Identification of base‐excited structures using output‐only parameter estimation

This paper presents a new identification technique for the extraction of modal parameters of structural systems subjected to base excitation. The technique uses output‐only measurements of the structural response. A combined subspace‐maximum likelihood algorithm is developed and applied to a three‐degree‐of‐freedom simulation model. Five ensembles of synthetically generated input signals, representing varying input characteristics, are employed in Monte Carlo simulations to illustrate the applicability of the method. The technique is able to circumvent some of the difficulties arising from short data sets by employing the Expectation Maximization (EM) algorithm to refine the subspace state estimates. This approach is motivated by successful application by previous authors on speech signals. Results indicate that, for certain system characteristics, more accurate pole estimates can be identified using the combined subspace‐EM formulation. In general, the damping ratios of the system are difficult to identify accurately due to limitations on data set length. The applicability of the technique to structural vibration signals is illustrated through the identification of seismic response data from the Vincent Thomas Bridge. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimation of seismic demands on isolators in asymmetric buildings using non‐linear analysis

A procedure based on rigorous non‐linear analysis is presented that estimates the peak deformation among all isolators in an asymmetric building due to strong ground motion. The governing equations are reduced to a form such that the median normalized deformation due to an ensemble of ground motions with given corner period T_d depends primarily on four global parameters of the isolation system: the isolation period T_b, the normalized strength η, the torsional‐to‐lateral frequency ratio Ω_θ, and the normalized stiffness eccentricity e_b/r. The median ratio of the deformations of the asymmetric and corresponding symmetric systems is shown to depend only weakly on T_b, η, and Ω_θ, but increases with e_b/r. The equation developed to estimate the largest ratio among all isolators depends only on the stiffness eccentricity and the distance from the center of mass to the outlying isolator. This equation, multiplied by an earlier equation for the deformation of the corresponding symmetric system, provides a design equation to estimate the deformations of asymmetric systems. This design equation conservatively estimates the peak deformation among all isolators, but is generally within 10% of the ‘exact’ value. Relative to the non‐linear procedure presented, the peak isolator deformation is shown to be significantly underestimated by the U.S. building code procedures. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of the seismic performance of a three‐story ordinary moment‐resisting concrete frame

This study focuses on the seismic performance of Ordinary Moment‐Resisting Concrete Frames (OMRCF) designed only for gravity loads. For this purpose, a 3‐story OMRCF was designed in compliance with the minimum design requirements in the American Concrete Institute Building Code ACI 318 (1999). This model frame was a regular structure with flexure‐dominated response. A 1/3‐scale 3‐story model was constructed and tested under quasi‐static reversed cyclic lateral loading. The overall behavior of the OMRCF was quite stable without abrupt strength degradation. The measured base shear strength was larger than the design base shear force for seismic zones 1, 2A and 2B calculated using UBC 1997. Moreover, this study used the capacity spectrum method to evaluate the seismic performance of the frame. The capacity curve was obtained from the experimental results for the specimen and the demand curve was established using the earthquake ground motions recorded at various stations with different soil conditions. Evaluation of the test results shows that the 3‐story OMRCF can resist design seismic loads of zones 1, 2A, 2B, 3 and 4 with soil types S_A and S_B . For soil type S_C , the specimen was satisfactory in seismic zones 1, 2A, 2B and 3. For soil type S_D , the OMRCF was only satisfactory for seismic zones 1 and 2A. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hybrid seismic protection of cable‐stayed bridges

This paper proposes a hybrid control strategy combining passive and semi‐active control systems for seismic protection of cable‐stayed bridges. The efficacy of this control strategy is verified by examining the ASCE first‐generation benchmark problem for a seismically excited cable‐stayed bridge, which employs a three‐dimensional linearized evaluation bridge model as a testbed structure. Herein, conventional lead–rubber bearings are introduced as base isolation devices, and semi‐active dampers (e.g., variable orifice damper, controllable fluid damper, etc.) are considered as supplemental damping devices. For the semi‐active dampers, a clipped‐optimal control algorithm, shown to perform well in previous studies involving controllable dampers, is considered. Because the semi‐active damper is a controllable energy‐dissipation device that cannot add mechanical energy to the structural system, the proposed hybrid control strategy is fail‐safe in that the bounded‐input, bounded‐output stability of the controlled structure is guaranteed. Numerical simulation results show that the performance of the proposed hybrid control strategy is quite effective in protecting seismically excited cable‐stayed bridges. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

第六届全国岩土工程实录交流会专题报告之一桩基础理论与技术若干进展与问题探讨

介绍桩土相互作用理论若干进展和两种新桩型、新工艺后压浆灌注桩、挤扩灌注桩,并对有关问题进行探讨.     

