Fractional order intensity measures for probabilistic seismic demand modeling applied to highway bridges

Probabilistic seismic analysis of structures involves the construction of seismic demand models, often stated as probabilistic models of structural response conditioned on a seismic intensity measure. The uncertainty introduced by the model is often a result of the chosen intensity measure. This paper introduces the concept of using fractional order intensity measures (IMs) in probabilistic seismic demand analysis and uses a single frame integral concrete box‐girder bridge class and a seismically designed multispan continuous steel girder bridge class as case studies. The fractional order IMs considered include peak ground response and spectral accelerations at 0.2 and 1.0 s considering a single degree of freedom system with fractional damping, , as well as a linear single degree of freedom system with fractional response, . The study reveals the advantage of fractional order IMs relative to conventional IMs such as peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity, or spectral acceleration at 0.2 and 1.0 s. Metrics such as efficiency, sufficiency, practicality, and proficiency are measured to assess the optimal nature of fractional order IMs. The results indicate that the proposed fractional order IMs produce significant improvements in efficiency and proficiency, whereas maintaining practicality and sufficiency, and thus providing superior demand models that can be used in probabilistic seismic demand analysis. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Computation of bridge seismic fragility by large‐scale simulation for probabilistic resilience analysis

Seismic resilience of structures and infrastructure systems is a fast developing concept in the field of disaster management, promoting communities that are resistant and quickly recoverable in case of an extreme event. In this contest, probabilistic seismic demand and fragility analyses are two key elements of the seismic resilience assessment in the majority of the proposed methodologies. Several techniques are available to calculate fragility curves for different types of structures. In particular, to assess the seismic performance of the regional transportation infrastructure, methods for the fragility curve estimation for entire classes of bridges are required. These methods usually rely on a set of assumptions, partially because of the limited information. Other assumptions were introduced at the time when computational resources were inadequate for a purely numerical approach and closed‐form solutions were a convenient alternative. For instance, some of these popular assumptions are aimed at simplifying the model of the engineering demand. In this paper, a simulation‐based methodology is proposed, to take advantage of the computational resources widely available today and avoid such assumptions on the demand. The resulting increase in accuracy is estimated on a typical class of bridges (multi‐span simply supported). Most importantly, the quantitative impact of the assumptions is assessed in the context of a life‐cycle loss estimation analysis and resilience analysis. The results show that some assumptions preserve an acceptable level of accuracy, but others introduce a considerable error in the fragility curves and, in turn, in the expected resilience and life‐cycle losses of the structure. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seismic demand models for probabilistic risk analysis of near fault vertical ground motion effects on ordinary highway bridges

The influence of vertical ground motions on the seismic response of highway bridges is not very well understood. Recent studies suggest that vertical ground motions can substantially increase force and moment demands on bridge columns and girders and cannot be overlooked in seismic design of bridge structures. For an evaluation of vertical ground motion effects on the response of single‐bent two‐span highway bridges, a systematic study combining the critical engineering demand parameters (EDPs) and ground motion intensity measures (IMs) is required. Results of a parametric study examining a range of highway bridge configurations subjected to selected sets of horizontal and vertical ground motions are used to determine the structural parameters that are significantly amplified by the vertical excitations. The amplification in these parameters is modeled using simple equations that are functions of horizontal and vertical spectral accelerations at the corresponding horizontal and vertical fundamental periods of the bridge. This paper describes the derivation of seismic demand models developed for typical highway overcrossings by incorporating critical EDPs and combined effects of horizontal and vertical ground motion IMs depending on the type of the parameter and the period of the structure. These models may be used individually as risk‐based design tools to determine the probability of exceeding the critical levels of EDP for pre‐determined levels of ground shaking or may be included explicitly in probabilistic seismic risk assessments. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fully probabilistic seismic displacement analysis of spatially distributed slopes using spatially correlated vector intensity measures

Earthquake‐induced slope displacement is an important parameter for safety evaluation and earthquake design of slope systems. Traditional probabilistic seismic hazard analysis usually focuses on evaluating slope displacement at a particular location, and it is not suitable for spatially distributed slopes over a large region. This study proposes a computationally efficient framework for fully probabilistic seismic displacement analysis of spatially distributed slope systems using spatially correlated vector intensity measures (IMs). First, a spatial cross‐correlation model for three key ground motion IMs, that is, peak ground acceleration (PGA), Arias intensity, and peak ground velocity, is developed using 2686 ground motion recordings from 11 recent earthquakes. To reduce the computational cost, Monte Carlo simulation and data reduction techniques are utilized to generate spatially correlated random fields for the vector IMs. The slope displacement hazards over the region are further quantified using empirical predictive equations. Finally, an illustrative example is presented to highlight the importance of the spatial correlation and the advantage of using spatially correlated vector IMs in seismic hazard analysis of spatially distributed slopes. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Enhancing resilience of highway bridges through seismic retrofit

