Seismic response analysis of multidrum classical columns

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the seismic response of multidrum classical columns. The motivation for this study originates from the need to understand: (a) the level of ground shaking that classical multidrum columns can survive, and (b) the possible advantages or disadvantages of retrofitting multidrum columns with metallic shear links that replace the wooden poles that were installed in ancient times. The numerical study presented in this paper is conducted with the commercially available software Working Model 2D?, which can capture with fidelity the sliding, rocking, and slide‐rocking response of rigid‐body assemblies. This paper validates the software Working Model by comparing selected computed responses with scarce analytical solutions and the results from in‐house numerical codes initially developed at the University of California, Berkeley, to study the seismic response of electrical transformers and heavy laboratory equipment. The study reveals that relative sliding between drums happens even when the g‐value of the ground acceleration is less than the coefficient of friction, µ, of the sliding interfaces and concludes that: (a) typical multidrum classical columns can survive the ground shaking from strong ground motions recorded near the causative faults of earthquakes with magnitudes M_w=6.0–7.4; (b) in most cases multidrum classical columns free to dislocate at the drum interfaces exhibit more controlled seismic response than the monolithic columns with same size and slenderness; (c) the shear strength of the wooden poles has a marginal effect on the sliding response of the drums; and (d) stiff metallic shear links in‐between column drums may have an undesirable role on the seismic stability of classical columns and should be avoided. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developing efficient scalar and vector intensity measures for IDA capacity estimation by incorporating elastic spectral shape information

Scalar and vector intensity measures are developed for the efficient estimation of limit‐state capacities through incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) by exploiting the elastic spectral shape of individual records. IDA is a powerful analysis method that involves subjecting a structural model to several ground motion records, each scaled to multiple levels of intensity (measured by the intensity measure or IM), thus producing curves of structural response parameterized by the IM on top of which limit‐states can be defined and corresponding capacities can be calculated. When traditional IMs are used, such as the peak ground acceleration or the first‐mode spectral acceleration, the IM‐values of the capacities can display large record‐to‐record variability, forcing the use of many records to achieve reliable results. By using single optimal spectral values as well as vectors and scalar combinations of them on three multistorey buildings significant dispersion reductions are realized. Furthermore, IDA is extended to vector IMs, resulting in intricate fractile IDA surfaces. The results reveal the most influential spectral regions/periods for each limit‐state and building, illustrating the evolution of such periods as the seismic intensity and the structural response increase towards global collapse. The ordinates of the elastic spectrum and the spectral shape of each individual record are found to significantly influence the seismic performance and they are shown to provide promising candidates for highly efficient IMs. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

AMRVAC and relativistic hydrodynamic simulations for gamma-ray burst afterglow phases

We apply a novel adaptive mesh refinement (AMR) code, AMRVAC (Adaptive Mesh Refinement version of the Versatile Advection Code), to numerically investigate the various evolutionary phases in the interaction of a relativistic shell with its surrounding cold interstellar medium (ISM). We do this for both 1D isotropic and full 2D jet-like fireball models. This is relevant for gamma-ray bursts (GRBs), and we demonstrate that, thanks to the AMR strategy, we resolve the internal structure of the shocked shell–ISM matter, which will leave its imprint on the GRB afterglow. We determine the deceleration from an initial Lorentz factor  γ= 100  up to the almost Newtonian     phase of the flow. We present axisymmetric 2D shell evolutions, with the 2D extent characterized by their initial opening angle. In such jet-like GRB models, we discuss the differences with the 1D isotropic GRB equivalents. These are mainly due to thermally induced sideways expansions of both the shocked shell and shocked ISM regions. We found that the propagating 2D ultrarelativistic shell does not accrete all the surrounding medium located within its initial opening angle. Part of this ISM matter gets pushed away laterally and forms a wide bow-shock configuration with swirling flow patterns trailing the thin shell. The resulting shell deceleration is quite different from that found in isotropic GRB models. As long as the lateral shell expansion is merely due to ballistic spreading of the shell, isotropic and 2D models agree perfectly. As thermally induced expansions eventually lead to significantly higher lateral speeds, the 2D shell interacts with comparably more ISM matter and decelerates earlier than its isotropic counterpart.     

Analysis of fault rupture propagation through uniform soil cover

This paper presents results from numerical simulations of the propagation of an active dip–slip fault rupture through a uniform soil layer covering the rigid bedrock. Following verification of the numerical methodology against field evidence, a parametric study is performed for loose and dense sand, for normally consolidated and overconsolidated clay, as well as for different fault dip angles (normal and reverse faults) and for different thicknesses of the soil cover. The soil is modeled as an elasto-plastic, strain-softening material that obeys the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion. The study aims at establishing criteria for the approximate depiction of the location and the width of the zone with significant ground surface distortion, where the differential ground displacements induced by the fault rupture may threaten the integrity of man-mad structures.     

