Groundwater temperature evolution in the subsurface urban heat island of Cologne,Germany

Long‐term heating of shallow urban aquifers is observed worldwide. Our measurements in the city of Cologne, Germany revealed that the groundwater temperatures found in the city centre are more than 5 K higher than the undisturbed background. To explore the role of groundwater flow for the development of subsurface urban heat islands, a numerical flow and heat transport model is set up, which describes the hydraulic conditions of Cologne and simulates the transient evolution of thermal anomalies in the urban ground. A main focus is on the influence of horizontal groundwater flow, groundwater recharge and trends in local ground warming. To examine heat transport in groundwater, a scenario consisting of a local hot spot with a length of 1 km of long‐term ground heating was set up in the centre of the city. Groundwater temperature‐depth profiles at upstream, central and downstream locations of this hot spot are inspected. The simulation results indicate that the main thermal transport mechanisms are long‐term vertical conductive heat input, horizontal advection and transverse dispersion. Groundwater recharge rates in the city are low (<100 mm a^?1) and thus do not significantly contribute to heat transport into the urban aquifer. With groundwater flow, local vertical temperature profiles become very complex and are hard to interpret, if local flow conditions and heat sources are not thoroughly known. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

S-wave Velocity Profiles for Earthquake Engineering Purposes for the Cologne Area (Germany)

Local S-wave velocity-depth profiles are a key factor in seismic hazard assessment, as they allow the amplification potential of the sedimentary cover to be evaluated. Ambient seismic noise is mainly composed of surface waves, and therefore contains vital information about the S-wave velocity structure, allowing polarization or dispersion curves to be obtained from single station or array noise recordings. At two sites in the area of Cologne, Germany, the extended spatial correlation method was applied to such recordings and apparent phase velocity curves in the frequency range of interest for earthquake engineering were obtained. Using this data, a linearized inversion, the simplex downhill method, and a genetic algorithm yielded similar S-wave profiles. However, the latter method is recommended since it is less dependent upon a good starting model. Importantly, the presence of low-velocity layers in the Cologne area made it necessary to consider in the frequency range of interest higher modes in the inversion procedures. Finally, independent information on the total thickness of the sedimentary cover permitted the estimation of a 2D S-wave velocity profile crossing the Cologne area. Here, the H/V ratio inversion using 20 single-station noise recordings was used, with the results in good agreement with a geological profile.     

Response-based damage assessment of structures

The structure's ability to survive an earthquake may be measured in terms of the expected state of damage of the structure after the earthquake. Damage may be quantified by using any of several damage indices defined as functions whose values can be related to particular structural damage states. A number of available response-based damage indices are discussed and critically evaluated for their applicability in seismic damage evaluation. A new rational approach for damage assessment is presented which provides a measure of the physical response characteristics of the structure and is better suited for non-linear structural analysis. A practical method based on the static pushover analysis is proposed to estimate the expected damage to structures when subjected to earthquakes of different intensities. Results of the analysis of ductile and non-ductile reinforced concrete buildings show that the proposed procedure for damage assessment gives a simple, consistent and rational damage indicator for structures. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

土木工程结构安全性评估、健康监测及诊断述评

阐述了土木工程结构的安全性评估、健康监测及损伤诊断的必要性和迫切性，系统论述了结构健康监测和诊断的概念、理论和方法，重点讨论了传感器的优化布置、损伤识别等健康监测中的关键问题，介绍了光纤等新型传感器的应用情况，最后指出了值得进一步研究的问题。     

Seismic damage to structures in the M_s6.5 Ludian earthquake

On 3 August 2014,the Ludian earthquake struck northwest Yunnan Province with a surface wave magnitude of 6.5.This moderate earthquake unexpectedly caused high fatalities and great economic loss.Four strong motion stations were located in the areas with intensity V,VI,VII and IX,near the epicentre.The characteristics of the ground motion are discussed herein,including 1)ground motion was strong at a period of less than 1.4 s,which covered the natural vibration period of a large number of structures;and 2)the release energy was concentrated geographically.Based on materials collected during emergency building inspections,the damage patterns of adobe,masonry,timber frame and reinforced concrete(RC)frame structures in areas with different intensities are summarised.Earthquake damage matrices of local buildings are also given for fragility evaluation and earthquake damage prediction.It is found that the collapse ratios of RC frame and confined masonry structures based on the new design code are significantly lower than non-seismic buildings.However,the RC frame structures still failed to achieve the ‘strong column,weak beam' design target.Traditional timber frame structures with a light infill wall showed good aseismic performance.     

Site-specific response spectra from the combination of microzonation with probabilistic seismic hazard assessment—An example for the Cologne (Germany) area

Seismic noise was measured at some 20 sites in the Cologne area (Germany) aligned nearly perpendicular to a graben structure. The H/V spectral noise ratio for each site was used to derive realistic S-wave velocity profiles down to the bedrock by means of a genetic algorithm inversion. Numerical simulations were performed for different combinations of source and propagation path parameters: focal depth, epicentral distance, attenuation and fault mechanism. Synthetic seismograms were produced and converted to Fourier and response spectra. Finally, the site-specific values from response spectral ratios, with their uncertainties, were used to modify attenuation functions entering the logic-tree algorithm of the probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA). The site-specific response spectra show the significance of taking into account the local S-wave velocity structure in PSHA.     

