scholarly journals Development of fragility curves for railway ballast and embankment scour due to overtopping flood flow

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryota Tsubaki ◽  
Koji Ichii ◽  
Jeremy D. Bricker ◽  
Yoshihisa Kawahara
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Failure Probability ◽  
Fragility Curves ◽  
Railway Track ◽  
Single Track ◽  
Hydraulic Analysis ◽  
Railway Ballast ◽  
Log Normal ◽  
Flood Flow

Abstract. Fragility curves evaluating risk of railway track ballast and embankment fill scour were developed. To develop fragility curves, two well-documented single-track railway washouts during two recent floods in Japan were investigated. Type of damage to the railway was categorized into no damage, ballast scour, and embankment scour, in order of damage severity. Railway overtopping surcharge for each event was estimated via hydrologic and hydraulic analysis. Normal and log-normal fragility curves were developed based on failure probability derived from field records. A combined ballast and embankment scour model was validated by comparing the spatial distribution of railway scour with the field damage record.

scholarly journals Development of fragility curves for railway embankment and ballast scour due to overtopping flood flow

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2455-2472 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ryota Tsubaki ◽  
Jeremy David Bricker ◽  
Koji Ichii ◽  
Yoshihisa Kawahara
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Water Depth ◽  
Fragility Curves ◽  
Single Track ◽  
Damage Probability ◽  
Log Normal ◽  
Damage Type ◽  
Flood Flow

Abstract. Fragility curves evaluating a risk of railway embankment fill and track ballast scour were developed. To develop fragility curves, two well-documented events of single-track railway washout during floods in Japan were investigated. Type of damage to the railway was categorized into no damage, ballast scour, and embankment scour, in order of damage severity. Railway overtopping water depth for each event was estimated based on well-documented hydrologic and hydraulic analyses. Normal and log-normal fragility curves were developed based on damage probability derived from field records and the estimated overtopping water depth. A combined ballast and embankment scour model was validated by comparing the results of previous studies and the spatial distribution of railway damage type records.

scholarly journals Micro-mechanical investigation of railway ballast behavior under cyclic loading in a box test using DEM: effects of elastic layers and ballast types

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nishant Kumar ◽  
Bettina Suhr ◽  
Stefan Marschnig ◽  
Peter Dietmaier ◽  
Christof Marte ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cyclic Loading ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Damage Model ◽  
Simulation Models ◽  
Railway Track ◽  
Maintenance Cost ◽  
Particle Movement ◽  
Railway Ballast ◽  
Elastic Layers ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Ballasted tracks are the commonly used railway track systems with constant demands for reducing maintenance cost and improved performance. Elastic layers are increasingly used for improving ballasted tracks. In order to better understand the effects of elastic layers, physical understanding at the ballast particle level is crucial. Here, discrete element method (DEM) is used to investigate the effects of elastic layers – under sleeper pad ($$\text {USP}$$USP) at the sleeper/ballast interface and under ballast mat ($$\text {UBM}$$UBM) at the ballast/bottom interface – on micro-mechanical behavior of railway ballast. In the DEM model, the Conical Damage Model (CDM) is used for contact modelling. This model was calibrated in Suhr et al. (Granul Matter 20(4):70, 2018) for the simulation of two different types of ballast. The CDM model accounts for particle edge breakage, which is an important phenomenon especially at the early stage of a tamping cycle, and thus essential, when investigating the impact of elastic layers in the ballast bed. DEM results confirm that during cyclic loading, $$\text {USP}$$USP reduces the edge breakage at the sleeper/ballast interface. On the other hand, $$\text {UBM}$$UBM shows higher particle movement throughout the ballast bed. Both the edge breakage and particle movement in the ballast bed are found to influence the sleeper settlement. Micro-mechanical investigations show that the force chain in deeper regions of the ballast bed is less affected by $$\text {USP}$$USP for the two types of ballast. Conversely, dense lateral forces near to the box bottom were seen with $$\text {UBM}$$UBM. The findings are in good (qualitative) agreement with the experimental observations. Thus, DEM simulations can aid to better understand the micro-macro phenomena for railway ballast. This can help to improve the track components and track design based on simulation models taking into account the physical behavior of ballast. Graphical Abstract

Experimental and Numerical Study of Railway Ballast Compactness during Tamping Process

