Modal pushover‐based scaling of earthquake records for nonlinear analysis of single‐story unsymmetric‐plan buildings

The modal pushover‐based scaling (MPS) procedure, currently restricted to symmetric‐plan buildings, is extended herein to unsymmetric‐plan buildings. The accuracy of the extended MPS procedure was evaluated for a large set of three‐degree‐of‐freedom unsymmetric‐plan structures with variable stiffness and strength. The structures were subjected to nonlinear response history analysis considering sets of seven records scaled according to the MPS procedure. Structural responses were compared against the benchmark values, defined as the median values of the engineering demand parameters due to 30 unscaled records. This evaluation of the MPS procedure has led to the following conclusions: (i) the MPS procedure provided accurate estimates of median engineering demand parameter values and reduced record‐to‐record variability of the responses; and (2) the MPS procedure is found to be much superior compared to the ASCE/SEI 7‐10 scaling procedure for three‐dimensional analysis of unsymmetric‐plan buildings. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

In situ experiment on retrofit of school buildings by adding sandwich columns to partition brick walls

Many significantly strong earthquakes have occurred over the years in Taiwan, which have caused tremendous damage to primary and middle school buildings; the 921 Chi‐Chi earthquake was particularly devastating. According to statistics, 786 schools (1,958 classrooms) were damaged on September 21, 1999 during this earthquake event. The devastation showed that a lack of seismic performance is a common problem for existing school buildings in Taiwan. Therefore, the retrofit of existing school buildings has become an urgent issue in the prevention of possible damage in the future. The retrofit technique of adding sandwich columns to partition brick walls is proposed in this paper, and the feasibility of the proposed method was verified by in situ pushover tests of two real school buildings, one without and one with retrofit. The experimental and analytical results show that the sandwich column itself contributes significantly to the seismic capacity of the examined school building. Moreover, the analytical results yielded conservative capacity curves when compared with the experimental results. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonparametric estimation of wave dispersion in high‐rise buildings by seismic interferometry

Interferometric identification and health monitoring of high‐rise buildings has been gaining increasing interest in recent years. The wave dispersion in the structure has been largely ignored in these efforts but needs to be considered to further develop these methods. In this paper, (i) the goodness of estimation of vertical wave velocity in buildings, as function of frequency, by two nonparametric interferometric techniques is examined, using realistic fixed‐base Timoshenko beam benchmark models. Such models are convenient because the variation of phase and group velocities with frequency can be derived theoretically. The models are those of the NS and EW responses of Millikan Library. One of the techniques, deconvolution interferometry, estimates the phase velocity on a frequency band from phase difference between motions at two locations in the structure, while the other one estimates it approximately at the resonant frequencies based on standing wave patterns. The paper also (ii) examines the modeling error in wave velocity profiles identified by fitting layered shear beam in broader band impulse response functions of buildings with significant bending flexibility. This error may affect inferences on the spatial distribution of damage from detected changes in such velocity profiles. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The extended consecutive modal pushover procedure for estimating the seismic demands of two-way unsymmetric-plan tall buildings under influence of two horizontal components of ground motions

This paper aims to extend the consecutive modal pushover (CMP) procedure for estimating the seismic demands of two-way unsymmetric-plan tall buildings subjected to bi-directional seismic ground motions taking the effects of higher modes and torsion into account. Multi-stage and single-stage pushover analyses are carried out in both X and Y directions. Inelastic seismic responses obtained by multi-stage and single-stage pushover analyses for X and Y directions are combined using the SRSS combination scheme. The final seismic responses are determined by enveloping the combined results of multi-stage and single-stage pushover analyses. To evaluate the accuracy of the proposed procedure, it is applied to two-way unsymmetric-plan tall buildings which include torsionally stiff and torsionally flexible systems. The results derived from the CMP procedure are compared with those from nonlinear response history analysis (NL-RHA), as a benchmark solution. Moreover, the advantages of the proposed procedure are demonstrated by comparing the results derived from the CMP to those from pushover analysis with uniform and fundamental effective mode distributions. The proposed procedure is able to accurately predict amplification or de-amplification of the seismic displacements at the flexible and stiff edges of the two-way unsymmetric-plan tall buildings by considering the effects of higher modes and torsion. The extended CMP procedure can accurately estimate the peak inelastic responses, such as displacements and storey drifts. The CMP procedure features a higher potential in estimating plastic hinge rotations at both flexible and stiff sides of unsymmetric-plan tall buildings under bi-directional seismic excitation when compared to the uniform and fundamental effective mode force distributions.     

