March 2010

Fifteen years of ACECOMS Creep Influence on Durability and Reliability of Prestressed Concrete Structures under Long-term Loads Seismic Behaviour of Structure with Vertical Irregularities Different Techniques for the Modeling of Post-Tensioned Concrete Box-Girder Bridges Finding the Tension Side and Deflection Profile of a Structural Member by Observing Moment Directions

March 2010

MODELING

Object-Based Graphical Interface Frame, Cable and Tendon Members Area (Shell) and Solid Objects with Internal Meshing Automatic Generation of Code Lateral Wind and Seismic Loads Transfer of Loads from Area Objects to Framing Systems

ANALYSIS

P-Delta and Buckling Analysis Post Tensioning in Frame, Area and Solid Objects Layered Shell Element Time History Analysis, including Multiple Base Excitiation Moving Loads Nonlinear Static Pushover Analysis Nonilnear Time History Wilson FNA, Direct Integration Methods

DESIGN

Steel Frame Design for Numerous International Codes Concrete Frame Design for Numerous International Codes Aluminum Frame Design for AA Codes Cold-Formed Steel Frame Design for AISI Codes Design for Static and Dynamic Loads Member Selection and Optimization

BRIDGE DESIGN MODULE (Add-on)

Layout Line Definition using Bearings and Stations Moving Loads with 3D Influence Surfaces Cross Section Generation using Parametric Templates AASHTO, LFD & LRFD Codes Straight and Curved Girder Design with Post Tensioning conditions, etc. Import of StruCAD*3D data files Implementation of updated API functions

STAGED CONSTRUCTION MODULE (Add-on)

Sequencing Allowing Adding or Removing Objects/Loads/Supports Time Dependent Creep, Shrinkage, Aging and Steel Relaxation Explicitly Model Time Dependent Effects Using Tendon Objects

OFFSHORE/WAVE MODULE (Add-on)

Wave Load Generator API Steel Frame Design with Punching Shear Checks Simplified Fatigue Analysis Based on API Criteria

Vol: M37-0315-0310

ACECOMS

Articles

Fifteen years of ACECOMS

Creep Influence on Durability and Reliability of Prestressed Concrete Structures under Long-term Loads

- Gnida Sossou

14
Chief Patron Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai Vice President for Resource Development Chief Editor Dr. Naveed Anwar Director, ACECOMS Editor Hafsa Hamid Assistant Editor Romeo D. Faller, Jr. Graphic Designer Khattiyanee Khancharee Proof Editing Faisal M. Alih Ana Victoria S. Kebasen

Seismic Behaviour of Structures with Vertical Irregularities

- Sekhar Chandra Dutta, Piyali Saha, Snehashis Sinha, Kundan Goswami

24

Different Techniques for the Modeling of PostTensioned Concrete Box-Girder Bridges

- Naveed Anwar, Deepak Rayamajhi, Jimmy Chandra

30

Finding the Tension Side and Deflection Profile of a Structural Member by Observing Moment Directions

- Udit Rastogi

33

Some of the research being carried out by Structural Engineering Masters Students at AIT - Amelia Kusuma, Ja San Lu, Rojit Shahi, Stefani Reni

The Asian Center for Engineering Computations and Software ACECOMS, 2010 _________________________________ School of Engineering and Technology Asian Institute of Technology P.O. Box 4, Klongluang Pathumthani 12120 THAILAND Street Address: Km. 42 Paholyothin Highway, Klongluang, Pathumthani 12120 THAILAND Phone: +(662) 524 5539, 524 6416 +(662) 516 0110 to 44 Fax: +(662) 524 6059, 524 5539 ext 105 Price : US $ 5.00

Miscellaneous
IABSE Symposium: First time in Southeast Asia NEWS on Construction around the world ACECOMS Member's Profile Two Decades of rapid improvements in performance of Personal Computers Recent Trainings and Seminars NEWS and Updates Research and Consultancy Projects Natural Disasters 2009 13 20 29 35 39 45 47 49

ACECOMS

Fifteen years of

1995-2010

The Asian Center for Engineering Computations and Software (ACECOMS) is a regional, non-profit and self-supporting Center established at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) Thailand. It was conceived in 1993, as a continuation and expansion of the activities of the MicroACE Club, an informal organization established at AIT as early as 1985 by Prof. Worsak KanokNukulchai. That was when microcomputers were beginning to be popular in the Asian region. The basic objective was to promote the proper use of this emerging technology. It was achieved by first developing simpler and more controllable versions of structural analysis programs using (otherwise efficient and accurate) finite element methods and procedures, and then conducting extensive training on their effective use for the engineers already working in the field. This helped to dispel some of the mystery surrounding these tools and methods. The MicroACE Club conducted several Prof. Worsak, Founder of ACECOMS, (on the right), seen here with training workshops under the banner of M/SEAP and developed Dr. Naveed Anwar, the first ACECOMS employee and presently the the highly popular MICROFEAP software with Dr. Somporn Director of ACECOMS Attesawarong, as one of the key authors, and the XETABS authored by Prof. Worsak. However, it was soon realized that to be more effective, this activity had to be carried out in a more formal and depth and breadth to the activities and services provided by the Center to the professional engineers in the Asian region. extensive manner, thus in 1995, ACECOMS was Another important milestone in the formally established. effectiveness of the Center to fulfill its The prime mission of this Center The prime mission of this Center is to provide mission, was the establishment of Satellite an impetus to the research in engineering is to provide an impetus to the Centers (now called Associate Centers). computations and the development of quality research in engineering compuThe establishment of these centers started computer software for engineering applications, tations and the development of in 2000, with the view of bringing the its wide spread promotion, and training on the benefits of the activities of ACECOMS quality computer software for eneffective use of current computing technology to the doorsteps of the engineers in gineering applications, its wide in the Asian and the Pacific regions. The the region. These centers, generally Center continued the organization of M/SEAP spread promotion, and training formed in association with renowned series of workshops and added a new series on the effective use of current universities, professional organizations of one-day seminars called O-SCAAD, short computing technology in the and consulting firms, acted as local focal for One-day Seminars on Computer-Added points for conducting training workshops Asian and the Pacific regions. Analysis and Design. On the software front, and seminars, providing technical support the Center released SDL-1 package consisting for computing needs and for developing of several reinforced concrete design modules, networking. Currently, nearly twenty Associate Centers are in originally developed by Dr. Naveed Anwar, now the Director of operation in twelve countries. ACECOMS. The Center also expanded the XETABS software and developed a Windows version, called BATS, with extensive ACECOMS also carries out direct research and provides consulting graphical capabilities. A completely new software development services on specialized computing needs, such as failure investigation, initiative, called GEAR, was launched in 1996. This software, design reviews, testing and evaluation of structures. Other activities consists of nearly 30 programs assisting civil and structural of the Center include publication of this magazine, books, technical notes, software manuals and workshop notes, in order to bring the engineers with their design work. latest developments in the computations and computing aspects of In addition to developing its own software, the Center also civil and structural engineers to the professionals. established closed associations with renowned software developers, including PROKON Software from UK, G+D Computing from This is a special issue of Civil Computing that provides an in-depth Australia, RoboBAT from France and Computers and Structures, account of the Center's activities. During the previous years, the Center Inc. from USA. These associations have greatly helped in adding received valuable contributions for magazines in the form of articles.

March 2010

ACECOMS is one of the leading international centers in the research, development and application of computational technology tools in structural and civil engineering. For the past fifteen years, it has carried out its mission through several integrated and interconnected support activities. The Center focus its expertise on the following area: System Development Structural Modeling Finite Element Analysis Structural Design Structural Design Review and Certifications Structural Evaluation and Remedial Measure Investigation of Failures Software Development Professional Training Aside from these major fields of expertise, the Center also deals and performs research and consulting in association with and support of various faculty members in the school of Engineering and Technology from the following Field of Study:

Geotechnical Engineering Water Engineering and Management Construction Engineering and Infrastructure Management Transportation Engineering Off-shore Technology and Management With this strong expertise and inputs from wellknown experts, ACECOMS has contributed significantly to the Structural and Civil Engineering profession and its development in the region. Being part of an international academic institute, ACECOMS draws upon and is supported by the experience and expertise of several highly qualified professionals and researchers from the School of Engineering and Technology of the Asian Institute of Technology. The Center is run by a core group of professionals headed by a Director. The members of the core group include a Manager, several researchers and engineers, technical support staff, marketing and management assistants and a large pool of graduate student assistants. The Center is guided by an advisory board and the Coordinator of the Structural Engineering Field of Study.

Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai

Dr. Naveed Anwar

Currently the Vice President for Resource Development of AIT, Prof. Worsak is the former Dean of the School of Engineering and Technolog y and Founder, Director and Principal Advisor of the Center. His vision, leadership and inter national standing is responsible for the establishment and success of ACECOMS.

The Director of ACECOMS, Dr. Naveed was involved in the inception of the Center in 1993 and served as the Associate Director since the establishment of the Center in 1995. He manages the operations of the Center and is the Head of the technical aspects of research and development activities.

Dr. Pennung Warnitchai

The Coordinator of the Structural Engineering Field of Study, Dr. Pennung oversees the Centers operations and provides technical inputs and expertise for research and development projects.

Engr. Keerati Tunthasuwattana

As the Manager of the Center, Engr. Keerati assists the Director in operations and management and provides technical inputs into projects, training activities, satellite activities, client coordination, etc.

March 2010

RESEARCh AnD COnSuLTInG

Over the past 15 years, ACECOMS has been involved in a variety of projects with varying degrees of input. These projects range from a single storey house to multi-storey buildings, from industrial structures to bridges. Most of these projects are carried out with the advice and support of the faculty members of the Structural Engineering Field of Study in the School of Engineering and Technology at AIT. The following is a summary of the kinds of inputs and expertise provided by ACECOMS to various projects. Investigation of failures caused by natural disasters, human errors or unexpected circumstances. Such investigations require detailed analysis using state-of-the-art technologies and methodologies. The failures investigated include collapsed steel structure damage due to fire, cracked concrete members, collapsed bridges, crane impact on buildings, settlement issues and environmental damages. Review of existing designs to validate the structures capacity and performance for expected loads and demands. It often requires tools and techniques generally not implied in the design stage. This includes seismic performance evaluation of tall buildings, design review of bridge structures and industrial complexes. Development and verification of new structural systems and materials proposed by the industry. This generally includes laboratory testing leading to calibrated computer models used for verification of the system. The projects in this category include the development of several new housing systems, seismic verification of existing systems, development of new concepts, etc. Design development of important special projects requiring state-of-the-art knowledge and its application. Examples include the design of the tallest chimney in Thailand and bridge design concepts in various countries. Wind tunnel-based investigation of structures to determine their response to wind effects. This is carried out in collaboration with Thammasat University in Thailand. Development of software application to cater to the specific needs of the industry. Software development uses the core of programming languages so that they do not have to rely on existing programs.

March 2010

SEMInAR AnD WORKShOP TOPICS

One of the key activities of the Center is the dissemination of the latest information and to provide training to the professionals on the theoretical background and the application of new techniques, technologies and tools. This is effectively done by conducting regular seminars, workshops and forums that are attended by practicing engineers, academia and public officials. These events are organized in many countries and cities on variety of topics. So far, more than 4,000 professionals from over 20 countries have benefitted from these valuable activities, in the last 15 years. Some of the Topics presented in Seminars and Workshops Heading Number of events held in different Countries

3D Analysis of Building Structures Advanced Analysis and Design of General Slab Systems Analysis and Design for Wind, Earthquake, Fire and Vibrations Analysis and Design of Bridges Analysis and Design of Piers and Columns Analysis and Design of Reinforced Concrete, Prestressed and Steel High Rise Buildings Analysis, Design, Monitoring and Strengthening of Bridge Structures Architectural Planning and Structural Design of Precast Concrete Analysis and Design of Structures for Vibrating Loads Analysis and Design of Tall Buildings Number of seminars/trainings/workshops Events Cost Sensitive Design of Flat Slab Floor Systems Design and Construction of Underground Structures 50 Design of Steel Structures 40 Design, Construction and Maintenance of Electricity & Telecommunication Towers 30 Dynamic Analysis and Design of Structures 20 Finite Element Modeling and Analysis of Structures 10 Forum and Hands-on Training on SAP2000 and ETABS 0 1995-1999 2000-2004 2005-2009 Graphical Modeling for Structural Analysis, Design and Detailing Innovative Ways of Teaching Civil Engineering Modeling and Analysis of Offshore Structures Modeling, Analysis, Design and Detailing of Shear Walls Nonlinear Analysis of Reinforced Concrete and Masonry Structures Performance Based Design and Pushover Analysis of Buildings Prestressed & Reinforced Concrete Design Pushover Analysis of Reinforced Concrete and Masonry Structures Real Project Based Hands-on Training on Structural Design of 27 Story RC Building Structural Analysis & Design of RC Building for Earthquake Resistance Structural Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings Strut and Tie Model for Analysis and Design of RC Members
March 2010

Creep Influence on Durability and Reliability of Prestressed Concrete Structures under Long-term Loads
InTRODuCTIOn
The development of precast and prestressed concrete (PPC) main structural elements (Fig. 1) as an alternative to conventional monolithic elements is gaining serious attention in West Africa. PPC elements exhibit the following merits in comparison to conventional monolithic members: lightweight, high tensile strength, corrosion-resistant, etc. Few theoretical and experimental investigations have been carried out in our region on the problem of quality, stiffness, strength, reliability, durability, fatigue, life safety and stability of these structural members. There is still a necessity of providing an adequate amount of safety factor for the said structural members and system.
P

cr

cr

M N

a) b)

y()

c)

Figure 2. A perfectly straight pin-ended column subjected to axial compressive forces P and Pcr at each end of the force P passes through the centroid of the cross-section of the column. By increasing the force P up to the critical force Pcr , this holds the column in a slightly deflected form as shown in (Fig. 2-b). Now consider a fragment of the column shown in (Fig. 2-c). The bending moment M(x), the shear force Q(x) and the axial normal force N(x) = Pcr are acting at the ordinate x. The deflections y(x) are small, and it is assumed the following differential equation is applicable.

Figure 1. A typical multi-storey frame showing all the main structural elements
About the Author

M(x)= - EI y"(x)

(1)

COLuMnS
Main Theoretical Design Concepts
For the columns, the theoretical part of this study is based on the well-known concepts proposed by L. Euler, F.S. Yasinskiy, S.P. Timoshenko, B.Z. Vlasov, etc. and many other researchers, regarding the problem of quality, stiffness, strength, reliability, durability, fatigue, life safety and stability of PPC struts. Consider a perfectly straight column that is pinended (Fig. 2-a) and subjected to an axial compressive force P at each end. The line of action

Here, the negative sign is due to the sign convention: M(x) produces hogging in the positive y-direction. As we can see from (Fig. 2-c) the bending moment could be calculated as

M(x) = Pcr y(x)

(2)

Dr. Gnida Sossou Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Department of Civil Engineering P.O. Box KS 14479, Kumasi, Ghana gnidas59@yahoo.com www.knust.edu.gh

Taking in consideration the equation (1), equation (2) changes into

y"(x)+

Pcr EI

y(x)=0

(3)

March 2010

Article

Both ends of the column has 4 end conditions (x = 0; x = ; y(x) = 0 and y(x) = 0). It is easy to remark that the equation (3) is not complete. Let us complete it with double differentiation by x and this gives

yIV(x)+2 y"(x)=0
where

(4)

15.3 mm after their compression by the prestressing forces are maintained in the laboratory without long-term loads. From these, are obtained the variations of the deformations in the prestressed steel tendons and in the concrete matrix, due to prestressing effects and due to the shrinkage of the concrete matrix.

