Publications related to Limit state design

Influence of fiber orientation on the tensile behavior of UHPFRC and reinforced UHPFRC under static and fatigue loadings

Ultra-high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composite (UHPFRC) is a modern class of cementitious building materials. Because of its superior mechanical properties and durability, it is increasingly used globally to rehabilitate, strengthen and mod ...

EPFL2024

Influence of model uncertainty and long term deformations in action effects calculation in reinforced concrete structures

Xhemsi Malja

Most codes of practice adopt a semi probabilistic design approach for the dimensioning and assessment of structures. Accordingly, structural safety is ensured by performing limit state verifications using design values determined with adequately calibrated ...

EPFL2024

Full-Scale Experiments of Cyclically Loaded Welded Moment Connections with Highly Dissipative Panel Zones and Simplified Weld Details

Dimitrios Lignos, Andronikos Skiadopoulos

This paper presents the experimental results of two welded unreinforced flange-welded web (WUF-W) beam-to-column connections that defy the current design paradigm of prequalified welded connections. The proposed WUF-W connections feature customized beveled ...

2023

Exploring the potential of the critical shear crack theory for reinforced and post-tensioned glass beams: Initial analysis and experiments

Alain Nussbaumer, Pieter Christian Louter, Jagoda Cupac

In the evolution of structural glass beam elements, the requirements for post-fracture load bearing capacity and safe failure behaviour have led to the development of reinforced and post-tensioned beams. Maximum bending capacity in the post-fracture state ...

2023

Selection of informative monitoring techniques for bridge-performance evaluations

Eugen Brühwiler, Numa Joy Bertola

Decisions regarding the management of civil infrastructure are becoming more crucial as a large share of bridges is presently approaching what is often considered to be the end of their theoretical service duration. Evaluating existing structures using a d ...

Trinity College2023

Experimental testing and structural analysis of composite tile – reinforced concrete domes

Savvas Saloustros

Conventional formworks for concrete curved shells either are expensive, complex and wasteful or have formal restrictions. Using tile vaults (also known as timbrel, Guastavino, thin-tile or Catalan vaults) as stay-in-place formwork for concrete shells could ...

2023

Experimental Evaluation and Modeling of Residual Stress Distributions for Hot-Rolled Wide Flange Steel Members

Dimitrios Lignos, Albano António De Abreu E Presa De Castro E Sousa, Andronikos Skiadopoulos

Local and member instability modes in structural steel members are influenced by initial geometric imperfections and residual stresses among other parameters. The robustness of stability-related design provisions and finite element modeling procedures of s ...

2023

Experimental Investigation of the Inelastic Cyclic Behavior of Concrete-Filled Double-Skin Tubular Beam-Columns with Corrugated Inner Skins and Ultrahigh-Strength Corner Tubes

Dimitrios Lignos, Mojtaba Farahi

This paper presents the experimental results from nine full-scale concrete-filled double-skin tubular (CFDST) beam-columns. The test specimens exploited two fabrication strategies, featuring either hollow steel inner skins with corrugated geometry or ultra ...

ASCE-AMER SOC CIVIL ENGINEERS2022

Inverse Analysis of R-UHPFRC Beams to Determine the Flexural Response under Service Loading and at Ultimate Resistance

Eugen Brühwiler, Emmanuel Denarié, Bartlomiej Wojciech Sawicki

Ultra high performance fiber reinforced cementitious composites (UHPFRCs) have demonstrated their outstanding efficiency as structural materials. Determination of the bending resistance of members combining UHPFRC with steel reinforcement bars (R-UHPFRC) u ...

2022

Considerations on the partial safety factor format for reinforced concrete structures accounting for multiple failure modes

Aurelio Muttoni, Miguel Fernández Ruiz, Qianhui Yu

The increasing usage of nonlinear analyses for the design of reinforced concrete structures and the necessity of codes of practice to provide a consistent safety format for them is one of the challenges that new generations of codes of practice are facing. ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2022

Latest findings on the behaviour factor q for the seismic design of URM buildings

Katrin Beyer

Recent earthquakes as the 2012 Emilia earthquake sequence showed that recently built unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings behaved much better than expected and sustained, despite the maximum PGA values ranged between 0.20-0.30 g, either minor damage or str ...

SPRINGER2022

Engineering of Existing Structures: The Need and Place for Non-destructive Evaluation

Eugen Brühwiler, Numa Joy Bertola, Thomas Schumacher

Structural engineers today are still educated mainly to design new structures. This ignores the fact that structures already exist and need to be maintained. Students are thus often ill-equipped to deal with maintenance and preservation of existing structu ...

2022

Deep Q-learning agent for building earthquake resisting wall

Katrin Beyer, Qianqing Wang, Ketson Roberto Maximiano Dos Santos

The construction of dry-joint brick masonry that is subject to seismic loading can be modelled as a strategy problem wherein bricks must be laid to form a load resisting structure. To learn how to mount bricks while considering relevant engineering criteri ...

2022

Post-tensioning of glass beams: Analytical determination of the allowable pre-load

Alain Nussbaumer, Pieter Christian Louter, Jagoda Cupac

The effectiveness of post-tensioning in enhancing the fracture resistance of glass beams depends on the level of compressive pre-stress introduced at the glass edge surface that will in service be exposed to tensile stresses induced by bending. Maximum pre ...

2021

Reliability analysis of welded stud shear connectors on simply-supported bridge girders

Scott Walbridge, Matthew James Sjaarda

This paper examines the reliability of welded stud shear connectors for steel-concrete composite bridge girders. A finite element model of a simply-supported bridge was created featuring link connector elements representing the shear studs between beam and ...

CANADIAN SCIENCE PUBLISHING2021

Combined Shear-Flexural Verification Of In Plane Loaded Reinforced And Unreinforced Masonry Walls

Lorenzo Benedetti

The safety verification of in-plane loaded masonry panels requires the evaluation of at least three different collapse conditions connected with overturning, shear sliding, and shear - compression failure at the panels' toe. In reinforced panels, the resis ...

INT CENTER NUMERICAL METHODS ENGINEERING2021

Cyclic thermomechanical behaviour of pile-soil interface and design methods for energy pile foundations

Elena Ravera

Energy piles are shallow geothermal systems integrated into structures already required for structural functions of civil works that provide both geothermal energy supply and structural support to the built environments. This research work is driven by the ...

EPFL2021

Enhancement of riveted steel bridges by adding a trough in UHPFRC acting in composite action

Eugen Brühwiler

Riveted railway bridges are commonly considered as being “old”, having fatigue damage and are therefore replaced. While this practice should be by now obsolete by using novel engineering methods like structural monitoring, prolongation of the service durat ...

Taylor & Francis2021

Flexural behaviour of post-tensioned glass beams: Experimental and analytical study of three beam typologies

Alain Nussbaumer, Pieter Christian Louter, Jagoda Cupac

The concept of post-tensioned glass beams builds on the concrete analogy of the reinforced glass beams. By additionally prestressing the reinforcement in a post-tensioned system, a compressive pre-stress is applied on the glass, enhancing the initial fract ...

2021

The influence of the kinematics of rough surface engagement on the transfer of forces in cracked concrete

Miguel Fernández Ruiz

One of the most instrumental aspects governing the response of structural concrete at ultimate limit state refers to the possibility of developing smeared cracking patterns within a member (associated normally to the presence of sufficient reinforcement fo ...

2021