SEQUENTIAL STIFFNESS DESIGN FOR SEISMIC DRIFT RANGES OF A SHEAR BUILDING–PILE–SOIL SYSTEM

A shear building supported by a prescribed pile–soil system is subjected to bedrock earthquake input. A new design procedure is presented for generating a sequence of stiffness designs satisfying the constraints on interstorey drifts. The mean peak interstorey drifts of the shear building subjected to a set of spectrum-compatible ground motions at the bedrock are evaluated by a modal combination rule. Tuning of the fundamental natural period of a shear building with a fixed base with that of a shear beam ground results in a non-monotonic sequence of stiffness designs with respect to a ground stiffness parameter and previous approaches cannot be applied to such a problem. This difficulty in finding such a non-monotonic sequence is overcome by utilizing the ground stiffness parameter and the superstructure stiffness parameter alternately in multiple design phases and by developing a new multi-phase perturbation technique. Fundamental characteristics of this sequence of stiffness designs and the effect of ground stiffnesses on the design of the shear building are disclosed. It is further shown that the stiffness contour method is also useful for the design procedure such that a scattering effect in the estimates of ground stiffnesses is taken into account. The usefulness of the proposed procedure of sequential stiffness design and contour line method is demonstrated through several sequential design examples.     

A SIMPLIFIED METHOD FOR PREDICTION OF KINEMATIC SOIL–FOUNDATION INTERACTION EFFECTS ON PEAK HORIZONTAL ACCELERATION OF A RIGID FOUNDATION

The kinematic soil–foundation interaction changes the free field ground motion to a different motion at the foundation of a structure. This interaction effect may be expressed by the ratio of the peak horizontal acceleration of a rigid and relatively lightweight foundation to the peak horizontal acceleration at the ground surface in the free field. It is found that the interaction effect can be defined by a simple function of the ratio of the peak horizontal ground velocity and ground acceleration in the free field, the length of the foundation and the shear wave velocity in the soil. Predictive equations for the kinematic soil foundation effect are derived using 350 strong motion records generated by 114 earthquakes world-wide. At the same time, an attenuation relationship is derived for the ratio of the peak horizontal ground velocity and acceleration from the same set of data. Ten case histories are studied; the interaction effects are calculated by using the predictive equations and then compared with measured field values. The results of the comparison illustrate the degree of predictive capability of the method when the foundation mass and the inertial soil–foundation interaction are not considered.     

LISEM: A SINGLE-EVENT PHYSICALLY BASED HYDROLOGICAL AND SOIL EROSION MODEL FOR DRAINAGE BASINS. I: THEORY,INPUT AND OUTPUT

A new physically based hydrological and soil erosion model has been developed, which can be used for planning and conservation purposes: the LImburg Soil Erosion Model (LISEM). The LISEM model is one of the first examples of a physically based model that is completely incorporated in a raster Geographical Information System. This incorporation facilitates easy application in larger catchments, improves the user friendliness by avoiding conversion routines and allows remotely sensed data to be used. Processes incorporated in the model are rainfall, interception, surface storage in micro-depressions, infiltration and vertical movement of water in the soil, overland flow, channel flow, detachment by rainfall and throughfall, detachment by overland flow and transport capacity of the flow. Special attention has been given to the influence of tractor wheelings, small roads and surface sealing. Vertical movement of water in the soil is simulated using the Richard's equation. Optionally, the user can choose the Holtan or the Green–Ampt infiltration model. For the distribution flow routing, a four-point finite-difference solution of the kinematic wave is used together with Manning's equation.     

FIBRE BEAM–COLUMN MODEL FOR NON-LINEAR ANALYSIS OF R/C FRAMES: PART I. FORMULATION

This paper presents a fibre beam–column element for the non-linear static and dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete frames. It is assumed that plane sections remain plane and normal to the longitudinal axis. The effects of shear and bond-slip are, thus, presently neglected. The non-linear hysteretic behaviour of the element derives from the constitutive relations of concrete and reinforcing steel fibres into which each section is divided. The element formulation is flexibility-based and relies on force interpolation functions that strictly satisfy the equilibrium of bending moments and axial force along the element. Since the element does not make use of displacement interpolation functions, an iterative algorithm is needed for the determination of the resisting forces during the element state determination. The proposed algorithm is accurate and stable, even in the presence of strength loss, and is, thus, capable of tracing very well the highly non-linear behaviour of R/C members under cyclic load combinations of bending moment and axial force.