Out‐of‐plane stability of buckling‐restrained braces including moment transfer capacity

Buckling‐restrained braces (BRBs) are widely used as ductile seismic‐resistant and energy‐dissipating structural members in seismic regions. Although BRBs are expected to exhibit stable hysteresis under cyclic axial loading, one of the key limit states is global flexural buckling, which can produce an undesirable response. Many prior studies have indicated the possibility of global buckling of a BRB before its core yields owing to connection failure. In this paper, BRB stability concepts are presented, including their bending‐moment transfer capacity at restrainer ends for various connection stiffness values with initial out‐of‐plane drifts, and a unified simple equation set for ensuring BRB stability is proposed. Moreover, a series of cyclic loading tests with initial out‐of‐plane drifts are conducted, and the results are compared with those of the proposed equations. © 2013 The Authors. Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.     

中国大陆及其邻近地区的地震层析成象

本文利用中国地震台网及ISC提供的区域地震和远震的P波走时数据,重建了中国大陆及其邻近地区的三维速度图象。 主要结果是:1.本文给出的速度图象揭示了中国大陆及其邻近地区的地壳和上地幔速度存在明显的横向不均匀性,这种不均匀性甚至在下地幔的1100km深度还依然存在。上地幔的速度图象同地表已知的地质构造特征的相关性可以追踪到110km,从220km以下很难找到它们之间的明显关系。2.45-0km和45+0km深度处的速度图象明显地表示出中国大陆的地壳厚度可以102.5°E附近为界分为两部分:其东部地壳薄,厚度都小于45km;西部有一条自若尔盖—松潘（34°N,102.5°E附近）向西北沿38°N往西至塔里木盆地南缘的分界线;其南部除滇西南之外,整个青藏高原的地壳厚度都大于45km;其北部除天山山脉之外,地壳厚度一般不大于45km.3.110km深度处的速度图象表明,速度异常呈块状分布。同中国大地构造分区略图比较之后发现,其中,扬子准地台和塔里木地台对应于高速区,中朝准地台则大都表现为低速异常;华南褶皱系为低速区,青藏地块南缘喜马拉雅和冈底斯念青唐古拉褶皱系则表现为高速异常。4.220km深度处的速度图象表明,中国大陆相当多的地区软流层有明显的显示。5.同450km和45+0km的速度图象一样,400km和600km的速度图     

Earthquake response analyses of a full‐scale five‐story steel frame equipped with two types of dampers

The seismic performance tests of a full‐scale five‐story passively controlled steel building were conducted on the E‐Defense shaking table in Japan in March 2009. Before the tests, a blind prediction contest was held to allow researchers and practitioners from all over the world to construct analytical models and predict the dynamic responses of the steel frame specimen equipped with buckling‐restrained braces (BRBs) or viscous dampers (VDs). This paper presents the details of two refined prediction models made and results obtained before the tests. When the proposed analytical modeling techniques are adopted as in the two refined prediction models, the overall prediction accuracy is about 90%. Sensitivity studies conducted after the tests are also presented in this paper. The effects of varying each modeling feature on the response simulation accuracy have been investigated. The analytical results suggest that considering concrete full‐composite actions for beam members could improve prediction accuracy by about 20% against using the simplified bare steel beam model. Adopting refined BRB stiffness computed from incorporating finite‐element gusset stiffness only improves the overall prediction accuracy by 0.9%. Considering the BRB dynamic loading test results for analytical BRB strength reduces the error by 1.9%. For the VD frame, incorporating the brace and VD stiffness could improve the overall prediction accuracy by about 15%. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Lateral heterogeneities in the upper and mid-mantle conductivity in Argentina

Regional studies of Sq variations measured at five permanent observatories in Argentina were performed to estimate the distribution of the electrical conductivity of the upper and mid-mantle, reaching a depth of approximately 800 km. After separating the total field into its parts of external and internal origin, the in duced field was modeled, applying two-dimensional techniques. Additionally, induction arrows and an equivalent apparent resistivity curve were calculated A north-south heterogeneity was detected, showing an increase of the conductivity of the shallower layers north of the profile, which may be related to the presence of high volcanic activity in the area.Also at CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas).     

