Shaking table tests of a full-scale flat-bottom manufactured steel silo filled with wheat: Main results on the fixed-base configuration

This paper reports on a series of shaking table tests on a full-scale flat-bottom steel silo filled with soft wheat, characterized by aspect ratio of around 0.9. The specimen was a 3.64-m diameter and 5.50-m high corrugated-wall cylindrical silo. Multiple sensors were used to monitor the static and dynamic response of the filled silo system, including accelerometers and pressure cells. Numerous unidirectional dynamic tests were performed consisting of random signals, sinusoidal inputs, and both artificial and real earthquake records. The objectives of this paper are (i) to provide a general overview of the whole experimental campaign and (ii) to present selected results obtained for the fixed-base configuration. The measured data were processed to assess the static pressures, the dynamic overpressures (related to the effective mass) and the accelerations of monitored points on the silo wall, and to identify the basic dynamic properties (fundamental frequency of vibration, damping ratio, dynamic amplification factors) of the filled silo. The main findings are discussed and compared with the predictions given by available theoretical models and code provisions. It is found that the fundamental frequency slightly decreases with increasing acceleration, while it slightly increases with increasing compaction of the granular material. For close-to-resonance input, the dynamic amplification (in terms of peak values of accelerations) increases along the height of the silo wall up to values of around 1.4 at the top surface of the solid content. The dynamic overpressures appear to increase with depth (differently from the EN1998-4 expectations), and to be proportional to the acceleration.     

A simple model for structural control including soil–structure interaction effects

A simple model for the seismic response of a one-storey structure subjected to active control in the presence of soil–structure interaction effects is presented. The approach is based on the successive use of equivalent 1-DOF oscillators which account for the effects of control and soil–structure interaction. Simple expressions for these oscillators based on exact analytical solutions of the control equations and approximate solutions of the interaction equations are presented. The study includes an evaluation of the effects of soil–structure interaction on the seismic response of actively controlled structures in which the control gains have been determined with and without inclusion of soil–structure interaction effects. A simple procedure to include the interaction effects on the control gains is also presented. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimal damping between two adjacent elastic structures

The optimal values for the distribution of passive dampers interconnecting two adjacent structures of different heights are determined. The dampers are selected to minimize the seismic response in the first and second modes of the taller of the two structures. For simplicity, the structures are represented as uniform damped shear beams subjected to a common ground motion. Under certain conditions, apparent damping ratios as high as 12 and 15 per cent can be achieved in the first and second modes of lightly damped structures by the introduction of interconnection dampers. The largest reduction of the response in the first mode is achieved when the taller structure is about twice the height of the second structure. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Scholte waves on fluid-solid interfaces by means of an integral formulation

The present work shows the propagation of Scholte interface waves at the boundary of a fluid in contact with an elastic solid, for a broad range of solid materials. It has been demonstrated that by an analysis of diffracted waves in a fluid it is possible to infer the mechanical properties of the elastic solid medium, specifically, its propagation velocities. For this purpose, the diffracted wave field of pressures and displacements, due to an initial wave of pressure in the fluid, are expressed using boundary integral representations, which satisfy the equation of motion. The source in the fluid is represented by a Hankel’s function of second kind and zero order. The solution to this wave propagation problem is obtained by means of the Indirect Boundary Element Method, which is equivalent to the well-known Somigliana representation theorem. The validation of the results is carried out by using the Discrete Wave Number Method and the Spectral Element Method. Firstly, we show spectra of pressures that illustrate the behavior of the fluid for each solid material considered, then, we apply the Fast Fourier Transform to show results in time domain. Snapshots to exemplify the emergence of Scholte’s waves are also included.     

Response of a double‐wedge base‐isolation device

A novel base‐isolation device is described and its performance is compared with that of a friction pendulum bearing. In its simplest form, the device consists of two wedges sliding on a horizontal plane in opposite directions and constrained from retreating by ratchets or bilinear dampers. The superstructure rests at the intersection of the two wedges. For a sufficiently large horizontal acceleration of the base, the structure starts to move up the inclined plane of one of the wedges, which remains fixed while the second wedge is slaved to follow the structure. As the direction of the base acceleration reverses, the process is reversed and the structure starts to climb on the second inclined plane while the first wedge follows. The overall result is that the horizontal acceleration of the structure is reduced with respect to that of the base and that kinetic energy associated with horizontal velocities is systematically transformed into potential energy. In the case of motion in a vertical plane, the device has the following advantages over a friction pendulum: (i) the sliding surface is linear instead of curved, (ii) kinetic energy is systematically transformed into potential energy during the strong ground motion, and (iii) the device is slowly self‐centering. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identification of foundation impedance functions and soil properties from vibration tests of the Hualien containment model

Foundation impedance functions for the foundation of the one-quarter-scale reinforced concrete Hualien (Taiwan) containment model are derived from the response data obtained during forced vibration tests. The resulting impedance functions are significantly different in two orthogonal directions and suggest a significant lateral variation of soil properties, a marked anisotropy or differences in contact conditions along the perimeter of the foundation. Estimates of the shear-wave velocities in the first two or three layers of soil are obtained by minimizing the differences between the experimentally-based impedance functions and the corresponding theoretical results. Theoretical results for the response of the containment model based on the identified soil properties and on structural properties also determined on the basis of forced vibration tests closely match the observed response.     

