• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.439-445
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• 2022

One of the best choice for transportation of oil and gas at the end of rivers or seas is concrete pipelines. In this article, a concrete pipe at the end of river is assumed under the earthquake load. The Classic shell theory is applied for the modelling and the corresponding motion equations are derived by energy method. An external force induced by fluid around the pipe is asssumed in the final motion equations. For the solution of motion equations, the differential quadrature method (DQM) and Newmark method are applied for deriving the dynamic deflection of the pipe. The effects of various parameters including boundary conditions, fluid and length to thickness ratio are presented on the seismic response of the concrete pipe. The outcomes show that the clamped pipe has lower dynamic deflection with respect to simply pipe. In addition, with the effect of fluid, the dynamic defelction is increased significantly.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.127-143
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• 2015

In conventional seismic design, structures are assumed to be fixed at the base. To reduce the impact of earthquake loading, while at the same time providing an economically feasible structure, minor damage is tolerated in the form of controlled plastic hinging at predefined locations in the structure. Uplift is traditionally not permitted because of concerns that it would lead to collapse. However, observations of damage to structures that have been through major earthquakes reveal that partial and temporary uplift of structures can be beneficial in many cases. Allowing a structure to move as a rigid body is in fact one way to limit activated seismic forces that could lead to severe inelastic deformations. To further reduce the induced seismic energy, slip-friction connectors could be installed to act both as hold-downs resisting overturning and as contributors to structural damping. This paper reviews recent research on the concept, with a focus on timber shear walls. A novel approach used to achieve the desired sliding threshold in the slip-friction connectors is described. The wall uplifts when this threshold is reached, thereby imparting ductility to the structure. To resist base shear an innovative shear key was developed. Recent research confirms that the proposed system of timber wall, shear key, and slip-friction connectors, are feasible as a ductile and low-damage structural solution. Additional numerical studies explore the interaction between vertical load and slip-friction connector strength, and how this influences both the energy dissipation and self-centring capabilities of the rocking structure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.453-462
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• 2018

Damages to buildings affected by a near-fault strong ground motion are largely attributed to the vertical component of the earthquake resulting in column failures, which could lead to disproportionate building catastrophic collapse in a progressive fashion. Recently, considerable interests are awakening to study effects of earthquake vertical components on structural responses. In this study, detailed modeling and time-history analyses of a 12-story code-conforming reinforced concrete moment frame building carrying the gravity loads, and exposed to once only the horizontal component of, and second time simultaneously the horizontal and vertical components of an ensemble of far-field and near-field earthquakes are conducted. Structural responses inclusive of tension, compression and its fluctuations in columns, the ratio of shear demand to capacity in columns and peak mid-span moment demand in beams are compared with and without the presence of the vertical component of earthquake records. The influences of the existence of earthquake vertical component in both exterior and interior spans are separately studied. Thereafter, the correlation between the increase of demands induced by the vertical component of the earthquake and the ratio of a set of earthquake record characteristic parameters is investigated. It is shown that uplift initiation and the magnitude of tensile forces developed in corner columns are relatively more critical. Presence of vertical component of earthquake leads to a drop in minimum compressive force and initiation of tension in columns. The magnitude of this reduction in the most critical case is recorded on average 84% under near-fault ground motions. Besides, the presence of earthquake vertical components increases the shear capacity required in columns, which is at most 31%. In the best case, a direct correlation of 95% between the increase of the maximum compressive force and the ratio of vertical to horizontal 'effective peak acceleration (EPA)' is observed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.399-414
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• 1997

This paper presents an investigation into the seismic response characteristics of a proposed ligh-weight pedestrian cable-stayed bridge made entirely from Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastics(GFRP). The study employs three dimensional finite element models to study and compare the dynamic characteristics and the seismic response of the GFRP bridge to a conventional Steel-Concrete (SC) cable-stayed bridge alternative. The two bridges were subjected to three synthetic earthquakes that differ in the frequency content characteristics. The performance of the GFRP bridge was compared to that of the SC bridge by normalizing the live load and the seismic internal forces with respect to the dead load internal forces. The normalized seismically induced internal forces were compared to the normalized live load internal forces for each design alternative. The study shows that the design alternatives have different dynamic characteristics. The light GFRP alternative has more flexible deck motion in the lateral direction than the heavier SC alternative. While the SC alternative has more vertical deck modes than the GFRP alternative, it has less lateral deck modes than the GFRP alternative in the studied frequency range. The GFRP towers are more flexible in the lateral direction than the SC towers. The GFRP bridge tower attracted less normalized base shear force than the SC bridge towers. However, earthquakes, with peak acceleration of only 0.1 g, and with a variety of frequency content could induce high enough seismic internal forces at the tower bases of the GFRP cable-stayed bridge to govern the structural design of such bridge. Careful seismic analysis, design, and detailing of the tower connections are required to achieve satisfactory seismic performance of GFRP long span bridges.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.439-452
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• 2022