2=

Pcr EI

(5)

The general solution of the equation (4) is

During these creep tests, the specimens are mounted on the loading frame which consists of a hydraulic jack, a load cell, and a system of coil springs held in compression by a set of rods and plates. All the experimental data will be related to the analytical objectives, resulting in the calibration and the validation of the predictive model.

y(x)=C1 sin x + C2 cos x+ C3 x +C4

(6)

where C1, C2, C3, C4 are constants which can be determined from the end conditions, and Pcr can be calculated finally.

a b>a
Figure 3. Typical Column Element Further, at the concrete matrix age of 36 days, eight other columns were tested under long-term static constant maintained axial loads with different loading intensities. At the concrete matrix age of 300 days, all of the members were tested quasi-statically and after, under cyclic vertical loads up to their failure state. Parallel to all of these tests, concrete matrix at ages of 9, 12, 15, 28, 36, 76, 118, 136, 200 and 300 days were also tested. Concrete matrix cylinders and cubes (3 cylinders and 3 cubes at each concrete matrix age) were used for the determination of the concrete matrix physical and mechanical properties, and for the evaluation of the creep and shrinkage characteristics of the concrete matrix. During these creep tests, the specimens were mounted on the loading frame which consists of a hydraulic jack, a load cell, and a system of coil springs held in compression by a set of rods and plates. All the experimental data were related to the analytical objectives, resulting in the calibration and the validation of the predictive model. The theoretical data of the deformations in the concrete matrix, the increases of the deformations in the prestressed steel reinforcement tendons and the deflections in the members were calculated using the finite-difference method. The experimental data with the same
March 2010

Experimental Analysis
The experimental program consist of some specific subgroups (two columns per sub-group, Fig. 3) of twelve 120x18x18 cm precast and prestressed columns (with a specified characteristic material properties of 40 MPa for the concrete, and ESP = 195 GPa for the high-yield steel tendons with nominal diameters of 12.9 mm and 15.3 mm which will be contained in frames made of 5 mm bent mild steel mesh with Es = 200 GPa). The composite members were subjected to distinct but constant maintained vertical loads for a period of 7 months, and after will be tested to failure quasi-statically and under cyclic vertical loads at the last day of the experimental program. The extended interest will include the investigation of the variations of the concrete matrix strains in the boundary zone of the concrete matrix and the steel reinforcement. For the evaluation of concrete matrix physicalmechanical properties, specific subgroups of 300x150 mm cylinders and 150 mm cubes were tested periodically. The variation in lateral deflections influenced by concrete matrix creep and shrinkage was monitored continuously. At the concrete matrix age of 9 days with natural curing, all of the columns, after the transfer of stresses from the prestressed steel tendons to the concrete matrix, were compressed by the prestressing forces, removed away from their forms and then taken away from the prestressing beds together with their deflection indicators, after cutting the steel tendons. Two of the members, marked C-11 with tendon nominal diameter 12.9 mm, and two other marked C-12 with tendon nominal diameter

Article

Similar to columns this part of the theoretical and experimental study relates to the details of a unified design and tests procedure for analytical prediction of various durability, reliability and structural characteristics of slabs, precast and prestressed in both directions

characteristics of the members, obtained by their deflection indicators were presented in a experimental database. It is expected that they will show a satisfactory simulation coincidence of theoretical and experimental data.

SLABS
Main Theoretical Design Concepts
Similar to columns, this part of the theoretical and experimental study relates to the details of a unified design and tests procedure for analytical prediction of various durability, reliability and structural characteristics of slabs, precast and prestressed in both directions (Fig. 4). This analytical procedure is aimed to predict the quality, stiffness, strength, reliability and durability at the planning phase, including the nonlinear creep behaviour of these slabs.
y My Mx h z t Ny Z M yx 1 Nyx Aty Nxy zt Nx 1 x Mxy

Where, normal and shear strains of the slab layer, separated from the distance ze from the mid-plane; ex = ex (x, y, ) ; ey = ey (x, y, ); gxy = gxy (x, y, ) suitable strains of mid-plane of the slab; x (x, y, ) ; y (x, y, ) ; xy (x, y, ) - flexural curvature and torsion of the slab; - parameter of conditional time. Deformation law of thin isotropic concrete plates and membranes in a uniform stress state is presented in the following form:

c = x + "x = (x/E0)-(y/E0) (x, y)

(8)

Here, indexes x, y show the stress-strain directions which correspond to coordinate axes. Normal forces and flexural moments are supported by the steel reinforcement (with index s) and the concrete (with index b),which leads to the equation:

Mx= Mb,x+ Ms,x; Nx = Nb,x+Ns,x (x, y)

(9)

Experimental program for the slabs

The experimental program consists of casting twelve 180x180x5 cm pre-tensioned concrete slabs with specified characteristic material properties of 40 MPa for the concrete matrix and ESP = 195 GPa for the high-yield steel tendons with nominal diameter of 10 mm which we contained in frames made of 5 mm bent mild steel mesh with ES = 200 GPa. Similar to the columns, at the concrete age of 9 days with natural curing, all of the slabs, after the transfer of stresses from the prestressed steel tendons to the concrete, were pressed out by prestresing effects and then taken away from the prestressing beds together with their deflection indicators, after cutting the steel tendons. Two of the composite slabs, marked S-1, were maintained in the laboratory without loads. From them were calibrated the variations of the deformations in the prestressed steel tendons and in the concrete, due to prestressing effects and due to the shrinkage of the concrete. Further, at the concrete age of 36 days, 10 other slabs were tested under long-term uniformly distributed static loads, with different force intensities. Theoretical values of deformations in the concrete at upper facet of the slabs b, increases deformations in the prestressed reinforcement tendons SP and the flexures of the slabs will be calculated using the finite-difference method. The experimental

Atx

Figure 4. Typical Slab Element This study is very crucial, as it is recognized that little information is available on the time dependent factors like the concrete matrix creep, shrinkage and loss of stresses, in relation to bi-directional prestressing of reinforced concrete slabs, with high yield tendons, subjected to long-term service loads. This present study is based on the mechanics of reinforced and prestressed concrete structures.It considers nonlinear differential equations of the concrete creep theory which reflects the correlation between the matrix stress and strain by its modulus of elasticity, using the nonlinear strain function, and based on the well-known geometrical preconditions of the theory of elasticity concerning thin plates and membranes with small flexural deformations. Using the hypothesis of straight normal yields:

c = x+xZ; c = y+xZ; c =xy+2xyZ, x y xy

where c = c (x, y, z,); c = c (x, y, z,); x x y y
c xy

(7)
=
c xy

(x, y, z,)

10

March 2010

Article

data of the same characteristics of the slabs, calibrated from their deflection indicators were presented in a table. It is expected that they will show a satisfactory coincidence of theoretical and experimental data.

25Bp-I 180 140 20 60 100 20 130 50 25Bp-I 20 114AT-v 114AT-v

BEAMS
Theoretical analysis for the beams
The nonlinear equation of the concrete creep ageing theory (the main base) reflects the correlation between the stress b(t) and the strain b(t) by its modulus of elasticity Eb(t), the nonlinear strain function f[b(t)] = b(t) + b(t) b2(t), where the coefficient of non-linearity b(t) = E0 b0/[1 + k j(t)]2, (b0 and k are constant test data), and the relaxation measure r(t,t) which has been formulated by the matrix creep characteristic j like r(t,t) = E0 {1 - e- [j(t) - j(t)]}:

Figure 5. Typical Beam Element prestressing bench together with their deflection indicators; six beams cast with prestressed steel reinforcement tendons diameter 14 mm were marked B1, and 6 other cast with diameter 18 mm - B2. Two of the beams B1 and two of B2, after their pressing out by the prestressing efforts were maintained in the laboratory without long-term loads.
800 700 sp/MPa 600 500 4000 100 200 /J Bsh 1 400 B24 1 B145 617.3

b(t)=b(t0)Eb (t0)-f[b(t0)]r(t,t0) +{
t 0 t

db (t) df[b (t)] r(t,t)} dt, (10) Eb (t)dt dt

where t - loading duration; t - concrete age; t0 loading beginning moment.

Experimental program and test results of beams

The program consists of casting twelve 180x100x1800 mm pre-tensioned reinforced precast and prestressed concrete beams (Fig. 5) with specified characteristic material properties of 40 MPa for the concrete and ESP = 195 GPa for the high-yield steel tendons. One cubic meter of ready-mixed concrete made from 430 kg of high early-strengthened Portland cement was used with concrete 50 MPa; 550 kg of quartz sand with fineness modulus of 1.42; 1120 kg of granite crushed aggregate with particle size of 5-20 mm; 194 liters of water (water/cement ratio = 0.45); and 2.15 kg of alcohol formiate plasticiser. The high-yield steel tendons with nominal diameters of 14 mm and 18 mm were contained in frames made of 5 mm bent mild steel mesh with ES = 171 GPa. The concrete matrix properties were determined by testing 43 (number of) 100x100x400 mm prisms (based on currently used Soviet Codes) and 45 (number of) 100 mm cubes. The composite beams were prestressed to a target design force of 95 kN, after curing for 9 days. At the concrete age of 9 days, all of the composite beams were pressed out by prestresing effects and then they were taken away from the

Figure 6. Experimental curves of time-dependent stresses in the steel reinforcement tendons of the beams. Theoretical values are shown in dotted lines
500
sp/MPa

20

25Bp-I

B40 2

400 300 200

373.3

B24 2

Bsh 2

100

200 /J

300

400

Figure 7. Experimental curves of time-dependent stresses in the steel reinforcement tendons of the beams. Theoretical values are shown in dotted lines From the tests, callibration variations of the deformations in the prestressed tendons and in the concrete, due to prestressing efforts and shrink-age of the concrete were carried out. Further, at the concrete age of 76 days, two beams have been tested under long-term static forces F = 12 kN (fig. 6). At the same age of 76 days, two beams have been tested also under longterm static forces, F = 22,5 kN and F = 20 kN. (Fig. 7) Here, the super-scripts of the beams' series show two times the static forces values.

March 2010

11

Article

At the concrete age of 378 days, all of the beams were tested under quasi-static short-term successive loads up to their failure state. Parallel to all these tests, the beams were tested at different concrete ages of 9, 12, 15, 24, 36, 76, 118, 192, 208 and 378 days, concrete prisms and cubes (3 prisms and 3 cubes at each said concrete age) for the determination of the concrete physical properties, and for the evaluation of the creep and shrinkage behaviour of the concrete. Table 1 shows the theoretical and experimental data of limit states exponents of the beams, calculated by formulas according to Soviet Codes of reinforced concrete structures. Here, also the experimental data were obtained by the testing of the beams under quasi-static short-term successive loads up to their failure state. These said data confirm the positive effect of the long-term loads influences on the limit states exponents of beams Mcrc and Mu. Table 1: Theoretical (numerator) and experimental exponents of beams limit states
Series of P, beams kN B1 B1 B1 B2
sh

Series of P, beams kN B2 B2
40 24

e0P, Mcrc, cm kN.cm

Mu, acrc, kN.cm mm 3214 3248 3159 3135 _ 0,05

67,26 - 4,5 1089 1200 135,6 - 4,5 _

0,39 0,40 0,45 0,38

COnCLuSIOnS
Experimental results indicated that the finite difference method based on the displacement formulation is suitable and effective to solve systems of nonlinear equilibrium differential equations. The consideration of this proposed design and experimental model, and these said time-dependent effects ensure interdependence of design and construction for economy of reinforcement up to 5 -15 %.

REFERENCES
1. Sossou G. Influence of concrete creep on limit states of reinforced prestressed concrete beams. Ph.D. thesis Dniepro-petrovsk Civil Engineering Institute, Dniepropetrovsk ,Ukraine, 1991, 163 pp. 2. Edwin H. Gaylord, Jr, Charles N. Gaylord and James E. Stallmeyer, Structural Engineering Handbook, Fourth Edition, McGraw-Hill, 1997. 3. Angus J. Macdonald, Structure and Architecture, Second Edition, Architectural Press, 2001. 4. Sossou G. Long-term Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of Limit States of Steel-Concrete Composite Beams for Structural Use. ICCM-12, July 5th 9th 1999, Paris, France.

e0P, Mcrc, cm kN.cm

Mu, acrc, kN.cm mm 2661 2555 2661 2529 2661 2555 3092 3075 _ _ 0,12 _

70,53 -3,1 1004 1050 76,86 - 4,5 1151 1375 128,8 - 3,6 _

0,34 0,33 0,34 0,33 0,38 0,33 0,39 0,37

24

45

sh

60,26 - 3,0 941 985

Haiti Earthquake
The 2010 Haiti earthquake was catastrophic with a magnitude 7.0 earthquake. Its epicentre was near Logne, approximately 25 km (16 miles) west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. The earthquake occurred at 16:53:10 local time (21:53:10 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010 at a depth of 13 km (8.1 miles). The International Red Cross estimate that about three million people were affected by the quake. Haitian Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive announced that over 230,000 bodies have been buried in mass graves. the earthquake. As of 15 January 2010, reported damage to the Port-au-Prince seaport includes the collapse of cranes and containers into the water, structural damage to the pier, and an oil spill, rendering the facility unusable for immediate rescue operations. The apparel industry, which accounts for two-thirds of Haiti's annual income $350 million in exports to the United States, reported structural damage at manufacturing facilities around the country.

The earthquake occurred on a fault system between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates

Towns west of Port-au-Prince were reported to have extensive and catastrophic damage. They were further isolated by debris blocking connecting roads, thus, unable to receive supplies that were slowly getting into the capital. The Secretary-General of the UN estimated that fifty percent of the buildings in the affected regions were destroyed. There was also significant damage to communications. Haiti's largest cellular server, Digicel, was damaged but operaMany houses were destroyed in the impoverished tional by 14 January. A hospital in Ptionneighborhood of Bel Air ville and the main prison collapsed during March 2010 12

IABSE Symposium
FIRST TIME IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
9-11 September 2009, Bangkok

Close to 600 international academics, researchers and practitioners from around the world gathered on 9 September at the opening of the 33rd International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) Symposium 2009 hosted in Bangkok. The annual international symposium was brought to Southeast Asia for the first time. Supported by the Ministry of Transport of Thailand, the symposium under the theme "Sustainable Infrastructure: Environment Friendly, Safe and Resource Efficient" was organized by the Thai group of IABSE, Chulalongkorn University and the Asian Institute of Technology, under the auspices of many professional organizations from around the world. The three-day meeting allowed experts from 43 countries to discuss ways and means to mitigate the ever-present risk of man-made disasters at a global scale. Engineers agreed that future sustainable infrastructure around the world should adopt more reusable materials and less energy-intensive methods of construction. As Chair of the Organizing Committee for the international event, AIT Vice President for Resources and Development, Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, addressed the symposium and welcomed its participants. The symposium accepted 474 papers for oral and poster presentations. AIT ACECOMS, provided support to the organization of the symposium as the Coordinator of scientific activities, including abstract review, paper review, preliminary registration etc. ACECOMS Director Dr. Naveed Anwar was also the master of ceremonies for the opening and closing sessions of the symposium.

Thailands Deputy Transport Minister, Mr. Prajak Klaewklaharn, commented on the significance of Thailand being the first country in Southeast Asia to host an IABSE Symposium. This event will bring benefits to Thai people, as well as people in other countries. The deputy minister added that attendees would gain knowledge and information from researchers and experts in the field of engineering to achieve sustainable infrastructure through planning, design, construction, operation, renovation, retrofitting and repairs. Participants were exposed to the latest information on engineering technologies related to infrastructure development, such as sustainable development of transportation systems, green buildings and structural engineering, and the role of structural engineering in disaster risk reduction and resilience. This years IABSE symposium coincided with the 80th Anniversary of IABSE, the 90th Anniversary of the Faculty of Engineering, Chulalongkorn University, and the 50th Anniversary of AIT. The event was held in collaboration with Consulting Engineers Association of Thailand, Thailands Council of Engineers, Engineering Institute of Thailand, and the Thai Contractors Association. Founded in 1929 in Zurich, Switzerland, the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering (IABSE) is a scientific and technical association with 3,900 members in 100 countries around the world. The current President of IABSE is Mr. Jacques Combault, from France.

