Estimating the seismic displacement of friction pendulum isolators based on non‐linear response history analysis

A procedure for developing equations that estimate the isolator displacement due to strong ground motion is applied to buildings isolated with the friction pendulum system. The resulting design equations, based on rigorous non‐linear analysis, offer an alternative to the iterative equivalent‐linear methods used by current U.S. building codes. The governing equations of the system are reduced to a form such that the median normalized displacement of the system due to an ensemble of ground motions is found to depend on only the isolation period—a function of the curvature of the isolator—and the friction force at incipient slip normalized by peak ground velocity. The normalization is effective in minimizing the dispersion of the normalized displacement for an ensemble of ground motions, implying that the median normalized displacement is a reliable estimate of response. The design equations reflect the significant (20 to 38%) increase in displacement when the excitation includes two lateral components of ground motion instead of just one component. Equivalent‐linear methods are shown to underestimate by up to 30% the exact median displacement determined by non‐linear response history analysis for one component of ground motion, and building codes include at most a 4.4% increase for a second component. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Approximate modal decomposition of inelastic dynamic responses of wall buildings

Two approximate methods for decomposing complicated inelastic dynamic responses of wall buildings into simple modal responses are presented. Both methods are based on the equivalent linear concept, where a non‐linear structure is represented by a set of equivalent linear models. One linear model is used for representing only one vibration mode of the non‐linear structure, and its equivalent linear parameters are identified from the inelastic response time histories by using a numerical optimizer. Several theoretical relations essential for the modal decomposition are derived under the framework of complex modal analysis. Various numerical examinations have been carried out to check the validity of the proposed modal decomposition methods, and the results are quite satisfactory in all cases. Fluctuating bending moment and shear at any location along the wall height contributed by each individual vibration mode can be obtained. Modal contributions to shear and flexural strength demands, as well as the corresponding modal properties, under various seismic loading conditions can also be identified and examined in detail. Furthermore, the effects of higher vibration modes on seismic demands of wall buildings are investigated by using the modal decomposition methods. Several new insights into the complicated inelastic dynamics of multi‐story wall buildings are presented. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Applicability of a Backprojection Algorithm to Reconstruct Images of Subsurface Horizontal Planes for Laboratory Experiments in Electrical Resistance Tomography

This paper describes the use of a backprojection algorithm to reconstruct subsurface images of the electrical resistivity in horizontal planes parallel to the surface. The algorithm can be applied to detect buried objects such as tanks or pipes and possible leakages from them. Two imaging strategies are compared: juxtaposition of vertical planes, and 3D reconstruction from the sensitivity matrix corresponding to the entire volume whose surface is explored. The electrode arrays used for voltage measurement are the dipole–dipole array and a modified Schlumberger array. A personal computer controls current injection, electrode switching, and voltage detection. The system injects 1 kHz, 20 V peak-to-peak square waveforms, thus avoiding electrode polarization effects. Experimental laboratory measurements show that the algorithm detects localized objects such as an insulating sphere and a conductive cylinder immersed in water. Furthermore, covering half of the cylinder by a rubber sleeve to simulate a nonconductive leak, yields a distinct image for the leak. The backprojection algorithm does not need any regularization parameter and it is very fast in inverting the sensitivity matrix because it approximates the inverse matrix by its transposed. The dipole–dipole array usually yields a lower overall pixel error than the modified Schlumberger array but both allow the detection of simulated underground leaks.     

Simultaneous identification of time and space variant dynamic soil properties during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake

Time and space variant soil properties at a liquefied site were simultaneously identified in the time domain by using borehole array strong motion records. During soil liquefaction at a site, soils usually show a wide variety of non-linear behavior along the depth as well as non-stationary behavior. Strong ground motion records were obtained at Port Island borehole array observatory, Kobe, during the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu earthquake. In this study, the instrumented soil was modeled by the equivalent linear MDOF system, and an extended Kalman filter with local iteration was employed for the identification of the soils. The identification process was successfully conducted, and the stress–strain relationships of the soils at the liquefied site were obtained from different depths all at once.     

