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.     

Controls on knickpoint migration in a drainage network of the moderately uplifted Ardennes Plateau,Western Europe

Much research has been devoted to the development of numerical models of river incision. In settings where bedrock channel erosion prevails, numerous studies have used field data to calibrate the widely acknowledged stream power model of incision and to discuss the impact of variables that do not appear explicitly in the model's simplest form. However, most studies have been conducted in areas of active tectonics, displaying a clear geomorphic response to the tectonic signal. Here, we analyze the traces left in the drainage network 0.7 My after the Ardennes region (western Europe) underwent a moderate 100–150 m uplift. We identify a set of knickpoints that have traveled far upstream in the Ourthe catchment, following this tectonic perturbation. Using a misfit function based on time residuals, our best fit of the stream power model parameters yields m = 0.75 and K = 4.63 × 10^‐8 m^‐0.5y^‐1. Linear regression of the model time residuals against quantitative expressions of bedrock resistance to erosion shows that this variable does not correlate significantly with the residuals. By contrast, proxies for position in the drainage system prove to be able to explain 76% of the residual variance. High time residuals correlate with knickpoint position in small tributaries located in the downstream part of the Ourthe catchment, where some threshold was reached very early in the catchment's incision history. Removing the knickpoints stopped at such thresholds from the data set, we calculate an improved m = 0.68 and derive a scaling exponent of channel width against drainage area of 0.32, consistent with the average value compiled by Lague for steady state incising bedrock rivers. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comprehensive analysis of changes to catchment slope properties in the high-sediment region of the Loess Plateau, 1978-2010

To control soil erosion and restore the degraded environment in the Loess Plateau, a large number of measures related to soil and water conservation have been employed that have profoundly affected catchment properties. This study constructed three indicators to characterize changes to the catchment slope, proposed both a method for a regression analysis of adjacent images and a sequence model, and applied multisource remotely sensed images and GIS spatial clustering analysis technologies to extract thematic information and comprehensively analyze the catchment change characteristics. The results indicate that the catchment slope properties changed significantly. At catchment scale, the average values of ARC, DVC and ART were 6.43%, 25.57% and 4.30%, respectively. There were six clustering types of catchment slope property changes. The maximum and minimum of the average similarities of the clustering types were 0.992 and 0.935. Each slope control measures had a distinct effect on catchment slope; the dominating factor of each clustering type was identified as: Type 1: D-VC, Type 2: D-VCLU, Type 3: D-LUVC, Type 4: D-TAVC, Type 5: D-TAC and Type 6: D-MFC. Type 5 and Type 1 covered the largest areas, respectively occupying 37.28% and 31.01%. Catchment slope property changes also had distinct types that depended on their geomorphological conditions. These findings provide a useful basis from which to further study catchment slope hydrological and soil erosion processes.     

基于输出反馈的建筑结构闭开环次优控制

对传统的结构抗震闭开环控制算法进行改进。基于地面运动自回归模型,采用Kalman滤波利用可以量测到的地面加速度激励对未来时段即将发生的地面加速度激励进行预估,并在微分方程的求解中引入精确高效的精细积分算法。考虑到实际控制中量测全部状态变量的困难,改进算法仅需量测部分状态变量。数值仿真表明,基于输出反馈的闭开环次优控制策略能大大降低结构的地震响应。     

地磁房湿度对地磁观测的影响及解决方案

地磁房湿度变化较快或过大都易引起地磁数据的异常变化,且室内湿度不易控制,地磁房、磁通门磁力仪探头湿度智能在线分析监控系统可以实时显示监控地磁房、磁通门磁力仪探头湿度的变化,超过湿度阈值则发出报警信号,进而可以采用科学的方法控制探头观测环境的湿度,提高观测数据的稳定性、可靠性。本文介绍了该系统的设计思路和主要功能。     

阿青水电站沥青心墙坝渗流分析与控制

水电站的渗流计算分析是一项复杂而在设计中又极其重要的工作,很难获得符合实际的渗流分析结果。结合阿青水电站的渗流控制分析,全面阐述了水电站渗流分析中熟悉工程概况和水文地质条件,明确分析任务、概化模型、剖分网格、选取材料参数,确定了计算方案和边界条件,整理分析计算结果,进行方案比较,分析了参数敏感性的方法和过程,认为应做好上述每一个环节,对全面把握工程的渗流性状,进行防渗排水体系的方案选择和优化的重要意义。分析表明,河床最大剖面的渗流量不一定比较低坝高剖面的渗流量大,狭窄河谷心墙堆石坝坝体和坝基总的渗流量,也可能比大坝最大剖面的渗流量与坝轴线长度的乘积大。     

