Accepted Minisymposia

Proposals for Minisymposia (including your name, affiliation, MS title and a short minisymposium description) should be sent via e-mail to the Conference Secretariat at info@compdyn.org.
The MS code, which is required for the submission of an Abstract to the relevant MS, is provided by the MS Organizers.
Minisymposium 1
"Novel techniques and approaches for seismic protection of structures with isolation and/or energy dissipation devices"
Enrico Tubaldi (University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom)
Laura Ragni (Polytechnic University of Marche, Italy)
Dario De Domenico (University of Messina, Italy)
Daniele Losanno (University of Napoli "Federico II", Italy)
Hamid Ahmadi (Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre (TARRC), United Kingdom)
enrico.tubaldi@strath.ac.uk
laura.ragni@staff.univpm.it
dario.dedomenico@unime.it
daniele.losanno@unina.it
hahmadi@tarrc.co.uk
More Info »

Seismic isolation and energy dissipation devices are increasingly used for protecting newly designed and existing structures from the damaging effects of earthquakes.

However, some research and technological challenges still need to be addressed to facilitate and promote the use of these devices for non-critical constructions (e.g. residential buildings), for structures other than reinforced-concrete ones (e.g. masonry buildings), and for structures located in developing countries. 

This Minisymposium aims at highlighting and discussing new developments and open research issues addressing experimental, computational, and methodological aspects of the performance of structures equipped with isolation and/or energy dissipation devices, with a particular focus on innovative and low-cost earthquake protection devices. 

Contributions from researchers, manufacturers and practitioners are expected in (but not limited to) the following areas: 

1) novel and/or low-cost isolation and energy dissipation devices; 

2) experimental and qualification testing of isolation/dissipation devices;

3) advanced and simplified numerical modelling of seismic isolation and energy dissipation devices;

4) performance-based assessment and risk-based design procedures;

5) structural health monitoring and dynamic identification of isolated structures and structures equipped with damping devices;

6) case studies or emblematic examples of implementation of isolation/dissipation technologies in the case of unconventional structures.

Minisymposium 2
"Advances in the dynamic response analysis, monitoring, and mitigation of wind turbines"
Agathoklis Giaralis (University of London, United Kingdom)
Giuseppe Failla (University of Reggio Calabria, Italy)
agathoklis@city.ac.uk
giuseppe.failla@unirc.it
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The dynamic response of onshore and offshore wind turbines is a challenging task in green power production. Theoretical studies and full-scale experimental tests are currently carried out worldwide to study the response of various wind turbines founded on different support structures under a variety of environmental dynamic excitations due to the action of wind, waves, sea-currents and earthquakes. At the same time, vibrations-based monitoring of these structures together with vibrations suppression and motion control technologies are considered to improve power production, reduce maintenance costs, and ensure long-term resistance to operational dynamic loads and high survivability rates to extreme events. Meeting these objectives require an integrated approach bringing together expertise in different fields, including aerodynamics, hydrodynamics, soil-structure interaction, stochastic modelling of environmental loads, stochastic response of nonlinear systems, fatigue, structural vibrations control and structural health monitoring, among others. The proposed MS aims to foster synergies across these engineering disciplines and beyond. Papers on theoretical and computational aero-hydro-servo-structural dynamics and vibrations/motion control are welcome. Contributions discussing the modelling and response of wind turbines under dynamic loads, their experimental testing, their condition evaluation and health monitoring, and their energy generation, fatigue life, and survivability assessment are also invited. Lastly, submissions identifying practical needs and unexplored niches on the development, design, testing, and deployment of wind turbines in adverse environments imparting dynamic loads are prioritized.

Minisymposium 3
"PROTECTION OF MUSEUM’S COLLECTIONS computational approaches and innovative interventions"
Stefania Viti (Department of Architecture (DIDA), University of Florence , Italy)
Marco Tanganelli (Department of Architecture (DIDA), University of Florence, Italy)
stefania.viti@unifi.it
marco.tanganelli@unifi.it
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Art works represent a priceless asset of our cultural capital, since they play a crucial role in defining and understanding the identity of communities. For these reasons, despite being subjected to natural hazard, such as earthquakes, they can easily become a target in case of war or terroristic attacks. Furthermore, due to their age, fragility of materials, and slenderness, they result to be very vulnerable to shocks and dynamic actions.
In these last decades, the protection of art works to dynamic actions, such as earthquakes and explosions, has been gaining an increasing attention, involving multidisciplinary approaches which collect new technologies - such as the digital control, the 3D reconstructions etc. – together with the most advanced structural analyses.

This session aims to collect advanced contributions from academics, researchers, students, post-graduate students and professional engineers dealing with the seismic assessment and protection of art collections. All the steps involved in the process aimed at determining the response of art works subjected to dynamic excitations are included in the session.

The main topics faced by the session include:

- Classification criteria aimed at protecting art collections
- Computational contributions for representing the response of art works to earthquakes and explosions
- Experimental analysis of artifacts
- Design of innovative devices for increasing the seismic safety of art collections
- Application to real case-studies

Minisymposium 4
"Isogeometric and other advanced discretization methods for structural dynamics and transient problems"
Thomas JR Hughes (UT Austin, United States)
Alessandro Reali (University of Pavia, Italy)
Simone Morganti (University of Pavia, Italy)
tjr_hughes@hotmail.com
alereali@unipv.it
simone.morganti@unipv.it
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Isogeometric Analysis (IGA) has been originally introduced and developed by Tom Hughes et al. in 2005, to generalize and improve finite element analysis in the area of geometry modeling and representation. However, in the course of IGA development, it was found that isogeometric methods not only improve the geometry modeling within analysis, but, thanks to the higher-order regularity of its basis functions, also appear to be preferable to standard finite elements in many applications on the basis of per-degree-of-freedom accuracy and robustness. The advantages of IGA look particularly significant in the context of structural dynamics and, more in general, transient problems, as clearly shown in the recent literature.
Along (and/or beyond) these research lines, the purpose of this symposium is to gather experts in Computational Mechanics with interest in the field of IGA or of other advanced discretization methods to share and compare results, and to discuss about the new frontiers of fast, efficient, and robust numerical simulations of structural dynamics and transient problems.

Minisymposium 5
"Repair and Retrofit of Structures"
Ciro Del Vecchio (University of Sannio, Italy)
Marco Di Ludovico (University of Napoli "Federico II", Italy)
Alper Ilki (Istanbul Technical University, Turkey)
cdelvecchio@unisannio.it
marco.diludovico@unina.it
ailki@itu.edu.tr
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Existing structures designed without modern seismic design provisions represent one of the largest seismic safety concerns worldwide. Such structures are vulnerable to significant structural and non-structural damage and even collapse when subjected to medium-to-strong ground shaking. This resulted in number of fatalities and significant economic losses, which promoted the development of seismic assessment and retrofit procedures for existing structures.

Recent massive reconstruction processes pointed out the need for new, practical, and cost-effective seismic strengthening solutions. Over the past three decades, several techniques emerged. Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP), Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Matrix (FRCM), High Performance Fiber Reinforced Cementitious Composites (HPFRCC) composites, base isolation, dissipative devices, low-damage systems gained popularity as attractive solutions for repair and retrofit of civil infrastructures. They are successfully used for strengthening/rehabilitation of existing buildings and bridges. However further research effort is needed to improve their effectiveness, develop new applications, numerical modelling, design procedures, and techniques for installation. The use of advanced materials and repair/retrofit techniques will continue to grow to meet the demands of the construction industry and seismic designers.

In this context, the mini symposium intends to attract academic staff, researchers, post-graduate students and professional engineers dealing with seismic repair and retrofit of structures, such as buildings and bridges, with innovative materials or with innovative seismic devices. The refinements in the analysis, assessment of residual capacity, design procedures and numerical modeling of repair/retrofit interventions are also of particular interest.

Minisymposium 6
"Experimental measurements and numerical simulation in the field of Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics – New Structures and Structural Retrofitting"
George C. Manos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece)
Konstantinos Katakalos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece)
gcmanos@civil.auth.gr
kkatakal@civil.auth.gr
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A paper submitted in this Mini-Symposium should have a content that combines numerical simulations of various problems that belong in the field of Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics with relevant experimental studies through laboratory or in-situ measurements. Particular applications may belong to dynamic and earthquake response of structures and components, influences arising from seismic retrofitting towards upgrading the dynamic and earthquake performance of structures and components as well as earthquake protection measures from various forms of base isolation, damping or energy dissipation devices for controlling the dynamic and earthquake response of structures and components. Moreover, in-situ or laboratory measurements dealing with influences arising from soil-structure interaction during the dynamic / earthquake response of structural systems accompanied by relevant numerical simulations are also included. Fields of application may include a variety of modern structures or cultural heritage structures constructed with a variety of materials including steel, reinforced concrete, masonry etc.  

Minisymposium 7
"Sustainable strengthening interventions to prevent failure in unreinforced masonry structures and infrastructures"
Claudia Casapulla (University of Napoli “Federico II”, Italy)
Linda Giresini (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
Omar Alshawa (University of Roma, Italy)
Francesca Taddei (University of Munich, Germany)
Ehsan Noroozinejad (Kerman Graduate University of Advanced Technology, Iran)
casacla@unina.it
linda.giresini@uniroma1.it
omar.alshawa@uniroma1.it
francesca.taddei@tum.de
noroozinejad@kgut.ac.ir
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Post-earthquake damage observations very often reveal the high seismic vulnerability of unreinforced masonry structures and infrastructures, even higher in terms of out-of-plane damage/collapse of walls and localised elements. This specific weakness depends on several factors, some of which are the material properties, the wall quality, the geometry of the structure, the connections between structural elements and the stiffness of the diaphragms.

In the last decades, significant efforts have been made to improve the understanding of the global and local response of unreinforced masonry constructions, employing a combination of advanced numerical analysis models, innovative non-destructive inspection technologies, with both on-site and in laboratory investigations. In addition, special attention has been devoted to their rehabilitation and strengthening interventions by either traditional or innovative strategies. However, the sustainability of strengthening/retrofitting systems still needs to be tackled in many challenging aspects, such as the material compatibility, the reversibility and durability of the intervention, the reduction of cost, time, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the energy optimisation.

