Time history-analyses of building structures have been used for a quite long time for research at universities. Considering the advantage of time-history analysis relative to the equivalent static force method, the National Building of Canada and other modern building codes around the world require the use of time-history analysis in the design of specified types of buildings located in seismic regions. One of the main issues in the use of time-history analysis is related to the selection and scaling of the seismic excitations (i.e., accelerograms) to be compatible with the design spectrum for the location considered. Currently, both recorded (i.e., “real”) accelerograms and artificial accelerograms are used in the analyses. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of the selection and scaling of seismic excitations on the response of reinforced concrete frame buildings. Three reinforced concrete frame buildings with heights of 4 storey, 10 storey and 16 storey, designed for Vancouver (high seismic zone) were used in this study. Five sets of seismic excitations were used in the analysis – one set of “real” accelerograms, and four sets of artificial accelerograms obtained by different methods. All sets were scaled to be compatible with the design spectrum for Vancouver. Both linear and nonlinear time history analyses were conducted on the buildings considered. Interstorey drifts and storey shear forces were used as response parameters. The results from the linear analysis show that both the interstorey drifts and the shear forces are affected significantly by the type of the excitation set. Similarly, the effects of the type of the seismic excitations on the drifts from nonlinear analysis are substantial. On the other hand, the influence of the excitation sets on the storey shears from nonlinear analysis are quite small. Based on the results from this study, sets of scaled real records are preferred for use in time-history analysis of building structures. If such records are not available, then sets of simulated accelerograms based on the regional seismic characteristics should be used.

Time history-analyses of building structures have been used for a quite long time for research at universities. Considering the advantage of time-history analysis relative to the equivalent static force method, the National Building of Canada and other modern building codes around the world require the use of time-history analysis in the design of specified types of buildings located in seismic regions. One of the main issues in the use of time-history analysis is related to the selection and scaling of the seismic excitations (i.e., accelerograms) to be compatible with the design spectrum for the location considered. Currently, both recorded (i.e., “real”) accelerograms and artificial accelerograms are used in the analyses. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of the selection and scaling of seismic excitations on the response of reinforced concrete frame buildings. Three reinforced concrete frame buildings with heights of 4 storey, 10 storey and 16 storey, designed for Vancouver (high seismic zone) were used in this study. Five sets of seismic excitations were used in the analysis – one set of “real” accelerograms, and four sets of artificial accelerograms obtained by different methods. All sets were scaled to be compatible with the design spectrum for Vancouver. Both linear and nonlinear time history analyses were conducted on the buildings considered. Interstorey drifts and storey shear forces were used as response parameters. The results from the linear analysis show that both the interstorey drifts and the shear forces are affected significantly by the type of the excitation set. Similarly, the effects of the type of the seismic excitations on the drifts from nonlinear analysis are substantial. On the other hand, the influence of the excitation sets on the storey shears from nonlinear analysis are quite small. Based on the results from this study, sets of scaled real records are preferred for use in time-history analysis of building structures. If such records are not available, then sets of simulated accelerograms based on the regional seismic characteristics should be used.

Time history-analyses of building structures have been used for a quite long time for research at universities. Considering the advantage of time-history analysis relative to the equivalent static force method, the National Building of Canada and other modern building codes around the world require the use of time-history analysis in the design of specified types of buildings located in seismic regions. One of the main issues in the use of time-history analysis is related to the selection and scaling of the seismic excitations (i.e., accelerograms) to be compatible with the design spectrum for the location considered. Currently, both recorded (i.e., “real”) accelerograms and artificial accelerograms are used in the analyses. The objective of this study is to determine the effects of the selection and scaling of seismic excitations on the response of reinforced concrete frame buildings. Three reinforced concrete frame buildings with heights of 4 storey, 10 storey and 16 storey, designed for Vancouver (high seismic zone) were used in this study. Five sets of seismic excitations were used in the analysis – one set of “real” accelerograms, and four sets of artificial accelerograms obtained by different methods. All sets were scaled to be compatible with the design spectrum for Vancouver. Both linear and nonlinear time history analyses were conducted on the buildings considered. Interstorey drifts and storey shear forces were used as response parameters. The results from the linear analysis show that both the interstorey drifts and the shear forces are affected significantly by the type of the excitation set. Similarly, the effects of the type of the seismic excitations on the drifts from nonlinear analysis are substantial. On the other hand, the influence of the excitation sets on the storey shears from nonlinear analysis are quite small. Based on the results from this study, sets of scaled real records are preferred for use in time-history analysis of building structures. If such records are not available, then sets of simulated accelerograms based on the regional seismic characteristics should be used.