Observed Evolution of Linear and Nonlinear Effects at the Dahan Downhole Array,Taiwan: Analysis of the September 21, 1999 M 7.3 Chi-Chi Earthquake Sequence

— In this paper, the site characteristics of the Dahan downhole array are studied by analyzing the September 21, 1999 M 7.3 Chi-Chi earthquake sequence including the main shock and some aftershocks. The four-level array (0 m, 50 m, 100 m and 200 m) is located to the north of Hualien City in eastern Taiwan. Polarization analysis is used to check the orientation errors of the seismometers at different levels of depth. If the surface instrument is chosen as reference, the angle between the major polarization axes of the surface and any downhole records is the orientation error that must be corrected for the downhole accelerographs. The orientation errors at depths of 50 m, 100 m and 200 m are 32°, 120° and –84°. After the corrections, the coherency between the surface and downhole records is substantially improved. Spectral ratio analysis shows that the predominant frequency of the Chi-Chi main shock shifts to a lower frequency. We also simulate ground motions at different depths by using the Haskell method with a linear velocity structure model. The record at surface is chosen as the input motion. Compared with the observed data, ground acceleration can be well reproduced for the aftershocks (weak-motion events) of the September 21, 1999 M 7.3 Chi-Chi earthquake. However, for the Chi-Chi main shock, the synthetic waveform cannot match well with the observation neither in amplitude nor in phase. This indicates that large ground shaking probably induced the nonlinear site effect at that time, and the model used cannot support it.Acknowledgement. The authors would like to express their thanks to Dr. L.F. Bonilla and one anonymous reviewer for their valuable suggestions. This research was supported by the National Science Council under grant number NSC 89-2921-M-194-007. The Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica supplied the strong-motion data. The support of these organizations is gratefully acknowledged.     

“探宝号”船可变阵列震源的实现及应用

2001年，广州海洋地质调查局对“探宝号”船原有震源更新升级为阵列可变的BOLT震源系统。随着更新改造工程的成功，该船已成为具备承担高分辨率、常规、低频深水油气地震勘探的多功能地震调查船。本文介绍了地震勘探震源的基本工作原理以及三种阵列的分布、波形、频谱等特性。     

Exploration of remotely sensed forest structure and ultrasonic range sensor metrics to improve empirical snow models

Current methods to estimate snow accumulation and ablation at the plot and watershed levels can be improved as new technologies offer alternative approaches to more accurately monitor snow dynamics and their drivers. Here we conduct a meta‐analysis of snow and vegetation data collected in British Columbia to explore the relationships between a wide range of forest structure variables – obtained from Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR), hemispherical photography (HP) and Landsat Thematic Mapper – and several indicators of snow accumulation and ablation estimated from manual snow surveys and ultrasonic range sensors. By merging and standardizing all the ground plot information available in the study area, we demonstrate how LiDAR‐derived forest cover above 0.5 m was the variable explaining the highest percentage of absolute peak snow water equivalent (SWE) (33%), while HP‐derived leaf area index and gap fraction (45° angle of view) were the best potential predictors of snow ablation rate (explaining 57% of variance). This study reveals how continuous SWE data from ultrasonic sensors are fundamental to obtain statistically significant relationships between snow indicators and structural metrics by increasing mean r² by 20% when compared to manual surveys. The relationships between vegetation and spectral indices from Landsat and snow indicators, not explored before, were almost as high as those shown by LiDAR or HP and thus point towards a new line of research with important practical implications. While the use of different data sources from two snow seasons prevented us from developing models with predictive capacity, a large sample size helped to identify outliers that weakened the relationships and suggest improvements for future research. A concise overview of the limitations of this and previous studies is provided along with propositions to consistently improve experimental designs to take advantage of remote sensing technologies, and better represent spatial and temporal variations of snow. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

厚碳酸盐岩覆盖区RVSP三维地震勘探应用效果分析

该文以中国南方一厚碳酸盐岩覆盖区的RVSP三维地震勘探实例,对RVSP三维地震勘探观测系统和数据采集参数的确定、地面等效处理和波场分离等关键处理技术及地质效果进行了阐述和分析,说明了RVSP在克服表浅层复杂地质条件及环境条件对资料的影响及提高地震资料的分辨率有其特定的优势,同时也提出了RVSP三维地震在采集和处理过程中的难点。     

基于等价权抗差估计和线性规划的天线曲面拟合算法

现有天线曲面拟合算法均基于最小二乘法,难以消除多个粗差对拟合结果的影响。本文基于等价权抗差估计思想,利用线性规划计算残差初值,再进行选权迭代计算。通过算例,证明本文方法能较好地探查多个粗差,且计算结果精度更高。