Seismic base‐isolation by use of a telescoping stepping mechanism

A new base‐isolation mechanism corresponding to a variance of the stepping A‐shaped frame is proposed and its seismic performance is investigated numerically for strong ground accelerations with peak values in the range from 0.5 to 1g. In its simplest two‐dimensional form, the system consists of a frame with two telescoping legs pinned at the apex at a sharp angle. The legs are attached to the foundation through a spring and a damper acting in parallel. Both the springs and viscous dampers have bilinear characteristics that make them very stiff in compression but very soft in tension. As the structure rocks sideways, the length of the loaded leg remains essentially constant while the length of the unloaded leg increases. When the ground acceleration changes direction, the process is reversed. The resulting system has three main characteristics: (i) as the structure steps on a rigid leg, the maximum acceleration that can be transmitted to the superstructure is limited to a value which is approximately independent of the amplitude of the ground motion; (ii) there is a systematic lifting of the superstructure with kinetic energy being systematically transformed into potential energy during the strong phase of the ground motion; and (iii) the system is slowly self‐centering at the end of the earthquake. The seismic performance of the system is evaluated for a tall bridge pier and for a smaller frame that could be used in a multi‐story building. The results obtained for the 1940 El Centro ground motion scaled to 1g and for the near‐field Rinaldi ground motion recorded during the Northridge earthquake show that substantial reductions of the absolute acceleration can be obtained with reasonable relative displacements of the superstructure and small strokes in the isolation devices. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Experimental evaluation of piecewise exact solution for predicting seismic responses of spherical sliding type isolated structures

The use of base isolation for enhancing seismic resistibility has been proven as an efficient method in experimental and theoretical studies. It is usual to insert a flexible device in the horizontal direction to permit the most of relative deformation of a structure at this level. Because the rigidity of the superstructure is much higher than that of the base isolator underneath the structure, the behavior of the superstructure can be idealized as a rigid body during earthquakes. In general, hundreds of degrees of freedom and a step‐by‐step time history analysis are the basic requirements for calculating the seismic response of a base‐isolated structure under earthquakes. In order to develop a simple tool which can be easily adopted for calculating the seismic responses of the spherical sliding type isolated structures, a piecewise exact solution for predicting the seismic responses of base‐isolated structures has been derived in this study. The comparison between the experimental results conducted at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) in Taiwan and the analytical results obtained from the piecewise exact solution show that the formulation derived in this study can predict the seismic responses of the base‐isolated structure with a very high accuracy. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Damage detection of base‐isolated buildings using multi‐input multi‐output subspace identification

A damage detection algorithm of structural health monitoring systems for base‐isolated buildings is proposed. The algorithm consists of the multiple‐input multiple‐output subspace identification method and the complex modal analysis. The algorithm is applicable to linear and non‐linear systems. The story stiffness and damping as damage indices of a shear structure are identified by the algorithm. The algorithm is further tuned for base‐isolated buildings considering their unique dynamic characteristics by simplifying the systems to single‐degree‐of‐freedom systems. The isolation layer and the superstructure of a base‐isolated building are treated as separate substructures as they are distinctly different in their dynamic properties. The effectiveness of the algorithm is evaluated through the numerical analysis and experiment. Finally, the algorithm is applied to the existing 7‐story base‐isolated building that is equipped with an Internet‐based monitoring system. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Criteria for initiation of motion of rigid bodies to base excitation

It is known that when an unanchored rigid body is placed on a horizontal base which oscillates horizontally, it may undergo one of four modes of motion: rest, slide, slide–rock and rock. Initiation of a rigid body into these modes depends on the slenderness ratio of the body, the coefficient of friction between the body and the base and the acceleration of the base. In this study, the coefficient of friction and the base acceleration are considered random. For specific probability distributions of the coefficient of friction and the peak base acceleration, and for various values of the mean and standard deviation of the two random variables, the probabilities of occurrence of these modes of motion are obtained for a body of given slenderness ratio. It is shown that randomness of the coefficient of friction and base peak acceleration should not be ignored. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

X荧光分析仪在新疆某地的应用

介绍新一代X射线荧光分析仪在新疆某地的勘查应用,并采用几种方法对基体效应、湿度效应、不平度效应进行效正。该仪器可同时显示20余种元素的含量,测试结果证明,X荧光技术是一种快速、经济、有效的方法。