大型复杂结构的两阶段损伤诊断方法

综述了用于结构损伤识别的各种方法，提出了进行大型复杂结构损伤诊断所面临的问题，列出了已有的两步法的思路、方法，指出了需要研究的方向，为进行大型复杂结构的损伤诊断提供了参考。     

A probabilistic assessment of seismic damage in ductile structures

The current practices in ductility-based earthquake design ignore the damage caused by the repeated random inelastic excursions. A ductile structure may however suffer different degrees of damage depending on the number and amplitudes of these inelastic excursions. The information about the largest response peak as available from the response spectra may not thus be enough as the higher-order peaks are likely to play an important role in the progressing damage. A probabilistic model is proposed here to estimate the damage in a structure with a given amount of ductility by using the order statistics of the higher-order peaks. The proposed formulation relates damage to the entire response process, not just to the largest response. It thus accounts for the different roles played by the total number of peaks in the process, the relative amplitudes and number of excursions, and frequency content of the response process.     

The effect of earthquake duration on the damage of structures

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of the effect of duration on the damage of structures subjected to earthquakes. The earthquake excitation is modelled by a non-stationary random process whose response spectrum is probabilistically consistent with a design response spectrum specified independently of the duration. Damage is assumed to accumulate with the cyclic application of large strains in the structural members. Two types of structure are examined: one representative of a steel structure and the other reprsentative of a reinforced concrete structure. The level of expected damage is found to be a strong function of both the ductility of the response and the duration of the excitation. Results are presented for systems with linear stiffness and a particular form of softening behaviour.     

Earthquake-induced damage detection and localization in masonry structures using smart bricks and Kriging strain reconstruction: A numerical study

The intrinsic vulnerability of masonry structures to seismic events makes structural health monitoring of the utmost importance for the conservation of the built heritage. The development of piezoresistive bricks, also termed smart bricks, is an innovative technology recently proposed by the authors for the monitoring of such structures. Smart bricks exhibit measurable variations in their electrical properties when subjected to external loads or, alternatively, strain self-sensing capabilities. Therefore, the deployment of a network of smart bricks into a masonry structure confers self-diagnostic properties to the host structure. In this light, this paper presents a theoretical investigation on the application of smart bricks to full-scale masonry structures for seismic assessment. This includes the study of the convenience of providing electrical isolation conditions to the sensors, as well as the effectiveness of smart bricks when installed into either new constructions or in pre-existing structures. Secondly, numerical results are presented on the seismic analysis of a three-dimensional masonry building equipped with a network of smart bricks. Finally, in order to map the strain field throughout the structure exploiting the outputs of a limited number of sensors, an interpolation-based strain reconstruction approach is proposed.     

Evolution of the Vico lavas,Roman volcanic region,Italy

A petrochemical study of representative lavas from Vico, relative to their established stratigraphic succession, shows that the erupted magma was recurrent in composition. The predominant differentiation trend of the lava suite, illustrated by means of a principal component analysis (Le Maitre, 1968), leads to trachytic residual compositions which can be interpreted in terms of crystal fractionation processes under volcanic pressure regime.     

芦山7.0级强烈地震建筑结构震害调查

继2008年汶川8.0级特大地震后,2013年4月20日8点02分在四川省雅安市芦山县又发生了7.0级强烈地震,震源深度13公里,造成大量房屋严重破坏或倒塌.根据不同的结构类型、不同烈度区,文中对应急调查评估的603栋各类房屋结构进行了详细的统计归纳总结,得到了各类结构在不同烈度下的破坏比.在此基础上,主要对钢筋混凝土结构、砌体结构、砖木结构和木结构的震害特征进行了深入剖析,此外还对一栋大跨空间结构和一栋隔震结构的破坏特征进行了分析,最后针对各类结构在地震中尚存在的主要问题,提出了一些改进建议.     

Mining-Induced Seismicity in the Saarland, Germany

Coal mining in the Saar mine, Germany, is accompanied by mining-induced seismic events. Strong events occur only in certain areas of the mine, other areas exhibit almost no seismicity. Shear events occur simultaneously to non-shear events. The shear events occur in different depths but their epicenters do concentrate in bands. The strike of the bands coincides with the strike of larger regional faults in the area. The seismic events of the Saar mine show some characteristics which distinguish them from seismic events observed in other German coalfields. The Gutenberg–Richter relation, for example, does not hold for these events. Furthermore, radiated seismic energy and extracted coal volume are not correlated. In the Primsmulde field a strong seismic event was observed even before mining in that region started. The event was triggered just by driving roadways into the field. The shear events cannot be explained by the mining process alone. They are presumably induced in certain regions (bands) under tectonic load by an interaction of mining-induced and tectonic stresses. In February 2008, extraction in the Primsmulde field induced a seismic event of magnitude 4, which led to surface vibrations reaching 93 mm/s. After this event, the Primsmulde field had to be abandoned. Future extraction of the Saar mine will be restricted to some small areas not intersected by the event bands found in the Dilsburg Ost and Primsmulde fields. The Saar mine will close in 2011.     