Prof. Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, the chair of the organizing commitee Organized by

The Thai Group of IABSE Chulalongkor n University, CU

Asian Institute of Technology, AIT

March 2010

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Seismic Behaviour of Structures with Vertical Irregularities

InTRODuCTIOn
About the Authors

Dr. Sekhar Chandra Dutta Professor of Civil Engineering, Head, School of Infrastructure I.I.T. Bhubaneswar 751 013 Orissa, India scdind2000@yahoo.com

Urban development in seismically active regions has increased significantly all over the world. This development is accompanied by an increased demand for aesthetic buildings that often have irregular shapes. Such buildings, having irregular configuration, are prone to earthquake damage due to coupled movements in various directions producing non-uniform displacement demands in building elements and concentration of stresses and forces on structural elements. A structure having a regular configuration is one in which there is a minimum coupling between the displacements and the rotations in various directions for the mode shapes associated with the lower frequencies of the system whereas a structure having an irregular configuration is one which has a certain irregular geometric shape or in which irregularities in stiffness or mass distribution or both exist. In most of the Seismic Design Codes, design guidelines and formulations of regular or symmetric buildings are well framed. But the codes fall short of providing recommendations regarding design of irregular structures. Plan asymmetry and development of its design guidelines has been given focused attention over the last twenty years. A detailed list of such studies is available in various literature [1-4.] As compared to that vertically irregular building has got relatively little attention by the researchers [5-6.] Complete understanding is yet to be reached for the vertically irregular buildings. In this context, present paper makes a limited attempt to study the seismic response of all vertically irregular structures possible to emerge from two bay two storey and three bay three storey frames. The response is obtained due to representative earthquake time histories (for both artificial as well as real) through time history analysis and that due to design spectrum of IS: 1893-2002 [7] through CQC analysis. The common trends observed in all the cases may help to frame guidelines regarding the speciality in seismic behaviour of such irregular frames. Figure 1. Spectrum of Simulated Ground Motion, Design Spectrum of IS: 1893-1984 Corresponding to 5% Damping and Acceleration-Time History

Piyali Saha Engineer, M. N Dastur and Company Limited, West Bengal, India piyalish@yahoo.com

MODELInG FOR STRuCTuRE

To look into the seismic behaviour of buildings with irregularity particularly in the form of vertical setback, the response of a typical three storeyed regular building frame with three bays in both horizontal principle directions (shown in Figure 2(a) and named as Frame-R) is regarded as the standard while the deviation of the responses of all the irregular frames with respect to that of the regular ones are chosen as criteria to judge the complexities involved in their behaviour. For this purpose 16 probable forms of three storeyed building frames having vertical irregularity have been considered and are shown in Figures 2(b) to 2(q). Some of the building frames have vertical irregularity in one principle horizontal direction (X or Z direction) whereas other structures have the same in two principle hori-

Snehashis Sinha Director, Sinha and Associates, Engineers and Design Consultants, West Bengal, India and formerly Post-Graduate student sanda@cal2.vsnl.net.in

Kundan Goswami Final Year Under Graduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur, West Bengal, India kundanciv@gmail.com

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zontal directions (X and Z directions). The frames having similar types of irregularity are considered to be in the same groups and six such groups are made to categorize the all 16 frames considered in the present study. All these frames are designated by a triple letter nomenclature in the manner of Frame-I 1_1, Frame-I 2_3 etc. where, the first letter I is for irregular frame, the following number denotes the group of the structure and the serial number of the structure in the broad group. The geometrical dimensions and member properties of different elements in similar location of all the frames are considered to be the same in order to have a better understanding of the isolated effect of setback. In-plane stiffness due to concrete diaphragms and slabs for transmission of seismic horizontal forces to the vertical structural elements has not been taken into consideration.

METhOD OF AnALYSIS
Time history analysis has been carried out for all the frames under an artificial as well as a real ground motion using the equation of motion [8] [m]{}+[c] {}+ [k]{}=-[m]{1}g and solving it numerically using Wilson- method [9] (time stepping technique) to obtain different response quantities and thereby calculating the member force (shear force, bending moment etc.) histories. The accuracy of the computation within a single time step has been improved by employing iterations through modified Newton-Raphson technique. For the purpose of present study, the maximum value of member forces are noted from the corresponding histories as they generally have design implications. [m], [c], [k], as mentioned in the previous equation, represents mass, damping and stiffness matrix respectively and {x} is the displacement vector in the structure corresponding to the ground acceleration g. For all the cases of this present study, consistent mass matrix is used to make the formulation as accurate as possible and 5% of the critical damping in each mode is considered as this is the characteristics code specified damping for reinforced concrete buildings. The response due to the design spectrum corresponding to IS: 1893-2002 for soft soil is considered to study the behaviour of all irregular frames, by standard CQC method as outlined in IS: 18932002.

Figure 2. Irregular Structures with Dynamic Characteristics, Seismic Base Shear and percentage change in member forces (under spectrum consistent ground motion and design spectrum corresponding to IS: 1893-2002 by CQC method both along X direction)

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Article

GROUP A Regular

NOMEN CLATURE Frame-R

BASE NATURAL SHEAR (KN) PERIOD (SEC) 1.07318 1.07542 1.08531 0.79009 0.79360 1.05120 1.04048 1.04804 0.99921 514.19, 311.77 522.14, 315.64 536.72, 320.28 360.66, 240.70 303.57, 187.65 393.75, 269.78 342.70, 241.79 305.94, 207.26 373.92, 206.14

RESuLT AnD DISCuSSIOn On SEISMIC RESPOnSE

The configuration of irregular frames along with their dynamic characteristics (namely lateral period), seismic base shear and change in member forces under both spectrum consistent ground motion and design spectrum corresponding to IS: 1893-2002 are presented in Figures 2(b) to 2(q). Out of a large number of three storeyed irregular building frames considered, the base shear is found to vary as compared to the same in their symmetric counter part. The frame grouped as Irregular 1 and marked as Frame-I 1_3 exhibits a highest increase of 5% under spectrum consistent ground motion and 3% under design spectrum corresponding to IS: 1893-2002 by CQC method both along X direction as compared to the regular frame. On the other hand, the irregular frame belonging to Group Irregular 2 and marked as Frame-I 2_2 exhibits maximum decrease of about 41% under spectrum consistent ground motion and 40% under design spectrum both considered to be applied along X direction. One of the major factors contributing to such change is the change in mass due to absence of various panels in various storey levels. On the other hand, the changed natural period of systems because of irregularities causes a change in spectral acceleration. The primary stress parameters considered for understanding the seismic effect in member level is bending moment. However, the change in seismic shear can be expected to be same as the change in seismic bending moment and hence, the percentage increase in bending moment presented here can also be expected to be applicable for seismic shear. These quantities obtained from the seismic analysis of the building frames with vertical irregularity are compared with the same in the corresponding regular but otherwise similar building frame. For easy understanding of the change in member stresses in the irregular structures under spectrum consistent ground motion and under design spectrum corresponding to IS: 1893-2002 by CQC method both along X direction, absolute values of bending moment in members of the irregular structures are normalised with respect to the same in similar member of the regular building frames and expressed in terms of percentage. These values are indicated over the lines denoting the member themselves in the line diagram of the frames shown in Figures 2(b) to 2(q). First value indicates the percentage increase in bending moment in the members under spectrum consistent ground

B Irregular 1 Frame-I 1_1 D Irregular 1 Frame-I 1_3 E Irregular 2 Frame-I 2_1 F Irregular 2 Frame-I 2_2 H Irregular 3 Frame-I 3_1 J Irregular 3 Frame-I 3_3 N Irregular 5 Frame-I 5_1 Q Irregular 6 Frame-I 6_2

GROunD MOTIOn
To assess the seismic vulnerability of buildings due to the presence of irregularity, an ensemble of earthquake records needs to be considered and the response may be interpreted in a statistical manner to minimize the dependency of seismic behavior on the input ground motion. In this context, present paper selects two uncorrelated artificial ground motions generated following the process described in a well accepted literature [10] and consistent with the spectrum depicted in the Indian standard IS: 1893-1984 [11] along with a real earthquake (El Centro earthquake, May 18, 1940). Since the response spectrum regenerated using one of these two ground acceleration histories shows very small deviation between the target and generated spectra, these two synthetic ground motions have the frequency contents as desired through the design spectrum of IS: 1893-1984. The response spectrum and the corresponding AccelerationTime history for design spectrum corresponding to IS: 1893-1984 is shown in Figure 1. Excitation of vertically irregular structures in vertical direction is not considered in this study as it seems that the seismic behaviour of the same will not be considerably influenced by vertical component of the ground motion. The results are only given for spectrum consistent ground motion as more or less similar kind of results is obtained for El-Centro earthquake.

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Normalised Shear force distribution across storeys for regular frame

3 Storey 2 1 0.00 0.20 0.33 Storey 0.77 1.00 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20 3 2 1 0.00 0.20 0.33 0.77 1.00 0.40 0.60 0.80 1.00 1.20

Frame R

Normalised Storey Shear (Under Spectrum consistent ground motion) (a)

Normalised Storey Shear (Under Design spectrum)

Normalised Shear force distribution across storeys for Frame-I 4_1

3 Storey 2 1 0.00 0.20 0.24 Storey 0.63 0.74 0.40 0.60 0.80 3 2 1 0.00 0.20 0.24

0.64 0.75 0.40 0.60 0.80

Normalised Storey Shear Frame-I 4_1 (Under Spectrum consistent ground motion) (b)

Normalised Storey Shear (Under Design spectrum)

Normalised Shear force distribution across storeys for Frame-I 5_1

3 Storey 2 1 0.00

0.19 0.57 Storey

3 2 1 0.40 0.60 0.80 0.00

0.20 0.55

0.60 0.20

0.66 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80

Frame-I 5_1

Normalised Storey Shear (Under Spectrum consistent ground motion) (c)

Normalised Storey Shear (Under Design spectrum)

Normalised Shear force distribution across storeys for Frame-I 6_2

3 Storey 2 1 0.00

0.21 Storey 0.44 0.73 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80

3 2 1 0.00

0.20

0.45 0.66 0.20 0.40 0.60 0.80

Frame-I 6_2

Normalised Storey Shear (Under Spectrum consistent ground motion) (d)

Normalised Storey Shear (Under Design spectrum)

Figure 3. Storey shear variation for selected frames under spectrum consistent ground motion and design spectrum corresponding to IS: 1893-2002 by CQC method both along X direction
March 2010

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motion and the second one is for design spectrum corresponding to IS: 1893-2002 obtained by CQC method. Lateral load on any structure develops axial tension and compression in columns located on either side of the center of stiffness. However the axial forces developed in beams are insignificant and hence, are not discussed here. Generally the tensile force developed in the columns due to lateral seismic loading is offset by the compressive load due to gravity (dead load and live load) and hence this does not lead to any criticality. Furthermore, the increase in the axial compressive force due to seismic loading on another side of the frame is also insignificant. Hence, both axial tension and compression are not presented here. The observations on increase/decrease in design seismic force quantities of various members of three storeyed irregular building frames with respect to the same in their regular counterpart are presented below. 1) The members of the top storey are generally severely affected in irregular buildings. Out of the corner and peripheral columns in the top storey, the ones which are close to the irregularity exhibits maximum increase, which may go up to the extent of 105%. 2) Out of the top storey beams, the edge beams are greatly affected. In fact, such increase may shoot up to about 140%. 3) Intermediate beams and columns of top storey or edge beams of other storey exhibits a moderate increase to the extent of 50% while the intermediate beams of other storeys exhibits a marginal increase. Though the results are primarily presented for ground motion along X direction, the results due to ground motion along Z direction also exhibited the similar trend. For instance, a highest increase of about 140% is observed in beams under ground motion along X direction, whereas the same value is only 75% for spectrum consistent ground motion along Z direction for frame marked as Frame-I 4_1. On the other hand, no increase in column bending moment is observed for spectrum consistent ground motion and design spectrum corresponding to IS: 1893-2002 along Z direction. For irregular structures which are symmetrical about both X and Z directions, for instance Frame-I 2_1, separate analysis under ground motion along Z direction is not required. As the increase in member forces for ground motion along Z direction are almost the

same as the corresponding values obtained due to ground motion in X direction, results are not presented for the sake of brevity. From a brief study on the behaviour of dynamic response of two storeyed irregular buildings with respect to their regular counterpart, the maximum increase in beam and column bending moment can be summarized in the following manner. Out of the top storey columns near the irregularity, the maximum increase may go up to 65% and the edge beams of top storey level show a maximum increase of 100%. It may be interesting to see the nature of storey shear distribution of irregular frames. The variation of storey shear is presented for regular frame (Frame-R) and three irregular frames (namely, Frame-I 4_1, Frame-I 5_1 and Frame-I 6_2 respectively) in a pictorial form in Figure 3(a) to 3(d) after normalizing them by base shear of regular frame. The normalized values of storey shear at ground storey level are 0.74, 0.60 and 0.73 respectively for these irregular frames under spectrum consistent ground motion whereas the same values for design spectrum corresponding to IS: 18932002 are 0.75, 0.66 and 0.66 respectively which may be consistent to be of same order of the previous set of values. There is not so much variation in base shear at ground storey level for first and third irregular frames considered, whereas for Frame-I 5_1 lower base shear value indicates lesser participation of mass than other two frames. The same values at second storey level are 0.63 to 0.64 for Frame-I 4_1, 0.55 to 0.57 for Frame-I 5_1 and 0.44 to 0.45 for Frame-I 6_2. For the first two frames the normalized storey shear values are very close whereas for third one, the value decreases to a greater extent. This may be due to larger participation of second mode shape for this frame as the first mode consists of displacement components of various storey levels in the same direction while the displacement of the first storey is generally in the direction opposite to that of second and third storey in second mode shape. If the values of the normalized storey shear obtained for third storey of the irregular frames are compared (0.24, 0.19 to 0.2 and 0.2 to 0.21 respectively) with each other, the variation is found not to be very high. But the second mode shape has a tendency to decrease the third storey shear also. So apparently it seems that the third storey shear for Frame-I 6_2 should come much lesser than the other two frames due to predominating participation of second mode shape. But the result is otherwise. This implies that for Frame-I 6_2 the participation of both second and third mode shape are much higher than other two irregular frames as in the third mode shape the displacement of first and third storey are in

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the same direction while the displacement of second storey is in opposite direction which reduces the effect of second mode shape on third storey shear and maintain the shear value closer to other two frames.

REFERENCES
1. Dutta, S.C. Effect of strength deterioration on inelastic seismic torsional behaviour of asymmetric RC buildings. Building and Environment, December 2001. Vol. 36, pp. 1109-1118. 2. Dutta, S.C and Das, PK. Validity and applicability of two simple hysteresis model to assess progressive seismic damage in R/C asymmetric buildings. Journal Sound and Vibration, October 2002. Vol. 257, pp. 753-777. 3. Dutta, S.C and Jain, S.K and Murty, C.V.R. Torsional failure of elevated water tanks: the problem and solutions. Eleventh World Conference on Earthquake Engineering, 1996. Acapulco, Mexico. 4. Das, P.K and Dutta, S.C. Effect of strength and stiffness deterioration on seismic behaviour of asymmetric RC buildings. International Journal of Applied Mechanics and Engineering, 2002. Vol. 7. 5. Ali, A. A. and Krawinkler, H. Effect of vertical irregularities on seismic behaviour of structures. The Jhon A. Blume Earthquake Engineering Center, Stanford University, Stanford, California, October 1997. 6. Chintanapakdee, C. and Chopra, A.K. Seismic Response of Vertically Irregular Frames: Response History and Modal Pushover Analyses. ASCE, Journal of Structural Engineering, August 2004. Vol. 130, pp. 11771185. 7. Indian Standards. Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures: Part 1 general provisions and buildings. IS 1893-2002. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. 8. Chopra, A.K. Dynamics of structure. Prentice Hall, 1998. New Delhi, India. 9. Paz, M. Structural Dynamics, Theory and Computation. CBS, New Delhi, India. 10. Khan, M.R. Improved method of generation of artificial time histories, rich in all frequencies, from floor spectra. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, February 1987. Vol. 15, pp. 985-992. 11. Indian Standards. Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures. IS 1893-1984. Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.

COnCLuSIOnS
The limited study presented here yields a few effective clues for preliminary design as well as cross checking of final design of irregular buildings for seismic forces. 1) The design values of seismic moment or shear forces in the top storey corner or peripheral columns of the irregular buildings may be obtained by multiplying the corresponding force quantities of regular buildings by 2.1. 2) A factor of 2.4 may be taken for design of top storey edge beams. 3) Intermediate beams and intermediate columns of top storey and edge beams of other storeys may be designed using a multiplication factor of 1.6. 4) The same design values as exhibited in similar member of regular frame may be chosen for intermediate columns and beams of the storeys other than top storeys. As a whole, this study shows that the overall base shear of the irregular frames may be lesser than that obtained for similar regular structure. This is perhaps due to lesser seismic mass and changed natural periods and mode shapes. Still the increase in the element force in some of the elements may be considerable and hence these forces should be the real guiding parameters instead of overall base shear or storey shear for ensuring seismic safety of such structures. The results for the varieties of irregular frames presented in the paper and the corresponding generalized observations may make it useful as a guiding literature for this purpose.

Top Inventor Says Talking Computers Are the Future

Silicon Republic (12/23/09) Kennedy, John
Google research director Peter Norvig recently discussed several aspects concerning the future of innovation, search programs, artificial intelligence, advertising, and media distribution. Norvig says that Google researchers are "always reinventing things," which he says creates an environment that attracts the top people. "We're driven by the fact that we've got to have more users, more documents, and more speed," he says. The future of searching is in video, Norvig says. Google is working on indexing the actual content of the video as well as developing speech-recognition technology to index the words spoken in the video. Norvig anticipates more voice-activated commands in the future of computing and Internet manipulation. He says computers will be able to analyze searches and help users make sense of how group search results can be used together. Norvig's personal interests are in artificial intelligence and how it relates to advertising online. The goal is to create as many different modes of interaction as possible, so users can choose how to receive information. Speech recognition and computer vision also are very important to the future of online advertising. "You have a phone with a compass in it and there's StreetView that you can orient to the real world and it's not a big step from there to put advertising on it," Norvig says.

