Nonlinear Dynamic Response of HDRB and Hybrid HDRB-Friction Sliders Base Isolation Systems

The isolation systems are usually made of rubber bearings that are sometimes coupled in hybrid combination with frictional devices; this is the case of an in-site experimental campaign, performed on a base isolated apartment building in Rapolla (south of Italy). Several dropout tests at initial displacements up to 17cm allowed to obtain in-site information on the true dynamic response of the isolation system (building and isolators). The tests carried out allow a comparison between the free vibration responses of a building, isolated by using a 28 HDRB isolation system only, or an HDRB-Friction Sliders Hybrid one. The paper highlights the main differences of the response in the superstructure (the structure over the isolation system) obtained by using only HDRB isolation system, or the Hybrid one (HDRB and Friction Sliders in parallel system). Analysis and comparisons of experimental data, show the influence of nonlinearities on structural higher modes amplification, especially observed by using the higher nonlinear Hybrid isolation system. Tests results confirm that, in the case of a regular superstructure, like the Rapolla building, the isolation system nonlinearities influence the structural response.     

The Seismotectonics of the Po Plain (Northern Italy): Tectonic Diversity in a Blind Faulting Domain

We present a systematic and updated overview of a seismotectonic model for the Po Plain (northern Italy). This flat and apparently quiet tectonic domain is, in fact, rather active as it comprises the shortened foreland and foredeep of both the Southern Alps and the Northern Apennines. Assessing its seismic hazard is crucial due to the concentration of population, industrial activities, and critical infrastructures, but it is also complicated because (a) the region is geologically very diverse, and (b) nearly all potential seismogenic faults are buried beneath a thick blanket of Pliocene–Pleistocene sediments, and thus can be investigated only indirectly. Identifying and parameterizing the potential seismogenic faults of the Po Plain requires proper consideration of their depth, geometry, kinematics, earthquake potential and location with respect to the two confronting orogens. To this end, we subdivided them into four main, homogeneous groups. Over the past 15 years we developed new strategies for coping with this diversity, resorting to different data and modeling approaches as required by each individual fault group. The most significant faults occur beneath the thrust fronts of the Ferrara-Romagna and Emilia arcs, which correspond to the most advanced and buried portions of the Northern Apennines and were the locus of the destructive May 2012 earthquake sequence. The largest known Po Plain earthquake, however, occurred on an elusive reactivated fault cutting the Alpine foreland south of Verona. Significant earthquakes are expected to be generated also by a set of transverse structures segmenting the thrust system, and by the deeper ramps of the Apennines thrusts. The new dataset is intended to be included in the next version of the Database of Individual Seismogenic Sources (DISS; http://diss.rm.ingv.it/diss/, version 3.2.0, developed and maintained by INGV) to improve completeness of potential sources for seismic hazard assessment.     

Large Earthquakes at the Ibero-Maghrebian Region: Basis for an EEWS

Large earthquakes (M_w > 6, I_max > VIII) occur at the Ibero-Maghrebian region, extending from a point (12ºW) southwest of Cape St. Vincent to Tunisia, with different characteristics depending on their location, which cause considerable damage and casualties. Seismic activity at this region is associated with the boundary between the lithospheric plates of Eurasia and Africa, which extends from the Azores Islands to Tunisia. The boundary at Cape St. Vincent, which has a clear oceanic nature in the westernmost part, experiences a transition from an oceanic to a continental boundary, with the interaction of the southern border of the Iberian Peninsula, the northern border of Africa, and the Alboran basin between them, corresponding to a wide area of deformation. Further to the east, the plate boundary recovers its oceanic nature following the northern coast of Algeria and Tunisia. The region has been divided into four zones with different seismic characteristics. From west to east, large earthquake occurrence, focal depth, total seismic moment tensor, and average seismic slip velocities for each zone along the region show the differences in seismic release of deformation. This must be taken into account in developing an EEWS for the region.     

Seismic performance assessment and base-isolated floor protection of statues exhibited in museum halls

A study concerning the evaluation of seismic response of statues exhibited in art museums, and a base-isolated floor strategy for their enhanced protection, are presented in this paper. Attention is particularly focused on statues made of small tensile strength materials, whose behaviour is simulated by a smeared-crack finite element approach. Seismic performance is assessed by referring to four levels specially postulated herein, and namely: (1) Rest conditions; (2) No rocking; (3) Damage control; and (4) Collapse prevention. The response is investigated via incremental dynamic analysis, by progressively increasing the amplitude of the ground motion histories adopted as inputs, and by relating output data to the limit conditions fixed for the above-mentioned performance levels. The assessment procedure is applied to a demonstrative case study, represented by a marble statue to be exhibited in the museum wing situated at the ground level of a medieval castle in Italy, according to an architectural hypothesis of partial rebuilding and reuse of the stronghold. The design solution for the base-isolated floor consists in a system of double-friction pendulum isolators. The finite element model constitutive laws and parameters, the dynamic analyses carried out in fixed-base and base-isolated floor conditions, and the practical implementation of the assumed performance assessment criteria are reported for the statue examined, along with a selection of technical details of the floor design.     

