Feasibility study for the application of air inflated membrane structure in China National Stadium

China National Stadium, also known as “Bird’s Nest”, is the main stadium of the 29th Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008, which has successfully held not only the Opening and the Closing ceremonies but also the track and field events. A new problem of rain preventing is brought out to improve the utilization of the Bird’s Nest after the Olympic Games. The scheme of installing an air inflated membrane at the opening of the steel structure is proposed in this paper to solve the rainproof problem of the Bird’s Nest. The form-finding and mechanical analyses of the air inflated membrane are carried out. Comparison between the mechanical performance and dynamical character before and after installing the air inflated membrane structure is given. To verify the analysis results, based on the practical structure of the Bird’s Nest, a test of a 1:20 model membrane is worked out.     

Experimental study on mechanical behavior of box-brace to box-column foot joints

This paper presents results of three tests carried out to study the mechanical behavior of foot joints used in the tower boiler steel frame. Each foot joint consists of a box column and a box brace. These three specimens have different connection types or different details of stiffeners. The tests are carried out by using the large multi-function structural experiment system WAW-1000J. The load-displacement curves and the strain distribution are measured during the tests. The mechanical behavior of foot joints under adverse load cases is analyzed. The safety of these three specimens under design load is assessed. The strength and deformation of different joints are compared. The results indicate that connection types or details of inner stiffeners have effects on strength and failure mode and that the specimen with end-plate connection can optimize the strain distribution along the height of brace web and can change the force transfer mechanism between column and brace. In addition, a finite element model of the specimen is conducted and numerical results generally agree well with the test results. The work in this paper provides a base for further analysis on the performance of joint used in the tower boiler steel frames.     

Application of back analysis on laterally loaded single pile

In views of the limitations of the existing methods for calculating the pile foundation capacity, a back analysis approach of the m-value is introduced. In order to consider the sensitivity of pile behavior to the m-value,the relationships between the applied horizontal loads at pile head and the corresponding m-value along with the pile stiffness changes are studied. Based on statistics data from the extensive in-situ tests, the back analysis results suggest an exponential expression for the m-value in various soil conditions and horizontal displacements at pile head. This method is capable of providing an accurate m-value in calculating the pile responses under lateral loads.     

Stiffness matrix derivation of space beam element at elevated temperature

Element stiffness equation is very important in structural analysis, and directly influences the accuracy of the results. At present, derivation method of element stiffness equation is relatively mature under ambient temperature, and the elastic phrase of material stress-strain curve is generally adopted as physical equation in derivation. However, the material stress-strain relationship is very complicated at elevated temperature, and its form is not unique, which brings great difficulty to the derivation of element stiffness equation. Referring to the derivation method of element stiffness equation at ambient temperature, by using the continuous function of stress-strain-temperature at elevated temperature, and based on the principle of virtual work, the stiffness equation of space beam element and the formulas of stiffness matrix are derived in this paper, which provide basis for finite element analysis on structures at elevated temperature.