Source: ACM TechNews

(December 28, 2009 Edition) March 2010

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NEWS
ShAnGhAI CEnTRE

on Construction around the world

While the rest of the world is catching the construction slowdown sniffles, Shanghai seems to have contracted a case of Dubai's mega-building mania. Three months after opening the world's second tallest skyscraper, the Chinese city will start the construction of an even taller building - the 632m Shanghai Centre. The 121-storey steel and glass skyscraper was designed by Gensler and has been nicknamed the Dragon because it will supposedly look like a dragon's tail. In China, dragons are believed to be able to control the weather, and this skyscraper could possibly do just that. Designers say its spiral shape will minimize wind resistance and energy consumption and that 54 wind turbines will sit at the top of the building. Like all developers of super-tall buildings, Gu Jianping, managing director of the Shanghai Tower Construction and Development Group says that by the time the building is open in 2014 the economy will be booming. "Launching construction at this time will help boost Shanghai's confidence in fighting the financial crisis," he said. Shanghai Centre
http://www.contractjournal.com/blogs/worldconstruction-blog/2008/11/good-weather-ahead-forshangha.html

Dubai Smile
http://www.landmark-advisory.com/index.php?dxbnewsjan09

DuBLIn'S SKYSCRAPER
The Dublin Docklands Development Authority has decided to suspend negotiations to build the tower on the River Liffey for 12 months in the hope the market recovers. The 120m skyscraper was to become Dublin's tallest building and include a recording studio for the super group in a pod on top. The proposed roof was to house wind-generated electrical turbines and solar panels, while the sides of the building were to be metal-paneled to look like fish scales. But many have doubted the ambitious plans would ever be realized, as conservationists have managed to shoot down other skyscraper projects proposed for low-rise Dublin.

DuBAI SMILE
About the Editor

The Dubai Smile, an eye-catching inverted metal bridge, has been approved as the seventh river crossing the Emirate and will be completed in 2012. The 12 lane bridge, which is 61.6m wide and has a 100m high arch, will be capable of handing 24,000 vehicles an hour and costs about $177.5 million to build.

Hafsa Hamid ACECOMS, AIT

The bridge will replace Dubai's Floating Bridge over Dubai Creek and aim to reduce appalling traffic congestion.

Dublin's skyscraper
http://www.contractjournal.com/blogs world-constructionblog/2008/11/

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March 2010

SInGAPORE FLYER
Inspiration for the Singapore Flyer sparked from national icons like the Eiffel Tower and the London Eye. On this inspiration, Dr. Kisho Kurokawa of Japan and DP Architects, Singapore developed the initial concept behind Singapore Flyer's design. The Singapore flyer is currently the worlds largest observation wheel as of 2008, standing at an impressive 165m in height (42 stories) and sitting on the southeast tip of the Singapore Marina Centre reclaimed land. The glass windows of the flyer are made with photography in mind, as they are anti-glare tempered glass which do not offer much visual artifacts or reflections in images when shot through them. not suffer from the heat when the capsule is 165 meters above the ground, for the capsules are fitted with UV protection to shield them from the blazing Singapore sun. The precision wind engineering also allows passengers to sit back, relax, and enjoy the spectacular skyline without worrying about any movements or vibrations. Ergonomically designed, each capsule measures 4 meters by 7 meters and has an interior space of 28 square meters, comfortably accommodating a maximum of 28-30 passengers. The flyer also has elderly and wheelchair friendly synchronized double door entry/exit systems.

http://www.singaporeflyer.com/en/about-us/design-concepts.html

BuRJ KhALIFA
Grand Vision
World's tallest building. A living wonder. Stunning work of art. Incomparable feat of engineering. Burj Khalifa is all that. In concept and execution, Burj Khalifa has no peer. More than just the world's tallest building, Burj Khalifa is an unprecedented example of international cooperation, symbolic beacon of progress, and an emblem of the new, dynamic and prosperous Middle East. It is also tangible proof of Dubai's growing role in a changing world. In fewer than 30 years, this city has transformed itself from a regional centre to a global one. This success was not based on oil reserves, but on reserves of human talent, ingenuity and initiative. Burj Khalifa embodies that vision.

http://www.toursingapore.com.sg/attractions/singaporeflyer/

Four sets of stay cables, six cables per set, brace the support columns for the observation wheel. The cables are anchored at four locations around the base of the terminal building and are connected to the terminals ground-floor slab. The drive system and the braking equipment, that control the movement of the observation wheel are located in steel framework atop the curved steel and concretes composite decks in the upper portion of the terminal building on either side of the space through which the capsules pass. The observation wheel is designed to withstand peak wind gusts of 33 m/s, although the wheel will be stopped temporarily if wind speeds exceed 10 m/s.

Height, Facts & Figures

http://www.burjdubaiskyscraper.com/

Design - Capsule
Singapore Flyer capsules are fitted with the latest cooling system, supported by a back-up air conditioning system and a solid roof. Passengers need

Bringing Burj Khalifa to life required a combination of visionary ideals and solid science. In the process, the project amassed an awe-inspiring number of facts, figures, and statistics.

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World Records
At over 800 metres (2625 feet) and more than 160 stories, Burj Khalifa holds the following records: Tallest building in the world Tallest free-standing structure in the world Highest number of stories in the world Highest occupied floor in the world Highest outdoor observation deck in the world Elevator with the longest travel distance in the world Tallest service elevator in the world

around a central hexagonal reinforced concrete core satisfies both of these requirements. The resulting buttressed core is an extremely efficient solution to the potentially conflicting structural requirements of a supertall residential tower. Core walls in each wing are arranged in a 9-meter module that matches the setbacks of the tower. This allows the building to be shaped without transfers; the columns in the nose of each setback sit directly on the walls below. The result is an easily constructed system that is significantly less expensive to build than one requiring transfers. The perimeter columns on the sides of each wing match the width of the adjacent shear walls, thus permitting them to be engaged by infill walls at each mechanical level. This engagement of the perimeter columns leads to high levels of structural efficiency in resisting loads as well as a high degree of redundancy.

The Burj Khalifa structure represents the state-ofthe-art in tall building design. Once completed, it will not only be the worlds tallest building but the tallest man-made structure ever created. From the projects initial concept design through construction, the combination of several important technological innovations results in a building of unprecedented height. The following is a description of some of the innovative structural design methods which enable the creation of a superstructure that is both efficient and robust.

High Performance Concrete

The specified material and the configuration of the structural elements utilize the high performance concrete and formwork systems readily available in Dubai. Very strong, high density concrete composed of Portland cement in combination with silica fume, fly ash, and ground granulated slag is available and results in a structure which is stiff, strong and highly constructible. The mat utilizes C60 self-compacting self-consolidating concrete (SCC). Advantages of this type of concrete include the high uniformity of placed concrete, ease of placement, elimination of vibration, reduced bleed water and reduced labor. The mat was placed in four sections in order to minimize thermal effects. The superstructure uses concrete strengths that vary between C80 to C60 for the lateral system. Lower concrete strengths are specified for the horizontal framing. Higher strength concretes were considered but since the structural system distributes the loads so effectively, higher strength concrete was not required.

Designing the Wind

The primary concern in the engineering of tall buildings is the effect of the wind on the buildings structure. The shape of the Burj Dubai is the result of collaboration between Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP (SOM) architects and engineers to vary the shape of the building along its height, thereby minimizing wind forces on the building. In effect, each uniquely-shaped section of the tower causes the wind to behave differently, preventing it from becoming organized and minimizing lateral movement of the structure. The modular, Y-shaped structure, with setbacks along each of the three wings, was part of the original concept design entered in an invited design competition at the beginning of the project. From this starting point, the SOM team refined the towers shape over several months of extensive wind tunnel tests. Through these tests, the team determined the harmonic frequency of wind gusts and eddies under various wind conditions. This information was used to set targets for the buildings natural frequencies, thereby tuning it to minimize the effects of the wind. Concurrent with the wind tunnel studies, the team performed a detailed climatic study which considered the unique meteorological conditions of the Dubai wind climate. These studies considered both frequently occurring and rare wind events to address occupant comfort and building strength. Together, the wind tunnel testing and climatic studies resulted in a highly engineered solution that is appropriate for the Dubai wind climate.

Foundations
The superstructure is supported by a large 3.7 meter thick reinforced concrete mat, which is in turn supported by 1.5 meter diameter bored reinforced concrete piles. The design of these elements is based on extensive geotechnical and seismic investigations and analysis. The high density and low permeability of the concrete used for the foundations minimize the detrimental effects of high chlorides and sulphate content in the local ground water. The foundations are further protected by waterproofing and cathodic protection systems. The Burj Dubai structure represents the state of the art in super tall buildings. It capitalizes on the latest advances in wind engineering, structural engineering, structural systems, construction materials and construction methods to result in a structure that goes beyond anything that has been achieved before. The tallest structure ever built, it realizes the aspirations of mankind to reach the sky.
http://www.burjdubai.com/

Buttressed Core System

Reference:
William F. Baker, PE SE1 1Structural Engineering Partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, Chicago, USA

As a residential tower, the Burj Dubai requires floor plates with shallow lease spans that maximize the amount of exterior window area (and therefore natural light) in the living spaces. As a very tall tower, it requires a wide footprint to provide sufficient stability to resist high wind loads. The Y-shaped arrangement of reinforced concrete shear walls

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March 2010

New Projects and Research

Seismic Evaluation of Fire Stations in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Public Works Department (PWD)

In this project, ACECOMS is getting the opportunity to conduct performance based seismic evaluation and retrofitting of two-storey fire station buildings in Dhaka, Bangladesh in collaboration with the Public Works Department (PWD), Bangladesh. The typical building has moment resisting frames as well as un-reinforced, un-confined masonry brick walls. However, the building was built during 1960s and was designed by considering gravity loads only. Furthermore, the

structural detailing of the building is not based on criteria for ductile design and it may be vulnerable to severe damage during strong earthquake. In this project, the objective is to evaluate and enhance the performance of the building by appropriate retrofit techniques. The performance of the building is evaluated using non-linear analysis and several retrofitting options are being considered.

Project Evaluation and Design Review of Pharmaceuticals Building

One of the largest pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh has recently engaged ACECOMS to carry out independent project evaluation and design review of their new building. This new building is a 4-story steel structure with an approximate area of 100,000 ft2 per floor. The main objectives of this project are to evaluate the proposed building structural systems and perform the design review of the selected structural building system in such a way

that the overall design compliance, general performance, reliability and cost effectiveness are achieved. The work involves developing the project design criteria, evaluation of proposed structural system from bidders, detailed design review of selected structural system and also preparation of alternate structural building system if substantial cost saving can not be achieved from selected structural system.

mniarg o ns Upc
emi S

Important seminars and training programs planned

2010

Analysis and Design of Structures

Venue : Yangon, Myanmar Date : 24-26 March 2010

Mega Project Challenges for Structure Engineers

Venue : Westin Grand, Bangkok, Thailand Date : 1-2 April 2010

Computer Applications in Civil and Structural Engineering

Venue : University of the Cordilleras, Baguio, Philippines Date : 17-18 May 2010

March 2010

23

Different Techniques for the Modeling of Post-Tensioned Concrete Box-Girder Bridges

Nowadays, the use of computer models to perform structural analysis in the field of bridge engineering has become a common practice. Engineers are supposed to use proper models in order to accurately predict the response of the bridge model for design purposes. In recent years, researchers have been developing many modeling techniques that can be used to model a bridge. Each type of modeling techniques requires some set of assumptions to simplify the problem, thus, results obtained from these techniques vary according to the assumptions made. Moreover, each type of modeling techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, sometimes engineers use several modeling techniques to model complex bridge structures in order to compare the results and to use them for various purposes. Several bridge modeling techniques are discussed by Hambly [3] for the modeling of different types of bridges. The modeling techniques being used by engineers to model a bridge range from the simplest one to the highly complex one. The simplest model (spine model) usually comprises only one single girder to model the bridge deck and hinge or roller supports to model the bearing and abutment. Even though this model is very simple, it is able to give reasonable prediction of the bridge responses under dead load such as maximum displacement and moment at the mid span and support reactions. However, there are many limitations of this model such as transverse analysis of moving load in bridge deck cannot be performed, inaccurate prediction of modal analysis, etc. Therefore, nowadays most engineers use this model only to do preliminary analysis or sizing of a bridges components. To overcome limitations in spine model, a frame/ grid model was developed. In this model, the bridge deck is modeled using frames and these frames are connected each other using the diaphragms at supports. In this model, transverse analysis of moving load in bridge deck can be performed. Furthermore, this model gives more accurate prediction of modal responses as compared to spine model. Nevertheless, slab behavior cannot be modeled properly in this model, especially the two-way response including twisting. Frame shell model can be used to improve the accuracy of frame/grid model. In this model, the slab is modeled using shell elements, which means the effects of the slab (both for out-of-plane loads and in-plane stresses) are included explicitly in the model for analyzing purposes. Thus, it can improve the accuracy of analysis results under several load cases. Full shell model is considered as complex modeling technique for bridge. In this model, all elements are modeled using shell elements. Due to its complexity, sometimes it is difficult to extract information from analysis results for design purposes. However, with the help of powerful analysis software and computers that are available nowadays, this problem can be overcome. Therefore, many engineers have started to use this model in order to get an accurate prediction of bridge responses under many load cases.

About the Authors

Naveed Anwar Director, ACECOMS Affiliate Faculty, SET, AIT

DESCRIPTIOn OF BRIDGE
In this study, a typical concrete box-girder bridge is modeled and analyzed. The bridge has a total length of 80 m. The box-girder bridge has two spans of 40 m each and 10 m wide. The clearance of the bridge above the ground level is 7 m. The elevation and cross section of the bridge can be seen in Figure 1 and 2, respectively.

Deepak Rayamajhi Research Associate, ACECOMS, AIT

Jimmy Chandra Lecturer Petra University, Indonesia

Figure 1. (a) Plan view of the bridge; (b) Elevation view of the bridge

24

March 2010

Article

Frame Model
In frame model, instead of modeling the bridge with a single girder, the bridge is divided into two girders (along the longitudinal direction) where each of them represents a half part of the entire cross section. These two girders are connected transversally with each other with diaphragms at the support locations (refer to figure 4). As in the case of spine model, rigid links are used to modify the supports location and the results between models with unmodified and modified supports are compared.

Figure 2. Cross section of the bridge Here, the concrete compressive strength (fc) for the box-girder is 41 MPa and modulus of elasticity of the concrete is 30442 MPa. In this study, the selected bridge has only two lanes for the vehicles. The connection between the deck and pier I restricts the displacement of the deck in X, Y, and Z direction and permits the rotation about X, Y, and Z direction (i.e. hinge support). The connections between the deck and pier II and III permit the displacement along X direction and rotation about X, Y, and Z direction but restrict the displacement along Y and Z direction (i.e. roller support).

In this study, finite element models of bridge are developed in SAP2000. The bridge is modeled with five different modeling approaches in which the complexity of the model is gradually increased. They are spine model, frame model, grid model, frame shell model and full shell model.

(a)

MODELInG TEChnIquES
In this study, finite element models of bridge are developed in SAP2000. The bridge is modeled with five different modeling approaches in which the complexity of the model is gradually increased. They are spine model, frame model, grid model, frame shell model and full shell model. Description, details as well as assumptions made in each model are discussed below.

(b)

Figure 4. (a) Simple Frame model; (b) Frame model with modified supports

Grid Model
First the bridge cross section is divided into two sections, top concrete slab (or deck) of 0.18 m depth and remaining U shape section. The remaining section is also divided into two girders along the longitudinal direction where each of them represents a half part of U shape section. The two girders are connected in transverse direction by frame elements with spacing of one meter. These frame elements represent the top concrete slab as defined before. As in the case of spine model, in grid model, rigid links are also used to modify the supports location and the results between models with unmodified and modified supports are compared (refer to figure 5).

MODELInG APPROACh
Spine Model
In spine model, the bridge is modeled using a single girder which represents the entire cross section of the bridge. The section designer function in SAP2000 is used to model the cross section. Since the centroid of the single girder which represents the whole cross section of the bridge is not located at the bottom side of the box-girder, it thus gives improper supports location. Therefore, the location of the supports is modified with the addition of rigid links which connect the single girder and the supports. Furthermore, the supports are constrained to eliminate the instability in torsional response of the deck (refer to figure 3). Later on, the results between models with unmodified and modified supports are compared.

(a)

(b) (a) (b) Figure 5. (a) Simple Grid model; (b) Grid model with modified supports
March 2010

Figure 3. (a) Simple Spine model; (b) Spine model with modified supports

25

Article

Frame Shell Model

In this model also, the bridge cross section is divided into two sections, top concrete slab (or deck) of 0.18 m depth and remaining U shape section. The remaining section is divided into two girders along the longitudinal direction where each of them represents a half part of U shape section. The concrete slab (or deck) is modeled using shell elements and girders are modeled using frame elements. Generally, in FEA model if the slab and girder are drawn normally without any modifications, it will give an improper cross section shape as well as properties. This is because the mid-plane of the shell elements will be located at the same elevation with that of frame elements. In this study, two methods to solve this problem are presented. The first one is to modify the insertion point of the frame elements and the second one is to draw the frame elements at a different elevation than that of shell elements and connect them with rigid links. In frame shell model, rigid links are used to modify the supports location as in the case of spine model. However, only the results with modified supports are presented (refer to figure 6).

