Energy dissipation behaviour of shear panels made of low yield steel

This paper presents the results of a pilot test conducted for evaluating the energy dissipation behaviour of shear panels made of low yield steel whose 0.2 per cent offset yield stress is 120 MPa. A total of six full-scale shear panels were tested with the loading condition, stiffener spacing, and magnitude of axial force as test variables. The shear panels tested yielded at a shear force that is approximately 1/3 of the yield shear force of equivalent shear panels made of common mild steel. Shear panels with proper stiffener arrangement exhibited stable hysteresis, thus ensuring large energy dissipation capacity. Sufficient strain hardening was observed in the shear panels tested, with their energy dissipation capacity about 1.5 times larger than that of an equivalent linear-elastic and perfect-plastic system. Plate buckling did not lead the shear panels to immediate degradation in their energy dissipation capacity. Post-buckling resistance was found to be a subject that requires further studies for quantifying the performance of shear panels made of low yield stress steel as hysteretic dampers.     

Seismic performance and new design procedure for chevron‐braced frames

The paper is concerned with the seismic design of steel‐braced frames in which the braces are configured in a chevron pattern. According to EuroCode 8 (EC8), the behaviour factor q, which allows for the trade‐off between the strength and ductility, is set at 2.5 for chevron‐braced frames, while 6.5 is assigned for most ductile steel moment‐resisting frames. Strength deterioration in post‐buckling regime varies with the brace's slenderness, but EC8 adopts a unique q value irrespective of the brace slenderness. The study focuses on reevaluation of the q value adequate for the seismic design of chevron‐braced frames. The present EC8 method for the calculation of brace strength supplies significantly different elastic stiffnesses and actual strengths for different values of brace slenderness. A new method to estimate the strength of a chevron brace pair is proposed, in which the yield strength (for the brace in tension) and the post‐buckling strength (for the brace in compression) are considered. The new method ensures an identical elastic stiffness and a similar strength regardless of the brace slenderness. The advantage of the proposed method over the conventional EC8 method is demonstrated for the capacity of the proposed method to control the maximum inter‐storey drift. The q values adequate for the chevron‐braced frames are examined in reference to the maximum inter‐storey drifts sustained by most ductile moment‐resisting frames. When the proposed method is employed for strength calculation, the q value of 3.5 is found to be reasonable. It is notable that the proposed method does not require larger cross‐sections for the braces compared to the cross‐sections required for the present EC8 method. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A substructure shaking table test for reproduction of earthquake responses of high‐rise buildings

When subjected to long‐period ground motions, high‐rise buildings' upper floors undergo large responses. Furniture and nonstructural components are susceptible to significant damage in such events. This paper proposes a full‐scale substructure shaking table test to reproduce large floor responses of high‐rise buildings. The response at the top floor of a virtual 30‐story building model subjected to a synthesized long‐period ground motion is taken as a target wave for reproduction. Since a shaking table has difficulties in directly reproducing such large responses due to various capacity limitations, a rubber‐and‐mass system is proposed to amplify the table motion. To achieve an accurate reproduction of the floor responses, a control algorithm called the open‐loop inverse dynamics compensation via simulation (IDCS) algorithm is used to generate a special input wave for the shaking table. To implement the IDCS algorithm, the model matching method and the H_∞ method are adopted to construct the controller. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the open‐loop IDCS algorithm and compare the performance of different methods of controller design. A series of full‐scale substructure shaking table tests are conducted in E‐Defense to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method and examine the seismic behavior of furniture. The test results demonstrate that the rubber‐and‐mass system is capable of amplifying the table motion by a factor of about 3.5 for the maximum velocity and displacement, and the substructure shaking table test can reproduce the large floor responses for a few minutes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimate of Ablation Rate of Glacier Ice under a Supraglacial Debris Layer

The ablation rate under a debris layer is very difficult to measure directly at debris-covered glaciers, because the surface is highly heterogeneous, and the ablation rate varies tremendously from place to place. Heat budget considerations with a debris layer on top of glacier ice suggested that 'thermal resistance' of the debris layer could be estimated from surface temperature and the heat fluxes at the debris surface, and the ablation rate of the underlying glacier ice from the thermal resistance and meteorological data. The method was tested at the Lirung Glacier in Langtang Valley, Nepal Himalayas, using the thermal band of LANDSAT satellite for estimating surface temperature distribution of the debris top surface. The amount of melt water thus estimated was compatible with the observed discharge data from the glacier basin for periods of the monsoon season in 1985 and the pre-monsoon to the monsoon season in 1996. The investigation also revealed that the amount of discharge was much larger than the amount of precipitation over the basin, and it was suggested that the melt water from the debris-covered glacier contributes significantly to the river flow as a result of the shrinkage of the glacier.     

Non-schubart periodic orbits in the rectilinear three-body problem

In the present paper, in the rectilinear three-body problem, we qualitatively follow the positions of non-Schubart periodic orbits as the mass parameter changes. This is done by constructing their characteristic curves. In order to construct characteristic curves, we assume a set of properties on the shape of areas corresponding to symbol sequences. These properties are assured by our preceding numerical calculations. The main result is that characteristic curves always start at triple collision and end at triple collision. This may give us some insight into the nature of periodic orbits in the N-body problem.     

