Seismic performance of buildings retrofitted with nonlinear viscous dampers and adjacent reaction towers

An effective strategy of seismic retrofitting consists of installing nonlinear viscous dampers between the existing building, with insufficient lateral resistance, and some auxiliary towers, specially designed and erected as reaction structures. This allows improving the seismic performance of the existing building without any major alteration to its structural and nonstructural elements, which makes this approach particularly appealing for buildings with heritage value. In this paper, the nonlinear governing equations of the coupled lateral‐torsional seismic motion are derived from first principles for the general case of a multistory building connected at various locations in plan and in elevation to an arbitrary number of multistory towers. This formulation is then used to assess the performance of the proposed retrofitting strategy for a real case study, namely, a 5‐story student hall of residence in the city of Messina, Italy. The results of extensive time‐history analyses highlight the key design considerations associated with the stiffness of the reaction towers and the mechanical parameters of the nonlinear viscous dampers, confirming the validity of this approach.     

RESEARCH ON PASSIVE SERVO SEISMIC ROTATIONAL ACCELERATION SENSOR WITH LARGE DAMPING

Many strong motion records show that under the strong seismic vibration of, the torsional disfigurement of building structures is a common and serious damage. At present, there are no special sensors for measuring seismic rotation in the world. Most of the experts obtain rotational components through observing deformation, theoretical analysis and calculation. The theory of elastic wave and source dynamics also prove the conclusion that the surface of the earth will rotate when an earthquake occurs. Based on a large number of investigations and experiments, a rotational acceleration sensor was developed for the observation of the rotational component of strong ground motions. This acceleration sensor is a double-pendulum passive servo large-damped seismic rotational acceleration sensor with the moving coil transducer. When an earthquake occurs, the seismic rotational acceleration acts on the bottom plate at the same time. The magnetic circuit system and the middle shaft fixedly connected to the bottom plate follow the bottom plate synchronous vibration, and the moving part composed of the mass ring, the swing frame and the moving ring produces relative corners to the central axis. The two working coils mounted on the two pendulums produce the same relative motion with respect to the magnetic gaps of the two magnetic circuits. Both working coils at this time generate an induced electromotive force by cutting magnetic lines of force in the respective magnetic gaps. The generated electromotive forces are respectively input to respective passive servo large damper dynamic ring transducer circuits and angular acceleration adjusting circuits, and the signals are simultaneously input to the synthesizing circuit after conditioning. Finally, the composite circuit outputs a voltage signal proportional to the seismic rotational acceleration to form a seismic rotational acceleration sensor. The paper presents the basic principles of the rotational acceleration sensor, including its mechanical structure diagram, circuit schematic diagram and mathematical models. The differential equation of motion and its circuit equation are derived to obtain the expressions of the main technical specifications, such as the damping ratio and sensitivity. The calculation shows that when the damping ratio is much larger than 1, the output voltage of the passive servo large damping dynamic coil transducer circuit is proportional to the ground rotation acceleration, and the frequency characteristic of bandpass is wider when the damping ratio is larger. Based on the calibration test, the dynamic range is greater than or equal to 100dB and the linearity error is less than 0.05%. The amplitude-frequency characteristics, the phase-frequency characteristics and their corresponding curves of the passive servo rotational acceleration sensor are acquired through the calculations. Based on the accurate measurement of the micro-vibration of the precision rotating vibration equipment, the desired result is obtained. The measured data are presented in the paper, which verify the correctness of the calculation result. The passive servo large damping rotational acceleration sensor has simple circuit design, convenient operation and high resolution, and can be widely applied to seismic acceleration measurement of earthquake or structure.     

移动设备外业调绘系统研制

随着移动设备的发展使得外业调绘野外作业数字化作业变为可能。通过分析外业调绘的作业方式、要求,探索移动设备性能,研制了基于移动设备野外调绘的系统。     

Effects of supplemental viscous damping on seismic response of asymmetric-plan systems

Coupling between lateral and torsional motions may lead to much larger edge deformations in asymmetric-plan systems compared to systems with a symmetric plan. Supplemental viscous damping has been found to be effective in reducing deformations in the symmetric-plan system. This investigation examined how supplemental damping affects the edge deformations in asymmetric-plan systems. First, the parameters that characterize supplemental viscous damping and its plan-wise distribution were identified, and then the effects of these parameters on edge deformations were investigated. It was found that supplemental damping reduces edge deformations and that reductions by a factor of up three are feasible with proper selection of system parameters. Furthermore, viscous damping may be used to reduce edge deformations in asymmetric-plan systems to levels equal to or smaller than those in the corresponding symmetric-plan system. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

