecast that the towers of the World
Trade Center would collapse from the extreme impact load and fire resulting from the
plane crashes on September 11th, 2001 may have saved thousands of human lives. The
question that arises here is that, can we use approximate analysis methods to simulate
such critical structural behavior upon which the safety of thousands of people will be
decided?
Computer simulation is an important key in determining the performance of structures in
extreme loading conditions. However, it is not possible to predict the beavior of collapse
for structures using the finite-element method Reviewing current research, it can be
noticed that methods used for structural analysis are mainly based on rules of continuum
mechanics, like the finite-element method (FEM), which cannot be applied explicitly to
discrete elements. Therefore continuum mechanics-based methods cannot be extended to
simulate the collapse analysis. On the other hand, analysis methods based on rules of
discrete material cannot be used to predict behavior of continuum elements. As a matter
of fact, structures during a collapse situation pass through the two stages; a continuum
stage first, and then a discrete stage. The analysis and simulation needs to follow both
behavior stages in order to help in answering the following questions:
- Will the structure collapse in an extreme loading event?
- Will the collapse be partial or total collapse?
- What is the mode of collapse of the structure?
- In cases of partial collapse, will it be possible to repair the structure?
- How long would it take for the structure to get to completely collapse?
Accurate
Accurate
Nonlinear
Geometrical &
Material Changes
Element
Separation
Reliable Results
Reliable Results
Collision
Progressive
Collapse
AEM
Elastic
Large Displacement
FEM
Small Displacement
Static
Geometry
Small
displacements
(linear)
Large
displacements
(nonlinear)
Material
Monotonic
Elastic
Reference No. 2
Nonlinear
Dynamics
Cyclic
Reference No.
1
Reference No. 3
Reference No. 4, 6, 7
Elastic
Reference 5
Nonlinear
Covered in dynamics
Covered in dynamics
Collapse Process
The method accuracy is compared with more than 50 experimental and theoretical
results. More details about the verification samples are presented at
www.extremeloading.com.
Literature surveys indicate that no other simulation technology has comparable overall
performance to AEM.
Applied Element Method (AEM) is the base method to analysis of structures under
extreme loadings. This table shows a brief comparison between the Applied Element
Method (AEM) and the Finite Element Method (FEM) and you can easily judge why
AEM was used for the structural analysis:
Table 1.2 Comparisons between AEM and FEM
CPU time
AEM
FEM
Short
Short
Reinforcement
details
Before collapse
High Accuracy
High Accuracy
High Accuracy
Volume represented by a
normal spring and 2 shear
springs
Reinforcement bar
Structure boundary
The following sections provide an overview about the properties of an Applied Element.
2.1 Shape
In most commercial finite-element codes, Frame elements are used to model columns
and girders. These frame elements are mainly lines connecting two joints. Each line has
properties of area and inertia. It should be emphasized that using frame elements in FEM
structural analysis is suitable and sufficient for conventional structural design. However,
it will not work with structural collapse behavior. Such codes can not have contacts
between failed elements if it is modeled using frames. Moreover, the collapsed frames
themselves do not keep their shape after collapse as they break down into small pieces.
Therefore, it would not be convenient to use frame elements in progressive collapse
analysis. In most of the FEM codes, plates are modeled as shell elements where the
element thickness is an element property. This is also an obstacle for the progressive
collapse of slabs. In few advanced nonlinear FEM codes, the frame elements are modeled
using 3D solid elements, which represent an accurate way of calculating stresses in
concrete and detecting the realistic failure mechanisms. However, it still can not simulate
a real collapse as the solid elements are compatible in deformation along with their
intersection nodes and can not be separated.
In AEM, each element has 3-D physical coordinates and shape. Hence, elements are not
just lines or shells but a group of 3D elements which can be separated and or collided
together. In 3-D AEM analysis, cuboids are used to model the structure to be analyzed.
One or more faces can be collapsed into a point or line and hence, 4-point, 5-point, 6
5
points pyramids or prisms can be formed. Each element center of gravity is calculated at
which degrees of freedom (unknown displacements) are calculated.
When designing the mesh to be analyzed, it is recommended to:
1- Cube-shape elements are optimal elements to be analyzed. However, use of cube
shape in problems where the thickness is very small, as with slabs, will lead to a
large number of elements. Hence, paralelloid-shape elements can be used in this
case with also good accuracy. In brief, the optimal element to use for analysis is
one with perpendicular edges.
