Framework of aftershock fragility assessment–case studies: older California reinforced concrete building frames

Current seismic design codes and damage estimation tools neglect the influence of successive events on structures. However, recent earthquakes have demonstrated that structures damaged during an initial event (mainshock) are more vulnerable to severe damage and collapse during a subsequent event (aftershock). This increased vulnerability to damage translates to increased likelihood of loss of use, property, and life. Thus, a reliable risk assessment tool is required that characterizes the risk of the undamaged structure subjected to an initial event and the risk of the damaged structure under subsequent events. In this paper, a framework for development of aftershock fragilities is presented; these aftershock fragilities define the likelihood that a building damaged during a mainshock will exhibit a given damage state following one or more aftershocks. Thus, the framework provides a method for characterizing the risk associated with damage accumulation in the structure. The framework includes the following: (i) creation of a numerical model of the structure; (ii) characterization of building damage states; (iii) generation of a suite of mainshock–aftershocks; (iv) mainshock–aftershock analyses; and (v) development of aftershock fragility curves using probabilistic aftershock demand models, defined as a linear regression of aftershock demand–intensity pairs in a logarithmic space, and damage‐state prediction models. The framework is not limited to a specific structure type but requires numerical models defining structural response and linking structural response with damage. In the current study, non‐ductile RC frames (low‐rise, mid‐rise, and high‐rise) are selected as case studies for the application of the framework. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evidence of beneficial role of inclined piles: observations and summary of numerical analyses

The behaviour under seismic loading of inclined piles embedded in two idealized soil profiles, a homogeneous and a non-homogenous “Gibson” soil, is analysed with 3D finite elements. Two structures, modeled as single-degree-of-freedom oscillators, are studied: (1) a tall slender superstructure (H _st = 12 m) whose crucial loading is the overturning moment, and (2) a short structure (H _st = 1 m) whose crucial loading is the shear force. Three simple two-pile group are studied: (a) one comprising a vertical pile and a pile inclined at 25°, (b) one consisting of two piles symmetrically inclined at 25°, and (c) a group of two vertical piles. The influence of key parameters is analysed and non-dimensional diagrams are presented to illustrate the role of raked piles on pile and structure response. It is shown that this role can be beneficial or detrimental depending on a number of factors, including the slenderness of the superstructure and the type of pile-to-cap connection.     

A review of adverse effects of damping in seismic isolation

In this paper the question of possible adverse effects of damping in seismic isolation because of higher mode response is investigated by means of simple models with a few degrees of freedom (DOF). In particular the second mode response of a 2 DOF system is examined in detail for both viscous and hysteretic (e.g. friction or elastoplastic) damping devices. Qualitative and approximate quantitative estimates are obtained by neglecting the influence of the modal coupling terms, due to viscous damping or friction forces, on the first mode response. It is shown that additional viscous damping has a diminishing effect on base displacement, storey shear force and floor spectra values in the vicinity of the first mode resonance. However, a significant amplification of the floor spectra values near the higher mode frequencies may occur. In accordance with the results of previous works, compared with the viscous damping case, hysteretic damping amplifies moderately the first storey shear force and significantly the upper storeys shear force. It also results, in a much more pronounced amplification of the floor spectral values than viscous damping, in the vicinity of the higher eigenfrequencies. However, the higher modes' response is milder if a realistic velocity dependence of the friction coefficient is taken into account. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Using detrital garnets to determine provenance: a case study from the Vertiskos Unit (Serbomacedonian Massif,N. Greece)

Garnet single crystals of several millimeters in diameter were collected from the uppermost horizon of a soil profile developing immediately on the gneissic rocks of the Vertiskos Unit of the Serbomacedonian Massif in northern Greece. The garnets were analyzed for major elements by EDS analyzer mounted on a scanning electron microscope, and the obtained data were utilized to determine their source rocks. Bivariate diagrams, spider diagrams as well as statistical analysis were used in order to correlate and compare the garnet composition of the basement rocks of the Vertiskos Unit with the existing reference data. This case study demonstrates the difficulty in assigning a source rock to sediment, using only the chemical compositional of detrital garnet. Direct linking of the detrital garnets and the outcropping rocks is not always possible despite well documented outcrop lithologies. This is largely due to a complex metamorphic evolution that leads to overlapping compositions between garnets originating from different lithologies that have undergone similar metamorphic processes and alteration effects.     

Cost/benefit analysis of a benthic monitoring programme of organic benthic enrichment using different sampling and analysis methods

To investigate the combined effects of decreasing taxonomic resolution (i.e. species, family, phylum), the use of different mesh-size (1.0 mm and 0.5 mm) and the type of samplers used (van Veen vs. corers taken by divers) on the quality of data obtained, a comparative study was undertaken with the overall aim of identifying cost efficient methods for routinely monitoring the ecological change caused by Mediterranean fish farming. The results clearly showed that information loss was relatively low as data were aggregated at higher taxonomic levels, particularly up to the level of family or even order. It was also found that the extra information gained by sieving samples through a 0.5 mm sieve did not improve the ability to distinguish the potentially impacted sites from the control stations. Finally, it was found that a relatively large proportion of the available information concerning the community structure such as abundance, biomass or diversity is lost when sampling is carried out with corers. A cost/benefit ratio analysis for the two sampling and the two sieving methods showed minimal values for the van Veen samples (for both sieve fractions) at the family level, indicating that analysis at this level gives the best balance between precision of the results and decrease in taxonomic effort. However, if the time needed to sort the samples is included in the analysis, then samples taken with corers using a 0.5 mm sieve and identified to families seems like a good compromise between precision and cost.     