Analysis of damage data of low-rise buildings subjected to a shallow Mw6.3 earthquake

In May 2008 a shallow M_w6.3 earthquake struck South Iceland with an epicentre close to two small towns. Nearly 5000 low-rise residential buildings were affected. The recorded maximum PGA was 0.88 g. A great deal of damage occurred, but there was no loss of life. In Iceland all buildings are registered in a detailed official database and insurance against natural disasters is obligatory. As the repair costs for every affected building had to be assessed for insurance purposes this provided an unusual opportunity to review structural performance across the whole population of buildings in the affected area. The estimated repair cost was classified in a number of subcategories covering structural and non-structural damage for five different residential building typologies. Study of these buildings showed that non-structural damage dominated the overall damage. The main monetary damage was cosmetic damage of partition walls and flooring. The structural systems performed quite well and no buildings collapsed.     

A Preliminary study on the seismic conceptual design

The seismic conceptual design is an essential part of seismic design codes. It points out that the term "seismic conceptual design" should imply three aspects,i.e.,the given concept itself,the specific provisions related to the given concept and the designing following the provisions. Seismic conceptual design can be classified into two categories: the strict or traditional seismic conceptual design and the generalized seismic conceptual design. The authors are trying to define for both conceptual designs their connotations and study their characteristics,in particular,the differences between them. Authors emphasize that both conceptual designs sound very close,however,their differences are apparent. The strict conceptual designs are usually worked out directly from engineering practice and/or lessons learnt from earthquake damage,while the generalized conceptual designs are resulted in a series of visions aiming to realize the general objectives of the seismic codes. The strict conceptual designs,(traditional conceptual designs) are indispensable elements of seismic codes in assuring designed structures safer and the generalized conceptual designs are playing key roles in directing to a more advanced and effective seismic codes.     

村镇建筑砌体结构滑移隔震性能研究1

村镇建筑多以砖混结构为主,抗震性能相对较弱,砂垫层摩擦滑移隔震技术由于诸多优点较适合广大农村建筑.本文介绍了砂垫层基础滑移隔震的设计原则和分析模型,以常见的两层砖混结构为例,采用Abaqus有限元软件分析不同摩擦系数、不同加速度峰值下隔震层的滑移,并在此基础上确定隔震层在多遇和罕遇地震作用下的摩擦系数及滑移量建议限值;通过验算不同砂浆的抗震受剪承载力,得出不同摩擦力作用下满足抗震受剪承载力的最低砂浆标准,所得结论对农村滑移隔震建筑的选材具有一定参考意义.     

隐伏活动正断层地区地下建筑的避让问题:以渭河断裂咸阳段为例

活断层对城市建设的影响长期以来受到科研人员与城市建设者的重视。活断层避让距离的确定直接影响活动断裂地区建筑物的选址。伴随着中国地下空间开发进入快速发展阶段,活动断裂地区的地下建筑选址问题应运而生。以隐伏活动正断层为例,综合考虑地下建筑震害影响、隐伏活动正断层地区地质背景、断裂活动性以及发震破坏特征,对活断层地区地下建筑的避让问题开展研究。研究表明：地下建筑受活断层发震的影响比地面建筑小,但断裂发震的影响依然需要重视;隐伏正断层破坏范围受多方面的影响因素控制,地下建筑避让距离的划定需以断层变形带的边界为起点进行;结合渭河断裂咸阳段的地质背景与断裂活动特点,确定断层上、下盘的避让距离分别为30 m和15 m,得出渭河断裂咸阳段地下30 m以浅限建带的宽度为140 m。     

SIMO-MIMO模式城市建筑群下视阵列SAR三维仿真

真实下视阵列SAR系统的缺失,给该技术数据获取及进一步技术研究带来了困难,下视阵列SAR三维仿真的研究具有重要意义。为了有效反映下视阵列SAR技术在建筑物耸立的城市区域的三维成像优势,本文采用单输入多输出（SIMO）和多输入多输出（MIMO）两种模式仿真了城市建筑群下视阵列SAR回波数据,并对两种模式的回波数据进行了三维距离多普勒成像处理,通过SIMO模式成像结果、MIMO模式成像结果分别与原始地形的差分对比,验证了本文方法的有效性及两种模式的优劣性。     

基于有限元法的土坯民房地震响应分析研究

基于有限元法研究了土坯民房的地震响应特征,提出了实施土坯民房震害防治的对策性建议。地震动由结构底部向上传播时,低频部分被墙体吸收,水平加速度逐渐增大,揭示了低破坏性地震动损伤土坯民房屋盖系统、高破坏性地震动损坏土坯民房承重构件,进而导致整体结构损毁的动力机制。砖柱（木柱）承重土坯民房的地震响应大于墙体承重土坯民房,后者最大剪应力集中在中间开间的横墙和纵墙的连接处,最大主应力集中在中间开间的横墙上;前者最大剪应力集中在横墙和柱的连接处,最大主应力集中在中间开间的柱体上部。由于2种结构类型土坯民房的薄弱环节有所不同,地震时的致灾原因亦存在差异。