A bi-harmonic stress function is constructed in this work. Ariy stress function methodology is used to obtain a set of analytical solutions for both ends fixed beams subjected to uniform load. The treatment for fixed-end boundary conditions is the same as that presented by Timoshenko and Goodier (1970). The solutions for propped cantilever beams and cantilever beams are also presented. All of the analytical plane-stress solutions can be obtained for a uniformly loaded isotropic beam with rectangular cross section under different types of classical boundary conditions.

The knee bracing steel frame (KBF) is a new kind of energy dissipating frame, which combines excellent ductility and lateral stiffness. As the structural fuse of the frame, the knee element will yield first during a severe earthquake so that no damage occurs to the major structural members and the rehabilitation is easy and economical. To help fully understand the relations between its seismic performance and the structural parameters, systematic elastoplastic analysis of the KBF structure with finite element method was conducted in this work. Finally, general design recommendations were made according to the results of the analysis.

Recent studies using field case history data yielded new criteria for evaluating liquefaction potential in saturated granular deposits based on in situ, stress-corrected shear wave velocity. However, the conditions of relatively insufficient case histories and limited site conditions in this approach call for additional data to more reliably define liquefaction resistance as a function of shear wave velocity. In this study, a series of undrained cyclic triaxial tests were conducted on saturated sand with shear wave velocity V_s measured by bender element. By normalizing the data with respect to minimum void ratio, the test results, incorporated with previously published laboratory data, statistically revealed good correlation of cyclic shear strength with small-strain shear modulus for sandy soils, which is almost irrespective of soil types and confining pressures. The consequently determined cyclic resistance ratio, CRR, was found to be approximately proportional to V_s⁴. Liquefaction resistance boundary curves were established by applying this relationship and compared to liquefaction criteria derived from seismic field measurements. Although in the range of V_s1>200 m/s the presented curves are moderately conservative, they are remarkably consistent with the published field performance criteria on the whole.

In order to resolve the traffic congestion problem, many cable-stayed bridges are designed with a large width to span ratio. This results in significant shear lag effect to cause nonuniform stress distribution along the flanges of the beam of bridge. This paper reports study on the shear lag effect of the Lanzhou Xiaoxihu Yellow River Bridge. A 3D finite element model of the bridge was developed and finite element analysis (FEA) was done to obtain the theoretical results. To evaluate the theoretical results, a scaled model was made to conduct static test in laboratory. The experiment results accorded with the results obtained by FEA. It is proved that FEA is an effective method to predict shear lag effect of bridges of this type.

Though the method of citizen participation in urban planning is quite well established, for a specific segment of residential environment, however, existing participation system has not coped adequately with the issue. The specific residential environment has detailed aspects that need positive and high level involvement of the citizens in participating in all stages and every field of the plan. One of the best and systematic methods to obtain a more involved citizen is through a citizen workshop. To get a more “educated” citizen who participates in the workshop, a special session to inform the citizen on what was previously gathered through a survey was revealed to be prerequisite before the workshop. The computer support system is one of the best tools for this purpose. This paper describes the development of the computer support system for residential environment evaluation system, which is an essential tool to give more information to the citizens before their participation in public workshop. The significant contribution of this paper is the educational system framework involved in the workshop on the public participation system through computer support, especially for residential environment. The framework, development and application of the computer support system are described. The application of a workshop on the computer support system was commented on as very valuable and helpful by the audience as it resulted in greater benefit to have wider range of participation, and deeper level of citizen understanding.

The hedonic price model is widely applied to study the urban housing market because of the heterogeneity of housing products. Literature indicated that the hedonic price theory mainly includes two parts: Lancaster’s partiality theory and Rosen’s characteristic market equilibrium analysis. This paper chose 18 characteristics as independent variables and set up a linear hedonic price model for Hangzhou City. The model was tested with 2473 housing samples and field survey data of 290 housing communities. This research found that 14 out of 18 characteristics had significant influence on housing price. They were classified into 5 groups according to their impact degree.