COMPARATIVE STUDY ON THE SEISMIC RETROFIT OF A MID-RISE STEEL BUILDING: STEEL BRACING VS ENERGY DISSIPATION

The paper presents a comparative study of an existing retrofit for a mid-rise steel building using additional stiff steel braced-frames against an alternate retrofit using ADAS (Added Damping and Stiffness) passive energy dissipation devices. The subject building, located near Alameda Park in downtown Mexico City, is a ten-storey office building that was built in the 1950s. The structure was damaged during the 1985 Michoacán Earthquake because of resonant response with the site. The building was later retrofitted using additional braced frames according to the seismic provisions of Mexico's 1987 Federal District Code. The retrofit scheme was planned to take the structure away from resonant responses and to inhibit structural damage. A proposed upgrade using ADAS energy dissipation devices was studied to compare energy dissipation against traditional stiffening using steel braces as retrofit options for mid-rise buildings in Mexico City's lake-bed zone. Different sets of analyses were carried out to compare both alternatives: (a) three-dimensional elastic analyses; (b) limit analyses and; (c) nonlinear dynamic analyses for postulated site ground motions for a M_s=8.1 earthquake. Initial costs of the retrofit schemes were also studied. The comparative studies suggest that a retrofit using ADAS devices would have a better dynamic performance than the one using steel braces. However, the steel bracing retrofit provides more strength and its initial cost of retrofit is less than that of the ADAS retrofit. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Approximate traveltime inversion in downhole microseismic monitoring

In downhole microseismic monitoring, accurate event location relies on the accuracy of the velocity model. The model can be estimated along with event locations. Anisotropic models are important to get accurate event locations. Taking anisotropy into account makes it possible to use additional data – two S-wave arrivals generated due to shear-wave splitting. However, anisotropic ray tracing requires iterative procedures for computing group velocities, which may become unstable around caustics. As a result, anisotropic kinematic inversion may become time consuming. In this paper, we explore the idea of using simplified ray tracing to locate events and estimate medium parameters. In the simplified ray-tracing algorithm, the group velocity is assumed to be equal to phase velocity in both magnitude and direction. This assumption makes the ray-tracing algorithm five times faster compared to ray tracing based on exact equations. We present a set of tests showing that given perforation-shot data, one can use inversion based on simplified ray-tracing even for moderate-to-strong anisotropic models. When there are no perforation shots, event-location errors may become too large for moderately anisotropic media.     

主动与被动状态下墙体侧向位移近似计算

极限状态下墙体侧向位移对土压力计算和支挡结构设计影响显著。根据Rankine变形体和Coulomb刚塑体模型,将墙后土体变形分别当作单剪和直剪试验中试样的剪切过程,以达到极限剪切变形（剪应变或单位长度剪切位移）作为进入主被动状态标准,构建了土体变形与墙体位移的几何关系,提出了反映土体变形与强度特性,同时考虑静止时初始应力状态影响的墙体极限侧向位移近似计算模型。分析表明：土体极限剪切变形、滑移区范围、初始应力状态是影响墙体极限位移的核心要素,其中极限剪切变形占据主导作用,是导致不同颗粒组成及密实程度土体进入极限状态所需墙体位移差异显著的主要原因,而主被动区范围不同和因静止土压力系数 1引起的初始剪切变形,则是被动状态墙体位移远大于主动的关键因素;算例中主动与被动状态下墙体位移与墙高之比分别介于0.5‰～13.2‰和?0.4%～?5.2%,且主动状态下细粒土墙体位移大于粗粒土,计算结果与工程经验及相关文献模型试验基本一致。     

