A model-order reduction framework for hybrid simulation based on component-mode synthesis

Testing of stiff physical substructures (PSs) still poses major technical issues that prevent from adopting hybrid simulation (HS) as a standard structural testing method. Firstly, elastic deformation of reaction frames, as well as the limited resolution of displacement transducers, deteriorate displacement control accuracy. Secondly, as a consequence of control errors, small perturbations of actuator displacements entail large restoring force oscillations that spuriously excite the higher eigenmodes of the hybrid model. For this reason, in the current practice, force-controlled hydraulic jacks handle vertical degrees of freedom, which are typically associated with stiff axially loaded members and excluded from the time integration loop. Vertical forces are either kept constant or adjusted during the experiment based on simplified redistribution rules. Besides deterioration of displacement control accuracy, stiff PSs naturally increase the frequency bandwidth of the hybrid model, whose higher eigenfrequencies (divided by the testing time scale) may fall outside the frequency bandwidth of the actuation system, thus destabilizing the HS. This is a collateral issue to which, in the authors' knowledge, no sufficient attention as been dedicated yet, and this paper tries to address it. From this standpoint, we propose component-mode synthesis as a rigorous approach for deriving reduced-order physical and numerical substructure mass and stiffness matrices that minimize the frequency bandwidth of the hybrid model. The proposed methodology allowed for performing HSs of a load-bearing unreinforced masonry structure including both horizontal and vertical degrees of freedom with a standard three-actuator setup used for cyclic testing.     

Shake table tests on standard and innovative temporary partition walls

Shake table tests are performed on temporary internal partitions for office buildings. Four different specimens are tested. A steel frame is designed to exhibit relative displacements which typically occur at a given story of ordinary buildings. Four different partition walls are tested simultaneously for each specimen typology. This allows investigating the influence of an innovative device on the seismic performance of the tested components. The innovative device avoids the unhooking of the panels from the supporting studs. Several shake table tests are performed subjecting the specimens to interstory drift ratios up to 1.57%. Both the hysteretic curves and the natural frequency trend highlight that the partitions do not contribute to the lateral stiffness of the test setup. The damping ratio increases after the partition walls are installed within the test frame, causing a beneficial effect in the dynamic response. Minor damage state occurs for interstory drift ratio (IDR) in the range 0.41–0.65% in standard specimens, whereas moderate and major damage states are attained for IDR in the range 0.51–0.95%. Significant increase of collapse IDR is recorded with the introduction of the innovative device, up to IDR larger than 1.45%. It can be therefore concluded that a simple innovative device is defined, which significantly improves the seismic performance of the tested specimen. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A performance‐based framework for adaptive seismic aftershock risk assessment

Operative seismic aftershock risk forecasting can be particularly useful for rapid decision‐making in the presence of an ongoing sequence. In such a context, limit state first‐excursion probabilities (risk) for the forecasting interval (a day) can represent the potential for progressive state of damage in a structure. This work lays out a performance‐based framework for adaptive aftershock risk assessment in the immediate post‐mainshock environment. A time‐dependent structural performance variable is adopted in order to measure the cumulative damage in a structure. A set of event‐dependent fragility curves as a function of the first‐mode spectral acceleration for a prescribed limit state is calculated by employing back‐to‐back nonlinear dynamic analyses. An epidemic‐type aftershock sequence model is employed for estimating the spatio‐temporal evolution of aftershocks. The event‐dependent fragility curves for a given limit state are then integrated together with the probability distribution of aftershock spectral acceleration based on the epidemic‐type aftershock sequence aftershock hazard. The daily probability of limit state first‐excursion is finally calculated as a weighted combination of the sequence of limit state probabilities conditioned on the number of aftershocks. As a numerical example, daily aftershock risk is calculated for the L'Aquila 2009 aftershock sequence (central Italy). A representative three‐story reinforced concrete frame with infill panels, which has cyclic strength and stiffness degradation, is used in order to evaluate the progressive damage. It is observed that the proposed framework leads to a sound forecasting of limit state first‐excursion in the structure for two limit states of significant damage and near collapse. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Starved versus alluvial river bedforms: an experimental investigation

