Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures provides requirements for general structural design and includes means for determining dead, live, soil, flood, wind, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, and earthquake loads, as well as their combinations, which are suitable for inclusion in building codes and other documents. This Standard, a revision of ASCE/SEI 7-05, offers a complete update and reorganization of the wind load provisions, expanding them from one chapter into six. The Standard contains new ultimate event wind maps with corresponding reductions in load factors, so that the loads are not affected, and updates the seismic loads with new risk-targeted seismic maps. The snow, live, and atmospheric icing provisions are updated as well. In addition, the Standard includes a detailed Commentary with explanatory and supplementary information designed to assist building code committees and regulatory authorities. Standard ASCE/SEI 7 is an integral part of building codes in the United States. Many of the load provisions are substantially adopted by reference in the International Building Code and the NFPA 5000 Building Construction and Safety Code. Structural engineers, architects, and those engaged in preparing and administering local building codes will find this Standard an essential reference in their practice. Note: New orders are fulfilled from the second printing, which incorporates the errata to the first printing.

Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures

/pdf/applied-system-identification-kp4cligt7z.pdf

Applied System Identification

Seismic performance upgrading of containment structures using a negative-stiffness amplification system

Seismic Isolation, Structural Health Monitoring, and Performance Based Seismic Design in Earthquake Engineering

A study of optimal design process for complex-shaped skyscrapers’ structural systems in United Arab Emirates

In this study, the possibility to use Horasan mortar as a sliding interface material for pure friction aseismic isolation system is investigated. Both experimental and numerical studies are conducted to examine the effectiveness of using this material in structural isolation systems of buildings with no overturning moment, as it has shown some attractive experiences in time based on the existing related literature. Responses of four storey lightweight building are numerically investigated by finite element modelling in MATLAB; whereas the University Consortium on Instructional Shake Table (UCIST) is used to study the responses of the same building during experimental works. Comparison of both studies is shown to be in a good agreement in terms of resulting structural response accelerations, velocity and displacements. Approximately 28 - 31 % reduction of base floor acceleration is achieved; and the maximum sliding velocity and displacement are found to lie between 0.33-0.45 m/sec and 0.0353-0.0559 m respectively; which fall within the recommended standards’ limits. As a result, these findings demonstrate the effectiveness of using Horasan mortar as friction interface material which has additionally gained experience in more than ten centuries.

A Comparative Study on Effectiveness of Using Horasan Mortar as a Pure Friction Sliding Interface Material

Presented Structural Seismic Isolation Method (SSIM) aims to provide high safety for Highly Reliable Structures (HRS) against strong earthquakes including near-fault and long-period ground motions. The examined structure is converted to Structural Seismic Isolation System (SSIS) by the SSIM method which exhibited inverse pendulum behaviour. For this purpose, structure foot base and foundation contact surfaces have been designed as any curved surfaces (spherical, elliptical, etc.) depending on the earthquake-soil-superstructure parameters and this contact surfaces have been separated by elastomeric (lead core rubber or laminated rubber bearings) seismic isolation devices. It would allow the structure foot base to turn around gyration centre through rubber bearing contact and maintains similar behaviour to the super-structure. SSIS system provides the possibility of keeping the natural-period of the structure in a larger interval, which is greater than the predominant-period of the majority of possible earthquakes (including near-fault pulse) using currently existing conventional elastomeric isolators with up to 4 second period. Thus, the structure can sustain its serviceability after strong and long-period earthquakes. In this study SSIS system’s performance is presented for high-rise building structures, for this aim, the finite element model of the building (Bg) structure with SSIS system (SSIS-Bg) has been prepared and the nonlinear dynamic analysis of the model has been conducted using strong and long-period ground motions. Results indicate that the base and top accelerations, base shear and base moment responses of the SSIS-Bg structure is 23.21 %, 75.47 % and 85.74 % in average lower than the Conventional Application Method of Seismic Base Isolation Devices for Building (CAMSBID-Bg) structures respectively and it is not prone to resonant vibrations under long-period earthquakes related with the excessive deformation in the isolation layers in case of using CAMSBID-Bg structures. It should be noted that in this study with the presented SSIM method and SSIS system, it is aimed to protect only the Highly Reliable Structures(HRS) from the effects of strong and long-period ground motions and these structures (HRS) are classified as follows: 1) Nuclear Containment Structures; 2) High-rise buildings that contain information, operating systems, sensitive instruments, communication systems, routing systems, bank operating systems, databases, management systems and other similar facilities that are linked to the security and economy of a country; 3) High-rise hospitals etc.