Global damage indexes for the seismic performance assessement of RC structures

When performing the seismic risk assessment of new or existing buildings, the definition of compact indexes able to measure the damaging and safety level of structures is essential, also in view of the economic considerations on buildings rehabilitation. This paper proposes two series of indexes, named, respectively, Global Damage Indexes (GDIs), which are representative of the overall structure performance, and Section Damage Indexes (SDIs), which assess the conditions of reinforced concrete (RC) beam‐column sections. Such indexes are evaluated by means of an efficient numerical model able to perform nonlinear analyses of the RC frame, based on the continuum damage mechanics theory and fiber approach. An improvement of a two‐parameter damage model for concrete, developed by some of the authors, which guarantees a better correlation between the Local Damage Indexes (LDIs) and the material's mechanical characteristics, is also presented. For the reinforcement, a specific LDI, named ‘steel damage index’, which takes into account the plastic strain development and the bar buckling effect, is proposed. The numerical model has been employed to simulate several experimental tests, in order to verify the accuracy of the proposed approach in predicting the RC member's behavior. Nonlinear static and dynamic analyses of two RC frames are carried out. The robustness of the method, as well as the effectiveness of the GDIs in assessing the structural conditions, are demonstrated here. Finally, comparisons between the evolution of GDIs and the achievement of the performance levels as proposed in FEMA 356 are reported. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

桥梁健康监测及诊断研究综述

本文分析了桥梁结构健康监测和诊断的必要性和紧迫性，对桥梁结构损伤探测的方法进行了详细的分类及论述。提出了桥梁健康监测和诊断的研究新领域——无线监测系统。最后指出了桥梁健康监测和诊断中存在的问题及发展趋势。     

工程结构地震破坏概率矩阵分析

本文提出了一种计算工程结构地震坡坏概率矩阵的方法，建立了地震地面运动模型和结构分析模型，对结构进行了随机地震反应分析，并获得了结构随机分应的统计量，进而采用双参数的结构破坏模型，给出了教育处结构地震破坏概率的表达式，利用此方法计算了一座按8度要求设计的钢筋混凝土框架型，给出了计算结构地震坡坏概率的表达式，利用此方法计算了一座按8度要求的钢筋混凝土框架结构的地震破坏概率矩阵，本文提出了方法可以在确定抗震设防标准和进行震害预测时采用。     

芦山7.0级地震砌体结构的震害特征

四川芦山7.0级强烈地震影响区域内有大量的砌体结构房屋,既有未采取任何抗震构造措施的非约束砌体结构,也有设置了圈梁和构造柱的约束砌体结构.文中首先简要讨论了本次地震强震动特性,表明其高频成分丰富,反应谱中低频部分衰减较快,是刚性结构和柔性结构地震破坏表现差别较大的原因之一;继而论文重点以现场震害调查资料为基础,总结了不同烈度区、不同类型砌体结构的震害特征;高烈度区不同类型砌体结构的震害程度和破坏比对比表明,约束砌体结构的抗震性能明显优于非约束砌体结构.     

A measure of the capacity of earthquake ground motions to damage structures

Even though a number of parameters have been proposed in the literature for measuring the capacity of earthquake ground motions to damage structures, most of them are not consistent with building damage observed during earthquakes. In this study, a parameter for measuring seismic damage capacity is proposed. It uses the energy dissipated by a structure in inelastic deformations and a structural overall drift, and it is evaluated for three typical ground motions recorded in severe earthquakes. By using this parameter, consistent results with building damage observed in these earthquakes are obtained, which indicate the importance of displacement control for minimizing seismic damage.     

Calibration and application of a continuum damage model on the simulation of stone masonry structures: Gondar church as a case study

The conservation and rehabilitation of monuments is a matter of important investigation, and the need for accurate structural analysis, capable of effectively predicting the structural behaviour of this type of constructions, under static and dynamic loads, is increasing. Currently there are numerous computational methods and tools, supported by different theories and strategies with different levels of complexity, computation time and cost which are available to perform such analyses. A complex analysis is not always synonym of a better result and the choice of a method over another depends mostly on the purpose of the analysis. This work aims at evaluating the capacity of a non linear continuum damage model (Faria et al. in Int J Solids Struct 35(14):1533–1558, 1998), originally developed for concrete structures, to simulate the behaviour of stone masonry structures. In particular, the seismic response of an old stone masonry construction, the Gondar church, is analysed considering different levels of geometrical and material complexity. The verification and calibration procedures use the experimental results from tests performed on stone masonry walls at the Laboratory for Earthquake and Structural Engineering of the Faculty of Engineering of Porto University and from other tests found in the bibliography (Vasconcelos in Experimental investigations on the mechanics of stone masonry: Characterization of granites and behaviour of ancient masonry shear walls. PhD Thesis, Universidade do Minho, Guimar?es, Portugal, 2005). The results are compared, assessing the differences and the importance of using complex tools, such as the continuum damage model, to better simulate and understand the global behaviour of such constructions.