Full Shell Model

In full shell model, the entire box-girder section is modeled using shell elements. One of the advantages of this model is that the supports can be directly put under the Box-girders. However, rigid links are still being used to model the bearings (refer to figure 7).

Figure 7. Full shell model

The summary of all modeling techniques

Table1. Summary of modeling techniques
Code Model Type

(a)

1a 1b 2a 2b 3a 3b 4a 4b 4c 5

Simple Spine model Spine model with modified supports Simple Frame model Frame model with modified supports Simple Grid model Grid model with modified supports Simple Frame shell model Frame shell model with insertion point Frame shell model with beam offset Full shell model

Load Cases and Analysis Cases

In this study, the bridge is analyzed and reviewed for static and modal analysis cases. Static analysis is used to study the responses of the bridge for dead load, moving load and post-tensioning load cases whereas modal analysis is used to study the mode shapes of the bridge. Dead load is considered from the self weight of the bridge. The standard truck HSn-44 in accordance with American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) [1] is used for moving load cases. The moving truck loads are applied in both two lanes in opposite direction with particular vehicle speed. For post-tensioning load cases, tendon elements are used as a load pattern on the bridge. The post-tensioning is estimated in such a way that moments produced by the post-tensioning effect should be able to balance most of the moment from dead load.

(b)

(c) Figure 6. (a) Simple Frame shell model; (b) Frame shell model with insertion point; (c) Frame shell model with beam offset 26
March 2010

Article

Analysis Results and Discussions

The response results from different modeling techniques are compared in terms of natural time periods or frequencies, mode shapes, support reactions, deformations and internal forces. The comparison of the analysis results is shown in the following tables. All the output results are normallized with respect to full shell model results. Comparison of Natural Periods
1.6 1.4 Natural Period (S) 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1a 1b 2a 2b 3a 3b 4a 4b 4c 5
Mode I Mode II Mode III

Comparison of Interior Support Reaction

4.5 4 3.5
Normalised Reaction

Dead (+) Live (+) Post-tensioned (-)

3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 1a 1b 2a 2b 3a 3b 4a 4b 4c 5

Model type

Model type

Comparison of Displacement at Mid Span

3 Normalized Displacement (mm) 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0

Dead (-) Live (-) Post-tensioned (+)

1a

1b

2a

2b

3a

3b

4a

4b

4c

Model type

Comparison of Maximum Moment at Mid Span

Normalized Maximum Moment (kNm) 2 1.8 1.6 1.4 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 1a 1b 2a 2b 3a 3b 4a 4b 4c 5

From the modal dynamic analysis result, it can be seen that all models give first and second mode as longitudinal mode. However, for third mode, spine model shows transverse mode; frame model shows longitudinal mode, and the other models show torsional mode. The natural periods for the first and second mode obtained from all model on average (excluding frame shell model natural periods for calculating average) is around 0.45s and 0.44s. Other than frame shell model, all the model predicts first and second natural period lower than full shell model. Furthermore, it should be noted that in all three modes, frame shell model without any modifications always gives higher natural period which means the structure is more flexible. This happens due to incorrect girder location, which in this model, the girder centroid is located at the same elevation as the slab centroid. Thus, it reduces the moment of inertia of the whole section of the bridge and reduces the bridge stiffness. For maximum displacements and moments at middle span, almost all models give approximately the same values. The major difference can be found in frame shell model without any modifications. As explained before, incorrect modeling of the girder location causes reduction in the bridge stiffness. Therefore, in this model, the displacement values are higher as compared to other models in all load cases (dead, live, and post-tensioned). Furthermore, almost all models give approximately same values for external support reactions as well as internal support reactions for dead and post-tensioned load cases. However, a major difference can be found for live load case in spine model in which the values are much less as compared to other models. Besides accuracy of analysis results from different techniques, it is equally important to account the computational time for each technique. It is found that relative to model 1a, computational time required for 1b,2a, 2b, 3a,3b, 4a, 4b, 4c, and 5 model are 1.03,1 .01, 1.06, 1.61, 1.25, 3.75, 2.89, 4.31, and 17.06 times higher respectively.
March 2010

Dead (+) Live (+) Post-tensioned (-)

Model type

Comparison of Exterior Support Reaction

2.5
Dead (+) Live (+) Post-tensioned (+)

Normalized Reaction

2 1.5 1

0.5

1a

1b

2a

2b

3a

3b

4a

4b

4c

Model type

27

Article

COnCLuSIOnS
This paper compares the responses of a posttensioned concrete Box-girder bridge which that is modeled with different modeling techniques. The models used are spine model, frame model, grid model, frame shell model, and full shell model. From the two analysis cases (static and modal), which can be classified as longitudinal analysis, the responses are quite similar between different modeling techniques, except for some cases. It should be noted that proper assumptions are needed to achieve these similar results. Indeed, this is an advantage for engineers who want to do a preliminary design or analysis with a simple model and they can achieve reasonable results. This can save computational effort, cost, and time. However, it may not be the case for transverse analysis which is quite complicated and is not considered in this study. There-

fore, further research is recommended to investigate the effect of different modeling techniques in the response of post-tensioned concrete Boxgirder bridge for the transverse analysis case.

REFERENCES
1. AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY AND TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS (AASHTO), LRFD Bridge Design Specifications, 2nd Ed. with Interims, Washington, D.C., U.S.A., 2003. 2. CHEN, W.F., DUAN, L., Bridge Engineering Handbook, CRC Press LLC, Boca Raton, Florida, U.S.A., 2000. 3. HAMBLY, E. C., Bridge Deck Behaviour, Routledge Mot E. F. & N. Spon, 2nd Edition, 1990

Wireless Smart Sensors

Futurity.org (12/24/09) La Montagne, Jennifer; Bragorgos, Celeste

Inspect Bridge
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, and the University of Tokyo have developed and deployed a network of wireless smart sensors on a bridge in South Korea to monitor its structural health. Dubbed the Illinois Structural Health Monitoring Project, the sensor network was designed to create a reliable alternative to traditional structure inspection techniques, which can be expensive and unreliable. The researchers' technology uses concurrent and distributed real-time processing to solve the issues of cost effectiveness and safety, which are problematic with traditional centralized approaches. "Our research in distributed structural health monitoring using wireless sensor networks overcomes these problems and promises a robust, significantly lower-cost safer alternative to traditional structure inspection techniques," says UIUC professor Gul Agha. The research also produced a customized software framework, which makes the development of structural health monitoring applications easier. More than 40 institutions around the world are using the framework of sensors and software, says UIUC professor Bill Spencer.

South Koreas Jindo Bridge connects the mainland to Jindo Island. A network of wireless sensors, affixed to the bridge in boxes attached with strong magnets, continuously monitors the bridges structural health. Its the first monitoring system of its kind on a cable-stayed bridge and the largest of its kind for civil infrastructure to date

http://blog.xbow.com/xblog/2009/10/structural-health-monitoring-part-1-hardware.html Source: ACM TechNews 28

March 2010 (December 30, 2009 Edition)

Members Profile
Prof. Dr. Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi
rof. Dr. Abdul Samad (Sami) Kazi, chief research scientist and research coordinator for process and ICT in the built enviI have had the honour ronment at VTT, the Technical Research Centre of Finland, and and pleasure of being adjunct Professor at Hanken School of Economics, is a Civil engaged with and followEngineer by profession, and Construction Manager by area ing up on the progress of of specialisation. His main areas of interest and expertise ACECOMS since its estabinclude construction and project management, construclishment in 1995 under the tion IT, virtual organisations, knowledge management, able guidance of Prof. Worstrategic roadmapping, systemic innovation, groupware sak Kanok-Nukulchai and the solutions, and inter-enterprise collaboration. Sami has hard work of Dr. Naveed Anindustrial experience and maintains close links with the war. What initially started as construction industry throughout his research. He has been involved in more than thirty five international research, development, and innovation a centre for providing relevant projects (each project having a budget ranging from 500,000 to 25,000,000 Euros) on consoftware to civil engineers has struction IT, virtual organisations, strategic roadmapping, systemic innovation, IT for energy now blossomed to provide conefficiency in buildings, and knowledge management. From a national research perspective, Sami sultancy, training and educais actively involved with the industry on development of programme on Building Information tion, and research of relevance Model (BIM) based Business. He additionally consults industry and research organisations on to its stakeholders. ACECOMS strategic roadmapping and implementation action planning, construction IT, systemic innovahas made significant contrition, and knowledge management. He has furthermore served the European Commission in butions towards the training, various capacities, as an evaluator for Knowledge Management and eGovernment proposals in and skills renewal of many the IST (Information Society Technologies) programme, reviewer of IST projects on knowlcivil engineers in Asia over edge management, construction, mobile devices, and expert evaluator for portfolio of knowlthe years. It is therefore no edge management projects (more than 20) in the IST programme. Sami has authored in excess of 90 refereed scientific publications and has been the lead editor of more than ten books in the areas surprise that it is represented of ICT for construction projects and processes, knowledge management, systemic innovation in by more than 15 associate construction projects, open building manufacturing, etc. centres across Asia and in the USA. I look forward Sami holds a Doctor of Engineering degree in Construction Engineering and Management (Asian to the continued success of Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand), a Master of Engineering degree in Construction EnACECOMS in all its acgineering and Management (Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand), and a Bachelor of tivities and hope to soon Science degree in Civil Engineering (Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey). see it as the premier reSami is listed in the Marquis Whos Who in Science and Engineering, 7th , 8th , and 9th editions, and in search, development, the Marquis Whos Who of Emerging Leaders (1st edition). He is fellow of the Entovation E100 Global and innovation centre Knowledge Leadership network, and roadmap co-champion and academic council chair of FIATECH. on civil engineering in Sami is of Pakistani origin. His academic, research and industrial career span, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, TurAsia. key, Thailand and Finland. Sami currently resides with his family in Espoo, Finland. He has been an ACECOMS member since 1997, and has contributed several articles to its publication, Civil Computing.

ACECOMS

Views on ACECOMS

Dr. Nirand Anunthanakul

r. Nirand Anunthanakul joined the Department With a tremendous staff, ACEof Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at COMS assembled training coursKing Mongkuts University of Technology North es that allowed the engineering Bangkok, Thailand in 1994. He received his Ph.D. team to understand how to start in Civil Engineering from the George Washington from an existing design, build a University, Washington DC, USA in 2003. He was finite element model SAP2000, the Head of the Department of Civil Engineerand ETABS, define the applicable ing from 2006 to 2007. He is a member of the loads and boundary conditions and American Society of Civil Engineer (ASCE). to achieve reliable results. It was exHis main research and professional interests intremely informative, very useful and volve the application of structural failurewith emphasis on structures subjected to the training booklets contained perfect dynamic and cyclic loadingsand the effects of earthquakes and other natural forces examples and information. I am happy on infrastructure such as high-rise buildings, bridges. to have ACECOMS available to support unique training needs.
March 2010

COURSES TRAINING EXPREIENCES WITH ACECOMS

29

Finding the Tension side and Deflection Profile of a Structural Member by Observing Moment Directions
InTRODuCTIOn
This article discusses the deflection profile and visualizing tension side of a structural member, subjected to transverse loading, by looking at the bending moment direction. The examples given here can be found in any text book of strength of material. However, the aim of this article is to make the bending moment diagram easier to understand. One can draw a BMD profile just by observing clothes on a rope/wire. Just hang a towel on the rope and it will show the BMD profile for UDL; use a hanger and you will observe the BMD profile for point load, and if you want to observe a combination just hang clothes in different arrangements.

This article is intended for developing better understanding of simple structural behavior for the structural engineering students

EXAMPLE 1
Let us start with a simple case of simply supported beam loaded with UDL. We will also see about the general sign convention for shear force and bending moment in this case.

HA A (a) VA A VA= RA= 10kN

2m 10 m

2kN/m

B
RB

2kN/m

C D
1m

(b)
7m

RB= 10kN

COnCEPT
When we draw the moment diagram through the member, the side of the member from where the moment emerges represents the tension side of the member. Lets consider an analogy to the similar situation; remember when we try to insert a pin on paper (or bundle of papers), it tries to compress the nearby area - at the side where the pin is being inserted and on the other side it tries to stretch the paper. One can easily tell which side is under tension or compression. In this case obviously the side from where the pin is coming out will be in tension. Similarly, the concept of drawing moment through the member helps us to visualize the tension side of any member. And, this compression and stretching of paper is similar to the bending of beam if the pin is considered as a moment and beam is assumed to be made of paper. The concept of tension side is of importance while drawing deflection profile, bending moment diagram and also in the RCC design of structures since the main reinforcement is provided on the tension side of the member. This concept will be further explained by two examples.

A C D
2m 1m

2kN/m

(c)
7m

Figure 1(a-c). A Simple Beam Figure 1 (a) shows a simple supported beam AB of span 10 m with a UDL of 2 k N/m acting on it. Support reactions shown in Figure 1 (b) can be easily calculated using the 3 equations of equilibrium. And, Figure 1 (c) shows the deformed shape of the beam AB. Since portion CD is in the middle of the structure and it will be in +ve bending or sagging; we will observe the portion CD for understanding the sign convention assumed for shear force and bending moment. First, we shall draw the free body diagrams (FBD) of portions AC, CD and DB. Figure 2 shows the FBD of AC; whereas Figure 3 shows the FBD of DB. The unknowns can easily be calculated and checked.

About the Author

Udit Rastogi BE (Civil), Associate Member Indian Association of Structural Engineers udit.rastogi@gmail.com

30

March 2010

Article
2kN/m

Mc C Vc Hc

A 10 kN 2m (a) 2kN/m

2 kN/m 16 kNm 21 kNm

CD
6 kN 1m
C 16kNm 6kN

4 kN

A 10 kN 2m (b)

Figure 5. Part CD of Beam The portion CD is in +ve bending (sagging).

Figure 2(a,b). Part AC of Beam

HD MD D VD 2kN/m B 7m

The direction of shear force (resistance offered to loading) is as was assumed in +ve sign convention for shear.
10kN

The direction of bending moments (resistance offered to loading) is as was assumed in +ve sign convention for shear. Hence, we can say that the sign convention for shear force and bending moment is not something which was assumed randomly but it is corresponding to +ve bending. Now we shall observe Figures 3, 4, and 5. Most of us are used to draw bending moments like drawn in Figures 3, 4, and 5.
2 kN/m 16 kNm

21kNm D 4kn

2kN/m B 7m

10kN

Figure 3. Part DB of Beam For portion CD, we must consider the equilibrium of point C and point D. On the left side of point C towards end A there is a downward force of 6 kN and an anticlockwise moment of 16 kNm. So, for point C to be in equilibrium, there should be an upward force of 6 kN on right hand side of point C towards end B and a clockwise moment of 16 kNm. Similarly, the balancing forces for point D can also be calculated by observing the portion BD in Figure 3. Figure 4 shows the FBDs of point Cand D. Now, the FBD of portion CD Figure 5 has been drawn deducing the information from Figure 4. This signifies a point for what we did to the simple problem with complex approach. Observe the direction of SF and BM in Figure 5
Point C C 16 kNm 6 kN Point D 4kN D 21 kNm
21 kNm 4 kN 4 kN 16 kNm 6 kN

2kN/m

2kN/m

A C 10 kN 2m (a)

CD
6kN 6 kN 1m

21kNm

4 kN (b)

D 4kN

B 7m (c)

10kN

16kNm

16 kNm 21 kNm

A
10 kN

C
6kN 6 kN

21 kNm

2kN/m

B
4kN

CD
1m

4 kN

2m

7m (f)

10kN

(d)

(e)

Figure 6 (a-f). Moment Convention If we draw the moments like in Figure 6, then we have more information regarding the behavior of the member. As stated, we can identify the tension side of the member just by looking at the arrowhead of the moments. In other words, the side from where the moment is emerging is the tension side of the member. Once we have the tension side of the member, we know the deflection profile; and drawing the deflected shape and BMD is simple. Since all the arrowheads are at the bottom side, hence the bottom side will be in tension.
March 2010

6 kN C
16 kNm

D
21 kNm

Figure 4. Point C and D

31

Article

If we observe the arrow heads only in figure we can easily draw the BMD without any confusion and once we have correct BMD the deflection profile will be easy to observe.