2- It is not recommended to have an abrupt change in element size, that is, to have
elements of large size adjacent to elements of small size. A gradual change in
element size is recommended.
3- Use of elements of small sizes is recommended at locations of stress
concentrations. While elements of large sizes can be used at locations of low
stress gradients.
4- For connectivity reasons, element faces should lie exactly at the same plane to
generate connectivity springs between faces. Hence, the user should use snap
options in the graphical user interface to generate elements.
2.2 Connectivity
2.2.1 Element connectivity at FEM
In FEM analysis, elements are usually connected at nodes. Referring to Fig. 2.2, node
number 13 is shared among elements 6, 7, 10 and 11. Hence, all elements should have the
same displacement at this node.
Connectivity methods using FEM works fine when elements are not expected to separate.
However, having element separation, which is the case in all collapse simulation, means
that element displacements should be independent which can not work using the same
joint ID for all elements. Previous researches attempted using multiple node IDs at
expected separation locations. Unfortunately this technique cause stress singularity Very
high stresses at location of nodal separation and hence, this technique did not work.
16
11
10
2
2
14
15
8
9
3
20
12
7
8
7
1
11
13
12
5
19
18
17
9
10
4
To overcome the above problem of cracking, two techniques are always used in
conjunction with FEM as explained in the following sections.
2.2.1.1 Smeared Crack Approach
In smeared crack approach, the cracks are assumed implicitly inside the element. So,
there is no physical crack but the effect of cracks are considered in the element stiffness
and the material modeling of concrete and reinforcement. Looking to Fig. 2.3, the actual
crack is shown 9 in Fig. 2.3-a. Figure 2.3-b shows how this crack is dealt with in FEM.
This actual crack is represented in the stiffness matrix formulation and the element
nonlinear models of the hatched elements based on assumed crack angle. Here are the
problems from these assumptions:
1- There is no physical crack in the model, the elements are not separated at the
crack location
2- There is no localization of the crack. This means that the crack inside the element
does not have a specific geometry. However, it should be mentioned that, it is still
possible to simulate the crack localization using FEM through reducing the
element size and considering material models that are based on the concrete
fracture energy and the element size, i.e. size-dependant models.
3- No continuity between cracks. Although the cracks are assumed to be continuous
between elements, the FE mesh does not weigh that into the analysis. Referring to
Fig. 2.3-b, the cracks inside each element have its own direction and location and
have no relation with cracks of adjacent elements.
4- Even at the same element, crack orientation at each integration point may be
different
In brief, you cannot see a physical crack to deal with using smeared crack approach.
Hence, you can not separate elements
Actual crack
a- Physical crack
Simulated crack
inside FE elements
crack
crack
crack
(a)
(b)
crack
(c)
crack
(d)
(e)
Fig. 2.5 moving mesh technique
connecting springs represent stresses, strains and connectivity between elements. Table
2.1 shows the difference in element connectivity between FEM and AEM:
Table 2.1 Element connectivity comparison between AEM and FEM
FEM
AEM
Connectivity
Nodes (Joints)
Elements faces
Partial
connectivity
(during
analysis)
Not allowed
Singularity
Transition
Meshing
Transition elements
10
No Connectivity
Connectivity included
(a) FEM
(b) AEM
Fig. 2.7 Partial element connectivity
Case
Sample
Active DOF
Ux,Uz,Ry
Grid in X-Y
Uz,Rx,Ry
Demolition of RC
Building
Ux,Uy,Uz,Rx,Ry,Rz
Uz
Uy
Ry
Rz
Ux
Rx
11
It should be emphasized that the active degrees of freedom can have a significant effect
on the results. Here are some examples how a wrong selection of DOF may affect the
results:
Table 2.3 Possible DOF modeling errors
Case
Common mistake
Active DOF
2-D Analysis
As DOF are the main unknown in the analysis, reducing the number of DOF will lead to
much faster analysis while the results are unaffected.
2.4 Supports
Structures are restrained against moment at support locations. These supports can be rigid
supports and/or elastic supports. Having rigid supports means that displacement should
be zero at the selected elements. Another way of introducing supports is to use Contact
Boundaries. These contact boundaries can exist at Minimum Z or Maximum Z.
