Optimal weakening and damping using polynomial control for seismically excited nonlinear structures

This paper presents an approach for the optimal design of a new retrofi t technique called weakening and damping that is valid for civil engineering inelastic structures.An alternative design methodology is developed with respect to the existing ones that is able to determine the locations and the magnitude of weakening and/or softening of structural elements and adding damping while insuring structural stability.An optimal polynomial controller that is a summation of polynomials in nonlinear states is used...     

Conditional spectrum bidirectional record selection for risk assessment of 3D structures using scalar and vector IMs

Several proposals are explored for the hazard and intensity measure (IM) consistent selection of bidirectional ground motions to assess the performance of 3D structural models. Recent studies have shown the necessity of selecting records that thoroughly represent the seismicity at the site of interest, as well as the usefulness of efficient IMs capable of estimating the response of buildings with low scatter. However, the advances realized are mostly geared towards the structural analysis of 2D models. Few are the combined record, and IM selection approaches suggested expressly for nonlinear dynamic analysis of 3D structural models, especially when plan asymmetry and torsion sensitivity come into play. Conditional spectrum selection is leveraged and expanded here to offer a suite of approaches based on both scalar and vector IMs that convey information from two orthogonal horizontal components of the ground motion. Applications on multiple 3D building models highlight the importance of (a) employing the same IM for both record selection and response assessment and (b) maintaining hazard consistency in both horizontal components, when using either a scalar or a vector IM. All tested approaches that respect these conditions can be viable, yet the one based on the geometric mean of multiple spectral ordinates from both components over a period range seems to hold the most promise for general use.     

Multi-risk governance for natural hazards in Naples and Guadeloupe

Technical and institutional capacities are strongly related and must be jointly developed to guarantee effective natural risk governance. Indeed, the available technical solutions and decision support tools influence the development of institutional frameworks and disaster policies. This paper analyses technical and institutional capacities, by providing a comparative evaluation of governance systems in Italy and France. The focus is on two case studies: Naples and Guadeloupe. Both areas are exposed to multiple hazards, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, landslides, floods, tsunamis, fires, cyclones, and marine inundations Cascade and conjoint effects such as seismic swarms triggered by volcanic activity have also been taken into account. The research design is based on a documentary analysis of laws and policy documents informed by semi-structured interviews and focus groups with stakeholders at the local level. This leads to the identification of three sets of governance characteristics that cover the key issues of: (1) stakeholders and governance level; (2) decision support tools and mitigation measures; and (3) stakeholder cooperation and communication. The results provide an overview of the similarities and differences as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the governance systems across risks. Both case studies have developed adequate decision support tools for most of the hazards of concern. Warning systems, and the assessment of hazards and exposure are the main strengths. While technical/scientific capacities are very well developed, the main weaknesses involve the interagency communication and cooperation, and the use and dissemination of scientific knowledge when developing policies and practices. The consequences for multi-risk governance are outlined in the discussion.     

Thermoluminescence dating of the Kamil impact crater (Egypt)

Thermoluminescence (TL) dating has been used to determine the age of the meteorite impact crater at Gebel Kamil (Egyptian Sahara). Previous studies suggested that the 45 m diameter structure was produced by a fall in recent times (less than 5000 years ago) of an iron meteorite impactor into quartz‐arenites and siltstones belonging to the Lower Cretaceous Gilf Kebir Formation. The impact caused the complete fragmentation of the impactor, and the formation of a variety of impactites (e.g., partially vitrified dark and light materials) present as ejecta within the crater and in the surrounding area. After a series of tests to evaluate the TL properties of different materials including shocked intra‐crater target rocks and different types of ejecta, we selected a suite of light‐colored ejecta that showed evidence of strong thermal shock effects (e.g., partial vitrification and the presence of high‐temperature and ‐pressure silica phases). The abundance of quartz in the target rocks, including the vitrified impactites, allowed TL dating to be undertaken. The variability of radioactivity of the intracrateric target rocks and the lack of direct in situ dosimetric evaluations prevented precise dating; it was, however, possible to constrain the impact in the 2000 BC–500 AD range. If, as we believe, the radioactivity measured in the fallback deposits is a reliable estimate of the mean radioactivity of the site, the narrower range 1600–400 BC (at the 2σ confidence level) can be realistically proposed.     

