• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.215-222
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• 2020

In this paper, slit steel rubber bearing is presented as an innovative seismic isolator device. In this type of isolator, slit steel damper is an energy dissipation device. Its advantages in comparison with that of the lead rubber bearing are its simplicity in manufacturing process and replacement of its yielding parts. Also, slit steel rubber bearing has the same ability to dissipate energy with smaller value of displacement. Using finite element method in ABAQUS software, a parametric study is done on the performance of this bearing. Three different kinds of isolator with three different values of strut width, 9, 12 and 15 mm, three values of thickness, 4, 6 and 8 mm and two steel types with different yield stress are assessed. Effects of these parameters on the performance characteristics of slit steel rubber bearing are studied. It is shown that by decreasing the thickness and strut width and by selecting the material with lower yield stress, values of effective stiffness, energy dissipation capacity and lateral force in the isolator reduce but equivalent viscous damping is not affected significantly. Thus, by choosing appropriate values for thickness, strut width and slit steel damper yield stress, an isolator with the desired behavior can be achieved. Finally, the performance of an 8-storey frame with the proposed isolator is compared with the same frame equipped with LRB. Results show that SSRB is successful in base shear reduction of structure in a different way from LRB.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.635-647
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• 2019

Tests and theoretical studies for seismic responses of a transmission tower-line system under coupled horizontal and tilt (CHT) ground motion were conducted. The method of obtaining the tilt component from seismic motion was based on comparisons from the Fourier spectrum of uncorrected seismic waves. The collected data were then applied in testing and theoretical analysis. Taking an actual transmission tower-line system as the prototype, shaking table tests of the scale model of a single transmission tower and towers-line systems under horizontal, tilt, and CHT ground motions were carried out. Dynamic equations under CHT ground motion were also derived. The additional P-∆ effect caused by tilt motion was considered as an equivalent horizontal lateral force, and it was added into the equations as the excitation. Test results were compared with the theoretical analysis and indicated some useful conclusions. First, the shaking table test results are consistent with the theoretical analysis from improved dynamic equations and proved its correctness. Second, the tilt component of ground motion has great influence on the seismic response of the transmission tower-line system, and the additional P-∆effect caused by the foundation tilt, not only increases the seismic response of the transmission tower-line system, but also leads to a remarkable asymmetric displacement effect. Third, for the tower-line system, transmission lines under ground motion weaken the horizontal displacement and acceleration responses of transmission towers. This weakening effect of transmission lines to the main structure, however, will be decreased with consideration of tilt component.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.469-485
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• 2019

A numerical investigation regarding local (${\mu}_L$) and story (${\mu}_S$) ductility demand evaluation of steel buildings with perimeter moment resisting frames (PMRF) and interior gravity frames (IGF), is conducted in this study. The interior connections are modeled, firstly as perfectly pinned (PP), and then as semi-rigid (SR). Three models used in the SAC steel project, representing steel buildings of low-, mid-, and high-rise, are considered. The story ductility reduction factor ($R_{{\mu}S}$) as well as the ratio ($Q_{GL}$) of $R_{{\mu}S}$ to ${\mu}_L$ are calculated. ${\mu}_L$ and ${\mu}_S$, and consequently structural damage, at the PMRF are significant reduced when the usually neglected effect of SR connections is considered; average reductions larger than 40% are observed implying that the behavior of the models with SR connections is superior and that the ductility detailing of the PMRF doesn't need to be so stringent when SR connections are considered. $R_{{\mu}S}$ is approximately constant through height for low-rise buildings, but for the others it tends to increase with the story number contradicting the same proportion reduction assumed in the Equivalent Static Lateral Method (ESLM). It is implicitly assumed in IBC Code that the overall ductility reduction factor for ductile moment resisting frames is about 4; the results of this study show that this value is non-conservative for low-rise buildings but conservative for mid- and high-rise buildings implying that the ESLM fails evaluating the inelastic interstory demands. If local ductility capacity is stated as the basis for design, a value of 0.4 for $Q_{GL}$ seems to be reasonable for low- and medium-rise buildings.