At minimum Z connectivity springs are generated between the columns, or any attached
elements, and the contact boundary. Having columns supported by contact boundaries is
equivalent to having columns supported by elastic supports in both axial and rotations
DOF. To control stiffness of elastic support, the Contact Boundary has a specific
material ID representing the properties of connecting springs to the ground. Falling
elements collide with this boundary and rebound.
12
1. Select all the elements which contact the ground and fix them from displacement
(x, y, z), this method is enough to fix a column as shown in Fig (2.9)
2. Select one element in the center of the column base and fix it from displacement
(x, y, z) and Rotation about (x, y, z). Figure (2.10)
x
y
Z (Fixed)
Y (Fixed)
X (Fixed)
Fixed Element
Figure (1-1)
13
For Hinged supports, select the elements shown in figure (2-11) and restrain them against
displacement in (x, y, z) and for stability restrain them against rotation around z axis.
2.4.1.3 Roller supports
In that case one or two displacement components are restrained (Fig. 2.11). That is the
roller is permitted to move in one or two direction. Reactions are calculated due to the
restrained direction only. A common example of a roller support is that of a truss with a
bridge pier. The user should be aware of the local joint axes directions when setting the
restraints of a roller support.
For roller supports, select the elements as shown in figure (2.11) and restrain them
against displacement in (y, z) and for stability restrain them against rotation around z
axis.
Z
Y
Hinged support
Roller support
14
P
x
Fig. 2.12 Sample of restrained degrees of freedom in case of symmetry about the Y-Z plane
2P
z
x
y
Fig. 2.13 Sample of restrained degrees of freedom in case of skew symmetry about the Y-Z plane
P
4P
z
x
y
Fig. 2.14 Sample of restrained degrees of freedom in case of symmetry about the both X-Z plane &
Y-Z planes
15
2.5 Units
Basic units are used for the analysis. The user is advised to use a combination of massdistance-time unit. The time unit is always seconds. So, if the user selects the mass to be
in kilograms (Kg) and the distance to be in meters (m) then the forces will be in
(Kg.m/Sec2 / Gravity acceleration [m/Sec2]). In this case the force will be defined in
(Kilo Gram Force) or Kgf. Same if the user selects the mass to be in pounds and distance
to be in inches then the force unit will be (Pound.in/Sec2 / Gravity acceleration [in/Sec2]).
In this case it will be defined in Pound Force (lbf).
16
Stress
Stress
E
Strain
Strain
Steel
Concrete
Fig. 2.15 Young's modulus
E
2(1 + )
(2-1)
Where E is the Youngs Modulus and is the Poissons ratio. The shear modulus
value is usually around 0.4 E and hence, cannot be zero or negative.
The units of Shear modulus are force/Distance2 Mass.Distance/Sec2/Distance2/Gravity
Acceleration [Distance/Sec2]. For example, using "meters" for distance and "kg" for
mass, the shear Modulus will be in "kgf/m2". If the distance in "inches" and mass to be in
pounds then the shear Modulus will be lbf/in2.
17
Shear Stress
G
Shear Strain
Fig. 2.16 Shear modulus
Material
Description
Concrete
Steel
Elastic
Stress (+)
ft (yield)
ft
Strain (+)
(a) Concrete
Strain (+)
(b) Steel
Fig. 2.17 Tensile strength
18
Material
Description
Concrete
Steel
Elastic
Stress (-)
fc (yield)
fc
Strain (-)
(a) Concrete
Strain (-)
(b) Steel
Fig. 2.18 Compressive strength
19
Material
Description
Concrete
Steel
Elastic
The Cut-off-ratio has no units. In case the reinforcement bars are not required to cut, a
large value may be set as a cut off ratio.
Stress
Ultimate
strength
Yield stress
Strain
Fig. 2.19 Ultimate strength/yield stress for reinforcement
= Separation
Strain
20
Material
Description
Concrete
Steel
No effect on the results. The steel bars are cut if its stress reaches
the ultimate stress or if the Concrete reaches the separation strain
Elastic
The Separation strain has no units. The default value is 0.1. It is recommended to use
value between 0.1 and 0.2.