The present study evaluates seismic resilience of highway bridges that are important components of highway transportation systems. To mitigate losses incurred from bridge damage during seismic events, bridge retrofit strategies are selected such that the retrofit not only enhances bridge seismic performance but also improves resilience of the system consisting of these bridges. To obtain results specific to a bridge, a reinforced concrete bridge in the Los Angeles region is analyzed. This bridge was severely damaged during the Northridge earthquake because of shear failure of one bridge pier. Seismic vulnerability model of the bridge is developed through finite element analysis under a suite of time histories that represent regional seismic hazard. Obtained bridge vulnerability model is combined with appropriate loss and recovery models to calculate seismic resilience of the bridge. Impact of retrofit on seismic resilience is observed by applying suitable retrofit strategy to the bridge assuming its undamaged condition prior to the Northridge event. Difference in resilience observed before and after bridge retrofit signified the effectiveness of seismic retrofit. The applied retrofit technique is also found to be cost‐effective through a cost‐benefit analysis. First order second moment reliability analysis is performed, and a tornado diagram is developed to identify major uncertain input parameters to which seismic resilience is most sensitive. Statistical analysis of resilience obtained through random sampling of major uncertain input parameters revealed that the uncertain nature of seismic resilience can be characterized with a normal distribution, the standard deviation of which represents the uncertainty in seismic resilience. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

概率性地震需求分析中地震动强度指标的比较与选择

以汶川地区典型钢筋混凝土简支梁桥为背景,在充分考虑模型参数不确定性的基础上建立一系列桥梁有限元模型样本。采用汶川地震实测地震动,对建立的有限元模型进行非线性动力时程分析,并记录每组分析中桥梁构件的地震峰值响应。采用主成分分析方法对桥梁构件的地震需求参数进行降维处理,计算桥梁结构综合地震需求响应。通过回归分析建立地震动强度与桥梁结构综合需求之间的概率性关系,并对不同地震动强度指标进行分析和比较。结果表明基于速度的地震动强度指标具有较好的有效性、适用性和完备性,可以进一步用于地震易损性分析和地震风险评估。     

A parametric study of seismic behavior of roller seismic isolation bearings for highway bridges

A roller seismic isolation bearing is proposed for use in highway bridges. The bearing utilizes a rolling mechanism to achieve seismic isolation and has a zero post‐elastic stiffness under horizontal ground motions, a self‐centering capability, and unique friction devices for supplemental energy dissipation. The objectives of this research are to investigate the seismic behavior of the proposed bearing using parametric studies (1) with nonlinear response history analysis and (2) with equivalent linear analysis according to the AASHTO guide specifications, and by comparing the results from both analysis methods (3) to evaluate the accuracy of the AASHTO equivalent linear method for predicting the peak displacement of the proposed bearing during an earthquake. Twenty‐eight ground motions are used in the studies. The parameters examined are the sloping angle of the intermediate plate of the bearing, the amount of friction force for supplemental energy dissipation, and the peak ground acceleration levels of the ground motions. The peak displacement and base shear of the bearing are calculated. Results of the studies show that a larger sloping angle does not reduce the peak displacement for most of the parametric combinations without friction devices. However, for parametric combinations with friction devices, it allows for the use of a higher friction force, which effectively reduces the peak displacement, while keeping a self‐centering capability. The AASHTO equivalent linear method may underestimate the peak displacement by as much as 40%. Vertical ground motions have little effect on the peak displacement, but significantly increase the peak base shear. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seismic fragility methodology for highway bridges using a component level approach

Bridge fragility curves, which express the probability of a bridge reaching a certain damage state for a given ground motion parameter, play an important role in the overall seismic risk assessment of a transportation network. Current analytical methodologies for generating bridge fragility curves do not adequately account for all major contributing bridge components. Studies have shown that for some bridge types, neglecting to account for all of these components can lead to a misrepresentation of the bridges' overall fragilities. In this study, an expanded methodology for the generation of analytical fragility curves for highway bridges is presented. This methodology considers the contribution of the major components of the bridge, such as the columns, bearings and abutments, to its overall bridge system fragility. In particular, this methodology utilizes probability tools to directly estimate the bridge system fragility from the individual component fragilities. This is illustrated using a bridge whose construction and configuration are typical to the Central and Southeastern United States and the results are presented and discussed herein. This study shows that the bridge as a system is more fragile than any one of the individual components. Assuming that the columns represent the entire bridge system can result in errors as large as 50% at higher damage states. This provides support to the assertion that multiple bridge components should be considered in the development of bridge fragility curves. The findings also show that estimation of the bridge fragilities by their first‐order bounds could result in errors of up to 40%. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Probabilistic seismic demand model for pounding risk assessment