/pdf/new-structural-seismic-protection-for-high-rise-building-31t8lzpfmm.pdf

New structural seismic protection for high-rise building structures

Usage of FRP composites for the retrofitting purpose of the structures against the harmful effect of dynamic loads are gaining popularity, it is used in a wide variety of disciplines including civil engineering. Thus, there is a great need to study the behavior of FRP composites for strengthening purposes of structures using empirical methods. In this study, a bench-scale steel structure model was strengthened with CFRP composite and tested using operational modal analysis. To conduct operational modal analysis a bench-scale earthquake simulator and ambient vibration emulator were used. Same steel structure model was tested without strengthening procedure. Obtained dynamic responses (maximum-minimum displacements and accelerations before and after application of CFRP) of steel structure model have compared to each other. This study shows that floor displacements of the model have been decreased along the height of the structure up to 41.43 %. Therefore, the results of the experiment confirm the effectiveness CFRP composites for the strengthening of steel structures.

Experimental Study on Behavior of Bench-Scale Steel Structure Retrofitted with CFRP Composites under Ambient Vibration

In this research lead core rubber bearing (LCRB) seismic isolator is designed such that the available period (4secs) of it is increased to (6secs), low period important structures (hospital, school, and similar structures) equipped with this type isolator has exhibited safer behavior at least around extremum range of the strong and long period earthquake excitations and proposed for related applications. The LCRB6 seismic isolation system and the hospital building resting on isolation system has been modeled in LS-DYNA finite element software and analyzed using various strong and long period ground motions, related response results of the structure have been presented.

Investigation of Seismic Base Isolated Structures for Long Period Ground Motions

The new Structural Seismic Isolation System (SSIS) intends to provide high safety for important structures such as nuclear power plants, offshore oil platforms, and high-rise buildings against near-fault and long-period earthquakes. The presented SSIS structure foot base and foundation contact surfaces have been designed as any curved surfaces (spherical, elliptical, etc.) depending on the earthquake-soil-superstructure parameters, and these contact surfaces have been separated by using elastomeric (lead core rubber or laminated rubber bearings with up to 4-second period) seismic isolation devices. It would allow providing inverse pendulum behavior to the structure. As a result of this behavior, the natural period of the structure will possess greater intervals which are larger than the predominant period of the majority of the possible earthquakes including near-fault zones. Consequently, the structure can maintain its serviceability after the occurrence of strong and long-period earthquakes. This study has investigated the performance of the SSIS for the nuclear containment (SSIS-NC) structure. The finite element model of SISS-NC structure has been developed, and nonlinear dynamic analysis of the model has been conducted under the strong and long-period ground motions. The results have been presented in comparison with the conventional application method of the seismic base isolation devices for nuclear containment (CAMSBID-NC) and fixed base nuclear containment (FB-NC) structures. The base and top accelerations, effective stress, and critical shear stress responses of the SSIS-NC structure are 48.67%, 36.70%, and 32.60% on average lower than those of CAMSBID-NC structure, respectively. The result also confirms that the SSIS-NC structure did not cause resonant vibrations under long-period earthquakes. On the other hand, there is excessive deformation in the isolation layers of CAMSBID-NC structure.

/pdf/new-structural-seismic-isolation-for-nuclear-containment-538h60fpr2.pdf

Obaidullah Abrar

Papers

A Comparative Study on Effectiveness of Using Horasan Mortar as a Pure Friction Sliding Interface Material

New structural seismic protection for high-rise building structures

Experimental Study on Behavior of Bench-Scale Steel Structure Retrofitted with CFRP Composites under Ambient Vibration

Investigation of Seismic Base Isolated Structures for Long Period Ground Motions

New Structural Seismic Isolation for Nuclear Containment Structures