Initial position
Element 1
Element 2
Element 2
Element 1
Element 2
Element 2
Element 1 Element 2
21
Material
Description
Concrete
Steel
This value affects only when contact occurs between elements and
has no effect if no contact occurs (Fig. 2.22)
Elastic
(2-2)
It should be noted that having a zero value of specific mass will lead to:
1. Own weight is not considered. Falling objects will not fall down.
2. All dynamic analysis features will be disabled.
The specific mass value is used to calculate the element weight. It has no effect if the
material is referring to reinforcement bars as reinforcement bar mass and weight is
neglected. But when solving a steel structure, this value is used to get the element weight.
m&u& + cu& + ku = f (t )
(2-3)
The damping factor r is the ratio between (c/m). To have damping ratio of 0.05,
then the user should do the followings:
1. Estimate a reasonable natural period T
2. Calculate the Natural frequency W = 2Pi/T
3. Estimate the Damping Factor = 2 * * W
This value has a default value of zero as in most of nonlinear analysis cases, internal
damping is sufficient for good accuracy.
It should be emphasized that having external damping causes elements not to fall by
gravity acceleration as damping acts as deceleration forces for falling objects.
2.6.10
Referring to Fig. 2.23, the post-yield stiffness ratio is the ratio between post-yield and
pre-yield tangent modulus of steel. It has an effect for only springs with steel properties;
either reinforcement bars or in cases where matrix material itself is steel, as with steel
beams.
Stress
E1
fy
E
Strain
Fig. 2.23 Post-yield stiffness ratio
Table 2.9 Post-yield stiffness ratio
Material
Description
Concrete
Steel
Elastic
23
2.6.11
Contact Parameters
When contact occurs between elements, springs are generated at contact points. Those
springs are linear springs that transfer energy between elements. Contact spring stiffness
should have a reasonable value. Having very high contact stiffness causes a large shock
force to transfer between elements and also having low contact stiffness causes the
underestimation of transmitted forces when elements collide. So, reasonable stiffness
value should be assumed when elements collide. The following defines the main
parameters.
2.6.11.1 Normal Contact Stiffness Factor (NF)
Referring to Fig. 2.24, for the two elements in contact. The normal spring stiffness is
calculated as:
Stiffness = E * A/ D
(2-4)
Where;
"E" is the minimum Youngs modulus of the two elements
"A" is the average contact area between elements
D is the center to center distance between the two elements (assumed in the analysis as a
constant value calculated from average element size). So, the user does not have control
over the value of D
Contact area (A)
D
NF*k
Fig. 2.24 Normal contact stiffness factor
24
The shear spring stiffness is affected mainly by friction properties. When shear force is
less than friction coefficient x Normal force, then the shear stiffness = G * SF * D.
Otherwise, the shear stiffness is G * SF * D / 1000.0 because elements are supposed to be
sliding over each other.
Contact
area (A)
SF*k/1000
D
SF*k
Fig. 2.25 Shear contact stiffness factor
b
a
k
a
nk
c
Fig. 2.26 Contact spring unloading stiffness factor
25
n=1
n=10
Fig. 2.27 Rebound with different values of contact spring unloading stiffness factor
GUI to draw the problem to be solved so that all faces are exactly in the same plan with
minimum or no tolerance. Otherwise, springs may not be generated at connecting faces,
as shown in Fig. 2.29.
Element 1
Element 2
Element 1
Normal Springs
Element 1
Element 1
No connectivity
springs generated
>>
27
Element 1
Element 2
Reinforcing
bar
Element 1
Normal Springs
Element 1
Element 1
The reinforcement springs have material properties, exact location and dimension of the
represented reinforcement bar. Similar to matrix springs, three springs are set at the
intersection of the reinforcement bar and the element boundary, as shown in Fig. 2.30.
The normal spring takes the direction of reinforcement bar irrespective to the element
face direction. The other two springs represent reinforcement bar behavior in shear. The
reinforcement bar springs are cut in one of the following cases:
1. The reinforcement bar stresses reaches the failure criteria. The failure criterion is
reached by having a normal stress equal or greater than the ultimate stress. It
should be emphasized that the bars rupture works only with bars in tension. No
cut is permitted for steel bars having compression forces.
2. Or, the matrix springs reach the Separation Strain limit. In that case all matrix
springs and reinforcement springs either in tension or compression are removed.
2.8 Analysis
The overall equilibrium set of equations in the dynamic problem is as follows;
(2-5)
The solution for dynamic problems adopt the step-by-step integration (Newmark-beta)
method. The equilibrium equations are actually a linear system of equations for each step.