This Minisymposium will offer an opportunity to present and discuss the recent advances in this field. All those involved with the seismic response of masonry constructions and their strengthening interventions using advanced and simplified evaluation methods, such as force-based and displacement-based techniques, limit analysis, FEM-based procedures, as well as discrete element methods and rigid block modelling approaches, are welcome to present their recent experience and research findings. In addition, original research articles and literature reviews on advanced strengthening/retrofitting techniques, even integrated with solutions for energy saving or for reducing environmental impacts, are welcome.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following issues:

  • Sustainable retrofitting solutions for masonry structures and infrastructures
  • Efficiency of low-impact interventions
  • Parametric analyses for the optimisation of effectiveness, costs, and impact of interventions
  • Comparison of the effects of traditional and innovative strengthening systems
  • Experimental investigation and modelling of integrated interventions
  • Environmental impact of retrofitting solutions
  • Analytical and computational strategies for the identification and strengthening of local mechanisms in masonry buildings, even based on parametric analysis and visual programming
  • Life cycle analysis of sustainable structures and infrastructures
  • Performance of geopolymer composites
  • Characterisation of seismic input for local mechanisms
  • Consideration of the soil-structure interaction in masonry structures modelling
  • Probabilistic approaches in rocking analysis
  • Energy dissipaters for rocking structures
  • Rocking response of masonry and concrete walls to earthquakes
  • Case studies
Minisymposium 8
"Recent advances and challenges in geotechnical earthquake engineering"
Castorina Silva Vieira (University of Porto, Portugal)
Yiannis Tsompanakis (Technical University of Crete, Greece)
cvieira@fe.up.pt
jt@science.tuc.gr
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Significant developments have been made, in the last few decades, to provide more accurate and reliable design methods for structures, infrastructures and foundations, particularly, when subjected to dynamic (mainly seismic) actions. Numerical methods have played a major role in these advances. Nevertheless, their remarkable potential should be broadened and improved, since geotechnical earthquake engineering hazards are still difficult to mitigate.

The Mini-Symposium “Recent advances and challenges in geotechnical earthquake engineering” will offer an opportunity for the presentation and discussion on several geotechnical earthquake engineering issues. All those involved with computational mechanics, related to geotechnical earthquake engineering, are welcome to present their recent experience and research findings. Contributions related to hybrid, analytical, as well as, experimental methods in the field of soil dynamics and earthquake engineering are also welcome.

This Mini-Symposium aims to attract academic staff, researchers, post-graduate students and professional engineers dealing with advanced topics, which include but are not limited to: Performance-based design; Liquefaction and other types of major soil failures; Dynamic soil-structure interaction; Codes, standards and safety evaluation; Foundations and Ground Improvement; Retaining structures; Slopes, dams and embankments; Tunnels and lifelines; Wind turbines; Man-made vibrations.

Minisymposium 9
"Seismic Safety Assessment οf Structures"
Pedro Delgado (Instituto Politécnico de Viana do Castelo, Portugal)
António Arêde (Universidade do Porto, Portugal)
pdelgado@estg.ipvc.pt
aarede@fe.up.pt
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Experience and research developments have led to significant advances in the subject of seismic engineering over the past years. In the particular field of seismic design, the development and revisions of a new generation of design codes such as the Eurocode 8 is an important milestone. Although this code still promotes the use of classical seismic design approaches deeply imbedded in current practice, e.g. force-based approaches considering the use of behaviour factors (q-factors) and enforcing capacity design principles, Eurocode 8 also encourages the use of more advanced methods of analysis. Although the core of such analysis methods, i.e. nonlinear static and nonlinear dynamic analysis methods, can be seen as reasonably well established, several developments and studies are still needed from the practical use and design process point of views. Namely, an adequate safety format, similar in scope to the one involving linear analysis methods, is yet to be explicitly addressed in a framework which foresees the use of nonlinear analysis methods. Papers that address this thematic are welcome, namely on the following specific fields: nonlinear dynamic analysis; seismic input; structural safety assessment methodologies; experimental characterization of structural elements under cyclic loadings; case studies.

Minisymposium 10
"Recent advances in seismic isolation of structures with novel vibration control approaches"
Evangelos J. Sapountzakis (National Technical University of Athens, Greece)
Konstantinos A. Kapasakalis (National Technical University of Athens, Greece)
cvsapoun@central.ntua.gr
kostiskapasakalis@hotmail.com
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Structures designed without modern seismic design provisions raise great concern worldwide. Such structures often exhibit significant structural and non-structural damage and even collapse when subjected to medium-to-strong ground excitations. This resulted in number of fatalities and significant economic losses, which promoted the development of novel base isolation techniques and seismic assessment and retrofit procedures.

Seismic protection advancements focus lately on the development of passive, semi-active, and active vibration control approaches. Among others, these include the incorporation of additional oscillating masses, that introduce damping to the structural system (i.e., Tuned Mass Dampers - TMD), the application of negative stiffness elements (i.e., Negative Stiffness Devices – NS, and Quasi-Zero Stiffness Oscillators - QZS) and TMDs with Inerters (i.e., Tuned Mass Dampers Inerter - TMDI).

This mini-symposium encourages the submission of research papers presenting new findings in the field of computational modeling, experimental testing and optimization of seismic protection systems.

Topics relevant to this mini symposium include, but are not limited to:

1) Innovative vibration control systems (negative stiffness elements, inerters, tuned mass dampers)

2) Analytical methods for simplified modelling and analysis

3) Design, manufacturing, testing of novel materials for vibration control of civil engineering structures and infrastructure

4) Seismic absorption concepts for foundation of structures

5) Meta-materials

6) Algorithms for retrofitting optimization

Minisymposium 11
"The role of the structural monitoring to predict the prior damage or the factual degradation pattern in order to update the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings"
Carlo Del Gaudio (University of Napoli Federico II, Italy)
Andrea Miano (University of Napoli Federico II, Italy)
Fabio Di Carlo (University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy)
Diego Alejandro Talledo (University of Venice, Italy)
carlo.delgaudio@unina.it
andrea.miano@unina.it
di.carlo@ing.uniroma2.it
diego.talledo@iuav.it
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Natural disasters have a strong impact on the real economies worldwide. United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction estimates that earthquakes, storms and extreme temperatures were the deadliest disasters between 2000 and 2009, producing more than 780,000 deaths over the past ten years, affecting more than two billion people and costing about 960 billion US$ as a result of 3,852 disasters. Overall, nearly the 60 per cent of the people killed were caused by earthquakes.

A factual assessment of existing buildings plays an essential role for any ensuing action to be undertaken by administrations or for any aware examination performed by acting stakeholders. In such a way, a rationale model defining the prioritization actions for mitigation interventions or coordinated activities and operational procedures allowing the overcoming of emergency phases and restoring the essential levels of social, civil and economic benefits can be ensued.

In this complex framework, structural monitoring, in real time or quasi-real time, can strongly amend predictive model of buildings, accounting for the prior damage and / or the state of degradation and thus permitting the update of estimated consequences ensuing from deterministic or stochastic scenarios.

In particular, the need for increasingly widespread safety checks, based on the high vulnerability of the European built heritage (buildings and infrastructures) in seismic prone areas, represents a stimulus for the search of advanced techniques for the structural monitoring at different scales (individual construction or territorial level). In this context, the optimization of the combined use of interferometric satellite data and/or drone-based inspections with artificial intelligence techniques is appealing for the purpose of the continuous monitoring of the built environment. As an example, structural health monitoring by use of interferometric satellite data or by use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) are hitherto widely used to detect prior damage from landslides or due to subsidence in order to update the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings.

Furthermore, a pivotal role is played by the degradation state of the structure that need to be properly assessed and included in the numerical models adopted for the assessment of the seismic vulnerability, being their consequences increasingly becoming an important issue in the structural assessment, since several structures have an age close to, or higher than their design life. As an example, corrosion, main cause of degradation in RC structures in non-exceptional conditions, can have also significant effects on the seismic behaviour, leading to dangerous strain localizations and variations of strength distribution and rotation capacity.

The topics included in this symposium are:

  • Multi risk assessment
  • Seismic vulnerability of damaged or degraded structures
  • Ageing and deterioration of concrete and masonry building
  • Structural health monitoring by use of interferometric satellite data or by use of UAV
  • Smart monitoring by using machine learning techniques
  • Traditional monitoring techniques to detect damage or degradation
  • Monitoring by means of photogrammetric technologies (e.g. crack detection or digital image correlation)
Minisymposium 12
"Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning in Design and Assessment of Structures"
George Markou (University of Pretoria, South Africa)
Nikolaos P. Bakas (The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus)
Vagelis Harmandaris (The Cyprus Institute, Cyprus)
george.markou@up.ac.za
n.bakas@cyi.ac.cy
v.harmandaris@cyi.ac.cy
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The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms in developing predictive models towards the design and assessment of structures is gaining significant momentum. This minisymposium aims to serve as an ideas exchange hub that will help scientists to share their current research work on AI and ML algorithms that have as a main objective the development of:

1. algorithms for automatic extraction of closed form design formulae,

2. machine learning models for the assessment and design of structures and materials,

3. data analytics, visualization and interpretation algorithms dealing with the mechanical behaviour of structures

One of the main objectives of this minisymposium is to generate a broad discussion on how AI and ML algorithms can be utilized in assisting towards establishing a safer built environment in both low and high seismically active countries.

Minisymposium 13
"Monitoring and Life Cycle Performance of Railway Bridges"
Eftychia Apostolidi (Technical University of Darmstadt, Germany)
Eleni Chatzi (ETH Zürich, Switzerland)
Alfred Strauss (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Austria)
apostolidi@ismd.tu-darmstadt.de
chatzi@ibk.baug.ethz.ch
alfred.strauss@boku.ac.at
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Aging infrastructure globally faces an increase in stressors and challenges. This is particularly true for railway infrastructure, and bridges in particular, where increasing loads, new quality requirements, severe impacts from climatic effects need to be tackled. Due to limited financial resources and sustainability requirements, there is a need to improve the condition and performance assessment of existing such structures. Innovative structural health monitoring (SHM) methods can advance predictive maintenance and condition assessment for railway bridges. Monitoring effectuated via collection of continuously recorded sensor data allows for early identification and tracking of structural deterioration in support of an efficient life-cycle management.

