Height-integrated flow in the convective Planetary Boundary Layer

Field data are analyzed in order to study the layer-averaged winds in the unstable, entraining, baroclinic, advective and non-stationary Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL). The relationship between the actual and geostrophic winds is described using three different equation sets. The results of these analytical expressions are compared with measurements from the Öresund experiment which was carried out during the period May 15 to June 14, 1984.     

Complex Site Effects in Thessaloniki (Greece): II. 2D SH Modelling and Engineering Insights

This paper presents results of numerical modelling of site response for Thessaloniki, obtained with two different 2D methods; a finite difference and a finite element method. Ground motion across a 2D model of the subsoil of the city has been simulated for vertically incident SH waves. The predominance of locally generated surface waves is very clear in the synthetic seismograms of a weak event and of stronger ones. These results are then compared with the observations in time domain and frequency domain. The role of the soil formations with high attenuation in the lateral propagation and the effect of the differential motion close to the lateral variations are also pinpointed. The stronger events were finally used to compute strong ground motion in order to reveal and to discuss practical engineering aspects such as peak ground acceleration value, the most familiar indicator in seismic norms, the soil to rock spectral coefficients for the period bandwidth of interest, and the aggravation factor in terms of 2D to 1D response spectra as a useful ruler to account for complex site effects.     

Direct estimation of the seismic demand and capacity of oscillators with multi‐linear static pushovers through IDA

SPO2IDA is introduced, a software tool that is capable of recreating the seismic behaviour of oscillators with complex quadrilinear backbones. It provides a direct connection between the static pushover (SPO) curve and the results of incremental dynamic analysis (IDA), a computer‐intensive procedure that offers thorough demand and capacity prediction capability by using a series of nonlinear dynamic analyses under a suitably scaled suite of ground motion records. To achieve this, the seismic behaviour of numerous single‐degree‐of‐freedom (SDOF) systems is investigated through IDA. The oscillators have a wide range of periods and feature pinching hysteresis with backbones ranging from simple bilinear to complex quadrilinear with an elastic, a hardening and a negative‐stiffness segment plus a final residual plateau that terminates with a drop to zero strength. An efficient method is introduced to treat the backbone shape by summarizing the analysis results into the 16, 50 and 84% fractile IDA curves, reducing them to a few shape parameters and finding simpler backbones that reproduce the IDA curves of complex ones. Thus, vast economies are realized while important intuition is gained on the role of the backbone shape to the seismic performance. The final product is SPO2IDA, an accurate, spreadsheet‐level tool for performance‐based earthquake engineering that can rapidly estimate demands and limit‐state capacities, strength reduction R‐factors and inelastic displacement ratios for any SDOF system with such a quadrilinear SPO curve. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Definition of subsoil structure and preliminary ground response in Aigion city (Greece) using microtremor and earthquakes

An extensive campaign—including detailed geologic and geotechnical surveys both existing and news as well as noise measurements—was conducted along a cross-section in order to define both geometry and soil properties (mainly the shear wave velocity) of the main formations in Aigion city. Aigion city is located in the Gulf of Corinth, Greece, a highly seismic region of the Aegean Sea. The main objective of the accurate 2D soil model is its use in site response modeling and in the interpretation of observations from a vertical down-hole accelerograph array. This model revealed a complex geologic structure with a multi-faulted shear zone related to the Aigion fault. The defined subsurface structure offered the possibility for its correlation with estimated site effects, in terms of spectral ratios. Two different data sets, earthquakes recorded at down-hole accelerograph network and noise measurements at 17 sites, were used. To translate the empirical transfer functions with the geologic structure, the 1D estimates were also computed. All these results are consistent, indicating a satisfactory correlation between the soil model and preliminary site response.     

Buckling and vibration analysis of flexible beams resting on an elastic half-space

The present paper deals with the buckling and vibration of prismatic beams resting on an elastic half-space. The computational procedure developed herein utilizes the advantages of both an analytical approach and a finite element scheme. This is accomplished by deriving exact frequency and axial force dependent stiffness matrices using the analytical solutions of the governing differential equation as ‘shape functions’. The major advantages of the proposed approach over previous ones are pointed out and discussed in detail. Numerical results demonstrating the performance of the proposed method are presented in the final part of the paper.     

Modelling of R/C members accounting for shear failure localisation: Hysteretic shear model

Reinforced concrete (R/C) frame buildings designed according to older seismic codes represent a large part of the existing building stock worldwide. Their structural elements are often vulnerable to shear or flexure‐shear failure, which can eventually lead to loss of axial load resistance of vertical elements and initiate vertical progressive collapse of a building. In this study, a hysteretic model capturing the local shear response of shear‐deficient R/C elements is described in detail, with emphasis on post‐peak behaviour; it differs from existing models in that it considers the localisation of shear strains after the onset of shear failure in a critical length defined by the diagonal failure planes. Additionally, an effort is made to improve the state of the art in post‐peak shear response modelling, by compiling the largest database of experimental results for shear and flexure‐shear critical R/C columns cycled well beyond the onset of shear failure and/or up to the onset of axial failure, and developing empirical relationships for the key parameters defining the local backbone post‐peak shear response of such elements. The implementation of the derived local hysteretic shear model in a computationally efficient beam‐column finite element model with distributed shear flexibility, which accounts for all deformation types, will be presented in a companion paper.     

Modelling of R/C members accounting for shear failure localisation: Finite element model and verification

Reinforced concrete (R/C) frame buildings designed according to older seismic codes represent a large part of the existing building stock worldwide. Their structural elements are often vulnerable to shear or flexure‐shear failure, which can eventually lead to loss of axial load resistance of vertical elements and initiate vertical progressive collapse of a building. In this study, a computationally efficient member‐type finite element model for the hysteretic response of shear critical R/C frame elements up to the onset of axial failure is presented; it accounts for shear‐flexure interaction and considers, for the first time, the localisation of shear strains, after the onset of shear failure, in a critical length defined by the diagonal failure plane. Its predictive capabilities are verified against experimental results of column and frame specimens and are shown to be accurate not only in terms of total response, but also with regard to individual deformation components. The accuracy, versatility, and simplicity of this finite element model make it a valuable tool in seismic analysis of complex R/C buildings with shear deficient structural elements.     

Pulse-like versus non-pulse-like ground motion records: Spectral shape comparisons and record selection strategies

Pulse-like records are well recognized for their potential to impose higher demands on structures when compared with ordinary records. The increased severity of the structural response usually caused by pulse-like records is commonly attributed to the spectral increment around the pulse period. By comparing the building response to sets of spectrally equivalent pulse-like and ordinary records, we show that there are characteristics of pulse-like records beyond the shape of the acceleration response spectrum that affect the results of nonlinear dynamic analysis. Nevertheless, spectral shape together with the ratio of pulse period to the first-mode structural period, T_p/T₁, are confirmed as “sufficient” predictors for deformation and acceleration response metrics in a building, conditioned on the seismic intensity. Furthermore, the average spectral acceleration over a period range, AvgSA, is shown to incorporate to a good proxy for spectral shape, and together with T_p/T₁, form an efficient and sufficient intensity measure for response prediction to pulse-like ground motions. Following this latter route, we propose a record selection scheme that maintains the consistency of T_p with the hazard of the site but uses AvgSA to account for the response sensitivity to spectral shape.