The solution of the equilibrium equations in ELS is commonly solved using either a
direct solver (Cholesky upper-lower decomposition) or an iterative solver. The iterative
solvers are in general faster than direct ones especially for large numbers of degrees of
freedom.
28
(2-6)
(2-7)
(2-8)
This leads to the following two-step process for finding the solution to the original
system of equations:
1. Solve the systems of equations [L] {y} = {b}
2. Solve the system [U] {x} = {y}
Solving these two systems is referred to as a forward solve and a backward solve,
respectively.
If a symmetric matrix, [K], is also positive definite, it can be shown that [K] can be
factored as [L][L]t where [L]is a lower triangular matrix. The factorization of this form is
called a Cholesky factorization.
In a Cholesky factorization, the matrix [U] in an [L][U] decomposition equals [L]t.
Consequently, a sparse solver can increase its efficiency by only storing [L], and one half
of [K], and not computing [U].
2.8.1.2 CXML direct solver 12)
The stiffness matrix [K] of typical structural systems has only very few non-zero entries.
Since most elements of an actual problem discretization are only neighbors to few other
elements compared with the number of elements of the whole system, the population of
K with non-zero entries is very sparse.
Modifying a standard Cholesky decomposition, in a way that, it only operates on the nonzero elements of the matrix [K] leads to a faster solver (Compaq Extended Math Library
(CXML), 200112)). Furthermore one has to store only the nonzero elements within the
stiffness matrix, reducing the memory needs drastically.
As mentioned above, it is more efficient to store only the non-zeros of a sparse matrix.
There are a number of common storage schemes used for sparse matrices, but most of the
schemes employ the same basic technique. That is, compress all of the non-zero elements
of the matrix into a linear array, and then provide some number of auxiliary arrays to
describe the locations of the non-zeros in the original matrix.
29
The compression of the non-zeros of a sparse matrix into a linear array is done by
walking down each column (column major format) or across each row (row major
format) in order, and writing the non-zero elements to a linear array in the order that they
appear in the walk. This technique (CXML12) direct sparse solver) reduces storage
capacity even more than the sky-line solvers which store the rows (or columns) up to the
last non-zero element. In fact the sky-line solvers store the zero elements lying between
the matrix diagonal and the last non-zero element in each row or column (see Fig. 2.31).
When storing symmetric matrices, it is necessary to store only the upper triangular half of
the matrix (upper triangular format) or the lower triangular half of the matrix (lower
triangular format). The CXML12) direct sparse solver uses a row major upper triangular
storage format. That is, the matrix is compressed row-by-row and for symmetric matrices
only non-zeros in the upper triangular half of the matrix are stored. In CXML12), direct
sparse solvers cannot solve non-symmetric systems of equations. However, it can solve
symmetrically structured systems of equations. A symmetrically structured system of
equations is one where the pattern of non-zeros is symmetric. That is, a matrix has a
symmetric structure if K(i; j ) is non-zero if and only if K(j; i) is non-zero.
Two important concepts associated with the direct solution of sparse systems of equations
are fill-in and reordering. The fill-in concept means that the [L] matrix might not be as
sparse as the [K] matrix. In other words, the [L] matrix might have no or few zeros below
the diagonal, which is not favorite in matrices solutions. Consequently, if we computed
[L] and then used it for the forward and backward solve phase, we would do as much
computation as if [K] had been dense. Computationally, it would be more efficient if a
solver could exploit the non-zero structure of [K] in such a way as to reduce the fill-in
when computing [L]. By doing this, the solver would only need to compute the non-zero
entries in [L]. Toward this end, the CXML12) direct solver considers the permuting the
rows and columns of the matrix [K]. This leads to finally getting a non-dense [L] matrix.
Direct method allows for moderately large systems to be solved efficiently. However still
found to be unsuitable for solving very large systems, especially those for 3- dimensional
problems with large number of degrees of freedom. Moreover, for progressive collapse
problems, the solution sometimes depends entirely on the mass matrix rather than the
stiffness matrix, which means that the direct method can not be used.
30
CXML Solver
SkySky-Line Solver
Sparse Matrix
31
32
Friction and
interlocking
33
xz
x
yz
xy
zy
yx
x
zx
yz xz x
y
xy
zy
yx
zx z
x
Plane of major principal stress
Added springs
at fracture plan
Splitting Elements
34
1- The interaction between the normal stresses in the two perpendicular directions
of the plates constituting the steel section is not taken into consideration. This is
in fact acceptable when dealing with frame structures where the longitudinal
direction represents the main direction of stresses in the steel section.