Yielding of rockfill in relative humidity-controlled triaxial experiments

The paper reports the results of suction-controlled triaxial tests performed on compacted samples of two well-graded granular materials in the range of coarse sand–medium gravel particle sizes: a quartzitic slate and a hard limestone. The evolution of grain size distributions is discussed. Dilatancy rules were investigated. Dilatancy could be described in terms of stress ratio, plastic work input and average confining stress. The shape of the yield locus in a triaxial plane was established by different experimental techniques. Yielding loci in both types of lithology is well represented by approximate elliptic shapes whose major axis follows approximately the K₀ line. Relative humidity was found to affect in a significant way the evolution of grain size distribution, the deviatoric stress–strain response and the dilatancy rules.     

Ground Motion Zoning of Santiago de Cuba: An Approach by SH Waves Modelling

— The expected ground motion in Santiago de Cuba basin from earthquakes which occurred in the Oriente fault zone is studied. Synthetic SH-waves seismograms have been calculated along four profiles in the basin by the hybrid approach (modal summation for the path source-profile and finite differences for the profile) for a maximum frequency of 1 Hz. The response spectra ratio (RSR) has been determined in 49 sites, distributed along all considered profiles with a spacing of 900 m. The corresponding RSR versus frequency curves have been classified using a logical-combinatorial algorithm. The results of the classification, in combination with the uppermost geological setting (geotechnical information and geological geometry of the subsoil) are used for the seismic zoning of the city. Three different main zones are identified, and a small sector characterized by major resonance effects, due to the particular structural conditions. Each zone is characterized in terms of its expected ground motion parameters for the most probable strong earthquake (M_S=7), and for the maximum possible (M_S=8).     

Seasonal surface ocean circulation and dynamics in the Philippine Archipelago region during 2004–2008

The dynamics of the seasonal surface circulation in the Philippine Archipelago (117°E–128°E, 0°N–14°N) are investigated using a high-resolution configuration of the Regional Ocean Modeling System (ROMS) for the period of January 2004–March 2008. Three experiments were performed to estimate the relative importance of local, remote and tidal forcing. On the annual mean, the circulation in the Sulu Sea shows inflow from the South China Sea at the Mindoro and Balabac Straits, outflow into the Sulawesi Sea at the Sibutu Passage, and cyclonic circulation in the southern basin. A strong jet with a maximum speed exceeding 100 cm s⁻¹ forms in the northeast Sulu Sea where currents from the Mindoro and Tablas Straits converge. Within the Archipelago, strong westward currents in the Bohol Sea carry the surface water of the western Pacific (WP) from the Surigao Strait into the Sulu Sea via the Dipolog Strait. In the Sibuyan Sea, currents flow westward, which carry the surface water from the WP near the San Bernardino Strait into the Sulu Sea via the Tablas Strait.These surface currents exhibit strong variations or reversals from winter to summer. The cyclonic (anticyclonic) circulation during winter (summer) in the Sulu Sea and seasonally reversing currents within the Archipelago region during the peak of the winter (summer) monsoon result mainly from local wind forcing, while remote forcing dominates the current variations at the Mindoro Strait, western Sulu Sea and Sibutu passage before the monsoons reach their peaks. The temporal variations (with the mean removed), also referred to as anomalies, of volume transports in the upper 40 m at eight major Straits are caused predominantly by remote forcing, although local forcing can be large during sometime of a year. For example, at the Mindoro Strait, the correlation between the time series of transport anomalies due to total forcing (local, remote and tides) and that due only to the remote forcing is 0.81 above 95% significance, comparing to the correlation of 0.64 between the total and local forcing. Similarly, at the Sibutu Passage, the correlation is 0.96 for total versus remote effects, comparing to 0.53 for total versus local forcing. The standard deviations of transports from the total, remote and local effects are 0.59 Sv, 0.50 Sv, and 0.36 Sv, respectively, at the Mindoro Strait; and 1.21 Sv, 1.13 Sv, and 0.59 Sv at the Sibutu Passage. Nonlinear rectification of tides reduces the mean westward transports at the Surigao, San Bernardino and Dipolog Straits, and it also has non-negligible influence on the seasonal circulation in the Sulu Sea.