An experimental study on seismic responses of multifunctional vibration‐absorption reinforced concrete megaframe structures

Two models are tested on a shake‐table. One of the models is a normal reinforced concrete megaframe structure and the other is a multifunctional vibration‐absorption reinforced concrete megaframe structure in which the laminated rubber bearings are placed between the major frame and the minor frames. Two earthquake motions (the El Centro wave and the Taft wave) are used during the test. This paper presents the dynamic characteristic, the seismic responses and the failure mechanism of these two models under varying peak acceleration levels for each of the earthquake motions. The test results demonstrate that the aseismic behavior of a multifunctional vibration‐absorption reinforced concrete megaframe structure is much better than that of a normal reinforced concrete megaframe structure. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dynamic performance of twin curved cable‐stayed bridges

The dynamic behaviour of two curved cable‐stayed bridges, recently constructed in northern Italy, has been investigated by full‐scale testing and theoretical models. Two different excitation techniques were employed in the dynamic tests: traffic‐induced ambient vibrations and free vibrations. Since the modal behaviour identified from the two types of test are very well correlated and a greater number of normal modes was detected during ambient vibration tests, the validity of the ambient vibration survey is assessed in view of future monitoring. For both bridges, 11 vibration modes were identified in the frequency range of 0ndash;10Hz, being a one‐to‐one correspondence between the observed modes of the two bridges. Successively, the information obtained from the field tests was used to validate and improve 3D finite elements so that the dynamic performance of the two systems were assessed and compared based on both the experimental results and the updated theoretical models. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Period formulas of shear wall buildings with flexible bases

The evaluation of the fundamental period of shear wall buildings considering the flexibility of the base is investigated in this paper. This research is motivated by the discrepancy reported between the formulas used in different building codes and the measurement of real buildings. Both experimental and analytical approaches are used to assess the effect of the base flexibility on the fundamental period of shear wall structures. In total, twenty buildings built on different types of soil are tested under ambient vibration. The fundamental period is identified using a non‐parametric linear model in the frequency domain. The results show that fundamental period formulas used by UBC‐97 and NBCC‐95 are inadequate since they do not include the effect of the foundation stiffness. To improve the estimation of the fundamental period of shear wall buildings, an analytical approach is presented. The structure and the foundation are represented by a continuous‐discrete system. The stiffnesses of the base are represented by translational and rotational discrete springs. The rigidities of these springs are evaluated from the elastic uniform compression of the soil mass and the size of the foundation. The analytical predictions improve the estimation of the fundamental period and keep the computation simple. The error between the measured period and the analytical results is, on average, less than 10%. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Simulation of seismic response in a city-like environment

We study the seismic response of idealized 2D cities, constituted by non-equally spaced, non-equally sized homogenized blocks anchored in a soft layer overlying a hard half space. The blocks and soft layer are occupied by dissipative media. To simulate such response, we use an approximation of the viscoelastic modulus by a low-order rational function of frequency and incorporate this approximation into a first-order-in-time scheme. Our results display spatially variable, strong, long-duration responses inside the blocks and on the ground, which qualitatively match the responses observed in some earthquake-prone cities of Mexico, France, the USA, etc.     

Influence of transducer-ground coupling on vibration measurements

Various methods of transducer mounting provide varying degrees of coupling between the transducer and the measurement surface. The influence of four of these methods on vibration measurements was studied. For this purpose, the first transducer was placed freely on a horizontal surface, the second one was 'sandbagged', the third one was 'spiked' and the fourth one was completely buried in soil. These transducers were mounted side by side and ground vibrations were monitored for 14 blasts at an opencast coal mine.

Ground vibrations in terms of peak particle velocity, peak vector sum and frequency with different mounting methods were analysed. Assuming the data of the buried transducer as the most acceptable one, relative values of other transducers were determined and plotted. For the given tolerance for instrumental and human errors, anomalous readings were found in some cases. The waveforms of the buried transducer were then compared with those of others. Clear distortion in the waveforms or a very low correlation coefficient between two waveforms was suspected poor coupling.