2- The connections between any two members are assumed not to fail. The possible
failure in connections is then not predictable by the ELS
As for bare steel members, the same concept is followed where only elements containing
parts of the steel section are used while other elements are considered as vacuum
elements with no material inside as shown in Fig.3.5.
Springs in section
Concrete Cells
Steel Springs
S
di prin
re g
ct s
io in
n
lo
ng
itu
di
na
l
The steel behavior follows the same models used above for reinforcing bars, except for
the failure criterion, where the failure criterion is based on the principal tensile strain as
with the concrete case.
Concrete Springs
35
Springs in section
Vacuum cells
S
di prin
re g
ct s
io in
n
lo
ng
itu
di
na
l
Steel Springs
36
Interface
Aluminum
Mortar
Brick
Mortar
Concrete
Glass
Fig. 3.6 Modeling of Masonry Walls
37
Real simulation
Macro simulation
Brick + mortar
38
4 Loading
ELS software contains many types of loadings. These loadings are:
1- Own weight
2- Static loading
a. Load control
b. Displacement control
3- Dynamic loading
a. Dynamic load control
b. Dynamic displacement control
c. Earthquakes
d. Blast loads
Linear Analysis
Nonlinear Analysis
Dead + Live
loads
Earthquakes
A projectile
impacting
a
building
From the above table, it is critical to apply loads at separate stages. In each stage the user
is allowed to:
1- Define the stage loading type, static or dynamic
39
40
5 Loading Types
ELS performs analysis for both static and dynamic loading scenarios. Each loading stage
must be defined separately as either static or dynamic.
41
42
44
displacement time step. The results can be output at the every calculation time step or at
multiples of the original delta time. To enter the displacement series, you can directly
enter the values in the table shown in Fig. 5.4. In the fill data block, six values are
available which represent the six components of ultimate displacement. Another method
for entering the displacement series is to import the series from a saved text file. Data
must be organized in the text file in one column with the first row representing the total
number of rows to be imported and subsequent rows hold the values of loads to be
imported for every delta time. The data read can be scaled by multiplying them by any
factor.
45
5.2.4 Earthquake
In earthquake dynamic analysis, the time series for applied earthquake acceleration
excitation is user-defined. Fig. 5.5 shows the parameters that should be entered to define
the loading stage for earthquake input wave. Note that the seismic accelerations are
applied following the own weight application stage (Stage 1). Earthquake loads are
applied at steps based on the delta time. The maximum calculation time is the total time
for applying earthquake loads. It determines the number of delta time steps for entering
loads. Intervals before and after collisions are the computational increments that
determine the increments for the solver to perform calculations. The results can be
output at the every calculation time step or at multiples of the original delta time. To
enter the earthquake load series, you can directly enter the values to the table shown in
Fig. 5.5. In the seismic acceleration data block, shown in Fig. 5.5, three values are
available which represent the three components of seismic acceleration. Another method
for entering the displacement series is to import the series from a saved data file "pressing
Import Acceleration Data". You must first determine to which component would the read
data be saved. The data read can be scaled by multiplying them by any factor. Multiply
text box is used for magnification of the imported acceleration..
t
P(t ) = Ps1 , P(t ) > 0
Ts
(5-1)
Where t is the time measured since wave arrival; P(t) the pressure value; Ps the peak
static overpressure at the wave front; Ts the duration of positive phase. These values can
be calculated from given charts and empirical equations shown in Ref. 3.
4- Elements are loaded only when the pressure wave front reaches the element faces.
Hence, elements near to the blast source are loaded first.
5- The pressure wave is assumed perpendicular to the loaded surface. The applied
force value is the multiplication of pressure value by element area and its
direction is perpendicular to the loaded face.
6- The structure is solved for the blast forces and then another time step is applied.
The time step applied for calculations is 0.001 seconds to follow the wave front
accurately.
The pressure value of the blast wave is normally very high close to the source and
reduces drastically when moving far from the source. On the other hand, the duration of
the pressure wave is very short close to the blast source and it increases when moving
away from the source. It should be noted that using free-field pressure wave models
indicates that the reflection and refraction of pressure wave at the ground surface and
surrounding buildings were not taken into consideration. More details about the pressure
wave models are given in Ref. 11.
