One of the main tasks of engineers is to design structural systems light and economic as possible, yet resistant enough to withstand all possible loads arising during their service life and to absorb the induced seismic energy in a controlled and predictable fashion. The traditional trial-and-error design approach is not capable to determine an economical design satisfying also the code require...

In congested cities the number of railway lines has rapidly increased. The close vicinity of rail tracks to buildings often gives rise to conflict in respect of the transmission of noise and vibration to people or sensitive equipment. Vibration attenuation can be safely achieved by well designed vibration control systems applied preferably to the source but also to the receiver. In both cases, ...

The objective of this study was to develop prediction mathematical equations to compute reinforcement steel quantity in traditional residential buildings based on 158 sets of data collected in the West Bank in Palestine. The records related to the quantities were collected from consultancy firms that provide reinforced concrete design services. The data were collected for residential buildings ...

Steel Plate Shear Walls (SPSW) consist of unstiffened infill steel panels surrounded by columns, called Vertical Boundary Elements (VBE), on both sides, and beams, called Horizontal Boundary Elements (HBE), above and below. These infill steel panels are allowed to buckle in shear and subsequently form a diagonal tension field. SPSW are progressively being used as the primary lateral force resis...

in this paper the traditional covering plaster of masonry buildings is supplied with polypropylene and steel fiber to enhance their seismic behavior. the plaster mix proportion is determined by some initial mortar tests. also, one story, single span masonry building specimen plastered with different mortars is tested on a shaking table 8 times under a seismic input and the performance of the sp...

the interactive effects of adjacent buildings on their seismic performance are not frequently considered in seismic design. the adjacent buildings, however, are interrelated through the soil during seismic ground motions. the seismic energy is redistributed in the neighboring buildings through multiple structure-soil-structure interactions (sssi). for example, in an area congested with many nea...

Metal Plate Shear Walls (MPSWs) represent an effective, practical and economical system for the seismic protection of existing RC framed buildings. They consist of one or more metallic thin plates, bolted or welded to a stiff steel frame, which are installed in the bays of RC framed structures. A case study of an existing RC residential 5-storey building, designed between the ‘60s and ‘70s of t...

The evolution of plastic deformation and damage in steel frame buildings caused by seismic action is simulated based on a modified damage model. This model combines nonlinear isotropic and kinematic hardening criteria with a damage evolution law expressed in terms of plastic displacement. A nine-story steel frame is chosen as a reference structure, and a nonlinear damage analysis is performed u...