EXAMPLE 2
Let us refer to Figure 7. We have to draw the expected shape of the BMD for this frame. Load values are not given as we are only interested to know the expected shape of the deflection profile and BMD. The point behind this example is that we should feel the structure and its behavior. Nowadays there are numerous softwares available which give us the analysis results, however, the user must be confident about the results and should always get the expected results from software. Here, we will draw the expected profile of BMD by observing the moment and bending moment directions.

Figure 10

Figure 11 Compare Figures 8 and 9. Both the figures are same; however, in Figure 9, the moments are drawn through the members. If we observe the arrow We will arrive at Figure 8 if we do the analysis and heads only in Figure 9, we can easily draw the BMD draw the moments on the Figure. These moment without any confusion; and once we have correct directions can also be obtained from any software BMD, the deflection profile will be easy to observe. available. Figure 12 shows the BMD of the frame. Please note here that the bending moment has been drawn on the tension side of the members. Figure 7

Figure 8 Most of us will draw the results like Figure 8. Now, if we draw the moment directions through the member, we will get Figure 9. Figure 12 Now, one can easily draw the deflection profile as it would be on the tension side of the member as well.

REFERENCES
1. Basic Structural Analysis C S Reddy 2. Structural and Stress Analysis Dr. T H G Megson Figure 9 If we want the deflection profile or the tension side of the entire frame, we just have to see the arrowheads of moments in figure 9. The arrowheads of moments are on the tension side of the frame. Please note that this concept holds good even for any moment which is acting as an external load. Just observe the sides where the arrowhead is emerging out; that will be the tension side. Tension side will change direction at the point where the moment is acting. 32
March 2010

3. Strength of material and structures John Case, Lord Chilver & Carl T F Ross 4. Structural Analysis C K Wang 5. Structural Analysis Pandit and Gupta 6. Elementary Structural analysis A K Jain 7. Matrix Analysis of Framed Structures William Weaver, Jr. and James M. Gere 8. Finite Element Analysis C S Krishnamoorthy 9. And class room notes by Dr M T Venuraju, Dr A Krishnamoorthy, Mr. B H V Pai, and Mr. Kiran Kamath.

Some of the Research being carried out

by Structural Engineering Masters Students at AIT
The Master degree students at the AIT are generally required to carry out an extensive research as part of the requirement for obtaining the degree. This research, in several programs, including the structural Engineering Field of Study may extend to one year (26 credits). The research carried out by the students ranges from purely experimental studies, to purely theoretical development. This year, many of the research topics are following the theme of seismic performance, nonlinear modeling and analysis and related topics. Most of these topics are being supervised by Dr. Pennung Warnitchai and Dr. Naveed Anwar. This article presents a brief overview of some of these topics.

Performance point evaluation through a set of inelastic spectra several enhanced pushover methods in predicting Elevation view of the structures: the response characteristic of RC and steel frame 3 basements and 42 floors building through comparison with benchmark Total height : 140.2 m high rise responses obtained from NL-THA as an exact solution. by Amelia Kusuma, Indonesia

ASSESMEnT OF EnhAnCED PuShOVER AnALYSIS METhODS COnSIDERInG hIGhER-MODE EFFECT FOR TALL BuILDInGS
The shape, height, and complexity of building structures are essentially increasing nowadays. Clients, Architects and Engineers compete with each other to prove themselves in designing unique structures. Performance Based Design (PBD) is a logical design process that gives a solution to achieve a specified performance. Most Codes now incorporate a PBD option as an alternative to its prescriptive requirements. So that the need of the analysis tool to determine the performance of the structure becomes important. Non-linear Static Pushover Analysis (NSPA) has already become a popular tool for analysis these days. For practical reasons, people may choose NSPA over NonLinear Time History Analysis (NLTHA). However, NSPA has an inherent deficiency that its invariant load distribution cannot take the higher-mode effect into consideration which will take an important role for high-rise structures. Attempts had been made to develop NSPA so that the higher-mode effects can be considered. With the increasing number of the modified pushover procedure that have been proposed, it will be useful to identify the limitations of each procedure and compare their effectiveness in determining the seismic demand of the structure. This research investigates high rise effectiveness of

DIAPhRAGM EFFECTS On TALL BuILDInGS, CuRVED In PLAn

Floor and roof systems in buildings have an important role in transferring the lateral load to vertical lateral load resisting (VLLR) elements through diaphragm action. Diaphragm flexibility is one of the major concerns for different configurations of building. Rigid floor diaphragm assumption is reasonable for the seismic analysis of buildings with rectangular or nearly square shape but may not be appropriate for irregular buildings or curved shaped buildings. Most architects and engineers choose the curved shaped buildings than straight building because it is more fascinating from an architectural point of view; also, curved shaped buildings are assumed to increase the lateral load resistance by the nature of their shapes. The main purpose of this paper is to investigate the difference between the rigid floor and flexible floor analyses of the buildings. In this study, a 60-story rectangular building is taken for the analyses and then the rectangular configuration is changed into different curvatures with central angle of 600, 1200 and 1800 by keeping the same overall dimension in each configurations.

Knight Bridge Building, Philippines, a building curved in plan

March 2010

33

Article

All the buildings are analyzed assuming both rigid and flexible diaphragm assumption by using equivalent static analysis, response spectrum analysis and time history analysis. -by Ja San Lu, Myanmar

DETERMInATIOn OF ABuTMEnT RESPOnSE FOR LOnGITuDInAL LOADS AnD MOVEMEnTS

The problem of soil structure interaction and nonlinear response of bridge bearings has been studied extensively by many researchers. However, there are not many references dealing with the overall response of the complete abutment system which includes the bearings, the restraining blocks, the abutment walls, the wing walls, the foundation components and the soil. This paper studies and compares various modeling techniques to effectively capture the response of the abutment system for longitudinal forces and movements including the non linearity and the dynamic characteristics. The paper considers a range of the models including simple support, simple spring model, combination of simple support and linear link model, combination of simple support and non linear link model, full shell model, and combination of shell, solid, and link model. -by Stefani Reni, Indonesia
Approch Slab Gap

APPROPRIATE MODELInG TEChnIquES FOR nOn-LInEAR DYnAMIC AnALYSIS OF ShEAR WALLS

Reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls are widely used in medium to high rise buildings as these walls are very effective in providing resistance and stiffness against the lateral loads imposed by earthquake. RC shear walls in multistory buildings are slender, and behave essentially as vertical cantilever walls. These RC shear walls are expected to deform well into inelastic range and dissipate the energy input by the base motion through stable hysteretic behaviour of structural components. So proper modeling of the load versus deformation behaviour of RC shear walls is essential to predict the important nonlinear response quantities. Flexural behaviour is one of the major concerns in the medium or high rise RC shear walls. In this paper, different modeling techniques like single column model, fiber model and nonlinear layered shell model are presented that represent the flexural behaviour of RC shear walls to various degree of accuracy. The nonlinear responses of RC shear walls are assessed by performing both 2D and 3D nonlinear static (pushover) and nonlinear direct integration time history analyses. -by Rojit Shahi, Nepal

Girder Soil Bearing

Wall Footing

Abutment: Typical Detail

kx

kx

k kx

Discretization of wall cross section into small segments

cx

Fixed Support

DF1

DF2

DF3

shell element with linear properties shear link with linear property Rigid element to enforce deformation compatibility Uniaxial line element with nonlinear properties (Axial Hinge or Nonlinear Link)

cx

k1

k2

k3

c1

c3

Wrinkler pile Foundation

Fiber or Frame Model for Representing Shear Walls

Various Abutment Models

34

March 2010

Two Decades of rapid improvements in performance of

Personal Computers
In the last two decades, there has been 130 times increase in the main processor speed, 16000 times increase in hard disk capacity and 15000 times increase in RAM.
Feature
Processor Speeds

The PC hardware industry develops and enhances the performance and capabilities of systems at a very fast rate. In contrast, the hardware cost continues to drop. The selection of a good system these days does not depend so much on the price tag, but rather on what configuration is required. In this article, we briefly review the specifications of a typical high-end Personal Computer and compare it with the computer hardware available twenty and ten years ago. We also suggest a typical configuration if you need a system with a punch.

Main Processor
The Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition Quad Core Processor is the newest generation of Intel microprocessor. It is brilliantly fast with a Clock speed of 3.33GHz, L2 Cache of 8MB and with a Quick Parth Interface of 6.4GT/s. With faster, intelligent, multi-core technology that applies processing power where it's needed most, new Intel Core i7 processors deliver an incredible breakthrough in PC performance. They are the best desktop processor family on the planet. Youll multi-task applications faster and unleash incredible digital media creation. And youll experience maximum performance for everything you do, thanks to the combination of Intel Turbo Boost Technology and Intel Hyper-Threading technology (Intel HT technology), which maximizes performance to match workload.

1989
80486 DX25 MHz

1999
Pentium III 600 - 733 MHz AMD Athlon 700 MHz 13-36 GB Ultra ATA/66 / Ultra Wide SCSI 512 KB Integrated L2 Cache 64-768 MB

2009
Intel Core i7 975 Extreme Edition Quad Core Processor (3.33GHz,8MB Cache) LGA1336 2TB (2x 1000GB) Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive with 32MB Buffer 8MB Cache

Hard Disk

120 MB

Cache

512 KB

Memory

8GB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM - ( 4x2GB ) 2GB 5970 Graphics Accelerator 30", High Resolution 2560 by 1600 Blu-Ray Combo Optical Drive (Blu-ray ROM, DVD/CD RW) External 1TB Hard Drive 7.1 PCIe Sound Card

Hard Disk
The 2TB (2x 1000GB) Serial ATA 2 Hard Drive with 32MB Buffer has almost 30 times the disk space a decade ago. It has a serial ATA 2 interface, with a speed of 7200rpm and a cache of 32MB buffer. And it can be upgraded up to 6TB (4x 1500GB). This hard disk is ideal for performance desktop computing storing high-resolution images, gaming, multimedia content, and personal and business information.

Video Graphics Monitor

512 KB

8-32 MB

Monochrome / 17" - 19" CRT/LCD VGA 400 x 600 Display, 1600x1200 Resolutiuon Resolution CD-ROM Single Speed 50X speed CD Drive / 8x DVD Drive Zip or LS-120 Drive Recordable CD ROM 64 / 512 voice PCI audio card

CD/DVD ROM Drive

Removable Tape Storage Sound Adapter Modem/ Ethernet Mouse

Memory
The 8GB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM - (4x2GB). It has a memory speed of 1333MHz, with a storage capacity of 2GB x 4 which equals to 8GB and the technology from DDR3 SDRAM. It can also be upgraded up to 12GB 1333MHz Triple Channel DDR3 SDRAM - (6x2GB). These specifications can run any high end graphics, computer models or any 3D applications. SDRAM gives you the advantage of a faster rate.

8 Bit Sound Blaster Card

Optional / Rare 56K V.90 Compatible Data/Fax PCI Serial Mouse Intillimouse / Mouse Man Wheel 102 Keyboard

IEEE 802.11n_2009, 600 Mbit/s Cordless Mouse

Keyboard Installed Software Printer

88 Keyboard MS DOS 4.0 Windows 3 Dot Matrix 8 pin Mouse 1 serial parallel

Cordless Keyboard

Display
The 2 GB 5970 ATI Radeon Graphics Accelerators GDDR5 is engineered for speed, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 the fastest graphics card on the planet. This graphics card is recommended for top performance on both 2D and 3D graphics on computer models.

MS Windows98/ 2000 Windows 7 plus Internet Explore or Netscape 4.x to 5.x Laser/Ink Jet 600-1200 dpi, Color Inkjet, 720 dpi USB, Serial, Parallel, Mouse, Keyboard Multifunction Color Inkjet with High Resolution 5760x1440, Black & White and Color USB, Serial, Parallel, Mouse, Keyboard

I/O Port

Sources: www.meshcomputer.com, www.pcworld.com

March 2010

35

Geo-Modeling on Earth
Google Earth introduces Geo-Modeling, the process of making 3D models of real-life buildings that will appear in Google Earth. There are two ways to make geo modelling. These are Geo-modeling using Google Building Maker and Geo-modeling using Google SketchUp.

Geo-modeling with Google Building Maker

Google Building Maker is an online application specifically for geo-modeling. If the buildings you want to model are located in an area where Building Maker imagery is available, you should choose this method. The process of geo-modeling with Building Maker involves matching basic "building blocks" with images of buildings to create 3D models. The aerial imagery used by Building Maker is provided by Google; you don't need to have any of your own photographs to use it. Building Maker is a free application that runs in your web browser, and imagery is available for dozens of cities around the world. Google Earth in 3D Bangkok

Geo-modeling with Google Sketchup

Google SketchUp is a tool you can use to build 3D models of anything you like including buildings for Google Earth. You should use SketchUp for geo-modeling if you can't use Building Maker or if the buildings you want to model are very complex or unusual. Depending on your level of proficiency with SketchUp, you might choose one of two following modeling methods. SketchUp Beginner: If you're new to SketchUp, you should use the Extruded Footprint method. This method is the easiest to follow and it produces very good results. SketchUp Advanced: If you've been using SketchUp for awhile and are comfortable with how it works, you should try the Matched Photo method of geo-modeling. This technique uses SketchUp's photo-matching feature to build a model based on one or more perspectival photographs of your building. Note that this method only works with uncropped photographs taken from certain angles if you're not able to photograph the building yourself, you should use the Extruded Footprint method.

Baiyoke and Bangkok in 3D

Google 3D Warehouse
The 3D Warehouse is an online repository for sharing 3D models. These models are a combination of user-generated content (models created by non-Google employees) and Google generated content (models created by Google employees).

Rama 8 Bridge 36
March 2010

Source: http://sketchup.google.com/support/ www.earth.google.com

12.2

Version

Fea ture s

New

All-new SAFE is the ultimate integrated tool for designing reinforced and post-tensioned concrete floor and foundation systems. This version introduces versatile 3D object based modeling and visualization tools. Charged with the power of SAPFIRE this release redefines standards in practicality and productivity. From framing layout to detail drawing production, SAFE integrates every aspect of the engineering design process in one easy and intuitive environment.

MODELING

Automated generation of P/T tendon layout for flat slabs Horizontal and vertical tendon profiles with interactive graphical editing Multi-segmented design strips including skews and varying widths Powerful mesh generation options New edge constraint connects mismatched slab meshes Design-strip width automation Automated generation of pattern loading based on panels Automated generation of tendon-profiles using load balancing Strip-based automatic tendon layouts Automated finite element meshing

ANALYSIS

The Equivalent Frame Method (EFM) for designing of 2D reinforced concrete and post-tensioned frames. General 3D analysis model with new fast solvers, including dynamics Stiffness effects of columns, walls and ramps are included Nonlinear analysis for long term creep using moment-curvature and cracked conditions Automatic analysis for secondary post-tensioning stresses for design Nonlinear analysis for no-tension soil supports with uplift Automated prestress loss calculations Lateral loads (wind and seismic) can be considered in models Response-spectrum analysis based on loads and modes imported from ETABS

DESIGN

Slab and beam design for numerous international codes Strip-Based Design with General Strip Definitions Finite Element (FEM) Based Element Design Design of punching-shear reinforcement (stud rails) Automated T-beam Effects Design considers post-tensioning and lateral loads Serviceability and load-transfer design checks for post-tensioning Post-tensioning strength checks with secondary locked-in stresses

Detailing

Fully automated and customizable detailing of slabs, beams and footings Detailer includes post-tensioning, general design strips, slab, and beam offsets User-defined section cuts on slabs, beams, and mats Synchronization of Drawings after Model Modifications Export of detailing output to AutoCAD Simplified Fatigue Analysis Based on API Criteria

Learning from the brain:

Computer Scientists Develop New Generation of Neuro-Computer
Graz University of Technology researchers co-ordinate Brain-i-Nets EU project

The human brain consists of a network of several billion nerve cells. These are joined together by independent connections called synapses. Synapses are changing all the time something scientists name synaptic plasticity. This highly complex system represents a basis for independent thinking and learning. But even today there are still many open questions for researchers. In contrast to todays computers, the brain doesnt carry out a set programme but rather is always adapting functions and reprogramming them anew. Many of these effects have not been explained, comments IGI head Wolfgang Maass together with project co-ordinator Robert Legenstein. In co-operation with neuroscientists and physicists, and with the help of new experimental methods, they want to research the mechanisms of synaptic plasticity in the organism.