In ELS you can set the time of explosion, bomb weight and position. Simply select the
type of bomb from the drop-down list box and enter the relevant information in the table
shown in Fig. 5.6
47
48
49
Pressure
Pressure
Peak
Peak
Peak
a) Pressure history
Time
Time
Time
50
51
conditions are set equal to zero as long as the motion starts from rest. However, in some
modeling cases such as modeling projectiles or elements in motion, the initial velocities
or accelerations may not be equal to zero.
Referring to Fig. 6.4, the initial velocity for some selected elements are assigned. Six
velocity components (three translational and three angular components) exist. The stage
of loading can also be selected. Stage 1 is the own weight loading stage as previously
explained. In this stage, the modeled body is considered to be at rest (fixed) as no motion
is yet started. Other loadings as static or dynamic loadings can be set in the following
stages. Fig. 6.3 shows the boundary conditions applied at stage 1. As shown in Fig. 6.4,
the initial velocity is assigned in (Stage 2). Same procedures can be followed when
assigning initial accelerations.
53
Fig. 6.4 Initial Conditions: [Elements No. 15,17,18,19, 20 are assigned initial translational velocity in
negative X direction for loading Stage 2]
54
7 Elements contact
7.1 Introduction
One of the main break-through features in ELS, is automatic element contact detection.
The user is not have required to predict where or when contact will occur. Elements may
contact and separate, re-contact again or contact other elements without any kind of user
intervention. A lot of efforts were made to make this possible. This section shows an
overview of how the contact between elements are modeled.
Shear spring in y
Shear spring in X
Normal Spring
55
Con
spr tact s
hea
in g
r
r
ea
sh
t
ac
nt g
Co r i n
sp
Contact
normal spring
Ground
Shear spring in y
Ground
Shear spring in X
Ground
Normal Spring
56
c) To calculate the contact stiffness this rule is applied. When two elements with
different material properties collide, the spring properties are governed by
material with softer properties. The following explains how contact stiffness is
included:
i. Referring to Fig. 7.5 & 7.6, assume that the contact area between
the two elements is a ratio of the average element dimension. This
ratio is NF for normal stiffness and SF for shear stiffness
ii. The normal stiffness = E * Contact Normal Area/D = E * NF
*D*D/D= E*NF*D where E is the minimum Youngs Modulus of
the two bodies, NF is the Contact Normal Stiffness ratio and D is
the average element dimensions.
iii. The shear stiffness = E * Contact Shear Area/D = E * SF
*D*D/D= E*SF*D where E is the minimum Youngs Modulus of
the two bodies, SF is the Contact Normal Stiffness ratio and D is
the average element dimension for the element.
D
NF*k
57
Contact
area (A)
SF*k/1000
D
SF*k
shear stiffness
= G * SF * D.
shear stiffness
is G * SF * D /
1000.0
The following technique is proposed for representation of the energy dissipation during
contact. The load-displacement relation of a spring during loading (approaching) and
unloading (leaving) are shown in Fig. 7.7. Assume the factor "n" represents the ratio
between the unloading and loading stiffness. The value of "n" should be greater than "1".
Having "n" equals 1 means that there is no energy dissipation during contact process
while all the kinetic energy is lost if "n" value approaches infinity. The unloading
stiffness factor "n" can be correlated easily to the rebound factor "r" by equating the
rebound energy of elements in both techniques. This relation is:
r=
1
n
(7-1)
This indicates that energy dissipation during contact can be simulated by any of these
methods. The main advantage in using the unloading stiffness technique is that the time
increment used needs to be reduced only during the contact of elements. A larger value
of time increment can be used after separation.
Fig. 7.7 Load-displacement relation of a contact spring in loading and unloading condition.
58
59
ground boundary. If the column base is located on the ground boundary, it will be treated
as a fixed end. On the contrary, if its base is higher than the ground boundary, boundary
conditions should be assigned to the base otherwise this end would be treated as a free
end.