Using an inerter‐based device for structural vibration suppression

This paper proposes the use of a novel type of passive vibration control system to reduce vibrations in civil engineering structures subject to base excitation. The new system is based on the inerter, a device that was initially developed for high‐performance suspensions in Formula 1 racing cars. The principal advantage of the inerter is that a high level of vibration isolation can be achieved with low amounts of added mass. This feature makes it an attractive potential alternative to traditional tuned mass dampers (TMDs). In this paper, the inerter system is modelled inside a multi‐storey building and is located on braces between adjacent storeys. Numerical results show that an excellent level of vibration reduction is achieved, potentially offering improvement over TMDs. The inerter‐based system is compared to a TMD system by using a range of base excitation inputs, including an earthquake signal, to demonstrate how the performance could potentially be improved by using an inerter instead of a TMD. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design,simulation, and large‐scale testing of an innovative vibration mitigation device employing essentially nonlinear elastomeric springs

This study proposes an innovative passive vibration mitigation device employing essentially nonlinear elastomeric springs as its most critical component. Essential nonlinearity denotes the absence (or near absence) of a linear component in the stiffness characteristics of these elastomeric springs. These devices were implemented and tested on a large‐scale nine‐story model building structure. The main focus of these devices is to mitigate structural response under impulse‐like and seismic loading when the structure remains elastic. During the design process of the device, numerical simulations, optimizations, and parametric studies of the structure‐device system were performed to obtain stiffness parameters for the devices so that they can maximize the apparent damping of the fundamental mode of the structure. Pyramidal elastomeric springs were employed to physically realize the optimized essentially nonlinear spring components. Component‐level finite element analyses and experiments were conducted to design the nonlinear springs. Finally, shake table tests using impulse‐like and seismic excitation with different loading levels were performed to experimentally evaluate the performance of the device. Experimental results demonstrate that the properly designed devices can mitigate structural vibration responses, including floor acceleration, displacement, and column strain in an effective, rapid, and robust fashion. Comparison between numerical and experimental results verified the computational model of the nonlinear system and provided a comprehensive verification for the proposed device. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Development of an operational rainfall data quality-control scheme based on radar-raingauge co-kriging analysis

Abstract

Automatic raingauge data often serve as an important input to hydrological and weather warning operations. They are not only fundamental in quantitative rainfall analysis, but also act as the ground truth in warning operation and forecast validation. Quality control is required before the data can be used quantitatively due to systematic and random errors. Extremely large random errors and unreasonably small or false zero values can hamper effective monitoring of heavy rain. Yet both are difficult to detect in real-time by objective means. In an attempt to address these problems, a rainfall data quality-control scheme based on radar-raingauge co-kriging analysis was developed. The important threshold values required in the data quality control of 60-min raingauge rainfall were determined from a detailed analysis of the distributions of rainfall residuals defined as the arithmetic difference and the logarithm of the ratio between a raingauge measurement and its co-kriging estimate. The scheme has been developed and is in real-time use in Hong Kong, a coastal city of about 1100 km² area with more than 150 raingauges installed. Geographically, it is located in the subtropics and dominated by heavy convective rainfall in the summer. As a basis of the quality-control scheme, the co-kriging rainfall analysis was shown through a verification exercise to be superior to those obtained by the Barnes analysis and ordinary kriging of raingauge data. The performance of the quality-control algorithm was assessed using selected cases and controlled tests, and was found to be satisfactory, with a high error detection rate for the two targeted types of error. Limitations and operational issues identified during a real-time trial of the quality-control scheme are also discussed.

Citation Yeung, H.Y., Man, C., Chan, S.T., and Seed, A., 2014. Development of an operational rainfall data quality-control scheme based on radar-raingauge co-kriging analysis. Hydrological Sciences Journal, 59 (7), 1285–1299. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2013.839873     

混沌遗传算法在高层结构风振控制优化中的应用研究

将混沌遗传算法(Chaos Genetic Algorithm,简称CGA)引入高层结构的风振控制优化中,对采用黏弹性阻尼器来控制风振响应的高层结构进行参数优化;用Matlab语言编制了均布法、迭代法、简单遗传算法(Simple Genetic Algorithm,简称SGA)和混沌遗传算法的风振控制优化分析程序;对9个高层结构进行风振控制优化,对比了算法程序的计算效率以及无控、均布、迭代、SGA和CGA工况下的结构风振响应。研究结果表明:混沌遗传算法可以应用于高层结构风振控制优化之中;混沌遗传算法的计算效率比简单遗传算法最高提升了29%;经混沌遗传算法优化后,黏弹性阻尼器附加给结构的附加阻尼比与均布和迭代相比最高分别提高了61%和22%,CGA工况的顶层加速度响应与均布和迭代法相比最高分别减小了14%和12%。为高层结构风振控制优化研究提供了新思路,具有一定的理论价值和实际意义。