A forecast of slope behavior during catastrophic events, such as earthquakes is crucial to recognize the risk of slope failure. This paper endeavors to eliminate the significant supposition of predefined slip surfaces in the slope stability analysis, which questions the relevance of simple conventional methods under seismic conditions. To overcome such limitations, a methodology dependent on the slip line hypothesis, which permits an automatic generation of slip surfaces, is embraced to trace the extreme slope face under static and seismic conditions. The effect of earthquakes is considered using the pseudo-static approach. The current outcomes developed from a parametric study endorse a non-linear slope surface as the extreme profile, which is in accordance with the geomorphological aspect of slopes. The proposed methodology is compared with the finite element limit analysis to ensure credibility. Through the design charts obtained from the current investigation, the stability of slopes can be assessed under seismic conditions. It can be observed that the extreme slope profile demands a flat configuration to endure the condition of the limiting equilibrium at a higher level of seismicity. However, a concurrent enhancement in the shear strength of the slope medium suppresses this tendency by offering greater resistance to the seismic inertial forces induced in the medium. Unlike the traditional linear slopes, the extreme slope profiles mostly exhibit a steeper layout over a significant part of the slope height, thus ensuring a more optimized solution to the slope stability problem. Further, the susceptibility of the Longnan slope failure in the Huining-Wudu seismic belt is predicted using the current plasticity approach, which is found to be in close agreement with a case study reported in the literature. Finally, the concept of equivalent single or multi-tiered planar slopes is explored through an example problem, which exhibits the appropriateness of the proposed non-linear slope geometry under actual field conditions.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.5-16
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• 2012

Geotechnical buried structures with relatively light weight have been suffering from uplift damage due to liquefaction in the past earthquakes. The factor of safety approach by Koseki et al. (1997a), which is widely used in seismic design, predicts the triggering of uplift. However, a method for "quantitative" estimates of the uplift displacement has yet to be established. Estimation of the uplift displacement may be an important factor to be considered for designing underground structures under the framework of performance-based design (ISO23469, 2005). Therefore, evaluation of the uplift displacement of buried structure in liquefied ground during earthquakes is needed for a performance-based design as a practical application. In order to predict the uplift displacement quantitatively, a simplified method is derived based on the equilibrium of vertical forces acting on buried structures in backfill during earthquakes (Tobita et al., 2012). The method is verified through comparisons with results of centrifuge model tests and damaged sewerage systems after the 2004 Niigata-ken Chuetsu, Japan, earthquake. The proposed flow diagram for performance-based design includes estimation of the uplift displacement as well as liquefaction limit of backfill.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.307-319
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• 2023

Ground fissures have a huge effect on the integrity of surface structures. In high-intensity ground fissure regions, however, land resource would be wasted and city building and economic development would be limited if the area avoiding principle was used. In view of this challenge, to reveal the seismic response and seismic failure characteristics of ground fissure sites, a shaking table test on model soil based on a 1:15 scale experiment was carried out. In the test, the spatial distribution characteristics of acceleration response and Arias intensity were obtained for a site exposed to earthquakes with different characteristics. Furthermore, the failure characteristics and damage evolution of the model soil were analyzed. The test results indicated that, with the increase in the earthquake acceleration magnitude, the crack width of the ground fissure enlarged from 0 to 5 mm. The soil of the hanging wall was characterized by earlier cracking and a higher abundance of secondary fissures at 45°. Under strong earthquakes, the model soil, especially the soil near the ground fissure, was severely damaged and exhibited reduced stiffness. As a result, its natural frequency also decreased from 11.41 Hz to 8.05 Hz, whereas the damping ratio increased from 4.8% to 9.1%. Due to the existence of ground fissure, the acceleration was amplified to nearly 0.476 m/s², as high as 2.38 times of the input acceleration magnitude. The maximum of acceleration and Arias intensity appeared at the fissure zone, which decreased from the main fissure toward both sides, showing hanging wall effects. The seismic intensity, duration and frequency spectrum all had certain effects on the seismic response of the ground fissure site, but their influence degrees were different. The seismic response of the site induced by the seismic wave that had richer low-frequency components and longer duration was larger. The discrepancies of seismic response between the hanging wall and the footwall declined obviously when the magnitude of the earthquake acceleration increased. The research results will be propitious to enhancing the utilizing ratio of the limited landing resource, alleviation of property damages and casualties, and provide a good engineering application foreground.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.1253-1272
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• 2016