Laboratory experiments were conducted to investigate the formation of river bedforms under sediment supply-limited conditions, i.e. when a motionless substratum is bared by the dynamics of the mobile sediments. Three series of experiments were organized in a laboratory flume by fixing all the hydrodynamic and morphodynamic parameters but varying the thickness of the initial layer of mobile sediments which covers the rigid bottom of the flume. At the end of all the experiments, which lasted for the same amount of time, the formation of transverse sand dunes was observed. For decreasing , the rigid bottom of the flume was bared progressively earlier during the experiment and the measurements showed a clear tendency of the bedforms to lengthen, i.e. to increase their crest-to-crest distance. Moreover, under strong supply limitation, the two-dimensional transverse dunes turned into three-dimensional barchanoid forms and into isolated barchan dunes characterized by an abrupt reduction in bedform heights. A two-dimensional Fourier analysis of the bottom profile was performed, providing the amplitude of the main streamwise and spanwise harmonic components of the bottom morphology as a function of . © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Parametric study on seismic ground response by finite element modelling

In this paper the results of 2D FE analyses of the seismic ground response of a clayey deposit, performed adopting linear visco-elastic and visco-elasto-plastic constitutive models, are presented. The viscous and linear elastic parameters are selected according to a novel calibration strategy, leading to FE results comparable to those obtained by 1D equivalent-linear visco-elastic frequency-domain analyses. The influence of plasticity on the numerical results is also investigated, with particular reference to the relation between the hysteretic and viscous damping effects. Finally, different boundary conditions, spatial discretisation and time integration parameters are considered and their role on the FE results discussed.     

Non-life insurance consumption in Italy: a sub-regional panel data analysis

We analyze the consumption of non-life insurance across 103 Italian provinces in 1998–2002 in order to assess its determinants, in the light of the empirical literature. Using sub-regional data, we overcome an important limitation of cross-country analyses, i.e. the systemic heterogeneity due to country-specific characteristics. Individual heterogeneity is accounted for through panel data techniques. However, considering spatial units within a single market raises issues of cross-sectional or spatial dependence, either due to common nationwide and/or regional factors or to spatial proximity. We carefully assess spatial dependence, employing recent diagnostic tests, finding out that the regressors included in our specification successfully account for spatial dependence. Insurance turns out to depend on income, wealth and some demographics, as already established, but also on trust, judicial efficiency and borrowing conditions. These findings help in explaining the gap between Central-Northern Italy and the south of the country.     

Numerical prediction of tunnel performance during centrifuge dynamic tests

In this paper, a comparison between numerical analyses and centrifuge test results relative to the seismic performance of a circular tunnel is provided. The considered experimental data refer to two centrifuge tests performed at Cambridge University, aimed at investigating the transverse dynamic behaviour of a relatively shallow tunnel located in a sand deposit. For the same geometry, different soil relative densities characterise the two tests. The four seismic actions considered, of the pseudo-harmonic type, are characterised by increasing intensity. The 2D numerical analyses were performed adopting an advanced soil constitutive model implemented in a commercial finite element code. The comparison between numerical simulations and measurements is presented in terms of acceleration histories and Fourier spectra as well as of profiles of maximum acceleration along free-field and near-tunnel verticals. In addition, loading histories of normal stress and bending moments acting in the tunnel lining were considered. In general, very good agreement was found with reference to the ground response analyses, while a less satisfactory comparison between observed and predicted results was obtained for the transient and permanent loadings acting in the lining, as discussed in the final part of the paper.     

A hierarchical classification system for object recognition inunderwater environments

In this paper, a hierarchical system, in which each level is composed by a neural-based classifier, is proposed to recognize objects in underwater images. The system has been designed to help an autonomous underwater vehicle in sea-bottom survey operations, like pipeline inspections. The input image is divided into square regions (macro-pixels) and a neural tree is used to classify each region into different object classes (pipeline, sea-bottom, or anodes). Each macro-pixel is then analyzed according to some geometric and environment constraints: macro-pixels with doubt classification are divided into four parts and re-classified. The process is iterated until the desired accuracy is reached. Experimental results, which have been performed on a large set of real underwater images acquired in different sea environments, demonstrate the robustness and the accuracy of the proposed system