2013 ◽  
Vol 690-693 ◽  
pp. 2730-2733
Author(s):  
Tao Yong Zhou ◽  
Bin Hu ◽  
Bo Yan ◽  
Jun Feng Sun
Keyword(s):  
Discrete Element Method ◽  
Numerical Study ◽  
Discrete Element ◽  
Railway Track ◽  
Analysis Model ◽  
Railway Ballast ◽  
Element Analysis ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Filling Method ◽  
Element Method

Railway ballast tamping operations is employed in order to restore the geometry of railway track distorted by train traffics. The main goal is to compact the stone ballast under the sleepers supporting the railway squeezing and vibrations. The ballast compactness is the most direct index for evaluating the effect of tamping operation. This paper presents an experimental method used to detect the railway ballast compactness before and after tamping operation based on water-filling method, and creates a discrete element analysis model of railway ballast which analyzes the change of ballast compactness before and after tamping operation based on discrete element method. The simulation results are very similar with experimental results, which verify that the discrete element method is an effective method to evaluate the change of railway ballast compactness during tamping process.

Failure Probability Analysis of Aged Piping Using Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics Methodology Considering Seismic Loads

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoshihito Yamaguchi ◽  
Jinya Katsuyama ◽  
Yinsheng Li
Keyword(s):  
Fracture Mechanics ◽  
Failure Probability ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Fragility Curves ◽  
Safety Margin ◽  
Probability Analysis ◽  
Seismic Loads ◽  
Probabilistic Fracture Mechanics ◽  
Age Related ◽  
Piping Systems

Several nuclear power plants in Japan have been operating for more than 30 years and cracks due to age-related degradations have been detected in some piping systems during in-service inspections. Furthermore, several of them have experienced severe earthquakes in recent years. Therefore, failure probability analysis and fragility evaluation for piping systems, taking both age-related degradations and seismic loads into consideration, has become increasingly important for the structural integrity evaluation and the seismic probabilistic risk assessment. Probabilistic fracture mechanics (PFM) is recognized as a rational methodology for failure probability analysis and fragility evaluation of aged piping, because it can take the scatters and uncertainties of influence parameters into account. In our Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), a PFM analysis code PASCAL-SP was developed for aged piping considering age-related degradations. In this study, we improved PASCAL-SP for the fragility evaluation taking both age-related degradations and seismic loads into account. The details of the improvement of PASCAL-SP are explained and some example analysis results of failure probabilities, fragility curves and a preliminary investigation on seismic safety margin are presented in this paper.

scholarly journals Reliability and Reliability-based Sensitivity Analyses of Steel Moment-Resisting Frame Structure subjected to Extreme Actions

2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (57) ◽  
pp. 138-159
Author(s):  
Abbasali Sadeghi ◽  
Hamid Kazemi ◽  
Maysam Samadi
Keyword(s):  
Failure Probability ◽  
Fragility Curves ◽  
Random Variables ◽  
Frame Structure ◽  
Sensitivity Analyses ◽  
Effective Parameters ◽  
Sample Number ◽  
Moment Resisting Frame ◽  
Moment Resisting ◽  
Steel Moment Resisting Frame

The ground external columns of buildings are vulnerable to the extreme actions such as a vehicle collision. This event is a common scenario of buildings' damages. In this study, a nonlinear model of 2-story steel moment-resisting frame (SMRF) is made in OpenSees software. This paper aims investigating the reliability analysis of aforementioned structure under heavy vehicle impact loadings by Monte Carlo Simulation (MCS) in MATLAB software. To reduce computational costs, meta-model techniques such as Kriging, Polynomial Response Surface Methodology (PRSM) and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) are applied and their efficiency is assessed. At first, the random variables are defined. Then, the sensitivity analyses are performed using MCS and Sobol's methods. Finally, the failure probabilities and reliability indices of studied frame are presented under impact loadings with various collision velocities at different performance levels and thus, the behavior of selected SMRF is compared by using fragility curves. The results showed that the random variables such as mass and velocity of vehicle and yield strength of used materials were the most effective parameters in the failure probability computation. Among the meta-models, Kriging can estimate the failure probability with the least error, sample number with minimum computer processing time, in comparison with MCS.

scholarly journals Seismic fragility curves based on the probability density evolution method