Revolutionising the information society

The researchers are hoping to gain new knowledge from this research about the learning mechanisms in the human brain. They want to use this knowledge of learning mechanisms to develop new learning methods for artificial systems which process information. The scientists long-term goal is to develop adaptive computers together which have the potential to revolutionise todays information society. The three-year project is financed by the EU funding framework Future Emerging Technologies (FET), which supports especially innovative and visionary approaches in information technology. International experts chose only nine out of the 176 applications, among which was Brain-i-Nets. Partners of the research initiative worth 2.6m euro include University College London, the Ecole Polytechnique Federale de Lausanne, the French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Ruprecht-KarlsUniversitt Heidelberg und the University of Zurich. Source: ACM TechNews (February 01, 2010 Edition) http://presse.tugraz.at/pressemitteilugen/2010/01.02.2010_englisch.htm

Ann ll for P Ca
&

t n Firsemepetrs c oun
a
Theme Venue Date

The 3 ASIA Conference on Earthquake Engineering

rd

ACEE 2010

: Disaster

: Grand Millenium Sukhumvit, Bangkok, Thailand : 01-03 Dec. 2010

Risk Reduction and Capacity Building for Safer Environments

Important Dates
Deadline for receipt of abstracts (online submission possible) 1 June 2010 Notification of provisional acceptance 1 July 2010 Deadline of receipt of camera-ready manuscripts 15 August 2010 Notification of acceptance of the papers 30 September 2010 Conference 01-03 Dec. 2010
Organized by

Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. (ASEP) The Engineering Institute of Thailand (EIT)

Tokyo Institute of Technology (TIT)

Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)

38

March 2010

Recent Training

and Seminars

In the past few months most of the professional training and seminar activities were carried out either in AIT, Thailand or in Manila, Philippines. The events in the Philippines were mostly customized as special seminars for engineers in some consulting firms whereas the seminars and workshops in AIT were more of general and international nature.

IN THAIlAND
Customized Consultancy
SY2 + Associates, Inc. SY2 + Associates, Inc., maintained a continuous practice of engineering consulting since its inception in 1983. They are one of the largest engineering firms involved in the design of tall buildings in the Philippines. SY2 + Associates, Inc. is a close associate of ACECOMS and has jointly worked in the past and is currently involved in several projects for Performance Based Evaluation and Design, Wind Tunnel Testing etc. ACECOMS has been regularly conducting training and staff development for SY2 + Associates, Inc. On 14-18 September 2009, the President & CEO Engr. Jose A. Sy and Senior Associates Engr. Alexander L. Ty and Engr. Edwin Anthony N. Magsalansan came to ACECOMS and joined one week of extensive interactive discussions and exchange of knowledge on various aspects of Performance Based Seismic Design for their new project, the Lot G Project in the Philippines, which is a high-rise building with a ductile core wall system. During this visit, they were accompanied by ACECOMS Engineers Thaung Hut Aung and Deepak Rayamajhi.

ACECOMS staff and Managing and Senior Directors of SY2 + Associates, Inc.

Customized Training on Analysis & Design of RC/PT

Advanced Engineering Consultants Co. Ltd. (AEC) Recently, ACECOMS carried out the structural analysis and design of Lagos Badagry crossing bridge project in Nigeria, in association with the local design firm Advanced Engineering Consultants Co. Ltd. (AEC). In 22-28 September 2009 three senior structural engineers from AEC visited ACECOMS to undergo a special training and seminar on the effective modelling, analysis and design of bridges using SAP2000. The engineers also visited many bridge projects in Bangkok and discussed possible future collaborations.

ACECOMS Engineers and Engineers from SY2 + Associates, Inc.

The engineers from AEC Engr. Idris Lawal Akinremi, Engr. Adekunle Abidemi Allo, and Engr. Yinka Temitope Ayantoyinbo with ACECOMS Director in his office
March 2010

39

Recent Training and Seminars

Engineers from AEC and ACECOMS on a site visit to Mega Bridge in Bangkok

Intensive Workshop on Performance Based Design

Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP) The awareness and demand for Performance Based Structural Design is increasing significantly in many countries especially in high seismic risk areas such as Philippines. In October, ten members of the Association of Structural of the Philippines (ASEP) including the present and past Presidents of ASEP and members of the executive committees visited ACECOMS for a three day special workshop on Performance Based Design and its applications. During their stay they also visited the AIT structural laboratories and the AIT-Thammasat Wind Tunnel facilitated by Dr. Pennung Warnitchai, the Structural Engineering Field of study Coordinator. In addition to the main presenters, some of the structural engineering students presented their research work related to non-linear modelling and push over analysis.

Dr. Pennung Warnitchai and the ASEP participants inside the wind tunnel Presenters
Dr. Naveed Anwar Dr. Pennung Warnitchai Engr. Keerati Tunthasuwattana Engr Thaung Hut Aung Engr. Deepak Rayamajhi Ms. Amelia Kusuma Mr. Rojit Shahi ACECOMS Director Structural Engineering Field Coordinator ACECOMS Manager ACECOMS Structural Engineer ACECOMS Structural Engineer Senior Structural Engineering Student Senior Structural Engineering Student

Participants
Harry Ting Wong Vickie Tan Wong Adam C. Abinales Cesar C. Pabalan Christopher P.T. Tamayo Frederick Francis M. Sison Virgilio B. Columna Maricon C. Pineda Tony C. Pimentel Woody M. Cabardo

Customized Workshop on Modeling, Analysis and Design of Structures

Engineers from Department of Highway, Thailand The Department of Highways (DOH) oversees the design, construction and management of all of the Highways and Bridges in Thailand on 4-5 November 2009. ACECOMS carried out a customized training and workshop for the 30 engineers of DOH on effective modeling, analysis and design of structures using hands-on approach.

ASEP participants during the workshop

40

March 2010

Recent Training and Seminars

A special seminar was conducted by Dr. Naveed Anwar on 21 March2009 for the structural engineers at Hyder Consulting office in Manila working on the design of tall buildings, the seminar focused on the special modelling issues and techniques and effective use of ETABS and SAFE software. The seminar was attended by more than twenty engineers ranging from heads of the design section to the fresh graduates.

Software users Forum for Structural Analysis Design

The DOH engineers attending the hands-on seminar Quezon City Sports Club A Software Users Forum was held in Quezon City at the Quezon City Sports Club from 18-20 March 2009. The forum had different topics each day; Day 1 - Analysis and Design of Buildings using ETABS 9.5, Day 2 Analysis and Design of Slabs and Foundation System using SAFE12.0 and Day 3 Analysis and Design of Structure using SAP2000 V12. This forum was conducted by Dr. Naveed Anwar, Engr. Keerati Tunthasuwattana and Engr. Thaung Hut Aung who specially travelled to interact with the engineers and discuss their modelling and analysis issues.

A group photo of DOH workshop participants

In PHILIPPInES
After Thailand, Philippines is fast becoming the centre of ACECOMS activities in almost all areas including conferences, seminars, workshops, projects and professional collaboration. The highlights of some of the activities are included below.

Seminar
Hyder Consulting Philippines Inc. Hyder Consulting is a multi-national advisory and design consultancy with particular specialisation in sructural, transport, utilities, property and environmental solutions. With nearly 5,000 people across the UK, Europe, Middle East, Asia and Australia, they offer clients the benefit of global expertise coupled with local knowledge. Their office in the Philippines is located in Makati City at the 9th floor, Tower 2 of The Enterprise Center.

Dr. Naveed interacting with the participants of the forum

Dr. Naveed Anwar, presenting during the forum

March 2010

41

Recent Training and Seminars

honorary Membership of the Association to the ACECOMS Director naveed Anwar, D. Eng.
Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. (ASEP) The President of the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP) Adam C. Abinales, F. ASEP along with several members of the executive board and other prominent engineers from the Philippines bestowed the Honorary Membership of ASEP to Dr. Naveed Anwar, ACECOMS Director on 16 November 2009 at the International Hotel, Makati City. He was also presented with a plaque that reads As resolved by the incumbent Board of Directors, in profound recognition of his valuable contribution to the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. (ASEP) for more than ten years as a resource speaker or member of the international advisory committees of various International Conferences and Seminars organized by ASEP geared towards the professional developement of structural engineers in the Philippines specifically in the field of advanced computing technology, and in grateful appreciation of his efforts of making relevant trainings and quality software more accessible and affordable to ASEP members, making Filipino structural engineers more globally competitive. This is a great honour for Dr. Naveed Anwar as well as ACECOMS and it is highly appreciated.

The venue of the event was the Great Eastern Hotel (formerly Aberdeen Court) in Quezon Avenue, Quezon City. During this event Dr. Naveed Anwar together with Engr. Thaung Hut Aung presented one technical paper in the plenary session titled "Modeling of Shear Walls for Non-Linear and Pushover Analysis of Tall Buildings." Dr. Naveed Anwar also conducted a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Lecture. The CPD Lecture was an "Overview of Pushover Analysis of Buildings." This lecture provided a consolidated theoretical background and practical knowledge on Performance Based Design and Pushover Analysis of Buildings. It also demonstrated the effective usage of modern computing tools for carrying out Performance Based Design and Pushover Analysis.

Establishment / Designation of Collaboration

ACECOMS and ASEP The Asian Center for Engineering Computations and Software (ACECOMS) has been actively collaborating with and supported by the Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP) for the development of structural engineers and the structural engineering profession in the Philippines since 2001. To further enhance and to formalize this corporation, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between ASEP and ACECOMS on 30 October 2009. The purpose of MoUs is to enable cooperation between ACECOMS and ASEP in the promotion of professional activities for mutual benefit. The activities under the scope of this MoU are software development, professional training and human resource development, research and development and publication and member services.

A Plaque and a certificate presented to Dr. Naveed Anwar

14th ASEP International Convention

Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines, Inc. (ASEP) The Association of Structural Engineers of the Philippines (ASEP) held its 14th ASEP International Convention on 21-22 May 2009 with the theme of "Structural Engineering: Coping with Global Crisis".

ACECOMS Team visits Manila to meet with Project Clients, Developers and Consultants
Currently, ACECOMS is working on several projects in the Philippines ranging from evaluation of causes of Slab Deflection to full Performance Based Design Analysis and Design of 76 storey building. ACECOMS team comprising of Dr. Naveed Anwar, Engr. Keerati Tunthasuwattana, Engr. Thaung Hut Aung and Engr. Deepak Rayamjhi visited Phil-

42

March 2010

Recent Training and Seminars

ippines on more than one occasion to discuss the progress, issues and outcomes of the projects in progress. Meetings were held with Century Properties, Inc., Ayala Land Inc., SY2 + Associates, Inc., R.S. Caparros & Associates, and ARUP.

Modeling, Analysis, and Design of Bridge Structures The Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE), an organization of the Civil Engineers in the Philippines organized a Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Seminar on 23 May 2009 at National Office, Port Area, Bonifacio Drive, Manila in Cooperation with the Asian Center for Engineering Computations and Software (ACECOMS), Associate Center (DLSU, Manila). The CPE Seminar was conducted by the Director of ACECOMS Dr. Naveed Anwar with the theme "Computer-Aided Modeling, Analysis and Design of Bridges (Various Approaches)". The objectives of the seminar were to provide an overview of the theoretical and practical background on analysis & design of various types of bridge structures with a special focus on RC bridges, and to introduce the use of current computing tools for the modeling, analysis, and design of bridge structures. The seminar used SAP 2000 software that provides powerful capabilities for modeling a wide range of structures, including bridges, dams, tanks, and buildings.

PICE CPE Seminar

The 9th International Symposium on Ferrocement and Thin Reinforced Cement Composites with the theme "Green Technology for Housing and Infrastructure Construction" was held on 18-20 May 2009 in Bali, Indonesia. Dr. Naveed Anwar, Dr. Pennung Warnitchai and Engr. Keerati Tunthasuwattana published a paper, "Finite element based analysis and design of sandwich panel structures". This paper described the evaluation and application of sandwich panels consisting of two concrete/ ferrocement surfaces, separated by a layer of fill material for a residential building. It was based on laboratory testing of components and subsystems, and a finite element based analysis using the results obtained from the testing with special focus on the seismic resistance.

IN CAMBODIA
Seminar on Modeling, Analysis and Design of high-Rise Building Structures
Mony Engineering Consultants Ltd. (MEC) The Mony Engineering Consultants Ltd. (MEC) organized a seminar on Modeling, Analysis and Design of High-Rise Building Structures. The seminar was held in Institut de Technologie du Cambodge (ITC), Phnom Penh, Cambodia on 2728 August 2009. Fifty bachelor students from the Institute attended the seminar conducted by ACECOMS Manager Engr. Keerati Tunthasuwattana.

A group photo of the participants of PICE Continuing Professional Education (CPE) Seminar

Institut de Technologie du Cambodge (ITC) venue of the seminar.

In InDOnESIA
9th International Symposium on Ferrocement and Thin Reinforced Cement Composites

ACECOMS Manager Engr. Keerati Tunthasuwattana with the participants.

March 2010

43

Recent Training and Seminars

BAnGLADESh TRAInInG In BAnGLADESh

Seismic Evaluation and Retrofitting Design of Masonry and Reinforced Concrete Structures
Engineering Staff College, Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh Bangladesh is one of the developing countries that lies on the active seismicity area. Many of the buildings that are already built may not be adequate to resist strong earthquake ground motions. Therefore, Bangladesh government officials and the public are interested in evaluating the seismic performance of old buildings and retrofit them in order to reduce the potential disaster due to failure of structure during a strong earthquake. ACECOMS has conducted a three day training on the Seismic Evaluation and Retrofitting Design of Masonry and Reinforced Concrete Structures. The training was held from 21-23 January 2010 in association with the Engineering Staff College, Dhaka Bangladesh. A team of three resource persons Dr. Pennung Warnitchai (Associate Professor at AIT), Dr. Naveed Anwar (Director of ACECOMS) and Mr. Deepak Rayamajhi (Research Associate of ACECOMS) conducted the training. Engineers from different sectors (Private, Government, and Army) participated in this training, with a large group from the Public Works Department (PWD), which is a government institution managing all the public building infrastructure in Bangladesh. More than fifty participants attended the seminar, which shows the great interest of Bangladesh engineers in this subject. The aims of the training were to disseminate the knowledge of current state of art technology and provide enough background and skills to use this information in their future work. Dr. Pennung presented the current seismic status and vulnerability of buildings present in Bangladesh, along with several measures and advanced techniques related to improving the seismic performance of vulnerable buildings. Dr. Anwar discussed the detailed methodology to perform the seismic evaluation and retrofitting, whereas Mr. Rayamajhi helped the engineers to get familiar with the tools and implementation of those tools to perform seismic evaluation and retrofitting. Dr. Pennung Warnitchai discusses during the seminar A view of the participants in the classroom for the Training Course on Seismic Evaluation and Retrofitting Design of Masonry and RC Structures

Engr. Malik Sikdan, the superintendent Engineer of the PWD, Prof. Hannan, the Rector of ESCB with the resource speakers

The closing ceremony of the seminar was presided over by the President of the Institute of Engineers in Bangladesh Dr. S. M. Nazrul Islam, the Chief Engineer of Public Works Department (PWD) Engr. Dewan Md. Yamin was the special guest. The Rector of Engineering Staff College Prof. M. A. Hannan presenting ther overview of the seminar, and the resource person from ACECOMS Dr. Naveed Anwar seated next to him

44

March 2010

News
PROFESSOR WORSAK KAnOK-nuKuLChAI

and Updates
new Developments in ACECOMS

Appointed as the Vice President for The last few months there have been many developments in ACECOMS officer. The entire office Resource Development for AIT
Professor Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, the founder of ACECOMS as well as its Director from its inception until 2008 has been appointed as the Vice President for Resource Development of the Asian Institute of Technology. Prior to this appointment , he was the Dean of the School of Civil Engineering and Technology for more than 5 years. Professor Worsak Kanok-Nukulchai, obtained his bachelor degree in Engineering at Chulalongkorn University in 1971. He finished his Masters in Structural Engineering in 1973 here in AIT and received the Top Student Award with a 4.0 GPA. Later, he received his Doctoral Degree in Structural Engineering and Structural Mechanics in 1978 at the University of California in Berkeley, California, USA as a Fulbright Scholar. Prof. Worsak is a well known and recognized international expert in the development of finite elements and other fields related to computational mechanics. He has been the chair of organizing committees to many international conferences including IABSE 2009 and EASEC 10.

has been renovated and upgraded both in terms of physical space and equipment. Three more staff members have joined ACECOMS; two of them are Research Associates and one as Administrative Assistant. Engr. Deepak Rayamjhi who recently graduated from AIT in Structural Engineering at the top of his class is now working as a Research Associate on several projects and developments. Engr. Anil Ratna Shakya rejoined ACECOMS as Research Associate after 2 years of working with Nichad Thani as Project Engineer. Mr. Suradej Thanakorn is now helping and supporting office activities. The ACECOMS website is being redeveloped and updated and is expected to be launched in early 2010.

DR. nITIn AFzuLPuRKAR

Selected as the new Dean of School of Engineering and Technology (SET) The Higher Education Commission of Pakistan
Dr. Nitin Afzulpurkar, an Associate Professor in Mechatronics and Microelectronics has been selected as the new Dean of the School of Engineering and Technology (SET). He has been the Associate Dean of SET from 2004-2008.

Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan to offer scholarships for Doctoral Studies at AIT

(HEC) has recently announced scholarships for students to pursue their doctoral studies in various universities around the world including AIT. At present, there are 45 HEC scholars at AIT enrolled in a special integrated 5 years Masters leading to Doctoral degree program. Dr. Naveed Anwar is actively involved in coordinating efforts between AIT and HEC.

March 2010

45

AIT Outsources its Infrastructure Management to Sodexo

AIT has outsourced the management of all of its non-core infrastructure facilities to SODEXO which is a world leader in Food and Facilities Management Services. Dr. Naveed Anwar was the chair of the committee tasked to formulate the Infrastructure Facility Management (IFM) contract and was also the member of the transition monitoring team, and the advisory committees for operation of the contract.

Concrete Mechanics

Quiz
strengths at a strain of about 0.003. (TRUE/FALSE)

1) All types of unconfined concretes reach their ultimate

2) The ductility of a column is always larger at the axial load levels below the balanced failure rather than at the axial load level above the balance failure. (TRUE/FALSE)

Verification Test for Roof Truss System

CPAC Roof Tile Co. Ltd., manufacturing company for roof tile and roof structures under the Siam Cement Group (SCG) has engaged the services of ACECOMS and CASE Co. Ltd. to create the software for analysis, design and detailing of their roof truss system and to verify the design reliability. To ensure the safety of the roof truss system, a full scale testing and cantilever testing of the trusses was carried out at the structural engineering laboratories at AIT. The load testing and verification was jointly supervised by Dr. Sun Sayamipuk, Senior Laboratory Supervisor and Engr. Keerati Tunthasuwattana, ACECOMS Manager, along with representatives from CPAC Roof Tile Co. Ltd. Recommendations were made to improve the detailing of the trusses based on the test results.

3) According to the ACI-318, shear strength of concrete is always considered in the shear design of beams against the earthquake induced shear force. (TRUE/FALSE)

4) Strut and tie approach always gives a unique design solution. (TRUE/FALSE)

5) Strut and tie model always gives lower-bound (safe) capacity. (TRUE/FALSE)

6) Strain at the point of rupture of high strength concretes is larger than that of normal strength concretes. (TRUE/FALSE)

7) What are the effects on the ductility of unconfined concrete beam by increasing the following strength of materials? a. Does the ductility of the beam increase or decrease if the yield strength of the tension steel is increased? b. Does the ductility of the beam increase or decrease
Roof truss system for full scale testing.

if the compressive strength of the concrete is increased? 8. Depth of the neutral axis at balanced failure is independent of strength of concrete. (TRUE/FALSE) 9) Diagonal bars in the coupling beams are ineffective if the beam depth to span ratio is small. (TRUE/FALSE) 10) A flexural Beam theory is invalid in D-regions of beams.

Roof truss system for cantilever testing. 46

March 2010

(TRUE/FALSE) Answers on page 48

Research and Consultancy Projects

ACECOMS provides expertise and services in a vast area falling under the general category of computations in engineering. The main areas of expertise are design reviews, laboratory testing, investigation of failures, software development, structural system development, and infrastructure design and development. Projects under these categories have been undertaken around the globe and have been successfully completed. Some of the current and completed projects are summarized below:

Structural Performance Evaluation with Special Focus on Splice Location in a new Office Building
One of the leading construction companies in Philippines has engaged the service of ACECOMS to carry out the Structural Performance Evaluation with special focus on the effect of the location of splices in the reinforced concrete columns and beams in a new office building in Metro Manila. The main objective of this project was to evaluate the applicability of the appropriate reinforcement detailing for special moment resisting frames specified in ACI 318-02, especially related to the location of splices in columns and beams. In particular, typical bays of the building were selected to investigate the performance of the structure and response at the lap splice

Structural Design Review of 42-Story Tower in Manila

One major developer in Philippines has engaged the service of ACECOMS to carry out the Structural Design Review of 42-story building, with an approximate floor area of 50,000 sq.m., in Makati, Philippines. The tower is a reinforced concrete building, with a primary lateral load resisting system comprised of shear walls and moment resisting frame.

locations. After that, the finite element model was created using the hinges in accordance with FEMA 356 to model the nonlinear behavior of members. The hinges in the compression lap splice regions were modified by reducing the moment capacity of FEMA hinge with different percentages. Pushover analysis was conducted to check the overall performance of selected frames and the local performance of the members at the location of lap splices. It was found that no yielding has occurred in the hinges at the lap splice regions in both beams and columns until 30 % reduction of moment capacity, i.e. less likelihood of lap splice failure in the representative frame.

First, overall structural behavior of the building including static and dynamic responses under the gravity and lateral loads was evaluated. The natural time periods, base shear, inter-story drifts and maximum lateral deflection were checked in the initial review of the building. Next, the structural design verification was performed in accordance with ACI 318-05 and UBC 97. In addition, sequential construction analysis was carried out and the design was also checked for the sequential construction analysis results. It was concluded that the overall design of the building was within the margin of safety in accordance with the codes whereas a minority of the members were overstressed due to the differences in the design assumptions, modeling techniques and analysis methods.

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47

Structural Design Review for Investigation of Deflected Slab

A developer in Philippines has engaged the service of ACECOMS to carry out the structural design review for investigation of deflected slab in a building in Metro Manila. Based on the site survey, the deflection of the slab was 9 cm approximately. First, the concrete core samples at the different locations of the floor slab were tested to determine the actual compressive strength of the concrete. After that, several finite element models were cre-

Analysis and Design of Extended Stack Structure

ated with various complexities and design parameters to analyze and investigate the possible causes of the observed deflection in the slab system. Effects of moment yielding in the slab section were considered to redistribute the moment where the moment capacity was less than the demand. Through a parametric study, it was found that one of the possible reasons for the observed deflection in site was the casting of slab with the thickness and concrete strength which were less than the design specifications. Another possible reason was the concrete cover in slab which was larger than the design specification, with an additional load from concrete toping used for floor leveling.

One of the leading engineering companies in refrigeration, food machineries and petrochemical processing, has engaged the service of ACECOMS for the analysis and design of extended stack structure for a petrochemical processing industry in Rayong, Thailand. The existing stack is 80 m high and supported with a steel guyed structure. This stack will be extended to 120 m height and supported with free steel free stand tower. Then, the existing structure will be removed after the new structure is completed.
Answers from page 46
1. FALSE 2. TRUE 3. FALSE 4. FALSE 9. TRUE 5. TRUE 10. TRUE 6. FALSE 7. a. decreases, b. increases 8. TRUE

Technology Predictions for 2010

Telegraph.co.uk (12/24/09) Richmond, Shane; Barnett, Emma; Warman, Matt; et al. Among the technology trends predicted for next year is the advent of mainstream broadbandenabled television, with the BBC and other U.K. players participating in Project Canvas. The initiative involves the installation of a set-top box with an Internet link, establishing a means to access Web sites and their content via the TV. Although the popularity of Twitter signals that real-time social networks have become well-entrenched, the challenge remains in gathering their short-form contents together in a genuinely practical format. Twitter is saturated with people's opinions, which makes it 48
March 2010

nearly impossible to present them in a manner in which their relative merits are apparent. Augmented reality also is poised to progress in 2010, having already been a hit with early tech-savvy adopters in such applications as compasses and global positioning systems in cell phones. Location-based games are expected to proliferate while navigation displays will shift from bird's-eye-view map-based schematics to arrows on the road. Meanwhile, three-dimensional (3D) TV is on the way, with both Panasonic and Sky verifying that they will release 3D TVs and Sky's announced rollout of a dedicated 3D channel. The unknown factor is whether consumers will be willing to adopt the technology, and the initial cost of the 3D TVs is expected to be high. Another challenge the technology will need to overcome is consumers' resistance to wearing special glasses while watching TV, at least until next-generation TVs with screens that automatically perform 3D rendering appear.
(December 30, 2009 Edition)

Source: ACM TechNews

Natural Disasters
2009 SAMOA EARThquAKE The 2009 Samoa earthquake was an 8.0 magnitude submarine earthquake that took place in the Samoan Islands region at 06:48:11 local time on 29 September 2009 (17:48:11 UTC, September 29). It is the largest earthquake so far in 2009. On 26 September 2009 Ketsana brought the worst rainfall to Metro Manila and nearby provinces in Luzon, Philippines resulting landslide and severe flooding which left at least 246 people dead and 38 others missing. Public and private roads were clogged by vehicles stuck in floodwater. Thousands of motorists and more than 500 passengers were stranded at the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx). Ketsana also caused the shutting down of flights and operations at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) for almost a day. The damage to property was estimated to be approximately U$238 million including damage to infrastructure, damage to schools and damage to agriculture.

2009

The 2009 Natural Disasters affects the environment, and leads to financial, environmental and/or human losses. "Disasters occur when hazards meet vulnerability."To give us some glimpsed from the recent natural disasters from different parts of the globe:

A tsunami was generated which caused substantial damage and loss of life in Samoa, American Samoa, and Tonga. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center recorded a 3-inch (76 mm) rise in sea levels near the epicenter. The quake occurred on the outer rise of the Kermadec-Tonga Subduction Zone. This is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, where tectonic plates in the earth's lithosphere meet and earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. While, On 29 September 2009 Ketsana made Countries affected by the tsunami in the its landfall in Vietnam at mid-afternoon, at areas that were hit are American Samoa, about 37 miles south of Da Nang, Quang Samoa and Tonga where more than 189 Nam. Ketsana's maximum winds were repeople have been killed, most of them in ported at 167 km/h (104 mph) with gusts as Samoa. Large waves with no major dam- strong as 204 km/h (127 mph) as it crossed age were reported on the coasts of Fiji, the over the South China Sea and approached northern coast of New Zealand and Raro- land. Vietnamese government evacuated tonga in the Cook Islands as well. some 170,000 people as floodwater rose Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Samoa_earth- high to the country's six central provinces. quake Airports, schools, communications and power lines in the affected area were shut down. Strong winds also destroyed parts of the North-South high voltage power line, the backbone of Vietnam's electricity grid. The typhoon killed 23 people during the first hours after landfall and has claimed at least 163 lives in Vietnam, 17 people missing and 616 people were injured. Total damage of Ketsana is estimate at $785 million.[ Tsunami 2009, Pago Pago
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Tsunami_2009_ Pago_Pago.jpg

weakening cyclone moved through Thailand, widespread heavy rainfall and flash flooding were reported in 40 provinces. The heavy rainfall also helped to fill up natural reservoirs within the country. The depression partially damaged 4,680 houses, destroyed 44 houses as well as 820,000 acres (330, 000 hectares) of agricultural land. Ketsana also injured a person and caused the deaths of two people before moving out of the country as an area of low pressure, and dissipating on October 3 over the Andaman sea. Three dams in Chaiya-poom were damaged by the heavy rainfall, whilst in Pattaya; nine boats sunk after waves of over two meters were reported. The weakening typhoon also strucked northeastern Cambodia with the worst damage in Kampong Thom province in central Cambodia. Death tolls from the storm, one of the most severe ever to lash Cambodia, reached 43 people. Also more than 66,000 families were forced from their homes by floodwaters. Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoon_Ketsana http://daveslandslideblog.blogspot.com/2009/12/ munich-res-list-of-largest-disasters-of.html 2009 SuMATRA EARThquAKE (InDOnESIA)

TYPhOOn KETSAnA hITS SOuTh EAST ASIA, EAST ASIA (PhILIPPInES, VIETnAM, LAOS, ThAILAnD AnD CAMBODIA) Typhoon Ketsana formed early on September 26, 2009, about 860 km (535 mi) to the northwest of Palau.

The September 2009 Sumatra earthquake occurred just off the southern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia The major shock hit at 17:16:10 local time on September 30, 2009 (10:16:10 UTC) and had a moment magnitude of 7.6. The epicenter was 45 kilometers (28 mi) west-northwest of Padang , Sumatra, and 220 kilometers At the evening of the same day, Ketsana (140 mi) southwest of Pekanbaru , Sumoved towards Laos. Currently there is ma- matra. Early death-toll estimates extended jor flooding in Southern and Central Prov- beyond 1,300. inces. The water height is up to knee height The quake toppled buildings and started in the province of Saravane, at least 26 peomany landslides, smashing homes and swalple died. Famine is possible later on as the lowing up entire villages. As rescue workers typhoon moves through the country. The arrived and residents tried their best to dig floods devastated rice fields and homes. Atout and help the survivors, another unretapeu is the worst effected where nearly 90% lated quake with a magnitude of 6.6 struck of the province was affected. less than 1,000 km south of the original epiKetsana moved into Thailand as a tropical center. Each of the two quakes had at least depression early On September 30 as the one aftershock greater than 5.0 as well.
March 2010

49

down from the surrounding hills and cliffs clogging the streets with debris and grime, carrying away people, cars, and dwellings. It was believed that nine inches of rain fell in a space of three hours. As of 8 October 2009, seven people were still missing and at least 450 inhabitants of Soldiers and volunteers carry an earthquake victim the comuni were left homeless by the sudfrom a collapsed hotel in Padang on Indonesia's Sumatra island October 1, 2009. (REUTERS/ den extreme weather. It is said to be the Muhammad Fitrah/Singgalang Newspaper) worst landslide disaster in Italy since 1998 during which 137 people died in Sarno, Ref: http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/10/2009_ near Naples. sumatra_earthquakes.html Government reports have to date confirmed 1,115 dead, 1,214 severely injured and 1,688 slightly injured. The most deaths occurred in the areas of Padang Pariaman (675), Padang (313), Agam (80) and Pariaman (37). In addition, around 135,000 houses were severely damaged, 65,000 houses were moderately damaged and 79,000 houses were slightly damaged. An estimated 250,000 families (1,250,000 people) have been affected by the earthquake through the total or partial loss of their homes and livelihoods. 2009 MESSInA FLOODS AnD MuDSLIDES (ITALY)
Ref: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2009_Messina_ floods_and_mudslides

population however its ash emissions may threaten air travel in the region.

Russias Sarychev VolcanoErupts. This NASA photo taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station shows the Sarychev volcano in the early stages of eruption on Russias Kuril Islands on June 12, 2009. (UPI Photo/NASA) Ref: http://www.upi.com/Top_ News/2009/10/05/Russian-volcanos-eruptionsintensifying/UPI-53481254759237/ TROPICAL STORM GRACE BRInGS ACTIVITY TO ATLAnTIC huRRICAnE BASIn

The 2009 Messina floods and mudslides which occurred on the night of 12 October killed at least 28 people, mainly on the Ionian coast in the Province of Messina but also affected other parts of northeastern Sicily. The places which suffered the Train station in Giampilieri most damage were Giampilieri Superiore, Ref: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d0/ a small frazione 10 kilometres south of the city of Messina, the comune of Scaletta KLYuChEVSKOY Zanclea, and the frazione of Briga Supe- VOLCAnO COMES TO LIFE riore. On Russias Kamchatka Peninsula, 5 Oct. The heavy downpour of rain was accom2009 the Klyuchevskoy volcano was eruptpanied by strong winds and lightning, ing and could be seen by astronauts on the provoked devastating mudslides; which International Space Station. Klyuchevskoy combined with the extreme nature of the is Eurasias tallest active volcano and is weather meant people had little time to known to erupt about once every two years. flee buildings or vehicles as mud swept The 15,584 mountain is not a threat to any
Tropical Storm Grace

It has been a quiet hurricane season in the Atlantic on 5 Oct. 2009 Tropical Storm Ref:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/ Grace has arrived. The storm has weakened article-1217685/Thirteen-people-killed-mudslidesslightly but still has sustained winds of 65 mph. Located 575 miles southwest of Cork, Ireland, Grace is moving toward the northnortheast at 31 mph. tropical storm-force winds; however, no damage was reported. Ref: http://www.examiner.com/x-25803-Natural-Disasters-Examiner~y2009m10d5-Naturaldisaster-report-for-October-5-2009

A collapsed building in the village of Scaletta Zanclea, near the Sicilian town of Messina, after the mudslides

Tropical Storm Grace satellite photo. (Stormpulse) Ref: http://www.upi.com/Top News/2009/10/05/Russian-volcanos-eruptionsintensifying/UPI-53481254759237/

Klyuchevskoy volcano Eruption

Messina Floods and Mudslides

Typhoon Ketsana hits South East Asia, East Asia

Sumatra Earthquake Samoa Earthquake

50

March 2010

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Professional Structural Engineering Software

Various Structural Engineering softwares are available at ACECOMS to comply to your needs. These softwares vary from simple unit converter modules to highly sophisticated and integrated state-of-the-art structural engineering applications.

State-of-the-art 3D Finite Element Technology for Structural Engineering

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