We particularly encourage submissions that report on actual-scale field measurements on railway bridges, or works exploiting Machine Learning for forming grey (hybrid) or black box data-driven diagnostic and prognostic models.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following themes:

  • Bridge damage detection and health monitoring of railway bridges;
  • Dynamic interaction between bridges and trains;
  • Indirect monitoring of bridges through instrumented trains;
  • Noise protection walls
Minisymposium 14
"Advances in optimization and control of structures under dynamic loads"
Giulia Angelucci (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
Giuseppe Quaranta (Sapienza University of Rome, Italy)
Bruno Briseghella (Fuzhou University, China)
Izuru Takewaki (Kyoto University, Japan)
giulia.angelucci@uniroma1.it
giuseppe.quaranta@uniroma1.it
bruno@fzu.edu.cn
takewaki@archi.kyoto-u.ac.jp
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Enhancing resilience and sustainability of the built environment is one of today’s major challenges in Civil Engineering. The implementation of robust and reliability-based optimization procedures is becoming more and more important for addressing unprecedent challenges in the design, retrofitting and control of structures under dynamic loads.

In case of modern slender and light structures and bridges, the mitigation of the dynamic response is a key issue to meet stringent serviceability and safety requirements, and structural control devices are often required for the efficient mitigation of the structural vibrations.

In this perspective, structural optimization provides powerful tools to determine the most effective solutions able to reduce environmental and economic impacts of structural systems while fulfilling imposed aesthetic criteria and enhancing the overall mechanical performance and their sustainability.

The aim of this mini-symposium is to bring together academics and practitioners in order to foster the exchange of latest developments and experiences on the optimum design and control of structures and infrastructures subjected to dynamic loads.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following themes:

  • size, shape and topology optimisation of structural systems under dynamic loads;
  • advanced algorithms and computational technologies in the optimum design and control of structures under dynamic loads.
  • ​optimization of devices for vibrations control.
Minisymposium 15
"Noise and Vibration Harshness of gear transmisions under deterministic and non deterministic conditions: LIVE-I"
Mohamed Ichchou (École Centrale de Lyon, France)
Pascal Fossat (École Centrale de Lyon, France)
Stephan Rinderknecht (TU Darmstadt, Germany)
Francesco Franco (University of Napoli, Italy)
mohamed.ichchou@ec-lyon.fr
pascal.fossat@ec-lyon.fr
rinderknecht@ims.tu-darmstadt.de
francof@unina.it
Minisymposium 16
"Seismic upgrading of existing steel structures"
Luigi Di Sarno (University of Liverpool, UK and University of Sannio, Italy)
Fabio Freddi (University College of London, United Kingdom)
Mario D'Aniello (University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
Luigi.Di-Sarno@liverpool.ac.uk
f.freddi@ucl.ac.uk
mdaniel@unina.it
Minisymposium 17
"Steel joints behavior under seismic, fatigue and robustness actions"
Roberto Tartaglia (University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
Mario D’Aniello (University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
Massimo Latour (University of Salerno, Italy)
roberto.tartaglia@unina.it
mdaniel@unina.it
mlatour@unisa.it
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The proposed MS is devoted to collect new contributions on the behavior, design, testing and analysis of steel and steel-composite joints and their influence on the overall structural response. Indeed, both monotonic and cyclic performance of steel and steel-composite joints significantly affects the overall response of steel and steel-composite structures, their safety margin as well as their constructional costs. Therefore, the main topic addressed by this MS will cover analytical, experimental, and numerical analyses of both traditional and innovative types of joints under different conditions, such as seismic loading, fatigue, and robustness actions.

The main topics will include:

➢ Design of steel and steel-composite joints;
➢ Influence of joint’s behavior in the overall structural performance.
➢ Innovative joint typologies;
➢ Monotonic and cyclic behavior of steel and steel-composite joints;
➢ Seismic behavior of steel and steel-composite joints;
➢ Fatigue performance;
➢ Advanced Finite element analyses;
➢ Non-linear structural analyses

Minisymposium 18
"Resilience and Sustainable Design Based Methods for Structures and Infrastructure"
Moustafa Moufid Kassem (University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia)
Fadzli Mohamed Nazri (University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia)
moustafa.mk@usm.my
-
More Info »

In the recent decade, industry, government, and scientific research have all focused on urban communities' ability to bounce back after disasters. These occurrences, including the 2011 Christchurch earthquake in New Zealand and the 2011 Great Tohoku earthquake in Japan as well as the 2012 Superstorm Sandy and subsequent hurricanes Matthew in 2016, and Maria in 2017, have underlined the importance of better understanding and modeling community resilience.

Natural disasters such as earthquakes have the potential to cause catastrophic damage to urban systems, such as building, transportation, and lifeline subsystems. Strong seismic excitations can cause significant damage to buildings in a city, which make them vulnerable to damage. The post-earthquake damage of structures poses a significant obstacle to the rapid restoration of urban functions, despite the existence of several structural safety, damage mitigation, and seismic performance improvement methods. To overcome this deficiency, the concept of resilience has been used to improve structural safety, reliability, robustness, and redundancy.

This Minisymposium focuses on the design and evaluation of resilient seismic systems for structures and infrastructural systems. The topics of interest for this Special Issue refer to high-efficiency seismic design and evaluation, novel resilient technology, quantitative metrics, and a variety of other related topics.

  • Design-based methods on the principle of resiliency;
  • Lifetime resilience evaluation;
  • Developing high-resilience of components and systems;
  • Development of high-resilience components and systems;
  • Structural and Infrastructural Health Monitoring post seismic events.
  • Quantitative and qualitative models for seismic resilience;
  • Assessing and improving city-scale seismic resilience;
  • Innovative techniques to rebuilding cities following earthquakes that are both cost-effective and high performing.
Minisymposium 19
"Recent advances and challenges for the preservation of masonry structures and infrastructures against natural and anthropic risks"
Daniela Addessi (La Sapienza, Italy)
Michele Betti (Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy)
Nicola Cavalagli (Università degli Studi di Perugia, Italy)
Francesco Clementi (Università Politecnica delle Marche, Italy)
Antonio Formisano (Università di Napoli Federico II, Italy)
Gabriele Milani (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
daniela.addessi@uniroma1.it
michele.betti@unifi.it
nicola.cavalagli@unipg.it
francesco.clementi@univpm.it
antonio.formisano@unina.it
gabriele.milani@polimi.it
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Existing masonry structures and infrastructures represent one of the most important seismic safety concerns worldwide. Such structures are prone to significant structural and non-structural damage, which may lead to collapses when subjected to medium-to-strong exceptional load conditions. This has resulted in numerous fatalities and significant economic losses over the years, promoting the development of different procedures for the seismic assessment and retrofit.

In this framework, Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Non-Destructive (ND) testing play a major role, providing information on the building condition and existing damage, and allowing to define of adequate remedial measures. Furthermore, recent lessons learned regarding reconstruction/retrofitting processes pointed out the need for brand new, practical, and cost-effective seismic strengthening solutions.

In this perspective, the scientific community has developed different approaches, to achieve a consistent description of historical masonry structures and infrastructures. In addition, the recent progress of data sciences through artificial intelligence, neural network, and machine learning techniques provide help in processing large amounts of data and the complex methods required to address inherent uncertainties.

This mini-symposium aims to discuss the new advances in conservation and preservation of masonry structures and infrastructures, plain or strengthened, with specific applications to cultural heritage. Topics to be covered, but not limited to, are:

  • Constitutive models for masonry materials
  • Comparisons of different modelling strategies
  • Structural assessment
  • Homogenization techniques
  • Multi-scale analysis
  • SHM in earthquake, flood, and landslide-prone regions
  • Structural Dynamic identification methods and uncertainty quantification
  • Continuous dynamic monitoring techniques
  • Damage detection, localization, and quantification
  • Automated model updating
  • Digital Twins
  • Bayesian methods
  • Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning techniques
  • Big data analytics, interdisciplinary ways of making sense out of data
Minisymposium 20
"Advanced Numerical Methods in Dynamics, Computational Interface Mechanics and Coupled Problems"
Jose Gonzalez (Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenierıa, Universidad de Sevilla, Seville, Spain)
Jin-Gyun Kim (Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kyung Hee University, Yongin-si, Korea (South))
Radek Kolman (Institute of Thermomechanics of the CAS, Praha 8, Czech Republic)
K .C. Park (University of Colorado, United States)
joseangelgonzalezperez@gmail.com
jingyun.kim@khu.ac.kr
kolman@it.cas.cz
kcpark@colorado.edu
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This mini-symposium welcomes a variety of numerical techniques for dynamic problems including, data-driven modeling, analysis and optimization methods arising in reduced order modeling, partitioned modeling, uncertainty quantification, multidisciplinary design optimization of multi-component, multi-physics problems. Specific coupled problems may include fluid-structure interaction, thermo-mechanical problems, electro-mechanical problems, multi-physical problems in solid mechanics, smart materials, adaptive structures.

Topics relevant to the mini-symposium also include research works focused on new and advanced strategies for the mesh tying and coupling of domains, the interface dynamics, its accuracy, energy preserving, and stability of numerical methods capturing dynamics of interface problems, contact and impact problems, and transient analysis methods for handling interface mechanisms, are also accepted. Finally, the mini-symposium welcomes industrial applications examples and production-level software development that utilize the mentioned techniques.

