Seismic risk assessments and GIS technology: applications to infrastructures in the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region (NE Italy)

This paper illustrates the seismic risk preliminary estimates of two different groups of structures located on the territory of the Friuli–Venezia Giulia region (NE Italy) : the first group includes some special industrial plants, and the second group includes bridges and tunnels belonging to the regional highway network. The part of the study on special industrial plants tries to evaluate the degree of expected damage, taking into account their structural typology and ground shaking expressed in terms of macroseismic intensity. The second part of the study is an application of the HAZUS methodology to the tunnels and bridges of a highway network: the combination of expected ground shaking and the construction characteristics lead to very different risk levels, especially when considering the bridges. The resulting damage levels to bridges and tunnels are still only indicative because of the fragility curves used in the evaluations: they were developed for existing bridge and tunnel structural typologies in the U.S.A. Moreover, both examples show the power of GIS technology in storing, elaborating, and mapping spatial data. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Evaluation of predictors of non‐linear seismic demands using ‘fishbone’ models of SMRF buildings

Predictors (or estimates) of seismic structural demands that are less computationally time‐consuming than non‐linear dynamic analysis can be useful for structural performance assessment and for design. In this paper, we evaluate the bias and precision of predictors that make use of, at most, (i) elastic modal vibration properties of the given structure, (ii) the results of a non‐linear static pushover analysis of the structure, and (iii) elastic and inelastic single‐degree‐of‐freedom time‐history analyses for the specified ground motion record. The main predictor of interest is an extension of first‐mode elastic spectral acceleration that additionally takes into account both the second‐mode contribution to (elastic) structural response and the effects of inelasticity. This predictor is evaluated with respect to non‐linear dynamic analysis results for ‘fishbone’ models of steel moment‐resisting frame (SMRF) buildings. The relatively small number of degrees of freedom for each fishbone model allows us to consider several short‐to‐long period buildings and numerous near‐ and far‐field earthquake ground motions of interest in both Japan and the U.S. Before doing so, though, we verify that estimates of the bias and precision of the predictor obtained using fishbone models are effectively equivalent to those based on typical ‘full‐frame’ models of the same buildings. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

地震荷载作用下温度和围压对冻土强度影响的试验研究

通过对重塑冻结兰州黄土的动三轴试验，较系统研究了地震荷载作用下冻土的动强度特性，并且定量研究了其在不同温度(-2℃、-5℃、-7℃)和围压(1MPa、3MPa、5MPa)条件下的变化规律．结果发现：冻结黄土的动抗剪强度随围压的增大、温度的降低、振次的减少而增大；动粘聚力Cd随振次的减小和温度的降低而增大；动内摩擦角吼随振次的增大和温度的降低而增大。     

Velocity structure of uppermost mantle beneath North China from Pn tomography and its implications

20301 Pn arrival time data are collected from the seismological bulletins of both national and regional seismic networks. Pn travel time residuals are tomographically inverted for the Pn velocity structure of uppermost mantle beneath North China. The result indicates that the average Pn velocity in North China is 7.92 km/s, and the velocity varies laterally from ?0.21 to +0.29 km/s around the average. The approximately NNE trending high and low velocity regions arrange alternatively west-eastward. From west to east we can see high velocity in the middle Ordos region, the Shanxi graben low, the Jizhong depression high, the west Shandong uplift and Bohai Sea low, and the high velocity region to the east of the Tanlu fault. In the southern boundary zone of the North China block, except for the high velocity in the Qingling Mountains region, the velocity is generally lower than the average. Obvious velocity anisotropy is seen in the Datong Cenozoic volcanic region, with the fast velocity direction in NNE-SSW. Notable velocity anisotropy is also seen around the Bay of Bohai Sea, and the fast velocity directions seem to show a rotation pattern, possibly indicating a flow-like deformation in the uppermost mantle there. The Pn velocity variations show a reversed correlation with the Earth's heat flow. The low Pn velocity regions generally show high heat flow, e.g., the Shanxi graben and Bohai Sea region. While the high Pn velocity regions usually manifest low heat flow, e.g., the region of Jizhong depression. This indicates that the Pn velocity variation in the study region is mainly aroused by the regional temperature difference in the uppermost mantle. Strong earthquakes in the crust tend to occur in the region with the abnormal low Pn velocity, or in the transition zone between high and low Pn velocity regions. The earthquakes in the low velocity region are shallower, while that in the transition zone are deeper.     

