Automated location of seismic events is a very important task in microseismic monitoring operations as well for local and regional seismic monitoring. Since microseismic records are generally characterised by low signal-to-noise ratio, such methods are requested to be noise robust and sufficiently accurate. Most of the standard automated location routines are based on the automated picking, identification and association of the first arrivals of P and S waves and on the minimization of the residuals between theoretical and observed arrival times of the considered seismic phases. Although current methods can accurately pick P onsets, the automatic picking of the S onset is still problematic, especially when the P coda overlaps the S wave onset. In this thesis I developed a picking free automated method based on the Short-Term-Average/Long-Term-Average (STA/LTA) traces at different stations as observed data. I used the STA/LTA of several characteristic functions in order to increase the sensitiveness to the P wave and the S waves. For the P phases we use the STA/LTA traces of the vertical energy function, while for the S phases, we use the STA/LTA traces of the horizontal energy trace and then a more optimized characteristic function which is obtained using the principal component analysis technique. The orientation of the horizontal components can be retrieved by robust and linear approach of waveform comparison between stations within a network using seismic sources outside the network (chapter 2). To locate the seismic event, we scan the space of possible hypocentral locations and origin times, and stack the STA/LTA traces along the theoretical arrival time surface for both P and S phases. Iterating this procedure on a three-dimensional grid we retrieve a multidimensional matrix whose absolute maximum corresponds to the spatial and temporal coordinates of the seismic event. Location uncertainties are then estimated by perturbing the STA/LTA parameters (i.e the length of both long and short time windows) and relocating each event several times. In order to test the location method I firstly applied it to a set of 200 synthetic events. Then we applied it to two different real datasets. A first one related to mining induced microseismicity in a coal mine in the northern Germany (chapter 3). In this case we successfully located 391 microseismic event with magnitude range between 0.5 and 2.0 Ml. To further validate the location method I compared the retrieved locations with those obtained by manual picking procedure. The second dataset consist in a pilot application performed in the Campania-Lucania region (southern Italy) using a 33 stations seismic network (Irpinia Seismic Network) with an aperture of about 150 km (chapter 4). We located 196 crustal earthquakes (depth < 20 km) with magnitude range 1.1 < Ml < 2.7. A subset of these locations were compared with accurate locations retrieved by a manual location procedure based on the use of a double difference technique. In both cases results indicate good agreement with manual locations. Moreover, the waveform stacking location method results noise robust and performs better than classical location methods based on the automatic picking of the P and S waves first arrivals. / Die automatische Lokalisierung seismischer Ereignisse ist eine wichtige Aufgabe, sowohl im Bereich des Mikroseismischen Monitorings im Bergbau und von Untegrund Aktivitäten,  wie auch für die lokale und regionale Überwachung von natürlichen Erdbeben. Da mikroseismische Datensätze häufig ein schlechtes Signal-Rausch-Verhältnis haben müssen die Lokalisierungsmethoden robust gegen Rauschsignale und trotzdem hinreichend genau sein. Aufgrund der in der Regel sehr hochfrequent aufgezeichneten Messreihen und der dadurch sehr umfangreichen Datensätze sind automatische Auswertungen erstrebenswert. Solche Methoden benutzen in der Regel automatisch gepickte und  den P und S Phasen zugeordnete Ersteinsätze und Minimieren die Summe der quadratischen Zeitdifferenz zwischen den beobachteten und theoretischen Einsatzzeiten. Obgleich das automatische Picken der P Phase in der Regel sehr genau möglich ist, hat man beim Picken der S Phasen häufig Probleme, z.B. wenn die Coda der P Phase sehr lang ist und in den Bereich der S Phase hineinreicht. In dieser Doktorarbeit wird eine Methode vollautomatische, Wellenform-basierte Lokalisierungsmethode entwickelt, die Funktionen des Verhältnisses "Short Term Average / Long Term Average"  (STA/LTA) verwendet und keine Pickzeiten invertiert. Die STA/LTA charakteristische Funktion wurde für unterschiedliche Wellenform Attribute getestet, um die Empfindlichkeit für P und S Phasen zu erhöhen. Für die P Phase wird die STA/LTA Funktion für die Energie der Vertikalkomponente der Bodenbewegung benutzt, wohingegen für die S Phase entweder die Energie der horizontalen Partikelbewegung oder eine optimierte Funktion auf Basis der Eigenwertzerlegung benutzt wird. Um die Ereignisse zu lokalisieren wird eine Gittersuche über alle möglichen Untergrundlokalisierungen durchgeführt. Für jeden räumlichen und zeitlichen Gitterpunkt werden die charakteristischen Funktionen entlang der theoretischen Einsatzkurve aufsummiert. Als Ergebnis erhält man eine 4-dimensionale Matrix über Ort und Zeit des Ereignisses, deren Maxima die wahrscheinlichsten Lokalisierungen darstellen. Um die Unsicherheiten der Lokalisierung abzuschätzen wurden die Parameter der STA/LTA Funktionen willkürlich verändert und das Ereignis relokalisiert. Die Punktwolke aller möglichen Lokalisierungen gibt ein Maß für die Unsicherheit des Ergebnisses. Die neu entwickelte Methode wurde an einem synthetischen Datensatz von 200 Ereignissen getestet und für zwei beobachtete Datensätze demonstriert. Der erste davon betrifft induzierte Seismizität in einem Kohlebergbau in Norddeutschland. Es wurden 391 Mikrobeben mit Magnituden zwischen Ml 0.5 und 2.0 erfolgreich lokalisiert und durch Vergleich mit manuell ausgewerteten Lokalisierungen verifziert.Der zweite Datensatz stammt von einem Anwednung auf des Regionale Überwachungsnetz in der Region Campania-Lucania (Süditalien)  mit 33 seismischen Stationen und einer Apertur von etwa 150 km. Wir konnten 196 Erdbeben mit Tiefen < 20 km und Magnituden zwischen Ml 1.1 und 2.7 lokalisieren. Eine Untergruppe der eigenen Lokalisierungen wurde mit den Lokalisierungen einer Standard Lokalisierung sowie einer  hochgenauen Relativlokalisierung verglichen. In beiden Fällen ist die Übereinstimmung mit den manuellen Lokalisierungen groß. Außerdem finden wir, dass die Wellenform Summations Lokalisierung ronbust gegen Rauschen ist und bessere Ergebnisse liefert als die Standard Lokalisierung, die auf dem automatischen Picken von Ersteinsatzzeiten alleine basiert.

No description available.

This research project is the second part of a research program carried out by Itagawa (2005) who studied the seismic response of a half-scale model of an existing Montreal bridge built in the 1960's. This project studies the seismic behaviour of the retrofit carried out on the frame structure studied in the first part of the research program. The retrofit was made following the requirements of the current Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code (CHBDC). The philosophy of the CHBDC is to provide flexural yielding in the ductile elements so that brittle failure modes such as shear are prevented. This capacity-design approach resulted in a ductile response and significant energy dissipation of the retrofitted structure. / The retrofit was designed in accordance with the CHBDC provisions. The cap beam and the beam-column joint regions were strengthened with a reinforced concrete sleeve containing additional transverse and longitudinal bars so that plastic hinging would form in the columns. This retrofit represents minimum intervention to improve the response of the frame. The retrofit frame was then subjected to both gravity loads and reversed cyclic loading to simulate seismic loading on the structure. The predictions of the response of the retrofitted frame provided reasonable estimates of first yielding in the column and the general yielding of the frame. Although the columns would not meet the requirements for ductile columns, they had sufficient shear strength and did exhibit a displacement ductility of about 2.3.

Safety of a building's occupants is of primary concern in the design of a building. However, geophysical hazards such as earthquakes, still pose dangers to occupants of buildings. In an earthquake-resistant structure, even during a moderate shake, objects which are part of non-structural systems, accelerated by the sudden motion of the building, can hurt building occupants and cause damage to their property. The adoption of simple earthquake precautionary measures, could almost entirely eliminate this hazard. The adoption of these actions is the responsibility of occupants themselves, as part of their response to earthquake risk. / Previous personal experience with earthquakes has been identified to be a major component of response to hazard risk. This response relates to the incorporation of earthquake risk into daily life, by the adoption of earthquake precautionary measures, which could make a substantial difference in reducing loss of life and damage to property during an earthquake. Therefore, the investigation of occupants living patterns in relation to earthquake safety gives an insight on their vulnerability and level of adoption of earthquake precautionary measures, particularly in a city constantly exposed to ground shakes such as Mexico City. This research project concentrates in the study of the internal layout characteristics of the dwellings in a social housing complex built after the 1985 Mexico City earthquake.

Within the scope of this thesis, a reliability based risk assessment, based on Monte Carlo simulation was used to analyse the safety levels of Esenk&ouml / y Fishery Harbor main breakwater, Sea of Marmara, Turkey. In the past, in reliability-based risk assessment methodology in Turkey, the design conditions were only wave characteristics, tidal range, storm surge, wave set-up and the structural system parameters. However in this study, the tsunami risk which was considered as a major design parameter is included in the computations. In this study, development of a structural stability criterion in coastal engineering was suggested to achieve a common definition of reliability including the tsunami risk. The model introduced in this study is a practical technique in the reliability-based risk assessment of breakwaters subject to tsunami risk. In order to determine the occurrence probability of design condition, which is a function of storm waves, tidal range, storm surge and tsunami height, the Monte Carlo simulation, was applied. From the reliability-based risk assessment model applied to Esenk&ouml / y Fishery Harbor as a pilot study in Turkey it was found that, inclusion of the tsunami risk increases the failure risk of the structure, and as lifetime of the structure increases, the impact of tsunami risk on the failure mechanism is more reflected. For Esenk&ouml / y Fishery Harbor main breakwater, tsunami was not the key design parameter when compared to storm waves. However, in regions with great seismic activity, tsunami risk may be very noteworthy depending on the frequency and the magnitude of the tsunami.

Rotating machine play an important role in modern technology. Compressors in ventilating and cooling systems, pumps in power generation facilities, as well as high speed computer are all examples of flexible rotating machinery that must remain functional during and after a sever earthquake. Recent earthquakes have demonstrated that an aseismically designed structure may perform well during a strong earthquake yet still become nonfunctional due to damage in critical nonstructural components. For example, evacuation of several hospitals during the recent Northridge earthquake in the LA area was not caused by structural failure bur resulted from mechanical failure of the systems described above. Rotating machines are key components of such system. Further study into the behavior of these systems and technique for their protection for their protection during severe ground motion is needed. The flexible rotating machine is significantly complex, even for highly simplified models, due to gyroscopic and other effects. This paper presents the coupled, linear partial differential equations of motion of a flexible rotating shaft subjected to ground motion. Classical and finite element methods are developed to solve these equations. The effects of various physical parameters on the response of the system; magnitude, duration, and frequency content of the ground motion; bearing stiffness and damping; flexibility of the deformation and rotatory inertia effects are investigated, Both vertical and horizontal ground motion, individually and in combination, will be considered. / Graduation date: 1995

Performance-based earthquake engineering is an emerging field of study that complements the prescriptive methods that the design codes provide to ensure adequate seismic performance of structures. Accounting for uncertainties in the performance assessments forms an important component in this area. In this context, the present study focuses on two broad themes; first, treatment of uncertainties and the application of the first-order reliability method (FORM) in finite-element reliability analysis, and second, the seismic risk assessment of reinforced concrete structures for performance states such as, collapse and monetary loss. In the first area, the uncertainties arising from inherent randomness (“aleatory uncertainty”) and due to the lack of knowledge (“epistemic uncertainty”) are identified. A framework for the separation of these uncertainties is proposed. Following this, the applicability of FORM to the linear and nonlinear finite-element structural models under static and dynamic loading is investigated. The case studies indicate that FORM is applicable for linear and nonlinear static problems. Strategies are proposed to circumvent and remedy potential challenges to FORM. In the case of dynamic problems, the application of FORM is studied with an emphasis on cumulative response measures. The limit-state surface is shown to have a closed and nonlinear geometric shape. Solution methods are proposed to obtain probability bounds based on the FORM results. In the application-oriented second area of research, at first, the probability of collapse of a reinforced concrete frame is assessed with nonlinear static analysis. By modelling the post-failure behaviour of individual structural members, the global response of the structure is estimated beyond the component failures. The final application is the probabilistic assessment of monetary loss for a high-rise shear wall building due to the seismic hazard in the Cascadia subduction zone. A 3-dimensional finite-element model of the structure with nonlinear material models is subjected to stochastic ground motions in the reliability analysis. The parameters for the stochastic ground motion model are developed for Vancouver, Canada. Monetary losses due to the damage of structural and non-structural components are included.

In the last decade, Australian civil engineers have not paid enough attention to earthquake resistant design of structures. It was commonly believed that the earthquake risk was insignificant thus earthquake resistant design was not considered for most buildings. Earthquake resistant design of structures has become an important issue in Australia following the Newcastle earthquake in 1989. / Masonry is one of the most commonly used materials throughout Australia for the construction of low rise buildings. Even though the history of past earthquakes has shown that masonry buildings suffered the maximum damage and accounted for the maximum loss of life, they continue to be popular. It was evident from the Newcastle earthquake that most unreinforced masonry structures were seriously damaged. Therefore it is important to retrofit and strengthen existing masonry structures to resist the potential earthquake damages. / For the last twenty years, several seismic retrofitting techniques for masonry structures have been developed and practiced, but rarely validated with experiments and numerical modelling. Further more, the research has been carried out mainly in America and Japan where the risk of major earthquake is high. In Australia, although unreinforced masonry is one of the most popular types of construction, research into seismic retrofitting of masonry structures is rare. / The purpose of this research is to develop a new, cheaper and high strength seismic retrofitting technique for masonry structures. An innovative retrofitting technique is presented for improving the seismic resistance of unreinforced masonry walls using cable systems. In this thesis, the experimental results from four unreinforced masonry walls and eight unreinforced masonry walls retrofitted with cable systems are presented. Seven unreinforced masonry walls retrofitted with FRP were also conducted in this research for comparison purpose. All walls were tested under combined constant gravity load and incrementally increasing in-plane lateral displacement reversals. The results showed that both the strength and ductility of tested specimens were significantly enhanced with this new technique. Seismic retrofitting of unreinforced masonry walls with cables proved to be an effective and reliable strengthening alternative. / In this thesis, a basic mechanical model has been introduced first using the simple truss model. Then, two nonlinear finite element models based on this basic mechanical model have been developed to validate the experimental results. One model is developed for unreinforced masonry walls retrofitted by cable system and the other model is developed for unreinforced masonry walls retrofitted by FRP. All of the models have been found between the analytical and experimental results are reasonably good agreement. The model takes into account the material nonlinearities as well as damage due to progressive cracking. Behaviour of the masonry is modelled using the theory of plasticity and cracking is modelled using smear cracking approach. The model is generated using ABAQUS Finite Element program. The validity of the model is established by comparison with the experimental results. It is shown that both of the numerical models are capable of predicting not only the load carrying capacity, but also the failure mode and, ductility of the retrofitted masonry walls. / This thesis reviews the literature on all seismic retrofitting techniques and compares their advantages and disadvantages to identify the most effective and economic retrofitting method for unreinforced masonry buildings. It also presents the basic concepts of seismic retrofitting and summarizes the findings from recent experimental and analytical research activities on the seismic retrofitting of unreinforced masonry buildings and provides some retrofit strategies on the most common failure modes. It is expected that this thesis will provide some guidelines to assist Australian engineers to retrofit unreinforced masonry buildings. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2005.

No description available.

A problem endemic in the development of the built environment is poor communication between structural and geotechnical specialists. Through better communication and considering the structure and foundation as an integrated system, new opportunities may arise for achieving superior performance. This thesis investigates the seismic performance of the integrated system through the development of integrated structure-foundation models using the Ruaumoko structural analysis program. A detailed representation of the structural and foundation systems was created using Ruaumoko, providing insight into the response of a range of integrated structure-foundation systems during seismic loading. In developing both shallow and deep foundation models, some modifications were made to Ruaumoko elements in order to improve the foundation model, but generally existing element configurations were used to represent foundations. Multiple structural and foundation designs were developed using a range of approaches. Use of a range of shallow foundation design methods identified the significant impact that moment loading had on foundation performance. Partial uplift of footings was identified as detrimental to footing performance as it shifted the rotational axes, increasing moment loads and reducing effective footing area. Pinned connections between the structure and shallow footings eliminated these effects at the expense of significant redistribution of actions in the structure and increased displacements. Variation of soil conditions showed that softer soil was most likely to reduce demands on the structure at the expense of foundation non-linearity. Reduced stiffness and increased radiation damping characteristics of raft foundations compared to footing foundation systems reduced the demands on three storey structures for all soil conditions. Increased structural demands were identified for the ten storey structure as a result of the reduced impact of foundation characteristics on the response of the integrated system. The level of rotational restraint at the head of pile foundations had a considerable effect on the structure and the foundation, with free-head piles developing the largest pile displacements and actions. Reduced rotational stiffness caused a substantial change in the distribution of structural actions, while increasing rotational restraint moved the characteristics closer to the response of fixed base models. Softer soil conditions greatly increased non-linearity in the foundation soil without any definitive improvement in structural performance.