Minisymposium 21
"Numerical analyses providing tools for managing earthquake and post-earthquake emergency"
Mariano Di Domenico (University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
Paolo Ricci (University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
Gerardo M. Verderame (University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
mariano.didomenico@unina.it
paolo.ricci@unina.it
verderam@unina.it
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As it is unfortunately well-known, earthquake and post-earthquake emergency are characterized by challenging ordeals: among them, the rescue of survivors and their recovery; re-activation of interrupted structures, infrastructures, and services necessary to the community; removal of debris and ruins; survey of damage to buildings; decision about usability of damaged buildings; providing assistance to displaced people. All of them represent an important contribution to the indirect costs that a community must face after such a catastrophic event: preparedness to face and solve these issues is a conclusive index of a community resilience.

Researchers interested in presenting their work to this Minisymposium are invited to start from one of the abovementioned, or similar, issues regarding the role of structures and infrastructures in the management of post-earthquake emergency. Authors are invited to present the results of numerical analyses aimed at providing useful results and tools for the management of earthquake and post-earthquake emergency, especially regarding the assessment of damage to structures and infrastructures, of their usability – potentially conditional on the realization of risk mitigation interventions -, their capacity to withstand further seismic events.

Minisymposium 22
"Hysteresis Phenomena in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering: Experiments, Modeling, and Design"
N. Vaiana (University of Naples Federico II, Napoli, Italy)
A. Charalampakis (University of West Attica, Athens, Greece)
G. Tsiatas (National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece)
P. Tsopelas (National Technical University of Athens, Athens, Greece)
nicolovaiana@outlook.it
aristotelis.charalampakis@gmail.com
gtsiatas@gmail.com
panos.tsopelas@gmail.com
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Hysteresis is a widespread phenomenon in science and engineering playing a significant role in industrial and technological applications. In the field of Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering, there exists a considerable number of structures, systems, materials, and devices displaying quite complex hysteretic behavior.

To encourage their use in practice, researchers not only need to perform a significant number of experimental tests, required to study and fully understand their actual hysteretic behavior, but they also have to develop accurate and efficient mathematical models and design procedures.

The purpose of the Mini-Symposium is to share the most recent advances related to the following issues: 

  • Experimental Studies: experimental test results describing the hysteretic behavior of novel and existing structures, systems, materials, and devices; experimental verification of numerical methods and mathematical models; experimental calibration of nonlinear model parameters.
  • Mathematical Modeling: solution strategies and numerical methods to perform nonlinear structural analyses; mathematical models devoted to simulating the nonlinear behavior of structures, systems, materials, and devices; model parameters identification procedures; simulations performed by adopting existing computer programs, such as OpenSees, MIDAS, Sap2000, and 3D-BASIS. 
  • Structural Design: design strategies for structures and equipment with hysteretic behavior; optimization design methods; case studies of challenging applications.

Award for the best young presentation during the Mini-Symposium

In order to stimulate the active presence of young people, the organizers have decided to reward the best presentation of a young researcher under 35 (at the start date of the conference). The interested ones should state their age.

Minisymposium 23
"Novel data-driven approaches in modeling, assessment, inspection, repairing, strengthening and management of structures"
Vagelis Plevris (Qatar University, Qatar)
Alejandro Jiménez Rios (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway)
German Solorzano (Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway)
Mohamed El Amine Ben Seghier (Institute of Surface Science, Germany)
vplevris@qu.edu.qa
alejand@oslomet.no
germanso@oslomet.no
mohamed.ben@hereon.de
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Data generation has seen an exponential growth over the last few years. This has led to the creation of online databases such as DataCenterHub, DesignSafe, Structural ImageNet, PEER Hub ImageNet, Mendeley Data, Zenodo, etc., for storing and sharing data among the broad structural engineering community. Unfortunately, data is quite often not correctly interpreted or used due to the lack of appropriate methodologies, innovative vision or simply because databases and the data they contain are not correctly structured for the proper application of novel and effective data-driven methodologies.

This Minisymposium aims to bring together researchers and professionals working withing the broad field of data-driven approaches in structural engineering, providing a common ground in which to share and discuss their most recent ideas and discoveries. The topics cover the areas of structural analysis techniques, seismic behavior and structural dynamics, inspection and diagnosis, as well as, repairing and strengthening, where state-of-the-art data-driven concepts and methodologies are developed and applied to improve resilience, management, conservation and sustainability of both existing structures (in particular those with cultural heritage value) and new ones.

Possible contributions include but are not limited to the following methods and techniques applied to structural engineering problems:

  • Digital twins
  • Building information modeling
  • Artificial intelligence
  • Machine learning
  • Neural networks
  • Decision trees
  • Support vector machines
  • Boosting algorithms
  • Optimization algorithms
  • Computer vision
  • Deep learning
  • Data acquisition and exploitation
  • Internet of things
  • Big data
Minisymposium 24
"Advances in seismic assessment and integrated retrofitting for envelopes of RC"
André Furtado (University of Porto, Portugal)
Marco Donà (University of Padova, Italy)
Maria Teresa de Risi (University of Naples Federico II, Italy)
afurtado@fe.up.pt
marco.dona@dicea.unipd.it
mariateresa.derisi@unina.it
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Most of the buildings located in seismic-prone regions were built before the enforcement of current seismic regulations , and therefore without following the modern concepts / philosophies of anti-seismic design. Thus, the structural safety of these buildings may not be satisfactory when subjected to seismic actions, and could also hamper any refurbishment investment in the case of an earthquake. Replacing existing buildings with nwly designed ones would be economically prohibitive, with significant environmental and social impacts.

The masonry infill walles can significantly modify the seismic response of the structure, and their irregular disposition can cause different types of failure mechanisms. The majority of the existing building structures ere not designed considering the effects of the masonry infill walls, which can strongly increase the building vulnerability. In particular, the high out-of-plane infill vulnerability was responsible for multiple collapses, casualties and economic losses. Several numerical and experimental efforts are underway to investigate how the various parameters of these infill walls can affect their seismic performance.

Nevertheless, the impact of buildings on global energy consumption requires future renovation interventions to simultaneously address the improvement of the building's seismic and energy performance.

This special session comprises presentations and a concluding round-table discussion. The topics of the Special Session will cover, but may not be limited to: seismic performance assessment methodologies; experimental and numerical studies on the seismic behaviour of masonry infill walls; independent or integrated retrofit techniques of reinforced concrete frames structures; cost-effectiveness evaluation of retrofitting strategies at regional or national level.

Minisymposium 25
"Towards seismic resilience: strategies and technological innovation for seismic risk reduction of existing structures"
Virginio Quaglini (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
Paolo Calvi (University of Washington, United States)
Tommaso D’Antino (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
Eleonora Bruschi (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
Carlo Pettorruso (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
virginio.quaglini@polimi.it
pmc85@uw.edu
tommaso.dantino@polimi.it
eleonora.bruschi@polimi.it
carlo.pettorruso@polimi.it
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Nowadays, the ability for a community to recover quickly after a catastrophic event , which is also called disaster-resilience, is becoming an increasingly felt need at every level, political, economic and social. Disaster-resilience is a new approach in earthquake engineering as well, extending the scope beyond the single structure, to systems and communities.

For many countries prone to earthquake, such as Italy, Greece and Turkey, it is essential to define and apply retrofit strategies and techniques for seismic risk reduction of existing structures with the objective of achieving predefined levels of relative safety and performance both at a single structure level and at territorial scale.  Substantial development has been performed in the last decades in the development of more effective design codes and novel seismic mitigation techniques, such as seismic isolation and energy dissipation, as well as strengthening and repair materials.  However, the remarkable potential of these strategies can be further broadened and improved, in order to satisfy the needs of a more resilient society. Thus, the pursuit of enhanced solutions and/or more effective design procedures is the object of ongoing cutting-edge research.

The Minisymposium aims at drawing the interest of academics, researchers, practitioners and manufacturers, by displaying progresses and highlighting research needs in the field of seismic mitigation and rehabilitation techniques for buildings and infrastructures, and presenting the most recent contributions to improve current technologies. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:

  • reliable and simplified methodology for the identification of critical structural vulnerabilities, the assessment of seismic vulnerability, and the classification of the seismic risk of existing structures;
  • design procedures for seismically upgrading existing structures;
  • novel base isolation and energy dissipation systems;
  • advances in numerical modelling of seismic isolation and energy dissipation systems;
  • traditional retrofit strategies and technical solutions;
  • innovative strengthening and retrofitting approaches based on organic- and inorganic-matrix composites
  • Bond behavior of externally bonded and fully embedded reinforcements
  • recent developments in standards and codes
Minisymposium 26
"Non-deterministic model updating and health monitoring with uncertainty treatment"
Sifeng Bi (University of Strathclyde, United Kingdom)
Matthias Faes (TU Dortmund University, Germany)
Marcos Valdebenito (TU Dortmund University, Germany)
Yongtao Bai (Chongqing University, China)
Matteo Broggi (Leibniz University Hannover, Germany)
Michael Beer (Leibniz University Hannover, Germany)
sifeng.bi@strath.ac.uk
matthias.faes@tu-dortmund.de
marcos.valdebenito.castillo@gmail.com
bai.yongtao@cqu.edu.cn
broggi@irz.uni-hannover.de
beer@irz.uni-hannover.de
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Model Updating has been developed as a typical technique to calibrate the parameters or the numerical model itself such that to tune its prediction as close as possible to the experimental measurements. One of the featured applications of the numerical model is Structural Health Monitoring, which has benefitted from precise models to identify and localize the damage by monitoring the change of key properties of the structural system.

However, it is widely recognized that the unavoidable uncertainties in both operational experiments and numerical analyses require efforts to be dedicated to model updating and health monitoring. Non-deterministic modelling approaches enable characterization, propagation, and quantification of the inevitable uncertainties, providing predictions over a possible range of outcomes (distributional, interval, fuzzy, etc.) rather than a unique solution with maximum fidelity to a single experiment.