Earthquake‐induced pounding of adjacent structures can cause severe structural damage, and advanced probabilistic approaches are needed to obtain a reliable estimate of the risk of impact. This study aims to develop an efficient and accurate probabilistic seismic demand model (PSDM) for pounding risk assessment between adjacent buildings, which is suitable for use within modern performance‐based engineering frameworks. In developing a PSDM, different choices can be made regarding the intensity measures (IMs) to be used, the record selection, the analysis technique applied for estimating the system response at increasing IM levels, and the model to be employed for describing the response statistics given the IM. In the present paper, some of these choices are analyzed and evaluated first by performing an extensive parametric study for the adjacent buildings modeled as linear single‐degree‐of‐freedom systems, and successively by considering more complex nonlinear multi‐degree‐of‐freedom building models. An efficient and accurate PSDM is defined using advanced intensity measures and a bilinear regression model for the response samples obtained by cloud analysis. The results of the study demonstrate that the proposed PSDM allows accurate estimates of the risk of pounding to be obtained while limiting the number of simulations required. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Some considerations on the physical mea-sure of seismic intensity

Introduction In1564,an Italian man named Jacopo Gastaldi(XIE,1958)presented the first macroseismic intensity scale in the world,which based on the building damage and the ground surface failure after an earthquake.Today the seismic intensity has developed into an indispensable important concept,which applies to seismology and earthquake engineering,however it was just used to de-scribe earthquake damage while the concept of intensity was established.With this concept,seis-mologist can estima…     

几种仪器烈度算法在汶川地震与芦山地震中的可靠性比较

破坏性地震发生后, 特别是在通信中断的情况下, 利用仪器烈度快速估计地震动强度(烈度)的分布情况, 可为开展最有效的地震应急救援提供决策依据. 该文介绍了现有的几种仪器烈度算法, 并利用汶川地震与芦山地震中获得的强震加速度记录对各种算法的可靠性进行了比较. 结果表明, 在这两次地震中只利用地震动峰值参数确定仪器烈度的算法可靠性较低, 而考虑反应谱特性的算法可靠性更高. 在未得到更多强震数据的检验前, 建议采用袁一凡提出的仪器烈度算法, 或利用谱烈度值确定仪器烈度的算法, 或利用加速度反应谱值确定仪器烈度的算法.     

基于微机电加速度计的地震烈度计

为了实现破坏性地震强度的速报,提高地震应急响应效率,指导抗震救灾,设计一种新型地震烈度计。采用性价比较高的微机电加速度计MODEL-1221作为地震传感器,利用4个通道的同步24位模数转换器ADS1274进行地震信号转换,使用32位嵌入式处理器AT91RM9200作为地震事件的判定和烈度参数计算的平台,保证仪器整体性能,能够满足地震烈度速报需要;此外,该地震烈度计具有开关量输出,可以作为地震紧急处置系统的地震开关来使用,实现一机多用,一机多能。     

Highway bridge seismic design: Summary of FHWA/MCEER project on seismic vulnerability of new highway construction

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) sponsored a large, multi-year project conducted by the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER) titled “Seismic Vulnerability of New Highway Construction” (MCEER Project 112), which was completed in 1998. MCEER coordinated the work of many researchers, who performed studies on the seismic design and vulnerability analysis of highway bridges, tunnels, and retaining structures. Extensive research was conducted to provide revisions and improvements to current design and detailing approaches and national design specifications for highway bridges. The program included both analytical and experimental studies, and addressed seismic hazard exposure and ground motion input for the U.S. highway system; foundation design and soil behavior; structural importance, analysis, and response; structural design issues and details; and structural design criteria. Supported by: the Federal Highway Administration under contract number DTFH61-92-C-00112.     

地面运动强度参数对RC桥梁地震需求的影响

在基于性能的地震工程学(PBEE)中,建立概率地震需求模型(PSDM)时需要对桥梁结构的工程需求参数(EDP)进行概率估计。其中,强地面运动参数(IM)的选择对EDP的概率估计影响很大,因此需要正确选择IM。分别采用目前最广泛使用的结构第一模态周期弹性谱加速度(5%阻尼比)Sa(T1,5%)和峰值地面加速度PGA作为IM,选择实际地震波并进行合理的调值,对一座钢筋混凝土桥墩进行IDA分析,其计算结果表明:对于不同性质EDP的概率估计值,以PGA作为IM计算所得的结果明显偏于非保守,且离散度一般也更大。说明可以针对不同性质的EDP,根据地面运动强度的大小,选择不同的IM,通过合理的调值对EDP进行概率估计,可以更加精确、高效地建立PSDM。     

