Output-only identification of the modal and physical properties of structures using free vibration response

The viability of a complete structural characterization of civil structures is explored and discussed. In particular, the identification of modal (i.e. natural frequencies, damping ratios and modal shapes) and physical properties (i.e. mass and stiffness) using only the structure’s free decay response is studied. To accomplish this, modal analysis from free vibration response only (MAFVRO) and mass modification (MM) methodologies are engaged along with Wavelet based techniques for optimal signal processing and modal reconstruction. The methodologies are evaluated using simulated and experimental data. The simulated data are extracted from a simple elastic model of a 5 story shear building and from a more realistic nonlinear model of a RC frame structure. The experimental data are gathered from shake table test of a 2-story scaled shear building. Guidelines for the reconstruction procedure from the data are proposed as the quality of the identified properties is shown to be governed by adequate selection of the frequency bands and optimal modal shape reconstruction. Moreover, in cases where the structure has undergone damage, the proposed identification scheme can also be applied for preliminary assessment of structural health.     

Influence of earthquake ground‐motion duration on damage estimation: application to steel moment resisting frames

This paper presents an analytical study evaluating the influence of ground motion duration on structural damage of 3‐story, 9‐story, and 20‐story SAC steel moment resisting frame buildings designed for downtown Seattle, WA, USA, using pre‐Northridge codes. Two‐dimensional nonlinear finite element models of the buildings are used to estimate the damage induced by the ground motions. A set of 44 ground motions is used to study the combined effect of spectral acceleration and ground motion significant duration on drift and damage measures. In addition, 10 spectrally equivalent short‐duration shallow crustal ground motions and long‐duration subduction zone records are selected to isolate duration effect and assess its effect on the response. For each ground motion pair, incremental dynamic analyses are performed at at least 20 intensity levels and response measures such as peak interstory drift ratio and energy dissipated are tracked. These response measures are combined into two damage metrics that account for the ductility and energy dissipation. Results indicate that the duration of the ground motion influences, above all, the combined damage measures, although some effect on drift‐based response measures is also observed for larger levels of drift. These results indicate that because the current assessment methodologies do not capture the effects of ground motion duration, both performance‐based and code‐based assessment methodologies should be revised to consider damage measures that are sensitive to duration. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd     

Jurassic‐to‐present thermal history of the central High Atlas (Morocco) assessed by low‐temperature thermochronology

Apatite fission track (AFT) and (U–Th)/He data from the High Atlas have been obtained for the first time to constrain the tectono‐thermal evolution of the central part of the chain. Results from Palaeozoic basement massifs indicate long residence at low temperatures, consistently with their original location out of the deepest Mesozoic rift troughs and indicating minor exhumation. The best rocks for extracting the Alpine history of the Atlas Mountains are Jurassic intrusives, which yield AFT ages centred on c. 80 Ma; thermal models based on AFT data and constrained by (U–Th)/He suggest that these ages are included in a slow cooling trend from intrusion age to c. 50 Ma ago that we attribute to post‐rift thermal relaxation. This is followed by a stability period of c. 30 Ma and then by a final exhumational cooling until present exposure. Eocene intrusives yield AFT ages similar to those of Rb–Sr and K–Ar suggesting rapid emplacement in the uppermost crust.     

Geochemical evidence (C,N and Pb isotopes) of recent anthropogenic impact in south‐central Chile from two environmentally distinct lake sediment records

In this paper, we compare the elemental and isotopic (C, N, Pb) geochemistry of lake sediments from two contrasted environments in south‐central Chile. The first lake, Laguna Chica de San Pedro (LCSP), is situated in the urbanised area of the Biobio Region (36°S). The second lake, Lago Puyehue (40° S), is located 400 km to the southeast of LCSP and within an Andean national park. Our aim is to identify environmental impacts associated with increasing industrial activities and land degradation during the last 150 a. In LCSP, shifts in C/N atomic ratios, δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N from 1915–1937 to the late 1980s are attributed to successive land degradation episodes in the lake watershed. Based on a Pb isotopic mixing model, we estimate that up to 20% of lead in LCSP sediments is supplied from urban atmospheric pollution. By contrast, human impact in the watershed of Lago Puyehue is very limited. We observe no change in organic geochemistry during the last 150 a and lead contamination remains lower than 5%, even during the last decades. Although contamination levels are much higher in LCSP than in Lago Puyehue, a peak in anthropogenic Pb is recorded during the same period (1974–1976) at both sites. This maximum contamination level is consistent with increased industrial activity in the vicinity of Concepción. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

shinyNORRRM: A Cross-Platform Software to Calculate the CIPW Norm

In this paper, a novelty-free software to assess an efficient CIPW Norm (± 0.006 wt.% in differences between input and output data) is presented. The package is available in the official repository for user-contributed R packages (CRAN: Comprehensive R Archive Network). The software is able to handle big data sets and considers minor and trace element compositions. The algorithm can calculate odd minerals in igneous rocks, such as cancrinite and calcite, adjust the Fe⁺³/Fe⁺² ratio in different standard approaches, and recalculate the compositions of the rocks in an anhydrous basis (100 ± 0.003 wt.% volatile-free adjusted). Furthermore, the package calculates several petrological parameters, and the graphical outputs are displayed following IUGS scheme standards. The prime aspect of shinyNORRRM is the symbiosis of native R functions with the R package’s shiny (Web Application Framework for R) to run the norm in a user-friendly interface. shinyNORRRM can be executed in any operating system and requires no previous programming knowledge, thus promising to be the universal computational program in this matter. The output data are printed in the standard comma-separated values (*.csv) format, which is highly compatible with general spreadsheet editors. In this work, the algorithm of our program is validated using already compiled whole-rock geochemical databases.

     

Verification of two hydrological models for real-time flood forecasting in the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region

Natural Hazards - The Hindu Kush Himalayan region is extremely susceptible to periodic monsoon floods. Early warning systems with the ability to predict floods in advance can benefit tens of...     

The Mineral Adsorption and The Application of a Metamorphic Felsic Rock as Aggregate in Asphalt Pavements

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - The aggregates consist approximately 85% of the total volume in asphalts pavements, and their properties influence directly their behavior. Therefore, it...     

Modelling mechanical behaviour of limestone under reservoir conditions

High porosity and low permeability limestone has presented pore collapse. As fluid is withdrawn from these reservoirs, the effective stresses acting on the rock increase. If the strength of the rock is overcome, pore collapse may occur, leading to irreversible compaction of porous media with permeability and porosity reduction. It impacts on fluid withdrawal. Most of reservoirs have been discovered in weak formations, which are susceptible to this phenomenon. This work presents a study on the mechanical behaviour of a porous limestone from a reservoir located in Campos Basin, offshore Brazil. An experimental program was undergone in order to define its elastic plastic behaviour. The tests reproduced the loading path conditions expected in a reservoir under production. Parameters of the cap model were fitted to these tests and numerical simulations were run. The numerical simulations presented a good agreement with the experimental tests. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Perturbed Gylden Systems and Time-Dependent Delaunay-Like Transformations

We study the possibilities and limitations of the application of generalized Delaunay-like transformations (in the 6-dimensional phase space) and TR-like mappings (in the 8-dimensional, extended phase space) to perturbed two-body problems with a time-varying Keplerian parameter μ(t), that is, to Gylden-type systems. For the sake of theoretical completeness, both negative- and positive-energy motion (with nonstationary coupling parameter) are, in principle, considered. Our developments are intended to introduce canonical variables parallelling the classical ones of Delaunay and the Delaunay-Similar variables of Scheifele. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.