The structural characteristics,age of origin,and tectonic attribute of the Erguna Fault,NE China

The Erguna Fault runs along the east bank of the Erguna River in NE China and is a large-scale ductile shear zone comprising granitic mylonites. This paper reports on the geometry, kinematic indicators, and 40Ar/39 Ar biotite ages of the granitic mylonites, to constrain the structural characteristics, forming age, and tectonic attribute of the Erguna ductile shear zone. The zone strikes NE and records a top-to-the-NW sense of shear. A mylonitic foliation and stretching lineation are well developed in the mylonites, which are classified as S-L tectonites. Logarithmic flinn parameters(1.18–2.35) indicate elongate strain which approximates to plane strain. Kinematic vorticity numbers are 0.42–0.92 and 0.48–0.94, based on the polar Mohr diagram and the oblique foliation in quartz ribbons, respectively, suggesting that the ductile shear zone formed under general shear, or a combination of simple and pure shear. According to finite strain and kinematic vorticity analyses, the Erguna Fault is a lengthening-thinning ductile shear zone that formed by extension. The deformation behavior of minerals in the mylonites indicates that the fault was the site of three stages of deformation: an initial stage of middle- to deep-level, high-temperature shear, a post-stress recovery phase of high-temperature static recrystallization, and a final phase of low-temperature uplift and cooling. The 40Ar/39 Ar plateau ages of biotite from the granitic mylonites are 106.16 ± 0.79 and 111.55 ± 0.67 Ma, which constrain the timing of low-temperature uplift and cooling but are younger than the ages of metamorphic core complexes(MCCs) in the Transbaikalia-northeast Mongolia region. Using measured geological sections, microtectonics, estimates of finite strain and kinematic vorticity, and regional correlations and geochronology, we conclude that the Erguna Fault is an Early Cretaceous, NNE-trending, large-scale, sub-horizontal, and extensional ductile shear zone. It shares a similar tectonic background with the MCCs, volcanic fault basins, and large and super-large volcanic-hydrothermal deposits in Transbaikalia-northeast Mongolia and the western Great Khingan Mountains, all of which are the result of overthickened crust that gravitationally collapsed and extended in the Early Cretaceous after plate collision along the present-day Sino-Russia-Mongolia border tract.     

Multi-directional wave spectra from marine X-band radar

The signal measured by heave–pitch–roll directional wave buoys yields the first four coefficients of a Fourier series. Data adaptive methods must be employed to estimate a directional wave spectrum. Marine X-band radars (MRs) have the advantage over buoys that they can measure “model-free” two-dimensional (2D) wave spectra. This study presents the first comprehensive validation of MR-derived multi-directional wave characteristics. It is based on wave data from the 2010 Impact of Typhoons on the Ocean in the Pacific (ITOP) experiment in the Philippine Sea, namely MR measurements from R/V Roger Revelle, Extreme Air–Sea Interaction (EASI) buoy measurements, as well as WAVEWATCH-III (WW3) modeling results. Buoy measurements of mean direction and spreading as function of frequency, which do not require data adaptive methods, are used to validate the WW3 wave spectra. An advanced MR wave retrieval technique is introduced that addresses various shortcomings of existing methods. Spectral partitioning techniques, applied to MR and WW3 results, reveal that multimodal seas are frequently present. Both data sets are in excellent agreement, tracking the evolution of up to 4 simultaneous wave systems over extended time periods. This study demonstrates MR’s and WW3’s strength at measuring and predicting 2D wave spectra in swell-dominated seas.     