This mini-symposium is dedicated to gathering experts from both academia and industries to summarize the latest development in the non-deterministic approaches for numerical modelling and structure health monitoring. Contributions addressing stochastic model updating, system identification, damage localization, sensor placement optimization, and uncertainty quantification are highly welcomed.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the following themes:

  • Stochastic model updating
  • Finite element analysis
  • Health monitoring
  • Damage localization
  • Uncertainty propagation/quantification
  • Experimental modal analysis
  • Parameter identification
  • Model verification and validation
Minisymposium 27
"Different aspects of nonlinear time history analysis in structural and earthquake engineering"
Aram Soroushian (International Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Seismology (IIEES), Iran)
Kumar Tamma (University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, United States)
a.soroushian@iiees.ac.ir
ktamma@umn.edu
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Nonlinear time history analysis using a time integration method is a widely accepted tool for analyzing structures’ actual behaviors. Additionally, the analysis is the basis of many advanced computations, such as analytical seismic fragility studies. From the other side of view, the need to nonlinear time history analysis is significant, and the role of nonlinear time history is irreplaceable, in many researches and practical computations. In view of these potential and needs, special attention to various aspects of nonlinear time history analysis is essential. Accordingly, this mini-symposium is dedicated to advanced discussions on nonlinear time history analysis in structural and earthquake engineering. Submissions on the details of nonlinear time history analysis needed for complicated behaviors of large structural systems, the numerical stability and accuracy issues, the lengthy run-times, the regulations in seismic codes, the benchmark problems, as well as other topics on nonlinear time history analysis, are very welcome to this mini-symposium. The participants will be informed of the recent and ongoing researches, will be able to share their recent achievements, and will have discussions with other highly ranked experts in the field. Meanwhile, the organizers of this mini-symposium try for an special issue publication from the presentations in MS27, and hope the participants will experience a friendly environment, and leave COMPDYN2023 with nice memories, more friendships, and starts of new collaborations on nonlinear time history analysis. With best wishes, we look forward to meeting you at COMPDYN 2023.

Minisymposium 28
"Monitoring, damage modelling and soil-structure-interaction in cultural heritage constructions"
Giuseppe Maddaloni (University of Sannio, Italy)
Stefania Sica (University of Sannio, Italy)
Antonino Iannuzzo (Swinburne University of Technology, Australia)
Michela Monaco (University of Sannio, Italy)
maddaloni@unisannio.it
stefsica@unisannio.it
iannuzzo@arch.ethz.ch
monaco@unisannio.it
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A large part of the world-historical and architectural heritage is located in areas subjected to earthquakes or other natural phenomena such as landslides. These buildings are mainly composed of reinforced concrete, masonry as well as hybrid timber constructions. As their safety could be compromised by detrimental factors like time, material degradation, previous damage or changes in external loading and environmental conditions (e.g. climate change), cultural heritage constructions need to be scrupulously assessed, protected and preserved for the next generations. However, this is a very challenging task that not only involves complex structural analyses requiring nonlinear and large displacement formulations. As well-known, the static and dynamic response of a structure may significantly change if it is supported on a stiff or soft soil. Therefore, a reliable safety assessment for cultural heritage constructions cannot be achieved without a detailed modelling of the subsoil and eventually accounting for the contribution of soil-structure interaction.

This Minisymposium aims to bring together researchers with different expertise such as structural mechanics, geotechnical engineering, structural dynamics, earthquake engineering, geomechanics, materials science, computational and numerical methods, experimental tests, history of constructions to discuss damage patterns modelling, including new approaches, analytical, numerical and phenomenological models, able to capture different loading and displacement situations. Topics of particular interest include but are not limited to:

  • soil-structure interaction
  • ambient vibrations
  • dynamic in-situ tests
  • uncertainties identification
  • effects of foundation settlements
  • interaction with adjacent constructions
  • damage identifications techniques and inverse analyses
  • structural health monitoring
  • coupled building–foundation systems
Minisymposium 29
"Soft computing techniques in civil, structural and earthquake engineering"
Vagelis Plevris (Qatar University, Qatar)
Usama Ebead (Qatar University, Qatar)
Tadesse G. Wakjira (Qatar University, Qatar)
vplevris@qu.edu.qa
uebead@qu.edu.qa
tgwakjira@gmail.com
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Soft computing methods are problem-solving strategies that have been used to obtain approximate solutions to complex problems. Biologically inspired methods such as Artificial Neural Networks, Evolutionary Algorithms, and Fuzzy Logic are a few examples of soft computing methods, which are also collectively referred to as Computational Intelligence. These methods are usually inspired by the strategies that nature uses to solve problems. Most frequently, they are employed to substitute or enhance complex and computationally intensive mathematical models that have proved intractable for conventional analysis based on hard-computing strategies.

In recent years, an increasing role of soft computing in several engineering fields has been observed, leading to many exciting and innovative applications. This mini-symposium aims at bringing together scientists and engineers working in different areas of soft computing. The mini-symposium covers all aspects of soft computing applications, with a special focus on those in structural and earthquake engineering. Possible contributions include but are not limited to the following methods and techniques:

  • Artificial Intelligence (AI) including machine learning and deep learning
  • Neural networks
  • Optimization algorithms
  • Evolutionary algorithms
  • Genetic programming
  • Swarm intelligence
  • Chaos theory and chaotic systems
  • Fuzzy set theory and fuzzy systems
Minisymposium 30
"The assessment of resilience with approaches based on numerical simulations"
Davide Forcellini (Università di San Marino, RSM, Italy)
davide.forcellini@unirsm.sm
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In our societies resilience has become a relevant issue to consider decision-making procedures such as post-hazard event mitigations and recovery investments. This concept provides readable findings for a wide range of stakeholders, such as infrastructure owners, transportation authorities and public administrators. In particular, the assessment of resilience is based on holistic approaches in order to integrate multidisciplinary perspectives and develop strategies to enhance the functionality of strategic systems and preserve community economies and human lives. In this regard, numerical simulations based on computational dynamics are fundamental to design resilient systems on which our societies are built up. This special issues aims to bring together stakeholders from multiple disciplines who may be interested in discussing the state of the art on scientific applications and sharing present and future perspectives.

Minisymposium 31
"Beyond discontinuum-based analysis: novel approaches for Discrete Element structural modelling of composite materials"
D. Malomo (McGill University, Canada)
A. Mehrotra (Delft University of Technology, Netherlands)
N. Kassotakis (University of Exeter, United Kingdom)
G. Gabbianelli (Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Pavia, Italy)
B. Pulatsu (Carleton University, Canada)
daniele.malomo@mcgill.ca
A.A.Mehrotra@tudelft.nl
n.kassotakis@exeter.ac.uk
giammaria.gabbianelli@unipv.it
borapulatsu@cunet.carleton.ca
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The use of discontinuum-based structural analysis for constructions made of composite materials has in recent years become increasingly common for both consultancy and research projects in structural engineering. The nature of Discrete Element (DE) micro-models, where rigid or deformable blocks are connected with nonlinear interface springs, has proven to be particularly suitable for predicting crack initiation and propagation in heterogeneous assemblies, overcoming longstanding issues in simulating element separation, collision and re-contact phenomena as typically encountered using standard continuum solutions.

While advances in the last three decades laid the foundation for the widespread use of DE micro-modelling approaches for seismic assessment, collapse analysis and failure mode prediction of masonry, reinforced concrete and other composite materials, it is only recently that the rigorous implementation of fracture mechanics in contact models, the development of more efficient meso- and macro- simplified and mixed strategies, as well as the combination with artificial intelligence, structural health monitoring and fluid-dynamics, have begun to be explored and evaluated.

This mini-symposium represents an invaluable opportunity for structural engineering professionals and researchers to connect, share ideas and define a common path to continue innovating – vital for bringing discontinuum-based structural analysis of composite materials to the next level. To that end, we welcome contributions from authors on the following DErelated topics (but not limited to):

• Micro-, meso- and macro- DE modelling strategies for composite structures
• Mixed FEM/DEM applications in structural engineering of composites
• Mixed analytical/DEM modelling approaches
• Seismic analysis structures and composite materials using DEM
• DEM-based collapse analysis and forensic engineering
• Fracture mechanics for DEM
• Masonry DE modelling
• Reinforced concrete DE modelling
• DEM for historic constructions
• Artificial Intelligence and DEM •
Structural health monitoring and DEM
• Non-contact sensing and DEM
• Automated structural model generation for DEM

Minisymposium 32
"Multi-hazard risk management of the built environment: recent advances and open challenges"
Serena Cattari (University of Genova, DICCA , Italy)
Silvia De Angeli (University of Genova, DICCA , Italy)
Carmine Galasso (University College London (UCL) , United Kingdom)
Xavier Romao (University of Porto , Portugal)
serena.cattari@unige.it
silvia.deangeli@unige.it
c.galasso@ucl.c.uk
xnr@fe.up.pt
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Multi-hazard risk modelling and quantification are becoming a central topic in disaster risk management and urban resilience. Managing risks arising from multiple and potentially interconnected hazards is critical for successfully implementing disaster risk mitigation policies and prioritizing disaster risk reduction and resiliene-increasing solutions, specifically under limited resources. 

In contrast to single-hazard events, multi-hazard risk assessment requires developing a series of integrated and holistic approaches for each component of the risk analysis, encompassing the development of integrated exposure taxonomies, fragility and vulnerability modelling methodologies, as well as loss and risk metrics. 

This mini-symposium offers researchers and practitioners involved in multi-hazard risk modelling and management an opportunity to discuss and share different approaches, recent advances, and perspectives. The discussion will focus on methodologies, computational tools, and applications addressing exposure, vulnerability, impact or risk from a multi-hazard perspective, considering, but not limited to:

  • seismic hazard interacting with other hazards in a cascading scenario (e.g., an earthquake that may trigger a fire or tsunami or liquefaction) or in combination with consequent and independent hazards (e.g., an earthquake followed by a flood or a windstorm);
  • hazard interactions through impacts on physical components, network and system disruptions (e.g. accumulation of physical damage due to earthquake sequences, landslides due to earthquake-induced collapse of a retaining structure);
  • different spatial scales, from single-building to urban scales or building portfolios;
  • different types of built structures and infrastructures, e.g. residential buildings, strategic and critical structures, cultural heritage, etc.;
  • different types of impacts (direct, indirect) using different types of metrics;
  • different approaches to address uncertainty and lack of data across the different components of risk modelling (or management).
Minisymposium 33
"Insight in seismic performance of retrofitted buildings: feasibility and effectiveness of intervention in RC buildings"
Maria Teresa De Risi (University of Napoli Federico II, Italy)
Carlo Del Gaudio (University of Napoli Federico II, Italy)
Gerardo Mario Verderame (University of Napoli Federico II, Italy)
mariateresa.derisi@unina.it
carlo.delgaudio@unina.it
verderam@unina.it
More Info »

 


The total number of natural hazard-related disasters recorded worldwide, and the ensuing economic losses is approximately doubled in the last twenty years compared to the previous two decades (UNDRR, 2020: The human cost of disasters: an overview of the last 20 years - 2000-2019). This has caused a growing interest on the assessment and understanding of seismic performance of existing RC buildings and secondly on the impact of retrofit strategies on their structural behaviour with the aim of seismic risk reduction.