Assessing water erosion in Mediterranean tree crops using GIS techniques and field measurements: the effect of climate change

In this work, a dynamic GIS modeling approach is presented that incorporates: a) geoinformatic techniques, b) 55-year historical meteorological data, and c) field measurements, in order to estimate soil erosion risk in intensively cultivated regions. The proposed GIS-based modeling approach includes the estimation of soil erosion rates due to surface water flow under current and future climate change scenarios A2 and B1 for the years 2030 and 2050. The soil erosion was estimated using the Universal Soil Loss Equation (USLE). The proposed soil erosion model was validated using field measurements at different sites of the study area. The results show that an extended part of the study area is under intense erosion with the mean annual loss to be 4.85 t/ha year⁻¹. Moreover, an increase in rainfall intensity, especially for scenario B1, can generate a significant increase (32.44 %) in soil loss for the year 2030 and a much more (50.77 %) for the year 2050 in comparison with the current conditions. Regarding the scenario A2, a slight decrease (1.85 %) in soil loss was observed for the year 2030, while for 2050 the results show an adequate increase (7.31 %) in comparison with the present. All these approaches were implemented at one of the most productive agricultural areas of Crete in Greece dominated by olive and citrus crops.

     

From free good to commodity: Universalizing the provision of water in Paris (1830–1930)

This article focuses on the water distribution network in Paris, from the 1830s, when most Parisians got their water from public fountains and private wells, to the 1930s, by which time almost all of the capital’s inhabitants had been connected to the same network and enjoyed a standard service. It contributes, by a detailed analysis of the entire chain of mediators and mediation, to specify how the modern infrastructure ideal actually took form. In that aim, we analyze the manner in which each actor (public as well as private), in accordance with his/her constraints and resources, which depend on his/her position in the social space, was able to conceive of his/her environment, define objectives, confront problems, make choices and deploy a whole range of frequently innovative practices. In order to understand the underlying factors, our task consists in identifying the actors, modi operandi, progress and phases involved in universalizing water services. Spatially analyzing the extension of the water network, this article demonstrates that the process of universalization, far from being the inexorable and linear outcome of the action of a small number of “major historical forces”, was the upshot of the actions of a whole range of actors acting in specific different geographical, social, economic and technical contexts. The achievement of the “modern infrastructural ideal” as a macro-social phenomenon was ultimately down to a long accumulation process of a multitude of actions, interactions, conflicts and learning processes.     

Calculation of radar signal delays in the vicinity of the Sun due to the contribution of a Yukawa correction term in the gravitational potential

There has been a renewed interest in the recent years in the possibility of deviations from the predictions of Newton’s “inverse-square law” of universal gravitation. One of the reasons for renewing this interest lies in various theoretical attempts to construct a unified elementary particle theory, in which there is a natural prediction of new forces over macroscopic distances. Therefore the existence of such a force would only coexist with gravity, and in principle could only be detected as a deviation from the inverse square law, or in the “universality of free fall” experiments. New experimental techniques such that of Sagnac interferometry can help explore the range of the Yukawa correction λ≥10¹⁴ m where such forces might be present. It may be, that future space missions might be operating in this range which has been unexplored for very long time. To study the effect of the Yukawa correction to the gravitational potential and its corresponding signal delay in the vicinity of the Sun, we use a spherically symmetric modified space time metric where the Yukawa correction its added to the gravitational potential. Next, the Yukawa correction contribution to the signal delay is evaluated. In the case where the distance of closest approach is much less than the range λ, it results to a signal time delay that satisfies the relation t(b<λ)≅37.7t(b=λ).     

Multi-scale risk assessment of stream pollution by wastewater of olive oil mills in Kolymvari,Crete

In the streams of the Mediterranean island of Crete (Greece), olive mill wastewater (OMW) has been reported to reduce biodiversity up to 85 %. Mere conduction of impact assessment based on pollutant concentrations, however, cannot reveal how impacted areas may be connected to the pollution sources. In this study, we developed a new methodology which allows for a dynamic cause-effect linking of pollution sources and impacted areas through the pathways of OMW. Risk is hierarchically assessed and mapped at three different scales and more specifically, at the source scale (targeting olive mill units and their waste tanks), at the receptor scale (targeting potential impacted sites in the streams) and at the watershed scale (which is the scale of overall water management). The approach is based mainly on remote sensing data without taking account of groundwater regimes or field measurements. Involvement of local experts for recognizing spatial features of interest and selecting appropriate risk parameters was proved necessary and efficient in order to model the stream pollution risk realistically. Potential impacted sites in the stream network were occasionally verified by a field survey. The results comprise a set of risk maps at the three different scales. The constructed digital geo-database can be updated or modified and thus is considered to be a dynamic tool for future environmental management in the service of the local community.