Ziliang Zhang

• Doctor of Philosophy
• PostDoc Position at University of Southampton

An advanced numerical model was developed for simulating seismic responses of nonuniformly cor- roded circular RC bridge columns reinforced by carbon or stainless steel. The model was validated against recent lateral cyclic tests, where both overall hysteresis responses and localised mechanisms were replicated satisfactorily. The verified model was...

Insufficient detail in the numerical modelling of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge piers can lead to oversimplification between simulated and real column behaviour under seismic loading. This paper describes the development and validation of an advanced and computationally efficient numerical model for circular RC bridge columns. First, the lateral...

This keynote presentation explores advances in modelling the nonlinear seismic performance of corrosion damaged reinforced concrete (RC) bridges, focusing on nonuniformly corroded circular RC piers. Experimental and numerical methods are used to assess how corrosion affects the dynamic properties and drift behaviour of RC columns. Tests on large-sc...

Faced with a combination of ageing infrastructure, changing traffic patterns, climate change impacts and the need for modal shift to rail, freight train operators and railway infrastructure managers need improved methods and tools for the planning and management of freight train paths and infrastructure maintenance, renewals and enhancement. Since...

This work explores the ground vibrations induced by the 31 tonne, 6 m × 4 m, 3-degree-of-freedom (DOF) large shaking table and the 1 tonne, 1 m × 1 m, 6-DOF, high-acceleration "Hexapod" shaking table of the Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction (SoFSI) Laboratory at the Langford Campus of the University of Bristol, UK. A monitoring scheme was deplo...

This work investigates the influence of a sloping seismic base-isolation interface, caused by unintended or mismanaged construction works, on the performance of the low-tech, low-cost PVC 'sand-wich' (PVC-s) base-isolation system developed by the University of Bristol. The motivation for this study is the fact that the sliding characteristics of th...

This study establishes a multi‐hazard probabilistic assessment framework for assessing the integrity of monopile offshore wind turbines (OWT) under the stochastic coupled effect of wind, wave and earthquake loading. The procedure deals with the entire operational range of inflow wind speed (i.e., 3–25 m/s), for which the probability of failure unde...

Given the high complexity of modern energy infrastructure systems, seismically induced dynamic interaction phenomena are common and have prominent practical implications due to the key role these assets play in community resilience. While design codes typically allow these systems to be analysed independently and tend to consider various interactio...

This study assesses age-dependent wind-ground motion fragility functions of an operational monopile-supported NREL 5 MW offshore wind turbine (OWT) considering stochastic loads of wind, wave and earthquake, as well as stochastic site and structural properties. From a geotechnical earthquake engineering prospective, OWT ageing caused by support-stru...

This work presents the results of a large-scale experimental study aiming to investigate the seismic performance of a three-storey reinforced concrete school building supported on a novel, low-cost, easy-to-implement seismic base-isolation system entitled PVC ‘sand-wich’ (PVC-s). With a modest additional cost and training of builders, the PVC-s sys...

Though often overlooked, the impact of seismic transient ground deformation on natural gas (NG) pipes can be highly adverse. Particularly, pipe elbows may undergo excessive in-plane bending demand and buckling. In this paper, a critical scenario of a pipe coupling two industrial structures typically found in an NG processing plant is studied. High...