刚性挡土墙后三维被动滑裂面的模型试验

针对无黏性土体,采用模型试验的方法,研究平移模式下刚性挡土墙后被动破坏滑裂面的空间形态。自主设计一种模型试验装置,重复开展6次试验,通过记录挡土墙后土体中预埋脆性玻璃条断裂的空间坐标,复原土体发生滑动的位置,绘制出挡土墙后滑裂面的三维形态图。试验结果表明：挡土墙后滑裂面具有明显的三维效应;挡土墙宽度内滑裂面纵向高度呈先缓慢增高后近似直线增高的曲面,初始破裂角度为9°,平均破裂角为26°,朗肯土压力理论的破裂角为28°;最大纵向破裂面长度为1.8倍挡土墙高度,与经典土压力理论的平面假定基本一致;滑裂面均有一定的横向扩展,主平面投影以初始扩散角约45°的斜线往外扩展,距离挡土墙最远处是宽度为0.7倍挡土墙宽度的水平线,斜线与水平线之间以半径为挡土墙宽度的圆弧过渡连接。研究结果为分析土体被动破坏的滑裂面空间形态提供了试验依据。     

Burying receivers for improved time‐lapse seismic repeatability: CO2CRC Otway field experiment

4D seismic is widely used to remotely monitor fluid movement in subsurface reservoirs. This technique is especially effective offshore where high survey repeatability can be achieved. It comes as no surprise that the first 4D seismic that successfully monitored the CO₂ sequestration process was recorded offshore in the Sleipner field, North Sea. In the case of land projects, poor repeatability of the land seismic data due to low S/N ratio often obscures the time‐lapse seismic signal. Hence for a successful on shore monitoring program improving seismic repeatability is essential. Stage 2 of the CO2CRC Otway project involves an injection of a small amount (around 15,000 tonnes) of CO₂/CH₄ gas mixture into a saline aquifer at a depth of approximately 1.5 km. Previous studies at this site showed that seismic repeatability is relatively low due to variations in weather conditions, near surface geology and farming activities. In order to improve time‐lapse seismic monitoring capabilities, a permanent receiver array can be utilised to improve signal to noise ratio and hence repeatability. A small‐scale trial of such an array was conducted at the Otway site in June 2012. A set of 25 geophones was installed in 3 m deep boreholes in parallel to the same number of surface geophones. In addition, four geophones were placed into boreholes of 1–12 m depth. In order to assess the gain in the signal‐to‐noise ratio and repeatability, both active and passive seismic surveys were carried out. The surveys were conducted in relatively poor weather conditions, with rain, strong wind and thunderstorms. With such an amplified background noise level, we found that the noise level for buried geophones is on average 20 dB lower compared to the surface geophones. The levels of repeatability for borehole geophones estimated around direct wave, reflected wave and ground roll are twice as high as for the surface geophones. Both borehole and surface geophones produce the best repeatability in the 30–90 Hz frequency range. The influence of burying depth on S/N ratio and repeatability shows that significant improvement in repeatability can be reached at a depth of 3 m. The level of repeatability remains relatively constant between 3 and 12 m depths.     

Numerical simulations of a highway bridge structure employing passive negative stiffness device for seismic protection

A new passive seismic response control device has been developed, fabricated, and tested by the authors and shown to be capable of producing negative stiffness via a purely mechanical mechanism, thus representing a new generation of seismic protection devices. Although the concept of negative stiffness may appear to be a reversal on the desired relationship between the force and displacement in structures (the desired relationship being that the product of restoring force and displacement is nonnegative), when implemented in parallel with a structure having positive stiffness, the combined system appears to have substantially reduced stiffness while remaining stable. Thus, there is an ‘apparent weakening and softening’ of the structure that results in reduced forces and increased displacements (where the weakening and softening is of a non‐damaging nature in that it occurs in a seismic protection device rather than within the structural framing system). Any excessive displacement response can then be limited by incorporating a damping device in parallel with the negative stiffness device. The combination of negative stiffness and passive damping provides a large degree of control over the expected performance of the structure. In this paper, a numerical study is presented on the performance of a seismically isolated highway bridge model that is subjected to various strong earthquake ground motions. The Negative Stiffness Devices (NSDs) are described along with their hysteretic behavior as obtained from a series of cyclic tests wherein the tests were conducted using a modified design of the NSDs (modified for testing within the bridge model). Using the results from the cyclic tests, numerical simulations of the seismic response of the isolated bridge model were conducted for various configurations (with/without negative stiffness devices and/or viscous dampers). The results demonstrate that the addition of negative stiffness devices reduces the base shear substantially, while the deck displacement is limited to acceptable values. This assessment was conducted as part of a NEES (Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation) project which included shaking table tests of a quarter‐scale highway bridge model. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.