The results indicate that decoupling is most likely with the surface transducer. However, the sandbagged and spiked transducers are also prone to decoupling. Decoupling can result in higher or lower ground vibration. Therefore, burial should be the preferred method for mounting of transducers in soil.     

落球法测量高频振动对淤泥的液化效果

为了提高疏浚工程中管道输送淤泥的效率,对淤泥预处理技术——高频微幅振动液化技术进行了初步研究。主要介绍了落球法测量淤泥粘滞系数的实验,对不同性质的淤泥分别进行实验,根据距离振动棒不同位置的小球的沉降速度求出相应位置的粘滞系数,并将其进行比较,获得液化影响范围。实验结果表明,高频振动对于粉砂质淤泥具有良好的液化效果。     

城轨交通引起的环境振动问题综述研究

随着城市化进程的加快和人们生活质量的提高,城市轨道交通系统引起的沿线地面和建筑物的振动问题越来越引起人们的关注。系统地介绍了城市轨道交通的主要形式,对城市轨道交通所引起环境振动问题的国内外研究进行了综述,同时,全面分析了环境振动对人们生产生活的影响、振动产生的原因、振动预测模拟等方面的问题。对国内外有关环境振动的计算模型也系统深入地作了分析研究。     

基于平面应变简化假定的桩扭转振动理论精度研究

利用拉普拉斯变换对考虑桩土耦合扭转振动条件下,桩顶受到任意激振扭矩作用的端承桩桩顶频域及时域响应进行解析求解,推导求得了桩顶位移、速度频域响应,桩顶复阻抗的解析表达式和半正弦脉冲激励作用下的桩顶时域响应半解析解;将本文所得理论解与基于平面应变假定的桩基扭转耦合振动的频域解和时域解进行了全面对比研究,具体比较范围涉及土层对桩的局部复阻抗、桩顶复频响应、速度导纳、桩顶复刚度和桩顶时域响应等方面,并得到若干重要结论。研究成果校核了平面应变假定在桩基扭转振动理论研究中的合理运用,为进一步了解桩土耦合振动的内在机理提供理论支持。     

Correlation failure analysis of an uncertain hysteretic vibration system

In this paper, a numerical method for correlation sensitivity analysis of a nonlinear random vibration system is presented. Based on the first passage failure model, the probability perturbation method is employed to determine the statistical characteristics of failure modes and the correlation between them. The sensitivity of correlation between failure modes with respect to random parameters characterizing the uncertainty of the hysteretic loop is discussed. In a numerical example, a two-DOF shear structure with uncertain hysteretic restoring force is considered. The statistical characteristics of response, failure modes and the sensitivity of random hysteretic loop parameters are provided, and also compared with a Monte Carlo simulation.     

Control strategies and experimental verifications of the electromagnetic mass damper system for structural vibration control

The electromagnetic mass damper （EMD） control system, as an innovative active control system to reduce structural vibration, offers many advantages over traditional active mass driver/damper （AMD） control systems. In this paper, studies of several EMD control strategies and bench-scale shaking table tests of a two-story model structure are described. First, two structural models corresponding to uncontrolled and Zeroed cases are developed, and parameters of these models are validated through sinusoidal sweep tests to provide a basis for establishing an accurate mathematical model for further studies. Then, a simplified control strategy for the EMD system based on the pole assignment control algorithm is proposed. Moreover, ideal pole locations are derived and validated through a series of shaking table tests. Finally, three benchmark earthquake ground motions and sinusoidal sweep waves are imposed onto the structure to investigate the effectiveness and feasibility of using this type of innovative active control system for structural vibration control. In addition, the robustness of the EMD system is examined. The test results show that the EMD system is an effective and robust system for the control of structural vibrations.