Educational Modules to Explore Soil-Structure Interaction and Nonlinear Behavior of Columns

Abstract eng:
In most engineering curricula, students analyze idealized or simplified structures without the benefit of being able to compare their results to the behavior of real structures. Textbook examples often rely on simplified models of structures, with embedded assumptions that are not always obvious to the reader. Students rarely have the opportunity to examine these assumptions in detail to discover how the assumptions and simplifications are affecting their analyses. As part of a research project developed through the George E. Brown Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) the authors have developed two modules in which the behavior of concrete structures are analyzed and then compared with experimental data. The first module, designed for an advanced course in concrete design, explores the nonlinear behavior of individual reinforced concrete bridge columns. The second module, designed for a course in indeterminate structural analysis or nonlinear structural analysis, allows students to investigate the effect of soil modeling assumptions on the behavior of a bridge bent subjected to lateral loads. The modules incorporate data collected from several experiments on bridge bents and concrete columns, allowing students to compare analytical results such as strains, deflections and pushover curves with actual data. The modules are designed so that students may perform their analyses using different sets of assumptions, for example fixed base versus soil springs, and then evaluate the suitability of their assumptions. The modules are currently being tested at San José State University.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket