The infrequent nature of earthquakes in the Central and Eastern United States (CEUS), and the fact that none with intensity comparable to the New Madrid sequence of 1811 12 or the Charleston earthquake of 1886 has occurred in the past century, have caused the earthquake hazard in the region to be ignored until quite recently. The seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) frames in the CEUS, which have primarily been designed for gravity load effects, is expected to be deficient when subjected to earthquakes that are judged, in recent seismological research, as being plausible in the New Madrid Seismic Zone (NMSZ). The objective of this study is to develop a set of probability-based tools for efficient uncertainty analysis and seismic vulnerability and risk assessment of such gravity load designed (GLD) RC frames and to use these tools in evaluating the seismic vulnerability of RC frames that are representative of the building inventory in Memphis, TN the largest population center close to the NMSZ. Synthetic earthquake ground motions for the CEUS that are available from two different Mid-America Earthquake (MAE) Center projects were used in the finite element-based simulations for determining the seismic demand on the GLD RC frames by nonlinear time history analysis (NTHA). A beam-column joint model was developed to address the deficiencies in the joints of GLD frames and was incorporated in the finite element structural models. Seismic fragilities were derived for low-, mid-, and high-rise GLD RC frames. Various sources of uncertainty were propagated through the analysis, and their significance for fragility assessment was examined. These fragilities were used to evaluate the vulnerability of the RC frame inventory in Memphis, TN with regard to performance-based design objectives, defined in terms of performance levels associated with reference earthquake hazard levels. This performance appraisal indicated that GLD RC frames do not meet the life safety and collapse prevention performance objectives that are found in recent building codes and guidelines for performance-based earthquake engineering.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 191-194). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (M.S. in civil engineering)--Washington State University, December 2009. / Title from PDF title page (viewed on Feb. 4, 2010). "Department of Civil Engineering." Includes bibliographical references (p. 134-135).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Drexel University, 2004. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 546-560).

Thesis (M.Eng.)--University of Louisville, 2009. / Title and description from thesis home page (viewed February 5, 2010). Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Vita. "August 2009." Includes bibliographical references (p. 113-115).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--West Virginia University, 2001. / Title from document title page. Document formatted into pages; contains xiv, 204 p. : ill. (some col.). Vita. Includes abstract. Includes bibliographical references (p. 190-195).

Thesis (M. Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-109). Also available in electronic version. Access restricted to campus users.

Corrosion of embedded reinforcement is the leading form of deterioration affecting the integrity of reinforced and prestressed concrete bridge members around the world. If undetected, corrosion can limit the service life of the bridge and lead to expensive repairs. The research team at the University of Texas at Austin has developed a new class of passive wireless corrosion sensors. The noncontact (NC) sensor platform provides an economical and nondestructive means for detecting corrosion initiation within concrete. The sensor is powered through the inductive coupling to an external mobile reader that can be handheld or mounted on a vehicle. It is envisioned that the four-dollar sensor will be embedded in concrete during construction and interrogated sporadically over the service life of the structure. The sensor output can be used to detect corrosion initiation within concrete and is expected to enhance the quality information collected during qualitative routine bridge inspections. The NC sensor prototype consists of a resonant circuit that is inductively coupled to a sacrificial transducer. Corrosion of the sacrificial element alters the measured sensor response and is used to detect corrosion within concrete. Electrochemical evaluations were conducted to ensure that the sacrificial element exhibited identical response as the reinforcement steel. In addition, the results of extensive experimental parametric studies were used in conjunction with circuit and electromagnetic finite element models to optimize the NC sensor design. Long-term exposure tests were used to evaluate the reliability of the passive noncontact sensors. Sensors were embedded in reinforced concrete specimens and successfully detected the onset of corrosion in the adjacent reinforcement. Unlike the traditional corrosion evaluation methods, such as half-cell potentials, the sensors output was insensitive to environmental variations. / text

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