{"id":{"repo_id":"vt","oai_identifier":"oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/87407"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vt/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/87407","repository":{"repo_id":"vt","name":"Virginia Tech","base_url":"https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Topology Optimization of Steel Shear Fuses to Resist Buckling","abstract":"Shear-acting structural fuses are steel plates with cutouts subjected to in-plane lateral displacements during extreme loading events such as earthquakes, that dissipate energy through localized shear or flexural yielding mechanisms. Although previous studies have reported that fuses with specific geometry can develop a stable hysteretic behavior, their small thickness makes them prone to buckling, reducing strength and energy dissipation capacity. In this work, topology optimization using genetic algorithms is performed to find optimized shapes for structural fuses with a square domain and constant thickness. The objective function uses the fuse's shear buckling load VB obtained from a 3D linear buckling analysis, and shear yield load VY obtained from a material nonlinear, but geometrically linear 2D plane-stress analysis. The two analyses are shown to be computationally efficient and viable for use in the optimization routine. The variations VY/VB=0.1,0.2,0.3 are investigated considering a target volume equal to 30%, 40% and 50% the fuse's original volume. A new set of optimized topologies are obtained, interpreted into smooth shapes, and evaluated using finite elements analyses with models subjected to monotonic and cyclic displacements histories. It was found that the drift angle when out-of-plane buckling occurs can be controlled using the VY/VB ratio, with optimized topologies buckling at drift angles (when subjected to a cyclic displacement protocol) as large as 9% as compared to 6% for previously studied fuses.","abstract_html":"Shear-acting structural fuses are steel plates with cutouts subjected to in-plane lateral displacements during extreme loading events such as earthquakes, that dissipate energy through localized shear or flexural yielding mechanisms. Although previous studies have reported that fuses with specific geometry can develop a stable hysteretic behavior, their small thickness makes them prone to buckling, reducing strength and energy dissipation capacity. In this work, topology optimization using genetic algorithms is performed to find optimized shapes for structural fuses with a square domain and constant thickness. The objective function uses the fuse's shear buckling load VB obtained from a 3D linear buckling analysis, and shear yield load VY obtained from a material nonlinear, but geometrically linear 2D plane-stress analysis. The two analyses are shown to be computationally efficient and viable for use in the optimization routine. The variations VY/VB=0.1,0.2,0.3 are investigated considering a target volume equal to 30%, 40% and 50% the fuse's original volume. A new set of optimized topologies are obtained, interpreted into smooth shapes, and evaluated using finite elements analyses with models subjected to monotonic and cyclic displacements histories. It was found that the drift angle when out-of-plane buckling occurs can be controlled using the VY/VB ratio, with optimized topologies buckling at drift angles (when subjected to a cyclic displacement protocol) as large as 9% as compared to 6% for previously studied fuses.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Avecillas, Javier Andres"],"institution":"Virginia Tech","degree_name":"Master of Science","degree_level":"masters","degree_discipline":"Civil Engineering","degree_department":"Civil and Environmental Engineering","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":["Eatherton, Matthew R."],"committee_members":["Charney, Finley A.","Koutromanos, Ioannis"],"year":2019,"date_issued":"2019-02-01","date_published":"2019-02-01","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:13Z","subjects":["Structural Fuses","Topology Optimization","Genetic Algorithms","Hysteretic Dampers","Seismic Energy Dissipation","Finite element method"],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright"],"rights_urls":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:18535"],"render_values":[{"text":"vt_gsexam:18535","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/10919/87407","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.committeechair","label":"Committee Chair","values":["Eatherton, Matthew R."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.committeemember","label":"Committee Member","values":["Charney, Finley A.","Koutromanos, Ioannis"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Civil and Environmental Engineering"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Avecillas, Javier Andres"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2019-02-02T09:01:31Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2019-02-02T09:01:31Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2019-02-01"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Virginia Tech"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Civil Engineering"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["masters"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Structural Fuses","Topology Optimization","Genetic Algorithms","Hysteretic Dampers","Seismic Energy Dissipation","Finite element method"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["In Copyright"]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.other","label":"Dc Identifier Other","values":["vt_gsexam:18535"]},{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/87407"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Shear-acting structural fuses are steel plates with cutouts subjected to in-plane lateral displacements during extreme loading events such as earthquakes, that dissipate energy through localized shear or flexural yielding mechanisms. Although previous studies have reported that fuses with specific geometry can develop a stable hysteretic behavior, their small thickness makes them prone to buckling, reducing strength and energy dissipation capacity. In this work, topology optimization using genetic algorithms is performed to find optimized shapes for structural fuses with a square domain and constant thickness. The objective function uses the fuse's shear buckling load VB obtained from a 3D linear buckling analysis, and shear yield load VY obtained from a material nonlinear, but geometrically linear 2D plane-stress analysis. The two analyses are shown to be computationally efficient and viable for use in the optimization routine. The variations VY/VB=0.1,0.2,0.3 are investigated considering a target volume equal to 30%, 40% and 50% the fuse's original volume. A new set of optimized topologies are obtained, interpreted into smooth shapes, and evaluated using finite elements analyses with models subjected to monotonic and cyclic displacements histories. It was found that the drift angle when out-of-plane buckling occurs can be controlled using the VY/VB ratio, with optimized topologies buckling at drift angles (when subjected to a cyclic displacement protocol) as large as 9% as compared to 6% for previously studied fuses."