2013年甘肃岷县漳县M_s6.6地震前地壳形变特征研究

基于2013年岷县漳县M6.6地震震源区及其邻区1999年以来的GPS观测资料,通过应变率动态特征分析、多期次GPS剖面分析和基线变形速率的分析讨论了地震的震前变形特征.GPS速度场和块体应变率表明,汶川地震的发生导致了柴达木地块运动与变形状态发生明显调整,但由于西秦岭北缘等深大断裂的存在,岷-秦地块对其响应不明显;GPS连续应变率显示,在汶川地震引起的区域地壳变形调整过程中岷县漳县地震震源区附近的应变积累速率有减缓的迹象;GPS剖面显示,平行于岷县漳县主破裂带的运动分量对汶川地震响应显著,汶川震后表现为剪切变形速率的增强,而垂直于主破裂带的运动分量则对汶川地震响应不明显;震中周边GPS基线变形速率表明,基线伸缩变化率总体呈现NW向拉张、NE向压缩状态,且拉张量明显小于压缩量.上述地壳变形动态特征表明西秦岭北缘断裂及其附近地区的应变积累水平和断层闭锁程度可能处于较高水平,在岷县漳县地震前该区表现出局部“硬化”迹象.     

青藏高原东北缘M_s≥6.0强震活动特征及未来形势研究

2013年7月22日甘肃岷县漳县6.6级地震打破了青藏高原东北缘地区自2003年以来近十年的6级平静,该地震的意义及该区未来震情发展受到了地震学家的关注.本文运用Morlet小波变换分析了1875-2013年青藏高原东北缘MS≥6.0强震活动的周期特征,结果表明该区强震存在2～3年、8～10年、25～30年等尺度的显著周期;1977年以来青藏高原东北缘地区强震活动频度虽然正常但活动强度处于一个相对较低的阶段.在讨论了岷县漳县6.6级地震的发震背景基础上,认为该地震在青藏高原东北缘强震活动长时间较弱的背景下发生,可能是该区强震活动强弱的一个拐点,未来该区强震活动的频度与强度有增加的趋势.研究结果对该区震情跟踪工作有一定的参考价值.     

黄土覆盖山地对岷县、漳县M_s6.6地震余震动力响应的影响

2013年7月22日岷县、漳县MS6.6地震发生后,我们立刻在极震区架设三台K2强震动记录仪器,以了解地震对黄土覆盖山地的影响.截至8月11日共获取地震记录172个（516条）,ML≥3.0的地震48个,最大震级ML4.4,最大加速度值65.9 gal.我们从永星台阵的强余震观测资料中,选取震级较大的余震记录进行分析,经过初步处理,分别读取各个台站的地表最大加速度值,由于观测地区的黄土覆盖层较薄,土质松软,永星村台、永星小学台这两个台的加速度记录,不能与大竜村台的记录直接比较,我们将观测记录进行傅里叶分析,统计其优势频率,展示部分典型记录的傅里叶谱发现,黄土对高频成分的吸收作用不可忽视,最大加速度值随震中距的增大而衰减迅速.在近场情况下,地表最大加速度对震中距十分敏感,所以无法直接对比不同地形对于地表加速度的影响,分析结果表明：大竜村台优势频率为5.2 Hz;永星村台优势频率为4.1 Hz;永星小学台优势频率为5.3 Hz,注意到位于山脚下的大竜村测点为基岩,加速度记录的优势频率自然较高,而位于山顶的永星村是黄土地基,但是此地的加速度记录的优势频率明显高于山腰记录,几乎与基岩台基的优势频率相当.宏观调查也表明：低频率、高烈度对于房屋的破坏力更大.ML3.8地震观测表明,地表加速度值随震中距的增大而迅速衰减,距离最近的大竜村台（基岩台址）获取的加速度记录北南向最大,另外两个分向的加速度记录也大于较远的两个流动台的记录.基岩台北南向比垂直向要大,和这次地震的震源机制（逆冲兼走滑）相关.地形影响依然存在,本次观测台阵中,位于山顶的永星村观测记录的傅里叶谱,明显高于山腰的记录,地表最大加速度值也稍高于山腰观测,由于地形相差不够大,规律性也不太明显.本次观测结果和以往在孤立山峰的观测情况略有不同,一是记录地震的震级偏小,而观测距离又偏近,震中距的影响可能超过地形因素的影响程度,所以其原因更加复杂,有待进一步研究.     

2013年岷县M_s6.6地震区域台阵强震动记录衰减与烈度线比较分析

2013年7月22日甘肃岷县6.6级地震是十年来发生在甘肃省破坏性最大的地震。本文对距震中距18~218 km以内的22个强震动台所获取的主震记录进行了分析处理,研究了该次地震在强震动台站分布方向上的衰减规律。将根据衰减规律得出的烈度区域与震后灾害评估的烈度图比较后发现,分析得出的Ⅷ度、Ⅶ度区范围相对略大,Ⅵ度以下区域范围则大致相当,其原因应该与近场的强震动记录较少有关系。