The Cloud Ice Mountain Experiment (CIME) 1998: experiment overview and modelling of the microphysical processes during the seeding by isentropic gas expansion

The second field campaign of the Cloud Ice Mountain Experiment (CIME) project took place in February 1998 on the mountain Puy de Dôme in the centre of France. The content of residual aerosol particles, of H₂O₂ and NH₃ in cloud droplets was evaluated by evaporating the drops larger than 5 μm in a Counterflow Virtual Impactor (CVI) and by measuring the residual particle concentration and the released gas content. The same trace species were studied behind a round jet impactor for the complementary interstitial aerosol particles smaller than 5 μm diameter. In a second step of experiments, the ambient supercooled cloud was converted to a mixed phase cloud by seeding the cloud with ice particles by the gas release from pressurised gas bottles. A comparison between the physical and chemical characteristics of liquid drops and ice particles allows a study of the fate of the trace constituents during the presence of ice crystals in the cloud.In the present paper, an overview is given of the CIME 98 experiment and the instrumentation deployed. The meteorological situation during the experiment was analysed with the help of a cloud scale model. The microphysics processes and the behaviour of the scavenged aerosol particles before and during seeding are analysed with the detailed microphysical model ExMix. The simulation results agreed well with the observations and confirmed the assumption that the Bergeron–Findeisen process was dominating during seeding and was influencing the partitioning of aerosol particles between drops and ice crystals. The results of the CIME 98 experiment give an insight on microphysical changes, redistribution of aerosol particles and cloud chemistry during the Bergeron–Findeisen process when acting also in natural clouds.     

The Second World Landslide Forum

ICL\IPL Activities

The Second World Landslide Forum     

Lava flow hazard at Nyiragongo volcano,D.R.C.

The 2002 eruption of Nyiragongo volcano constitutes the most outstanding case ever of lava flow in a big town. It also represents one of the very rare cases of direct casualties from lava flows, which had high velocities of up to tens of kilometer per hour. As in the 1977 eruption, which is the only other eccentric eruption of the volcano in more than 100 years, lava flows were emitted from several vents along a N–S system of fractures extending for more than 10 km, from which they propagated mostly towards Lake Kivu and Goma, a town of about 500,000 inhabitants. We assessed the lava flow hazard on the entire volcano and in the towns of Goma (D.R.C.) and Gisenyi (Rwanda) through numerical simulations of probable lava flow paths. Lava flow paths are computed based on the steepest descent principle, modified by stochastically perturbing the topography to take into account the capability of lava flows to override topographic obstacles, fill topographic depressions, and spread over the topography. Code calibration and the definition of the expected lava flow length and vent opening probability distributions were done based on the 1977 and 2002 eruptions. The final lava flow hazard map shows that the eastern sector of Goma devastated in 2002 represents the area of highest hazard on the flanks of the volcano. The second highest hazard sector in Goma is the area of propagation of the western lava flow in 2002. The town of Gisenyi is subject to moderate to high hazard due to its proximity to the alignment of fractures active in 1977 and 2002. In a companion paper (Chirico et al., Bull Volcanol, in this issue, 2008) we use numerical simulations to investigate the possibility of reducing lava flow hazard through the construction of protective barriers, and formulate a proposal for the future development of the town of Goma.     

Evolutionary and structural properties of mirror star MACHOs

There can exist a hidden sector of the Universe in the form of parallel “mirror” world which has the same particle physics as the observable world and interacts with the latter only gravitationally. Big Bang nucleosynthesis bounds demand that the mirror sector should have a smaller temperature than the ordinary one. This implies that the mirror matter could play a role of dark matter, and in addition its chemical content should be dominated by helium. Here we study the evolutionary and structural properties of the mirror stars which essentially are similar to that of the ordinary stars but with higher helium contents. Being invisible in terms of photons, they could be observed only as MACHOs in the microlensing experiments. Using a numerical code, we compute evolution of stars with large helium abundances (Y = 0.30–0.80) and a wide range of masses, from 0.5 to 10 M. We found that helium dominated mirror star should have much faster evolutionary time (up to a factor 30) than the ordinary star with the same mass. In addition, we show the diagrams of luminosities, effective temperatures, central temperatures and densities, and compute the masses of the He-core at ignition and the minimum mass for carbon ignition, for different chemical compositions. The general conclusion is that mirror stars evolve faster as compared to ordinary ones, and explode earlier as type II supernovae, thus enriching the galactic halo of processed mirror gas with higher metallicity, with implications for MACHO observations and galaxy evolution.     

Improvement of Nakamura technique by singular spectrum analysis

In this work we investigate the application of the Singular Spectrum Analysis to improve Nakamura Technique. The SSA has a wide and multidisciplinary range of applications; it allows a time series to be decomposed into different components, e.g. the signal itself, as well as various noise components, which can be subsequently removed from the data. Removal of the minor component of the data can lead to significant improvements in the identification of the system. In this paper the use of SSA Technique allows to optimize the signal to noise ratio before computing the classical Nakamura spectral ratios. A number of typical applications are also presented.