Thus, the main goals of the mini symposium are:

- improving modelling and seismic assessment of low-standard existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, properly managing failure criteria, also due to interaction with masonry infills, facing to the definition of a homogenous and well-acknowledged damage classification;
- analyzing the rationale behind the main techniques for retrofit and the analytical approaches to well reproducing their structural contribution in numerical analyses;
properly managing and/or quantifying the economic loss due to the main repairing activities and repair costs for RC building to perform cost/benefit analysis of the considered retrofit strategies;
- executing extensive numerical analyses on a single case-study existing RC building or for large-scale vulnerability assessment of RC building stocks to address on the most reliable modelling and analysis tools and for selecting the best (traditional or innovative) retrofitting strategy;
- upgrading of fragility curves for low-standard existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in light of the structural contribution provided by retrofit intervention facing to large-scale vulnerability application.

Minisymposium 34
"Insights and developments in Dynamic Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction"
Maria Iovino (University of Napoli “Parthenope", Italy)
Raffaele Di Laora (University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli", Italy)
Emmanouil Rovithis (Democritus University of Thrace, Greece)
maria.iovino@assegnista.uniparthenope.it
raffaele.dilaora@unicampania.it
erovithis@civil.duth.gr
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Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction (SFSI) has long been recognized as a major factor controlling the response of geotechnical systems, including retaining walls, foundations of structures and critical infrastructures, such as bridge piers, tanks and offshore wind turbines under seismic or other dynamic type of loading. Despite recent advancements give indisputable proof of how SFSI may significantly affect the seismic demand and the associated structural performance, there continues to be a need for concepts and reliable procedures to incorporate SFSI  for a rational, resilient and cost-effective design. Relevant experimental, analytical and numerical studies have provided support on the above issue.

In this direction, this Minisymposium encourages contributions on the dynamic analysis and design of retaining walls, foundations or other engineering solutions, such as soil improvement and geotechnical isolation. Prominence will be given primarily but not exclusively to: (i) theoretical and/or numerical studies on the dynamic response of soil-foundation-structure systems; (ii) analysis of real case studies of SFSI systems, including presentation of instrumented sites of foundations and their supporting structure; (iii) field or laboratory tests on novel foundation systems or soil improvement solutions and interpretation of recorded data. Studies on specific topics, such as kinematic soil-foundation interaction and the behavior of foundations in complex soil conditions are also welcome.

It is strongly believed that this Minisymposium will create an interacting forum among scientists and practitioners for stimulating discussions and exchange of knowledge and new research ideas on the analysis and design of geostructures under dynamic loads.

Minisymposium 35
"Recent Advances in Ground- and Structure-Borne Noise and Vibration Assessment & Prediction"
Lukas Moschen (Ebner ZT GmbH, Austria)
Anastasios Sextos (University of Bristol, United Kingdom)
Grigorios Tsinidis (University of Thessaly, Greece)
l.moschen@ebner-zt.com
a.sextos@bristol.ac.uk
gtsinidis@uth.gr
More Info »

Ground- and/or structure-borne noise and vibration is an effect due to dynamic excitation of geotechnical systems and building structures. If the frequency content of the excitation is tuned to the characteristics of the underground or to eigen frequencies of superstructures, there is the risk of excessively high dynamic response quantities. As the density of urban areas increases, it is very common to develop residential buildings close to industrial areas and transportation infrastructure. Hence, regulations force the design engineer to predict noise and vibration levels relative to performance targets due to several excitation sources such as blasting, erection phases and traffic, machines, among others. It is evident that simplified methods based on empirical assumptions or quasi static approaches should be used for estimations of regular and simple structures or in the early design phase only. However, reliable predictions of noise and vibration levels require dynamic analyses. Besides computational challenges in the high frequency domain the engineer must deal with carefully modelling of the geotechnical system, the interface to the superstructure, the building itself, and finally with a meaningful representation of the forcing function. Thus, it is very common to use in engineering practice scientific strategies (modelling, software, uncertainty quantification, etc.) to extract reliable solutions. This mini symposium encourages the submission of papers presenting new findings in research and practical approaches in commercial engineering in the field of Ground- and StructureBorne Noise and Vibration Assessment & Prediction.

Topics cover, but are not limited to:

• vehicle-track-soil interaction,
• structure-borne and air-borne noise,
 ground-borne noise and vibration and
• uncertainty quantification.

Papers of latest findings of relevant research, as well as case studies from industry and high-tech engineering, are very welcome.

Minisymposium 36
"Experimental Testing on Seismic Isolation and Energy Dissipation Devices"
Marco Furinghetti (University of Pavia, EUCENTRE - European Centre for Training and Research on Earthquake Engineering, Italy)
Alberto Pavese (University of Pavia, Italy)
Paolo Castaldo (Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy)
marco.furinghetti@unipv.it
a.pavese@unipv.it
paolo.castaldo@polito.it
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Key words: experimental tests, isolators, damping devices, Seismic isolation and dissipation, Isolation and damper devices.

Seismic isolation systems are able to lead to a significant reduction of the structural vulnerability for both buildings and bridges structural systems subjected to earthquake excitations. Lower seismic demands can be achieved by either providing the proper period shift and, consequently, the reduction of inertia forces at all levels, or leading to high dissipative capacities. However, high displacement demands can be computed: such a displacement value can be reduced, by increasing the dissipative capacity of the implemented devices. In last decades several technical solutions have been developed in the common practice: among the others, Concave Surface Slider devices and Rubber Bearings with & without lead core are generally adopted for seismic isolation purposes, eventually coupled with damping devices for large structural systems, like bridges. In both research and practical applications a number of experimental campaigns have been performed, and a more and more comprehensive knowledge of the behaviour of such devices has been achieved. The proposed mini-symposium represents a special occasion to share recent advances and research on the experimental assessment of isolation and energy dissipation devices, by providing a big picture of the current analytical modelling and the numerical simulation of the real experimental response of specimens used for seismic vulnerability reduction purposes.

Minisymposium 37
"Design of structures under extreme loads"
Marco Simoncelli (Politecnico di Milano, Italy)
Flavio Stochino (Università degli studi di Cagliari, Italy)
Marco Zucca (Università degli studi di Cagliari, Italy)
marco.simoncelli@polimi.it
flavio.stochino@unica.it
marco.zucca2@unica.it
More Info »

In the modern era, engineers and researchers are facing more challenges related to the design of non-standard or special structures, such as tall buildings, steel storage racks, wind turbines, industrial chimneys, etc. The knowledge required to understand the behavior of such complex constructions is indispensable, especially when these structures are subjected to extreme loads, i.e., fire, blast and wind. Some of the main design issues are related to resonance, instability of principal members, non-symmetric elements, the use of thin-walled profiles, and the behavior of the connections. Moreover, also the structural robustness must be always accounted for in the design.  

The minisymposium will allow to present the recent advances in this field by attracting academic members, researchers, students and professional engineers. The field of application may include (but is not limited to) the following issues: 

  • Definition of different typology of extreme loads 
  • Modeling techniques for the structural behavior of non-standard structures under blast and fire loads;  
  • Design of tall structures (steel wind turbines, chimney, high-rise buildings, etc.) for wind and/or seismic loads; 
  • Non-linear dynamic analyses;
  • Design and development of vibration mitigation systems/devices; 
  • Design of structures made of thin-walled and non-symmetric members; 
  • Robustness scenario for framed structures, bridges and strategic buildings.
Minisymposium 38
"Timber-Based Systems For New And Existing Structures In Seismic Area: Recent Developments And Future Trends"
Antonio Sandoli (University of Naples Federico II, Naples, Italy)
Valentina Tomei (University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, Cassino, Italy)
Martina Sciomenta (University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy)
Massimo Fragiacomo (University of L’Aquila, L’Aquila, Italy)
antonio.sandoli@unina.it
v.tomei@unicas.it
martina.sciomenta@univaq.it
massimo.fragiacomo@univaq.it
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The introduction of new engineered wood products (Glulam, Cross Lam, Laminated Veneer Lumber, etc.) has offered new possibilities and encouraged a massive use of timber-based elements in the last decades, making it a material with wide possibilities of use. In addition to long-span roofs, bridges and floors, timber elements are effectively used to realize highly-performing timber buildings for commercial and residential destinations in seismic-prone area. The excellent seismic response together with their environmental sustainability and energetic efficiency, have stimulated the use of timber buildings not only in those countries particularly devoted to the timber practice (i.e., North America, Japan, Australia, and North Europe) but also in the Mediterranean basin area. Nowadays, studies concerning alternative and innovative uses of timber elements are ongoing by the scientific community. Among these, timber elements - such as panels or similar - used as additional eso or endoskeletons for seismic retrofit of existing masonry and reinforced concrete buildings could constitute effective solutions combining seismic and energetic retrofit requirements.

This minisymposium welcomes contributions that focus on (i) theoretical, experimental and numerical results concerning the seismic behaviour of engineered timber buildings and its subassemblies; (ii) seismic behaviour of mechanical and carpentry connections and their effect on the overall seismic response of the buildings; (iii) use of timber for retrofitting of existing masonry and reinforced concrete buildings; (iv) restoration techniques for ancient timber structures in seismic-prone area; (v) code practices: recent advancements and urgent needs.