东营凹陷第三系隐蔽油气藏的地震预测研究

论述了山东省东营凹陷第三系隐蔽油气藏(四大类：岩性型、地层型、裂隙型和复合型)的识别与地震预测技术，应用相干分析、地震属性分析和Stratamagic等地球物理勘探技术，对隐蔽油气藏进行了预测、描述及油气综合评价，为勘探开发提供了井位，取得了显著的效果。     

The role of sediment specific gravity and availability on cluster evolution

The objective of this experimental study was to account for the role of sediment availability and specific gravity on cluster formation and cluster geometric characteristics (spacing and size). To isolate the effects of sediment availability and specific gravity on cluster evolution, mono‐sized spheres were used to simulate the cluster evolutionary cycle. Overall, twelve experimental runs were carried out in the laboratory flume. Six of these tests were performed by using glass spheres (specific gravity, SG = 2·58) and the other six by employing an equal combination of glass and Teflon spheres (SG = 2·12) of the same diameter to evaluate the role of specific gravity on cluster evolution. The three sediment availability conditions that were investigated here simulated isolated gravel elements, pool–riffle sequences and densely packed gravel‐bed. An advanced image analysis technique was employed to track the evolution of cluster microforms and provide quantitative information about the size and shape of clusters and the number of clusters per unit area. The results of this study showed that: (1) sediment availability affects the architecture and size of cluster microforms; and (2) clusters consisting of mono‐sized sediments start disintegrating at twice the incipient conditions. By performing complementary tests for the isolated gravel elements case, it was found that the evolutionary cycle of individual clusters could be described as follows, in order of increasing stress: no cluster→two particle cluster→comet→triangle→rhomboid→break up. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sliding fragility of block‐type non‐structural components. Part 1: Unrestrained components

Motivated by the development of performance‐based design guidelines with emphasis on both structural and non‐structural systems, this paper focuses on seismic vulnerability assessment of block‐type unrestrained non‐structural components under sliding response on the basis of seismic inputs specified by current seismic codes. Two sliding‐related failure modes are considered: excessive relative displacement and excessive absolute acceleration. It is shown that an upper bound for the absolute acceleration response can be assessed deterministically, for which a simple yet completely general equation is proposed. In contrast, fragility curves are proposed as an appropriate tool to evaluate the excessive relative displacement failure mode. Sample fragility curves developed through Monte‐Carlo simulations show that fragility estimates obtained without taking into account vertical base accelerations can be significantly unconservative, especially for relatively large values of the coefficient of friction. It is also found that reasonable estimates of relative displacement response at stories other than the ground in multistorey buildings cannot in general be obtained by simply scaling the ground acceleration to the peak acceleration at the corresponding storey. Failure modes considered in this study are found to be essentially independent of each other, a property that greatly simplifies assessment of conditional limit states. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simplified vibratory characterization of alluvial basins

For the analysis of seismic wave amplification, modal methods are interesting tools to study the modal properties of geological structures. Modal approaches mainly lead to information on such parameters as fundamental frequencies and eigenmodes of alluvial basins. For a specific alluvial deposit in Nice (France), a simplified modal approach involving the Rayleigh method is considered. This approach assumes a set of admissible shape functions for the eigenmodes and allows a fast estimation of the fundamental frequency of the basin. The agreement with other numerical results (Boundary Element Method) and experimental ones is fully satisfactory. The simplified modal method then appears as an efficient mean for the global vibratory characterization of geological structures towards resonance. To cite this article: J.-F. Semblat et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

La vallée d'Ys : un paléoréseau hydrographique immergé en baie de Douarnenez (Finistère,France)

Interpretation of the recent high-resolution survey, CANADOU 2000, in the Bay of Douarnenez (Finistère, France) allowed us to restore the morphology of the substratum and the sedimentary filling of the bay. The Brioverian and Palaeozoic substratum reveals a well-defined network of incised valleys as results of successive emergence stages of the Bay during the Quaternary. Valleys join in a westward-widened mean valley, called Ys Valley. The present-day sedimentary fill of the bay of Douarnenez appears mainly controlled by the Holocene rise and the consecutive highstand. It comprises fluvial and estuarine deposits filling up incised valleys and marine sedimentation extending out of the incised valleys. To cite this article: G. Jouet et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).To cite this article: G. Jouet et al., C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

On Rhythmical Layering of Rocks Formed from Basaltic Magma

Formation of rhythmical layering in intrusive basic and ultrabasic rock bodies is explained in different ways, in particular, by the movement of microparticles (mineral clusters) of plagioclase and pyroxene within the basalt melt under the influence of thermal and gravitational forces. A model of cluster movement is proposed as a consequence of the forces appearing when ultrasonic elastic fluctuations pass through the melt. The model is based on fundamental dynamic equations. Depending on cluster density, wave parameters, and magmatic chamber size, in the melt there can form different combinations of rhythmically alternating layers of different composition.