海冰板的环形屈曲的压缩破坏

在轴对称条件下，给出海冰板的环向屈曲面临载荷，从细观力学的观点分析了微裂纹开裂的条件，扩展方向并给出绕海洋平台柱腿冰的损伤区的尺度。所给出的临界半径是一个与冰材料力学特征，冰的微结构参数一海洋平台柱腿半径相关的特征参数。对现场所观察和测量的结构给出了解释和定量分析。     

Decoupling between the middle and upper crust during transpression-related lateral flow: Variscan evolution of the Aston gneiss dome (Pyrenees, France)

We present a structural, AMS, microstructural and kinematic study of the Aston gneiss dome (French Pyrenees), which consists of a core made up of orthogneiss and paragneiss intruded by numerous sills of Carboniferous peraluminous granite. The orthogneiss corresponds to a former Ordovician granitic laccolith. Four Variscan events have been evidenced in this gneiss dome: (i) D1 deformation observed only as relics in the orthogneisses and their country-rocks located above the sillimanite isograd, and characterized by a NS to NE–SW non coaxial stretch associated to top to the south motions (NS convergence); (ii) D2-a deformation observed in the orthogneisses and their country-rocks, mainly migmatitic paragneisses, located below the sillimanite isograd and in the peraluminous granites whatever their structural level, and characterized by an EW to N120°E stretch associated to a top to the east flat shearing (lateral flow in the hot middle crust in a transpressive regime); (iii) D2-b deformation characterized by EW-trending megafolds corresponding to the domes in the middle crust and by EW-trending tight folds with subvertical axial planes in the metasedimentary upper crust; (iv) subvertical medium-temperature mylonitic bands developed by the end of the transpression.The Aston massif is a good example of decoupling between a cold upper crust and a hotter middle crust overheated by a thermal event originated in the upper mantle. This decoupling allowed the lateral flow of the migmatitic middle crust along a direction at high angle with respect to the more or less NS-trending direction of convergence. We suggest that the HT-LP metamorphism developed before the formation of the domes during D2-a, coevally with the emplacement of numerous sills of peraluminous granite, whereas the emplacement of the large calc-alkaline plutons in the upper crust occurred by the end of D2-b. Our data invalidate the previous geodynamical models based on either early or late extensional regime to explain the development of the HT-LP metamorphism. This new interpretation of the dynamics of the Variscan crust of the Pyrenees is consistent with recent studies conducted in Archaean and Palaeoproterozoic hot continental crusts having undergone oblique convergence, and characterized by a competition between vertical thickening and lateral flow induced by the important rheological contrast between two thermally different levels.     

环境同位素在北京平谷盆地山前侧向补给研究中的应用

利用地下水水化学和同位素测试分析成果,结合区域地质、水文地质条件研究了平谷北山山区侧向补给情况和中桥水源地地区第四系松散孔隙水和下伏岩溶水关系。结果表明：研究区第四系松散孔隙水和基岩岩溶地下水均来源于大气降水,地下水化学类型均为HCO-3-Ca2+?Mg2+ 型;平谷北山山前基岩岩溶水侧向补给平原区第四系松散孔隙水和下伏岩溶地下水;通过D值估算得到中桥水源地第四系浅层地下水的山区岩溶水侧向补给和垂向降水入渗补给比例为57：43;中桥水源地基岩岩溶水接受山区岩溶水侧向补给和第四系孔隙水垂向越流补给比例为87：13。研究成果为平谷地区地下水资源量评价和地下水动力场数值模型的建设提供了关键参数,为区域地下水的合理开采和有序回补涵养提供了科学依据。     

地球内核顶部300 km速度和衰减各向异性的区域变化

衰减结构是地球内核的重要性质,它可以与地球内核的速度结构结合,对内核的形成和演化机制提供更全面的信息.本文系统收集了1991年到2014年全球、区域和临时地震台网的PKPDF和PKPBC数据,研究了澳大利亚、非洲和太平洋中部下方内核顶部300 km的速度和衰减各向异性结构.速度结果表明,澳大利亚下方内核的速度没有明显的各向异性,但是非洲和太平洋中部下方的内核具有明显的各向异性,且非洲的速度各向异性强于太平洋中部.同时,相对于AK135模型,澳大利亚的平均速度快0.5%,而非洲和太平洋中部的平均速度与参考模型没有明显差异.对于内核的衰减结构,我们得到以下结果：1）在东西方向,内核顶部200 km左右的区域,澳大利亚的衰减最强（Q值在400左右）,非洲和太平洋中部的Q值分别在600和500左右.2）澳大利亚下方的内核衰减没有明显的各向异性,非洲和太平洋中部下方的内核衰减存在明显的各向异性.此外,内核在非洲地区的衰减各向异性强于太平洋中部的各向异性.3）最后,内核中三个区域的速度和衰减具有良好的相关性,即高/低速对应于高/低衰减.考虑到以上结果以及三个区域的位置,我们认为内核顶部的速度和衰减结构都存在区域变化,而不是简单的半球变化.这种区域变化很可能是由于核幔边界热结构的不均一性和内核耦合,使得内核顶部的不同区域在形成过程中受不同的变形影响,从而形成铁晶体不同的生长和排列,引发了不同的各向异性特征.