For a nonlinear control system, there are many uncertainties, such as the structural model, controlled parameters and external loads. Although the significant progress has been achieved on the robust control of nonlinear systems through some researches on this issue, there are still some limitations, for instance, the complicated solving process, weak conservatism of system, involuted structures and high order of controllers. In this study, the computational structural mechanics and optimal control theory are adopted to address above problems. The induced norm is the eigenvalue problem in structural mechanics, i.e., the elastic stable Euler critical force or eigenfrequency of structural system. The segment mixed energy is introduced with a precise integration and an extended Wittrick-Williams (W-W) induced norm calculation method. This is then incorporated in the market-based control (MBC) theory and combined with the force analogy method (FAM) to solve the MBC robust strategy (R-MBC) of nonlinear systems. Finally, a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system and a 9-stories steel frame structure are analyzed. The results are compared with those calculated by the $H{\infty}$-robust (R-$H{\infty}$) algorithm, and show the induced norm leads to the infinite control output as soon as it reaches the critical value. The R-MBC strategy has a better control effect than the R-$H{\infty}$ algorithm and has the advantage of strong strain capacity and short online computation time. Thus, it can be applied to large complex structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.349-360
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• 2018

Reinforced concrete (RC) moment frames supported on two ground levels have been widely constructed in mountainous areas with medium to high seismicity in China. In order to investigate the seismic collapse behavior and risk, a scaled frame model was tested under constant axial load and reversed cyclic lateral load. Test results show that the failure can be induced by the development of story yielding at the first story above the upper ground. The strong column and weak beam mechanism can be well realized at stories below the upper ground. Numerical analysis model was developed and calibrated with the test results. Three pairs of six case study buildings considering various structural configurations were designed and analyzed, showing similar dynamic characteristics between frames on two ground levels and flat ground of each pair. Incremental dynamic analyses (IDA) were then conducted to obtain the seismic collapse fragility curves and collapse margin ratios of nine analysis cases designated based on the case study buildings, considering amplification of earthquake effect and strengthening measures. Analysis results indicate that the seismic collapse safety is mainly determined by the stories above the upper ground. The most probable collapse mechanism may be induced by the story yielding of the bottom story on the upper ground level. The use of tie beam and column strengthening can effectively enhance the seismic collapse safety of frames on two ground levels.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.71-87
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• 2014

Interaction between closely-spaced buildings subject to earthquake induced strong ground motions, termed in the literature as "seismic pounding", occurs commonly during major seismic events in contemporary congested urban environments. Seismic pounding is not taken into account by current codes of practice and is rarely considered in practice at the design stage of new buildings constructed "in contact" with existing ones. Thus far, limited research work has been devoted to quantify the influence of slab-to-slab pounding on the inelastic seismic demands at critical locations of structural members in adjacent structures that are not aligned in series. In this respect, this paper considers a typical case study of a "new" reinforced concrete (R/C) EC8-compliant, torsionally sensitive, 7-story corner building constructed within a block, in bi-lateral contact with two existing R/C 5-story structures with same height floors. A non-linear local plasticity numerical model is developed and a series of non-linear time-history analyses is undertaken considering the corner building "in isolation" from the existing ones (no-pounding case), and in combination with the existing ones (pounding case). Numerical results are reported in terms of averages of ratios of peak inelastic rotation demands at all structural elements (beams, columns, shear walls) at each storey. It is shown that seismic pounding reduces on average the inelastic demands of the structural members at the lower floors of the 7-story building. However, the discrepancy in structural response of the entire block due to torsion-induced, bi-directionally seismic pounding is substantial as a result of the complex nonlinear dynamics of the coupled building block system.