Minisymposium 39
"SHM for Transport Infrastructure Resilience"
Marco Domaneschi (Politecnico di Torino, Turin, Italy)
Eleni Chatzi (ETH, Zurich, Switzerland)
Yan Xu (Tongji University, Shanghai, China)
Stergios Aristoteles Mitoulis (InfrastructruResilience, London, United Kingdom)
marco.domaneschi@polito.it
chatzi@ibk.baug.ethz.ch
05203@tongji.edu.cn
drmitoulis@gmail.com
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Bridges and critical transport infrastructure (CTI) are primary systems that underpin human mobility and activities. Loss of functionality of a bridge has consequences on the entire transport network, which is also interconnected with other networks. Recent natural disasters revealed the vulnerabilities of bridges and CTI to diverse hazards (e.g. earthquakes, floods, blasts), which may exacerbate due to climate emergency, leading to significant economic losses and societal disruption.

Therefore, assessing bridge and network seismic vulnerabilities threatened by climate crisis quantifying their capacity, functionality, their preparedness for high impact low probability (HILP) events, and adaptation to novel stressors is more important than ever.

This Special Session is focused on the SHM based methods and emergent technologies that can be used to detect even in real time the state of existing transportation infrastructures and thus quantify and possibly improve their resilience, deploying the necessary resources to identify and locate critical issues, intervene promptly to recover functionality in earthquake-affected areas. In addition, these technologies are also seen in a preventive way, to diagnose the state of transportation infrastructure, for example, to estimate the degradation level of structural components (e.g. piers scour, corrosion) that may critically affect seismic vulnerability in order to target resources according to a prioritization principle. Therefore, the identification of critical components and the determination of the implications of their failure and their interconnectivities with other systems is also a key to decreasing seismic vulnerability.

Experiences and suggestions of multi-scale SHM methodologies for resilience assessment and improvement for real case studies, including also numerical simulations, are expected from the academia, government agencies, and professionals. Virtual testbeds can be also used for modeling, interdependencies between simple representations of bridges and transportation systems, utility systems and the socioeconomic systems within the community that they support.

Minisymposium 40
"Application of deep learning and IoT in numerical modelling and health monitoring of structures/infrastructures"
Ramin Ghiasi (University College Dublin, Ireland)
Abdollah Malekjafarian (University College Dublin, Ireland)
Mohammad Noori (California Polytechnic State University, United States)
Eleni Chatzi (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
ramin.ghiasisangani@ucd.ie
abdollah.malekjafarian@ucd.ie
mnoori@calpoly.edu
chatzi@ibk.baug.ethz.ch
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Deep learning (DL) has been one of the most remarkable approaches in the field of artificial intelligence in recent years. With the improvement of hardware performance, deep learning models have been increasingly used to handle more complex problems in engineering applications, such as image classification, semantic recognition, and signal processing.  Furthermore, Internet of Things (IoT) has recently received a great attention due to its potential and capacity to be integrated into complex systems. As a result of rapid development of sensing technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensors and the convergence of information technologies such as wireless communication and Internet, IoT is emerging as an important technology for infrastructure monitoring systems.

The aim of this mini-symposium is to bring together experts from both academia and industry to present their latest developments in application of DL approaches and IoT technologies for numerical modelling and health monitoring of various structure/substructures (dam, bridge, pipeline networks, etc.). Contributions addressing novel solutions in DL such as Bayesian Convolutional Neural Network, Broad Bayesian learning (BBL), A knowledge-based deep learning approach, Transfer Learning (TL) and Reinforcement Learning (RL) approaches are highly welcomed.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) the DL approaches and IoT technologies applications in:

  • Structural health monitoring
  • Safety analysis of coupled system (such as vehicle bridge interaction)
  • Structural optimization
  • System identification and response prediction
Minisymposium 41
"Artificial Intelligence techniques in Seismic Engineering"
FABRIZIO PAOLACCI (Roma Tre University, Italy)
GIANLUCA QUINCI (Roma Tre University, Italy)
MICHALIS FRAGIADAKIS (National Technical University of Athens , Greece)
fabrizio.paolacci@uniroma.it
gianluca.quinci@uniroma.it
mfrag@mail.ntua.gr
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A special session on Artificial Intelligence (AI) techniques applied to seismic Engineering will be organized under the framework of the 9th Conference on Computational Methods in Earthquake Engineering to be held in Athens on 12-14 June 2023.  We invite papers that focus on the application of various AI techniques such as Artificial Neural Network (ANN), Adaptive Neuro Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS), Support Vector Machine (SVM), Deep Leaning (DL), Gaussian Process Regression (GPR), Random Forest (RM) and all the other machine learning techniques in seismic engineering. The main goal of this special session is to present the cutting-edge integration of AI techniques and seismic engineering and to show how the machine learning can assist the structural engineering to solve complex problems of structures subjected to earthquakes. The special session covers novel AI and data-driven methods, and hybrid models combining AI and physics, in strong motion, structural analysis and seismic design, and multi-hazard engineering that includes earthquakes and other hazards. Topics of interest include (but are not limited to) machine learning assisted/related:

  • Structural static, dynamic and stability analysis
  • Seismic hazard analysis
  • Risk assessment, robust structural design and optimization methods
  • Surrogate models for structures in seismic engineering
  • Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Existing Structures and Infrastructures;
  • Damage identification with image processing
  • Structural resilience of infrastructures in earthquake and man-made disasters

The symposium wishes to attract researchers active in this area and also to become a forum for information exchange and debate for both researchers and practicing engineers.  As you are an active researcher in this field it is our great pleasure to invite you or one of your co-workers to contribute within this subject area to the 9th COMPDYN conference. Should you be able to accept this invitation, we would be grateful if you could submit an abstract of no more than one A4 page through the conference web page.

Minisymposium 42
"Computational methods for inverse problems in structures and geophysics"
Dan Givoli (Israel Institute of Technology, Israel)
Haim Waisman (Columbia University, United States)
givolid@technion.ac.il
hw2286@columbia.edu
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Many problems in structural dynamics and geophysics are posed mathematically as inverse problems. In contrast to the more standard “forward problems”, where the model of a structure or of a geophysical medium is fully described, and the goal is to find the response due to given loads or initial conditions, the goal of an inverse problem is to find missing information on the model, based on some given information (acquired by measurements using sensors or by a priori design) on the response in space and/or time or to find optimal structural topologies. Examples include, among others,

(a) identifying damage in a structure based on its modal behavior (resonance frequencies and mode shapes);
(b) identifying damage in a structure based on its response to time-harmonic loads or to time-dependent wave excitation;
(c) locating the epicenter of an earthquake from measurements on the ground;
(d) identifying a cavity underground from measurement on the ground, for water, gas or oil exploration;
(e) finding the optimal shape of a structure or a structural part as to yield desired dynamic properties (shape optimization);
(f) finding the optimal topology of a structure that yields a desired function (topology optimization);
(g) finding optimal loads that if applied on the structure suppress undesired vibration (optimal control);
(h) finding optimal distribution of materials and accounting for fracture resistance in optimal design of structures.  

There is a rich literature on computational methods for inverse problems, in particular in the areas of structural analysis, geophysics and design optimization. Known methods include Linear Sampling Method, Arrival Time Imaging (Kirchhoff Migration), Time Reversal, topology-sensitivity based analysis, Bayesian approaches, Full Waveform Inversion, the latter often relying on a gradient-based optimization and on the adjoint method, and more. Research in this area, aimed at devising new methods and improving existing ones, is very active, since inverse problems are notoriously hard; not only are they usually strongly nonlinear, but they are almost always ill-posed. In order to be effective, methods for the solution of inverse problems must be robust, efficient, and perform well even in the presence of noisy data. Additional interesting and important challenges arise from the computationally-intensive solution methods required.

Minisymposium 43
"Application of simulation and surrogate-based Monte Carlo techniques for reliability analysis of structures"
Jafar Jafari-Asl (University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran)
jafar.jafariasl@yahoo.com
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Keywords: Metamodels, Monte Carlo, Structural Reliability, Kriging, Infrastructures.

Estimation of the safety level for infrastructures using the appropriate reliability analysis technique is a task with high significant. An accurate prediction of reliability can contribute to the better integrity management of structures under uncertainties. In recent decades, researchers have tried to propose various approximate techniques for modeling the performance of structures with considering the effect of uncertainty.

However, some research challenges still need to be addressed to simplify and improve the use of these techniques for crucial infrastructures (e.g., bridges, roads, railways, offshore platforms, water distribution systems, oil and gas pipelines, and etc.).

The primary goals of this Minisymposium are highlighting and discussing new developments and open research issues addressing applications, and methodologies aspects of the structural reliability analysis of structures.

Contributions from researchers, and practitioners are expected in (but not limited to) the following areas:

  • Structural reliability analysis
  • Risk and safety assessment
  • Structural health monitoring
  • Reliability-based design optimization
  • Life-cycle assessment
Minisymposium 44
"Modeling techniques and approaches for vulnerability and resilience analyses of large-scale structures and infrastructures"
Alessandro Cardoni (Politecnico di Torino, Italy)
Gian Paolo Cimellaro (Politecnico di Torino, Italy)
Xinzheng Lu (Tsinghua University, China)
alessandro.cardoni@polito.it
gianpaolo.cimellaro@polito.it
luxz@tsinghua.edu.cn
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The functionality and productivity of large urban communities are heavily dependent on structures and infrastructures. To guarantee high levels of performance, these systems are interconnected directly and indirectly on several degrees. The complexity of such communities, coupled with the high population density, can lead to an increase in their vulnerability to specific or multiple hazards. Aiming at implementing new design and retrofit strategies to improve the robustness and recovery capabilities of urban communities, large-scale models and virtual testbeds are essential to assess the vulnerability and resilience of critical systems.