61
50
45
Bars extended
40
Load (Ton)
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
0
Displacement (cm)
62
50
Peak Point
Load (Ton)
40
30
20
10
Load Control
Displacement Control
0
0
Displacement (cm)
63
64
25
25
20
20
15
15
10
10
5
0
-0.3
-0.2
-0.1
-5 0
0.1
0.2
0.3
Load (Ton)
Load (Ton)
5
-3
-2
-1
0
-5 0
-10
-10
-15
-15
-20
-20
-25
-25
Displacement (cm)
Displacement (cm)
65
9 Verification Samples
The verification samples for different types of loading are as follow;
File name
Description
Simple_Beam.ELS
Cantilever_frame.ELS
Cant_slab.ELS
Simple_slab.ELS
66
File name
Description
culvert.ELS
Deep_beam1.ELS
Deep_beam2.ELS
Slab.ELS
Squat_uni_shear.ELS
ELSS0.ELS
ELSS3.ELS
Steel_frame.ELS
Comp_slab.ELS
&Comp_slab_b3.ELS
comp Girder.ELS
This sample describes a nonlinear analysis of a concretefilled tube girder under four-point loading
armoti.ELS
This sample describes a nonlinear analysis of stoneconcrete bearing walls subjected to lateral loads
CMU_FRP.ELS
window_glass.ELS
67
File name
Description
slab_cyclic.ELS
Col_cyclic.ELS
ELSS2.ELS
File name
Description
2DOF.ELS
projectile.ELS
SDOF.ELS
File name
Description
pier.ELs
9.2.3
68
File name
Description
Chimny.ELS
Partial_Demolition.ELS
STADIUM.ELS
steel tank.ELS
69
10 Case Studies
The following case studies are also included in the ELS;
Table 10.1 Case studies using ELS
70
File name
Description
RC4-Stories.ELS
side sway.ELS
steelRemoval.ELS
steelStress.ELS
Window Blast.ELS
11 References
1. Kimiro Meguro and Hatem Tagel-Din: Applied Element Simulation of RC
Structures under Cyclic Loading, ASCE, Vol. 127, Issue 11, pp. 1295-1305,
November 2001.
2. Kimiro Meguro and Hatem Tagel-Din: Applied Element Method for Structural
Analysis: Theory and Application for Linear Materials, Structural
Eng./Earthquake Eng., International Journal of the Japan Society of Civil
Engineers (JSCE), Vol. 17, No. 1, 21s-35s, April 2000.
3. Hatem Tagel-Din and Kimiro Meguro: Applied Element Method for Simulation
of Nonlinear Materials: Theory and Application for RC Structures, Structural
Eng./Earthquake Eng., International Journal of the Japan Society of Civil
Engineers (JSCE) Vol. 17, No. 2, 137s-148s, July 2000.
4. Hatem Tagel-Din and Kimiro Meguro: Applied Element Method for Dynamic
Large Deformation Analysis of Structures, Structural Eng./Earthquake Eng.,
International Journal of the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (JSCE), Vol. 17,
No. 2, pp. 215s-224s, October 2000.
5. Kimiro Meguro and Hatem Tagel-Din: AEM Used for Large Displacement
Structure Analysis, Journal of Natural Disaster Science, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 6582, 2002.
6. Hatem Tagel-Din: Collision of Structures During Earthquakes, Proceedings of the
12th European Conference on Earthquake Engineering, London, UK, September
9th - September 13th, 2002.
7. Hatem Tagel-Din and Kimiro Meguro: Analysis of a Small Scale RC Building
Subjected to Shaking Table Tests using Applied Element Method, Proceedings of
the 12th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, New Zealand, January
30th -February 4th, 2000.
8. Kimiro Meguro and Hatem Tagel-Din: A New Simplified and Efficient
Technique for Fracture Behavior Analysis of Concrete Structures, Proceedings of
the Third International Conference on Fracture Mechanics of Concrete and
Concrete Structures (FRAMCOS-3), Gifu, Japan, Oct. 1998.
9.
10. Ristic, D., Yamada, Y., and Iemura, H. (1986), Stress-strain based modeling of
hysteretic structures under earthquake induced bending and varying axial loads,
Research report No. 86-ST-01, School of Civil Engineering, Kyoto University,
Kyoto, Japan
11. Mays G.C. and Smith P.D.: Blast Effects on Buildings, Thomas Telford
Publications, Thomas Telford Services Ltd, Heron Quay, London, UK, 1995.
12. Compaq Extended Math Library Reference Guide, Compaq Computer
Corporation, Houston, Texas, 2001.
71