Experimental and numerical study on earthquake-fire coupling failure mechanism of steel cylindrical tanks

An earthquake-triggered fire domino scenario (E-FDS) is an example of a typical multi-hazard coupling event. The seismic damage can affect the fire resistance of engineering structures, leading to significant mutually amplified phenomena. In this work, a two-stage experimental program is designed to expound the earthquake-fire coupling...

Progressive failure mechanisms of geosynthetic-reinforced column-supported embankments over soft soil: Numerical analyses considering the cracks-induced softening

Cement-based columns in combination with geosynthetic reinforcement is a well-established soft ground improvement technique to enhance embankment stability. This paper aims to present a finite-element (FE) study based on a case history of a geosynthetic-reinforced column-supported (GRCS) embankment over soft soil. In this study, the columns...

Buckling assessment of GFRP and carbon fiber-reinforced plastic filament-wound tubes using an acoustic emission-based methodology

The aim of this research is to investigate the failure mechanisms of the filament-wound composite tubes under axial compressional loading by using an acoustic emission approach. First, the mechanical properties of ±45°C composite tubes were obtained experimentally. Then, failure due to the buckling phenomenon and crashworthiness...

Finite Element Analyses of Piled Foundations: Interaction Domains Under Undrained Conditions

Most of the bridges in Europe countries are now approaching their design life. Therefore, at present crucial is the choice of the most suitable retrofitting solution taking the current design standards into account. From an economic point of view the costs related to the foundations adaptation are not negligible at all, even because design...

The effect of interactions between failure mechanisms on the reliability of flood defenses

Structural reliability analysis often considers failure mechanisms as correlated but non-interacting processes. Interacting failure mechanisms affect each others performance, and thereby the system reliability. We describe such interactions in the context of flood defenses, and analyze under which conditions such interactions have a large impact...

Time-dependent development of Backward Erosion Piping

Structural flood protection systems such as levees are an important component in flood risk reduction strategies. Levees can fail through various failure mechanisms; this thesis focuses on the mechanism Backward Erosion Piping (BEP) which occurs when a sandy levee foundation is eroded by groundwater flow. To assess whether a levee's reliability...

Failure modes of bonded wrapped composite joints for steel circular hollow sections in ultimate load experiments

The concept of an innovative bonded joining technology where welding is not required is presented as an alternative to traditional welded connection for steel circular hollow section (CHS). Wrapped composite joints have potential to greatly improve fatigue endurance when applied in multi-membered truss structures, e.g. offshore jackets for...

Damage mechanism characterization of ±35° and ±55° FW composite tubes using acoustic emission method

The focus of this study is to investigate the mechanical properties, of ±35° and ±55° filament wound (FW) composite tubes under axial compression loading using the acoustic emission technique. For this purpose, material failure, crashworthiness characteristics, and the effect of each mechanism on the energy absorption capacity were studied...

Thermal effects on the performance of ultrasonically welded CF/PPS joints and its correlation to the degree of crystallinity at the weldline

The effect of temperature on the lap shear strength (LSS) and failure mechanisms of ultrasonically welded carbon fibre reinforced polyphenylene sulphide (CF/PPS) joints was investigated, correlating the weld performance to the crystallinity degree of PPS at the weldline. The single-lap shear tests were carried out at temperatures ranging from...

Mechanical integrity of process installations: Barrier alarm management based on bowties

A Safety Research project was carried out in an ammonia plant of OCI Nitrogen, located at the Chemelot site in Geleen, The Netherlands. This research focused on the development of a method to monitor accident processes in the chemical industry mainly caused by mechanical integrity of static equipment like vessels, tanks and heat exchangers. A...

Quasi-static cyclic two-way out-of-plane bending tests and analytical models comparison for URM walls

Out-of-plane failure is one of the most important mechanisms for unreinforced ma-sonry (URM) structures to be prevented in the seismic areas. The one-way out-of-plane bend-ing failure mechanism has been studied by several authors. The two-way bending failure mechanism has received much less attention and only few formulations for specific cases...

Assessment Methods for Structural and Hydraulic Properties of Concrete Sewer Pipes

Asset management is a tool for maintaining the required level of serviceability of urban drainage systems, which are costly to construct and in some cases even more costly to replace. The required asset management effort to achieve a certain level of service is unclear due to a limited knowledge on sewer failure mechanisms and due to scarcity of...

The Effect of Microstructure on the Abrasion Resistance of Low Alloyed Steels

The thesis attempts to develop advanced high abrasion resistant steels with low hardness in combination with good toughness, processability and low alloying additions. For this purpose, a novel multi-pass dual-indenter (MPDI) scratch test approach has been developed to approach the real continuous abrasion process and unravel abrasion damage...

Influence of temperature on strength and failure mechanisms of resistance welded thermoplastic composites joints

In this work, the effect of temperature exposure on the strength of resistance welded joints is analysed. Glass fibre polyphenylene sulphide (GF/PPS) laminates were joined using the resistance welding technique and a stainless steel metal mesh as the heating element. Single lap shear tests at temperatures between 20°C and 150°C were performed to...

Dynamically loaded beam failure under corroded conditions

De-icing salts, used on roads in heavy winters, may enter reinforced concrete (RC) structures via its capillary pore system or via cracks, initiating reinforcement corrosion and reducing its remaining service-life. Vehicles passing real bridges exert a dynamic impact action that might activate a fatigue failure mechanism. In order to generate...

Identification of the information needs for sewer asset management by assessing failure mechanics

Asset management is a prerequisite for maintaining the required level of serviceability of urban drainage systems. The required asset management effort to achieve a certain level of service is unclear due to sewer systems process and structure complexity. One of the main questions of asset management is what kind of information is needed, and...

Re-assessing reliability based on survived loads

The reliability of flood defenses is often dictated by large uncertainties in the hydraulic loading and the structural resistance. Additional information decreases uncertainty, however, acquiring it is often costly. One source of information, even though in many cases readily available, is hardly used – survived loads. This article shows how...

SWOT analysis of breach models for common dike failure mechanisms

The use of breach models includes two tasks: predicting breach characteristics and estimating flow through the breach. Strengths and weaknesses as well as opportunities and threats of different simplified and detailed physically-based breach models are listed following theoretical and practical criteria. According to the theoretical criteria,...