Seismological monitoring on the 2003 Tokachi-oki earthquake, derived from off Kushiro permanent cabled OBSs and land-based observations

Japan Marine Science and Technology Center installed a cabled geophysical observatory system off Kushiro, Hokkaido Island in July 1999. This observatory system comprises three ocean bottom seismographs (OBSs), two tsunami gauges, and a geophysical/geochemical monitoring system. 4 years and 2 months after the installation, a megathrust earthquake (the 2003 Tokachi-Oki earthquake, 26th September in Japan Standard Time (JST), M_JMA 8.0) occurred along a plate boundary underneath a forearc basin where the system is located. The system recorded clear unsaturated seismograms just at 28.6 km from the epicenter. This paper demonstrates advantages brought by the cabled observatory to record the megathrust earthquake showing how earthquake detectability is improved dramatically combining permanent OBS and land-based observations around the region, and importance of the in situ monitoring on the seismogenic zone. In the present study, processing OBSs and land-based network together, and comparing magnitudes of common observed earthquakes with national authorized network, event detection level improved down to M 1.5, which is much lower than the previously designed as down to M  2. Comparing detection level before and after installing OBSs, we found dramatic improvement of the earthquake detection level in the interesting region. Real-time continuous observations of microearthquakes since 1999 have brought us tremendous findings. First, a seismic quiescence started about 10 days before the 2003 Tokachi-Oki earthquake. Second, aftershock distribution is not uniform over the focal area and can be divided into several sub-regions, which might indicate an existence of several asperities. We think that the geophysical observations helped to understand the initiation process of the rupture of the 2003 Tokachi-Oki earthquake and that observations including seismological, geodynamic, hydrogeological, and the other multidisciplinary observations would provide a clue to future understanding of seismogenic processes at subduction zones.     

Hysteretic behavior and strength capacity of shallowly embedded steel column bases with SFRCC slab

A series of shallowly embedded steel column bases consisting of an exposed column base and a floor slab is tested under horizontal cyclic loading to very large deformation. The effects of floor slabs on strength and ductility are examined using concrete and Steel fiber‐reinforced cementitous composites (SFRCC) for the floor slab. The elastic stiffness, maximum strength, and dissipated energy of the column bases when they include SFRCC increase by 40, 70, and 70% over those of corresponding column bases with concrete floor slab. Better bonding behavior is notable for SFRCC, and the maximum strength and dissipated energy further increase by 15–30% and 70–90%, respectively, owing to the careful arrangement of reinforcing bars. Numerical models are developed to enhance the understanding the behavior of shallowly embedded column bases. Procedures for estimating the elastic stiffness and maximum strength of shallowly embedded column bases with conventional concrete are calibrated for their applicability to those with SFRCC slab. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Flexible substructure online hybrid test system using conventional testing devices

This paper presents a substructure online hybrid test system that is extensible for geographically distributed tests.This system consists of a set of devices conventionally used for cyclic tests to load the tested substructures onto the target displacement or the target force.Due to their robustness and portability,individual sets of conventional loading devices can be transported and reconfigured to realize physical loading in geographically remote laboratories.Another appealing feature is the flexible displacement-force mixed control that is particularly suitable for specimens having large disparities in stiffness during various performance stages.To conduct a substructure online hybrid test,an extensible framework is developed,which is equipped with a generalized interface to encapsulate each substructure.Multiple tested substructures and analyzed substructures using various structural program codes can be accommodated within the single framework,simply interfaced with the boundary displacements and forces.A coordinator program is developed to keep the boundaries among all substructures compatible and equilibrated.An Internet-based data exchange scheme is also devised to transfer data among computers equipped with different software environments.A series of online hybrid tests are introduced,and the portability,flexibility,and extensibility of the online hybrid test system are demonstrated.     

Similarity solution for unsteady accretion flow,II

Similarity solution for unsteady accretion flow is obtained. The density distribution of the initial state of the gas surrounding the star is given as ?₀ ∝r ^?ω. The flow patterns are compared with the results of the numerical computation by Zel'dovichet al. (1972), and it is shown that the similarity solution reproduces the results of the numerical computations well. An unsteady accretion model for the nova-like X-ray source is discussed briefly.     

On‐line hybrid test combining with general‐purpose finite element software

A new on‐line hybrid test system incorporated with the substructuring technique is developed. In this system, a general‐purpose finite element software is employed to obtain the restoring forces of the numerical substructure accurately. The restart option is repeatedly used to accommodate the software with alternating loading and analysis characteristic of the on‐line test but without touching the source code. An eight‐storey base‐isolated structure is tested to evaluate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed test system. The overall structure is divided into two substructures, i.e. a superstructure to be analysed by the software and a base‐isolation layer to be tested physically. Collisions between the base‐isolation layer and the surrounding walls are considered in the test. The responses of the overall structure are reasonable, and smooth operation is achieved without any malfunction. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.