Improved seismic hazard model with application to probabilistic seismic demand analysis

An improved seismic hazard model for use in performance‐based earthquake engineering is presented. The model is an improved approximation from the so‐called ‘power law’ model, which is linear in log–log space. The mathematics of the model and uncertainty incorporation is briefly discussed. Various means of fitting the approximation to hazard data derived from probabilistic seismic hazard analysis are discussed, including the limitations of the model. Based on these ‘exact’ hazard data for major centres in New Zealand, the parameters for the proposed model are calibrated. To illustrate the significance of the proposed model, a performance‐based assessment is conducted on a typical bridge, via probabilistic seismic demand analysis. The new hazard model is compared to the current power law relationship to illustrate its effects on the risk assessment. The propagation of epistemic uncertainty in the seismic hazard is also considered. To allow further use of the model in conceptual calculations, a semi‐analytical method is proposed to calculate the demand hazard in closed form. For the case study shown, the resulting semi‐analytical closed form solution is shown to be significantly more accurate than the analytical closed‐form solution using the power law hazard model, capturing the ‘exact’ numerical integration solution to within 7% accuracy over the entire range of exceedance rate. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

从爆破烈度看仪器烈度的算法

以某次工程爆破的地震动测试结果为例,对《中国地震烈度表》、日本气象厅JMA系统、美国ShakeMap系统、福建省地方标准以及袁一凡教授提出的烈度算法进行了对比分析,讨论了以地震动参数为基础的仪器烈度计算方法,提出了将袁一凡仪器烈度算法中的PGA改为水平分向合成峰值,忽略持时和主频两个参数并修改个各参数权重的意见。经分析认为,袁一凡仪器烈度算法和福建省地方标准中的仪器烈度算法在处理大中小震时结果较为合理,且袁一凡仪器烈度算法保留了继续研究地震烈度机理的学术空间和扩展应用领域的可能。     

Multi‐angle,multi‐damage fragility curves for seismic assessment of bridges

The scope of this study is to investigate the effect of the direction of seismic excitation on the fragility of an already constructed, 99‐m‐long, three‐span highway overpass. First, the investigation is performed at a component level, quantifying the sensitivity of local damage modes of individual bridge components (namely, piers, bearings, abutments, and footings) to the direction of earthquake excitation. The global vulnerability at the system level is then assessed for a given angle of incidence of the earthquake ground motion to provide a single‐angle, multi‐damage probabilistic estimate of the bridge overall performance. A multi‐angle, multi‐damage, vulnerability assessment methodology is then followed, assuming uniform distribution for the angle of incidence of seismic waves with respect to the bridge axis. The above three levels of investigation highlight that the directivity of ground motion excitation may have a significant impact on the fragility of the individual bridge components, which shall not be a priori neglected. Most importantly, depending on the assumptions made for the component to the system level transition, this local sensitivity is often suppressed. It may be therefore necessary, based on the ultimate purpose of the vulnerability or the life cycle analysis, to obtain a comprehensive insight on the multiple damage potential of all individual structural and foundation components under multi‐angle excitation, to quantify the statistical correlation among the distinct damage modes and to identify the components that are both most critical and sensitive to the direction of ground motion and carefully define their limit states which control the predicted bridge fragility. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Intensity measures for probabilistic assessment of non‐structural components acceleration demand

A fundamental issue in the framework of seismic probabilistic risk analysis is the choice of ground motion intensity measures (IMs). Based on the floor response spectrum method, the present contribution focuses on the ability of IMs to predict non‐structural components (NSCs) horizontal acceleration demand. A large panel of IMs is examined and a new IM, namely equipment relative average spectral acceleration (E‐ASA_R), is proposed for the purpose of NSCs acceleration demand prediction. The IMs efficiency and sufficiency comparisons are based on (i) the use of a large dataset of recorded earthquake ground motions; (ii) numerical analyses performed on three‐dimensional numerical models, representing actual structural wall and frame buildings; and (iii) systematic statistical analysis of the results. From the comparative study, the herein introduced E‐ASA_R shows high efficiency with respect to the estimation of maximum floor response spectra ordinates. Such efficiency is particularly remarkable in the case of structural wall buildings. Besides, the sufficiency and the simple formulation allowing the use of existing ground motion prediction models make the E‐ASA_R a promising IMs for seismic probabilistic risk assessment. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

胶东地区地震烈度衰减关系

使用胶东及邻区地震数据,对于发生在基岩出露区的18次地震的30条可靠等震线,利用最小二乘法,拟合胶东地区地震烈度衰减关系公式。与华北地区地震烈度衰减关系进行比较,发现胶东地区地震烈度衰减较慢。胶东地区地震烈度衰减关系的建立,可以辅助制定相关应急预案和震后快速评估。