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstractgeneral","label":"General Abstract","values":["Shear-acting structural fuses are steel plates with cutouts that dissipate energy during extreme loading events such as earthquakes. These structural fuses have a fixed edge and an opposing edge subjected to in-plane lateral displacements. Although previous studies have reported that fuses with specific geometry have a good cyclic performance, their small thickness makes them prone to bend or buckle, reducing strength and energy dissipation capacity. Considering a structural fuse with a square domain and constant thickness, a mathematical method called topology optimization is implemented to optimize the distribution of material with the goal of controlling the amount of yielding in the structural fuse before it buckles. The optimization routine uses the fuse’s shear buckling capacity (VB) and shear yield strength (VY ) obtained from relative simple and computationally inexpensive procedures that are also valid to characterize the potential for buckling in a structural fuse. The variations VY /VB = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 are investigated considering a target volume equal to 30%, 40% and 50% the fuse’s original volume. A set of optimized topologies are interpreted into smooth shapes and evaluated using finite elements analyses. It was found that the drift angle when out-of-plane buckling occurs can be controlled by using the VY /VB ratio, with optimized topologies buckling at drift angles (when subjected to a cyclic displacement protocol) as large as 9% as compared to 6% for previously studied fuses."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Master of Science"]},{"key":"dc:format.medium","label":"Dc Format Medium","values":["ETD"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Topology Optimization of Steel Shear Fuses to Resist Buckling"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.committeechair":["Eatherton, Matthew R."],"dc:contributor.committeemember":["Charney, Finley A.","Koutromanos, Ioannis"],"dc:contributor.department":["Civil and Environmental Engineering"],"dc:creator":["Avecillas, Javier Andres"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2019-02-02T09:01:31Z"],"dc:date.available":["2019-02-02T09:01:31Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2019-02-01"],"dc:description.abstract":["Shear-acting structural fuses are steel plates with cutouts subjected to in-plane lateral displacements during extreme loading events such as earthquakes, that dissipate energy through localized shear or flexural yielding mechanisms. Although previous studies have reported that fuses with specific geometry can develop a stable hysteretic behavior, their small thickness makes them prone to buckling, reducing strength and energy dissipation capacity. In this work, topology optimization using genetic algorithms is performed to find optimized shapes for structural fuses with a square domain and constant thickness. The objective function uses the fuse's shear buckling load VB obtained from a 3D linear buckling analysis, and shear yield load VY obtained from a material nonlinear, but geometrically linear 2D plane-stress analysis. The two analyses are shown to be computationally efficient and viable for use in the optimization routine. The variations VY/VB=0.1,0.2,0.3 are investigated considering a target volume equal to 30%, 40% and 50% the fuse's original volume. A new set of optimized topologies are obtained, interpreted into smooth shapes, and evaluated using finite elements analyses with models subjected to monotonic and cyclic displacements histories. It was found that the drift angle when out-of-plane buckling occurs can be controlled using the VY/VB ratio, with optimized topologies buckling at drift angles (when subjected to a cyclic displacement protocol) as large as 9% as compared to 6% for previously studied fuses."],"dc:description.abstractgeneral":["Shear-acting structural fuses are steel plates with cutouts that dissipate energy during extreme loading events such as earthquakes. These structural fuses have a fixed edge and an opposing edge subjected to in-plane lateral displacements. Although previous studies have reported that fuses with specific geometry have a good cyclic performance, their small thickness makes them prone to bend or buckle, reducing strength and energy dissipation capacity. Considering a structural fuse with a square domain and constant thickness, a mathematical method called topology optimization is implemented to optimize the distribution of material with the goal of controlling the amount of yielding in the structural fuse before it buckles. The optimization routine uses the fuse’s shear buckling capacity (VB) and shear yield strength (VY ) obtained from relative simple and computationally inexpensive procedures that are also valid to characterize the potential for buckling in a structural fuse. The variations VY /VB = 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 are investigated considering a target volume equal to 30%, 40% and 50% the fuse’s original volume. A set of optimized topologies are interpreted into smooth shapes and evaluated using finite elements analyses. It was found that the drift angle when out-of-plane buckling occurs can be controlled by using the VY /VB ratio, with optimized topologies buckling at drift angles (when subjected to a cyclic displacement protocol) as large as 9% as compared to 6% for previously studied fuses."],"dc:description.degree":["Master of Science"],"dc:format.medium":["ETD"],"dc:identifier.other":["vt_gsexam:18535"],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/10919/87407"],"dc:publisher":["Virginia Tech"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright"],"dc:rights.uri":["http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/"],"dc:subject":["Structural Fuses","Topology Optimization","Genetic Algorithms","Hysteretic Dampers","Seismic Energy Dissipation","Finite element method"],"dc:title":["Topology Optimization of Steel Shear Fuses to Resist Buckling"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Civil Engineering"],"thesis:degree_level":["masters"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science"],"thesis:institution_name":["Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:19:13Z"}