The scope of this Mini-Symposium is to present new techniques and approaches that can be used to model large-scale built environments (e.g., structures, infrastructures) and evaluate their vulnerability and resilience. Numerical models and virtual testbeds can be used to perform vulnerability and resilience analyses against different types of hazards and to test existing resilience frameworks. This Mini-Symposium welcomes contributions from academic staff, researchers, post-graduate students and professional engineers dealing with topics related to:

  • Large-scale modeling of structures and infrastructures
  • Resilience and vulnerability analyses of structures, infrastructures, communities
  • Probabilistic risk analysis and decision making
  • Multi-hazard analysis of structures and infrastructures
  • Resilient design and retrofit
Minisymposium 45
"Structural Dynamics, Seismic Safety and Risk Assessment of Special Structures"
Rui Carneiro Barros (University of Porto, Portugal)
Manuel Braz-César (Instituto Politecnico Braganca, Portugal)
rcb@fe.up.pt
brazcesar@ipb.pt
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This minisymposium organized by integrated members of FEUP CONSTRUCT R&D Center, will present results of recent research on Seismic Pounding between Buildings as well as Risk Assessment of Special Lifeline Engineering Structures (topics being addressed during ongoing phd R&D, under final stages), as well as real structural dynamics cases addressed in graduate studies. Since divulgation was also more specifically done within collaborative university communities of Brazil-Italy-Algeria-Iran, it is also expected that some contributions might also come from some of those teams. The assessment of the seismic safety of existing buildings designed by previous design codes, and the evaluation of inherent structural reinforcement solutions, enforced by actual Eurocode 8 design specifications (and national technical design monographies and dispositions) is also to be addressed by numerical analysis/design methods under this MS objectives.  

Minisymposium 46
"Recent Advances in the Assessment and Extreme Hazard Mitigation of Structures"
Constantine C. Spyrakos (National Technical University of Athens, Greece)
Denis Istrati (National Technical University of Athens, Greece)
Andre Barbosa (Oregon State University, United States)
Paolo Lonetti (University of Calabria, Italy)
cspyrakos@gmail.com
denis.istrati@gmail.com
andre.barbosa@oregonstate.edu
lonetti@unical.it
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Extreme events, such as, the 2011 Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami, the 2020 blast in Beirut, the 2021 flash floods in Germany, Medicane Ianos in Greece and Hurricane Ian in the United States, caused unprecedented damage to structures and critical infrastructure (e.g. transportation, communication, energy) of the affected communities, revealing their vulnerability. The increasing intensity and frequency of extreme hydro-meteorological events and the recent occurrence of low-probability and high-impact (HILP) natural and man-made hazards are clear indicators of the need to develop disaster preparedness strategies for such unexpected and emerging risks.

To this end, the engineering community has recognized the need for proper evaluation, modeling and assessment of the effects of extreme hazards, in order to ensure the desired performance of engineered structural and infrastructure systems. In addition to single-hazard scenarios, coupled effects from multiple unrelated hazards (e.g. floods and earthquakes) or cascading hazards (e.g. earthquake-tsunami scenarios), are also of interest because they can result in accumulating damage and progressive collapse of structures, which is not considered in current design procedures.

Therefore, this mini-symposium will host the presentation of advanced analytical, experimental and numerical research, including multi-physics simulations, as well as, methodologies and novel frameworks that address critical issues regarding the associated risk, modeling, analysis, design and protection of structures exposed to individual and multi-hazard scenarios. The symposium will bring together academia, practicing engineers and governmental agencies that aim to improve the resilience of the built environment to HILP events.

Minisymposium 47
"Risk Assessment and Hazard Mitigation of Historic Structures and Urban Centers"
Constantine C. Spyrakos (National Technical University of Athens, Greece)
John Bellos (Neapolis University Pafos, Cyprus)
cspyrakos@gmail.com
j.bellos@nup.ac.cy
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Historic  buildings are often highly vulnerable to natural and human-made hazards, such as,  earthquakes, tsunamis, fires, hurricane wind and storm surge, wind, scour, blast and explosion, not only because of their construction and material characteristics, but also because they are usually very degraded from ineffective maintenance and conservation practices  Also, Historic urban centers are, almost by definition, risk-prone areas.

The mini-symposium will host the presentation of current analytical and experimental research, as well as the implementation of methodologies that address critical issues regarding the associated risk, modeling, analysis and design of the individual historic structures, as well as historic structures in historic urban centers.

Minisymposium 48
"Recent advances in ground motion selection and scaling techniques"
Shaghayegh Karimzadeh (University of Minho, Portugal)
Manolis Georgioudakis (National Technical University of Athens, Greece)
Michalis Fragiadakis (National Technical University of Athens, Greece)
shaghkn@civil.uminho.pt
geoem@mail.ntua.gr
mfrag@mail.ntua.gr
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Nonlinear response history analysis (NRHA) is the most realistic seismic performance assessment method, which requires the use of acceleration time-histories as input for numerical simulations. Evidently, the major difficulty of the method is the realistic implementation of seismic actions. Acceleration time-histories employed in seismic analysis/design should be consistent with the seismicity of the site and representative of the expected (or the design) earthquake, i.e., representing all possible future events at the site. Record selection is tackled by scaling natural (or recorded) ground motions or generating them artificially. Natural, also known as "recorded" or "historic" ground motion, is the preferable option for NRHA. The real ground motions are chosen from databases, which were scarce in previous times.

Even though large ground motion databases are widely available nowadays, the selection of records still hampers the use of NRHA in engineering practice. The limitation of using real records is that they have been recorded at a location different than the site of interest, and thus they correspond to a different hazard scenario. Moreover, it is difficult to find records of extreme earthquakes for studying ultimate limit states, i.e., collapse. Given the scarcity of the recorded motions for near-field stations and destructive events with long return periods, the ground motion databases primarily contain small-to-moderate records. The scarcity of earthquakes with large magnitudes at small epicentral distances or even soft soil conditions poses an additional difficulty when a full-range, performance-based assessment is required. The common practice for circumventing this problem is to "scale" the amplitude of a ground motion in order to match the corresponding seismic hazard scenario, typically represented by a target acceleration spectrum or a ground motion model. Scaling is a controversial issue that may introduce bias, such as systematically under-or overestimating the actual response, but it can be avoided or reduced if efficient record selection algorithms are adopted. In addition to real records in the selection process, recent advances are focusing on using ground motion simulations for regions with limited recordings in engineering applications. This approach constrains ground motion scaling for poorly sampled regions.

This minisymposium aims to bring together researchers from the fields of seismology and earthquake engineering to discuss the advances of various techniques proposed for selecting and scaling of real or simulated ground motion records in engineering practice without biasing the response estimates. Topics to be covered, but not limited to, are:

  • Selection and scaling techniques in earthquake engineering
  • Artificial acceleration time histories
  • Heuristic approaches to record selection
  • Multi-objective approaches
  • Automated and semi-automated procedures
  • Conditional mean spectrum
  • Challenges in ground motion simulation and scaling techniques
Minisymposium 49
"Seismic Response of Masonry Cross Vaults: Shaking table tests and numerical validations"
Chiara Calderini (University of Genoa, Italy)
Paulo Lourenço (University of Minho, Portugal)
Nuno Mendes (University of Minho, Portugal)
Nicoletta Bianchini (University of Minho, Portugal)
Paulo Candeias (Portuguese National Laboratory for Civil Engineering, Portugal)
chiara.calderini@unige.it
pbl@civil.uminho.pt
nunomendes@civil.uminho.pt
nicoletta.bianchini@gmail.com
pcandeias@lnec.pt
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This minisymposium will present the final results of the SERA-TA project "Seismic Response of Masonry Cross Vaults: Shaking table tests and numerical validations" funded by the EU within the Call: H2020-INFRAIA-2016-1. In particular, contributions related the following topics will be presented: the results of the shaking table tests on a full-scale masonry mortared cross vault without and with strengthening measures (TRM); the results of the blind predictions of the shaking table tests (https://sera-crossvault.wixsite.com/blindprediction), performed by different researchers by means of advanced numerical analyses; the results of postdictions for the shaking table tests, carried out after completion of the blind predictions; the critical assessment of the experimental and numerical results.  

Minisymposium 50
"Data Driven methods and engineering software for next generation HPC applications"
Vissarion Papadopoulos (NTUA, Greece)
Kyriakos Giannakoglou (NTUA, Greece)
George Goumas (NTUA, Greece)
vpapado@central.ntua.gr
kgianna@central.ntua.gr
goumas@cslab.ece.ntua.gr
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This MS is devoted to the presentation of advances in computational models and engineering software for next generation extreme scale Computational Mechanics applications. As Machine Learning and AI techniques have shown considerable promise in boosting and automating computationally extreme engineering problems such as uncertainty quantification, optimization and Bayesian inference of complex engineering systems, DDCOMP-EXA emphasizes in the use of ML and AI techniques in the area of model and software development for pre-exascale and exascale high-performance computing. DDCOMP-EXA addresses both academic and commercial software innovation, covering applied science and engineering problems with emphasis in data driven-enhanced mathematical models and algorithms improving energy efficiency, robustness and scalability for extreme scale computational mechanics analysis and optimization problems.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to

  • Sparse matrix computations - sparse kernels, storage formats, solution algorithms and preconditioners with enhanced scalability properties for extreme computational mechanics problems
  • Resilience for HPC systems - fault detection and prediction, monitoring and control, end-to-end data integrity, enabling infrastructure, and resilient computational algorithms.
  • Data driven and ML enhanced mathematical models and application
    * application specific enhancements (e.g.: Solids, Bioengineering, CFD, Coupled   problems, etc.)
    * applications for improving energy efficiency, robustness and scalability
  • usages at extreme scale computational mechanics problems (e.g.: multiscale analysis, UQ, Bayesian analysis, Optimization etc.)
  • ML-assisted Open Architectures for Exascale Supercomputers
  • ML and AI techniques in software development

Involved EU-funded Projects

This is a joint workshop covering the cross-cutting topic of using ML techniques HPC application development organized by the following EuroHPC projects:

  • DComEX - Data Driven Computational Mechanics at Exascale
  • Regale - Open Architecture for Exascale Supercomputers
  • exaFOAM: Exploitation of Exascale Systems for Open-Source Computational Fluid Dynamics by Mainstream Industry