Earthquake resistant structures

About: Earthquake resistant structures is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1126 publications have been published within this topic receiving 27467 citations.

Experimental Study on Beam-to-Column Connections of Steel Frame Structures with Steel Slit Dampers

Abstract: After the Northridge and Kobe earthquakes important experimental programs on beam-to-column connections were developed because of brittle fractures at welded beam-to-column connections. A number of studies are being carried out on a variety of materials and systems that dissipate the seismic loading effects in order to improve the seismic performance of steel frames. In the research reported in this paper, a slit steel damper system was developed to prevent the damage formation of standard columns and beams by dissipating lateral loads at the beam-to-column connections of steel frames. Therefore, the columns and beams of steel frames will not be damaged after a heavy earthquake, and the structures might be put into the service again simply by replacing the dampers at the connection sites. The seismic performance of the studied connection was verified through cyclic tests of two full-scale steel frames that had slit dampers and of one specimen that had a conventional extended end-plate connection. ...

Large-Scale Experimental Studies of Structural Control Algorithms for Structures with Magnetorheological Dampers Using Real-Time Hybrid Simulation

Abstract: Real-time hybrid simulations using large-scale magnetorheological (MR) dampers were conducted to evaluate the performance of various structural control strategies to control the seismic response of a three-story steel-frame building. Magnetorheological dampers were installed in the building to limit the story drift to less than 1.5% under the design-basis earthquake (DBE). The laboratory specimens, referred to as experimental substructures, were two individual MR dampers, with the remainder of the building modeled as a nonlinear analytical substructure. The experimental technique enables an ensemble of ground motions to be applied to the building, resulting in various levels of damage, without the need to repair the experimental substructures because the damage will be within the analytical substructure. Five different damper control algorithms, including passive and semiactive control algorithms, were selected. An ensemble of five ground motions scaled to the DBE was used for the real-time hybrid...

Probabilistic Capacity Models and Fragility Estimates for Reinforced Concrete Columns Incorporating NDT Data

Abstract: Knowing the ability of reinforced concrete (RC) bridges to withstand future seismic demands during their life-cycle can help bridge owners make rational decisions regarding optimal allocation of resources for maintenance, repair, and/or rehabilitation of bridge systems. The accuracy of a reliability assessment can be improved by incorporating information about the current aging and deterioration conditions of a bridge. Nondestructive testing (NDT) can be used to evaluate the actual conditions of a bridge, avoiding the use of deterioration models that bring additional uncertainties in the reliability assessment. This paper develops probabilistic deformation and shear capacity models for RC bridge columns that incorporate information obtained from NDT. The proposed models can be used when the flexural stiffness decays nonuniformly over a column height. The flexural stiffness of a column is estimated based on measured acceleration responses using a system identification method and the damage index method. As an application of the proposed models, a case study assesses the fragility (the conditional probability of attaining or exceeding a specified capacity level) of the column in the Lavic Road Overcrossing for a given deformation or shear demand. This two-span concrete box-girder bridge located in Southern California was subject to the Hector Mine Earthquake in 1999. Pre- and postearthquake estimates of the univariate shear and deformation fragilities and of the bivariate shear-deformation fragility are computed and compared. Both displacement and shear capacities are found to decrease after the earthquake event. Additionally, the results show that the damage due to the Hector Mine Earthquake has a larger impact on the shear capacity than the deformation capacity, leading to a more significant increment in the shear fragility than in the deformation fragility.

Experimental behavior of steel fixed bearings and implications for seismic bridge response

Abstract: Steel fixed bearings are commonplace structural elements for transmitting loads from superstructures to substructures, and they have typically occupied a role of elastic force transfer elements within the overall scheme of an earthquake resisting system (ERS). Recent revisions to design and guide specifications have acknowledged the possibility of bearings acting as fuses, but there is little research available to characterize bearing behavior for such design roles or the associated bridge response to be expected when bearings have fused. One design approach, adopted by the Illinois DOT (IDOT), applies capacity design principles and permits the bearings and superstructure to slide on the substructure. The intent of this design approach is to capture some of the beneficial aspects of conventional isolated systems, such as period elongation, reduction of force demands, and protection of substructures from large inelastic displacement demands, without incurring the additional design provisions and fabrication costs to satisfy the requirements for seismic isolation systems. To achieve this quasi-isolated bridge response, steel fixed bearings are used as fusing elements, where the steel pintles or anchor rods rupture, and the fixed bearing plates become free to slide on the supporting pier cap. A properly proportioned bearing will fuse prior to superstructure/substructure elements experiencing inelastic demands. The University of Illinois has been collaborating with IDOT to investigate the behavior of quasi-isolated bridge systems and to calibrate and refine IDOT’s ERS design and construction methodology. The research is composed of experimental testing to characterize fundamental bearing behavior, coupled with nonlinear global bridge modeling to evaluate limit state progression and estimate maximum displacement demands of the superstructure relative to the substructure. The cyclic response of full-scale steel low-profile fixed bearings demonstrates predictable sliding behavior, but based on current design procedures, these bearings are often overdesigned for use as fuses in quasi-isolated bridges. Consequently, a bridge, which in other respects may exhibit satisfactory quasi-isolated response, might also incur significant damage to the substructure unit where fixed bearings are provided. A parametric study of global bridge response demonstrates that the anchorage of fixed bearings to substructures could be reduced to limit the damage to the supporting substructure unit while incurring only a nominal increase in superstructure displacement demands.

Utilizing Visco-Elastic Dampers in the Seismic Retrofit of a Thirteen Story Steel Framed Building

Abstract: A 13 story steel framed building in Santa Clara Country, California exhibited strong beating effects (torsional coupling) and prolonged building response as result of various seismic events. A study was conducted to determine the reason why this structure performed differently from similar structure in the adjacent area. A lack of inherent damping was found to be the primary cause for poor dynamic behavior. Three 'seismic' dampers were studied for implementation into the structure to reduce the buildings response. The design approach and parameters are presented in this paper. The effectiveness of the chosen damper to various dynamic excitations is compared to the approximately 1% damped existing structure. The results show that the building response can be significantly reduced by the implementation of dampers.