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 177-189
Author(s):  
Thuat-Cong Dang ◽  
Thien-Phu Le ◽  
Pascal Ray
Keyword(s):  
Probability Density ◽  
Seismic Vulnerability ◽  
Fragility Curves ◽  
Fragility Curve ◽  
Seismic Fragility ◽  
Cumulative Probability ◽  
Density Evolution ◽  
Probability Density Evolution Method ◽  
Log Normal ◽  
Probability Density Evolution

A seismic fragility curve that shows the probability of failure of a structure in function of a seismic intensity, for example peak ground acceleration (PGA), is a powerful tool for the evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of the structures in nuclear engineering and civil engineering. The common assumption of existing approaches is that the fragility curve is a cumulative probability log-normal function. In this paper, we propose a new technique for construction of seismic fragility curves by numerical simulation using the Probability Density Evolution Method (PDEM). From the joint probability density function between structural response and random variables of a system and/or excitations, seismic fragility curves can be derived without the log-normal assumption. The validation of the proposed technique is performed on two numerical examples.

Reliability of a Bridge Subjected a Multi-Hazard: Scour and Earthquakes

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Berenice A. Olvera Ramírez ◽  
Bertha Olmos ◽  
José Manuel Jara
Keyword(s):  
Failure Probability ◽  
Social System ◽  
Probabilistic Models ◽  
Fragility Curves ◽  
Probability Of Failure ◽  
Nonlinear Analyses ◽  
Seismic Demands

<p>Bridges are important structures for being part of the economic-social system of a country, for that is important to quantify their probability of damage. They are important structures for being part of the economic-social system of a country, for that is important to quantify their probability of damage. The objective of this work is to determine the failure probability of a real bridge accounting for the multi-hazard by estimating fragility curves where the capacity is assessed with static nonlinear analyses, and the hydraulic and seismic demands are characterized with probabilistic models. The bridge’s probability of failure is calculated using MonteCarlo simulations.</p>

scholarly journals Seismic Fragility Estimates of LRB Base Isolated Frames Using Performance-Based Design

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iman Mansouri ◽  
Gholamreza Ghodrati Amiri ◽  
Jong Wan Hu ◽  
Mohammadreza Khoshkalam ◽  
Sanaz Soori ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Failure Probability ◽  
Fragility Curves ◽  
Performance Level ◽  
Exceedance Probability ◽  
Design Time ◽  
Rubber Bearing ◽  
Lead Rubber Bearing ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Immediate Occupancy ◽  
Far Fault

With improving technology, the idea of using energy dissipater equipment has been strengthened in order to control the structures response in dynamic loads such as wind and earthquake. In this research, we dealt with seismic performance of base isolated structures with lead-rubber bearing (LRB) using incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). For this purpose, 3- and 9-story buildings have been utilized in the SAC project undergoing 22 earthquake records which were far-fault. Plotting the fragility curve for various states of design time period and isolator damping of LRB, it is observed that, by increasing damping, the isolator has not been activated in small spectrum acceleration, which shows that the annual exceedance probability is increased in immediate occupancy (IO) performance level and decreased in life safety (LS) performance level. The results show the reduction of determined failure probability in fragility curves for two levels of performance of uninterrupted use and lateral safety. Likewise obtained results show that, with increasing design time period of isolator, the amount of failure probability is decreased rather than the isolator with smaller design time period, for both LS and IO states. And the isolator illustrates better performance.

Study Behavior of Railway Ballast under Cyclic Loading

2014 ◽  
Vol 919-921 ◽  
pp. 1155-1159
Author(s):  
Tao Yong Zhou ◽  
Bin Hu ◽  
Bin Hua
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Simulation ◽  
Cyclic Loading ◽  
Discrete Element Method ◽  
Discrete Element ◽  
Railway Track ◽  
Experimental Facility ◽  
Railway Ballast ◽  
Study Behavior ◽  
Rate Of Increase ◽  
Simulation Results

Densification and settlement are two important behavior parameters of railway ballast under cyclic loading. This paper presents numerical simulation using discrete element method which studies the evolution of densification of railway ballast in specified region under cyclic loading. The simulation results show that with the increase of cyclic loading time, the densification of railway ballast under sleeper is also increasing, and the rate of increase becomes smaller and smaller. This paper presents a new full-scale complete railway track loading experimental facility which studies the evolution of settlement of ballasted railway track under cyclic loading. The experimental results show that with the increase of number of load cycles, the settlement of ballasted railway track is also increasing, and the rate of increase becomes smaller and smaller.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document