Bifurcation analysis of deep boreholes: II. Scale effect

This paper is a continuation of a previous one on bifurcation of deep boreholes under uniform stress at infinity,¹ and it focuses on the effect of borehole radius on borehole stability. Rock is described by the equations of a deformation theory of plasticity for cohesive-frictional, incompressible materials with Cosserat structure. The inhomogeneous bifurcation problem is formulated and the corresponding eigenvalue problem is solved numerically by the finite element method. It is demonstrated that the combined Cosserat and stress-gradient effects lead to an increase of the bifurcation stress with decreasing borehole radius (scale effect).     

ELASTOPLASTIC RESPONSE OF PRESSURE SENSITIVE SOLIDS

Tensorially invariant constitutive relations are systematically derived for large strain elastoplastic response of geomaterials. The analysis centres on Mohr–Coulomb (MC) and Drucker–Prager (DP) models with arbitrary hardening and non-associated response. Both flow and deformation theories are constructed for each model with emphasis on linear incremental relations between the Eulerian strain rate tensor and the objective Jaumann stress rate tensor. Specifying the results for plane strain compression we find that deformation theory produces a much smaller tangent instantaneous shear modulus than flow theory. It follows that failure of ellipticity and onset of surface instabilities predicted by deformation theory for associated solids occur at much lower levels of strain than the corresponding flow theory results. On the other hand, flow theory predictions admit a considerable sensitivity to the level of non-associativity. In fact, at high levels of non-associativity flow theory predictions for loss of ellipticity can be at strains below those obtained from deformation theory. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of gravity framing on the overstrength and collapse capacity of steel frame buildings with perimeter special moment frames

This paper investigates the effect of the gravity framing system on the overstrength and collapse risk of steel frame buildings with perimeter special moment frames (SMFs) designed in North America. A nonlinear analytical model that simulates the pinched hysteretic response of typical shear tab connections is calibrated with past experimental data. The proposed modeling approach is implemented into nonlinear analytical models of archetype steel buildings with different heights. It is found that when the gravity framing is considered as part of the analytical model, the overall base shear strength of steel frame buildings with perimeter SMFs could be 50% larger than that of the bare SMFs. This is attributed to the gravity framing as well as the composite action provided by the concrete slab. The same analytical models (i) achieve a static overstrength factor, Ω_s larger than 3.0 and (ii) pass the collapse risk evaluation criteria by FEMA P695 regardless of the assigned total system uncertainty. However, when more precise collapse metrics are considered for collapse risk assessment of steel frame buildings with perimeter SMFs, a tolerable probability of collapse is only achieved in a return period of 50 years when the perimeter SMFs of mid‐rise steel buildings are designed with a strong‐column/weak‐beam ratio larger than 1.5. The concept of the dynamic overstrength, Ω_d is introduced that captures the inelastic force redistribution due to dynamic loading. Steel frame buildings with perimeter SMFs achieve a Ω_d > 3 regardless if the gravity framing is considered as part of the nonlinear analytical model representation. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Performance of hemi-cylindrical and rectangular submerged breakwaters

A parametric experimental study is conducted to compare the reflection and transmission characteristics of submerged hemi-cylindrical and rectangular rigid and water-filled flexible breakwater models. The results show that, for the rigid breakwaters, rectangular models are more effective than hemi-cylindrical ones in terms of reduction of transmitted waves. As for the flexible breakwaters, the hemi-cylindrical models may give better wave reflection than rectangular ones. However, the energy loss induced by the rectangular breakwaters is much larger and more significant to result in an overall better efficiency in terms of reduction in wave transmission. The effects of internal pressure show that the lowest pressurized flexible models considered in this work are the most effective in the reduction of the transmitted wave height. Higher wave reflection, lower wave transmission and higher energy loss are obtained consistently at the lower submergence depth ratio.     

A Global Terrestrial Reference Frame from simulated VLBI and SLR data in view of GGOS

In this study, we assess the impact of two combination strategies, namely local ties (LT) and global ties (GT), on the datum realization of Global Terrestrial Reference Frames in view of the Global Geodetic Observing System requiring 1 mm-accuracy. Simulated Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) and Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) data over a 7 year time span was used. The LT results show that the geodetic datum can be best transferred if the precision of the LT is at least 1 mm. Investigating different numbers of LT, the lack of co-located sites on the southern hemisphere is evidenced by differences of 9 mm in translation and rotation compared to the solution using all available LT. For the GT, the combination applying all Earth rotation parameters (ERP), such as pole coordinates and UT1-UTC, indicates that the rotation around the Z axis cannot be adequately transferred from VLBI to SLR within the combination. Applying exclusively the pole coordinates as GT, we show that the datum can be transferred with mm-accuracy within the combination. Furthermore, adding artificial stations in Tahiti and Nigeria to the current VLBI network results in an improvement in station positions by 13 and 12%, respectively, and in ERP by 17 and 11%, respectively. Extending to every day VLBI observations leads to 65% better ERP estimates compared to usual twice-weekly VLBI observations.