Since 2004 there have been multiple devastating tsunamis around the globe triggered by large magnitude earthquakes; with the most recent being the Tohoku, Japan tsunami in March 2011. These tsunamis have caused significant loss of life and damage to the coastal communities impacted by these powerful waves. The resulting devastation has raised awareness of the dangers of tsunamis and the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) housesmash project (NEEShousesmash), was started to investigate several different areas of tsunami inundation. The work presented in the following two manuscripts was performed at the O.H. Hinsdale Wave Lab and Gene D. Knudson Wood Engineering Lab, which are located at Oregon State University. This work represents a small portion of the total NEEShousesmash project, and is focused on improving the knowledge and predictability of tsunami loading and structural performance. The first manuscript investigates tsunami wave impact on full scale light-frame wood walls, and compares the measured forces to calculated values using the linear momentum equation, previously evaluated by Cross (1967). The results show for each wave height tested a peak transient force followed by a sustained quasi-static force, with a ratio of transient force to quasi-static force of 2.2. The results also show that the linear momentum equation did an acceptable job of predicting the measured transient forces on the walls to within ±10%, and that increased wall flexibility, 2x4 vs. 2x6 dimensional lumber, resulted in lower measured transient forces when subjected to similar tsunami wave heights. These results are important for practical use because the linear momentum equation is a simple equation to use, that only requires a couple of site specific input variables. The second manuscript is a continuation of the work done in the wave lab for the first manuscript. These experiments provide a starting point for expanding the testing of the structural response and performance of larger scale structures subjected to tsunami wave loads. By simulating tsunami loading in a traditional structures laboratory, the inherent limits of testing structural performance in small scale tsunami laboratory facilities is removed. The results show that a light-frame wood shear wall, built to current standards, is susceptible to premature failures from concentrated impact loads at intermediate heights compared to the design strength at full height. It is also shown that the out-of-plane walls subjected to both elastic and inelastic loads behave like a one way slab with minimal load sharing between adjacent studs. The failures observed during the hydrodynamic wave testing of the nailed connection between the bottom plate and studs was successfully reproduced, and shows that current construction standards are not fully utilizing the available capacity of each stud when subjected to tsunami waves. The reinforcement of this connection with traditional metal brackets would help increase the capacity of the out-of-plane wall to resist tsunami wave loads. / Graduation date: 2012

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, 2005. / "June 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 123-126). Also available electronically via the Australian Digital Theses Program.

Une mauvaise étanchéité à l’air dans un bâtiment peut entraîner des surconsommations énergétiques et poser un certain nombre de problèmes tels que l’apparition de moisissures dans les murs ou encore une mauvaise qualité de l’air intérieur. Les constructions à ossature bois sont particulièrement sujettes aux infiltrations d’air, d’où la nécessité de mieux comprendre ces phénomènes et leurs conséquences afin que ces bâtiments puissent respecter les normes d’étanchéité de plus en plus strictes. Cette étude contribue par plusieurs aspects et à différentes échelles à l’évaluation de l’impact des infiltrations d’air sur les performances d’un bâtiment.Les infiltrations d’air à travers l’enveloppe peuvent perturber le bon fonctionnement de la ventilation mécanique et augmenter les pertes thermiques. Cette problématique est d’abord traitée numériquement à l’échelle du bâtiment, avec l’étude d’une grande variété de maisons et de conditions météorologiques. Des modèles simplifiés applicables à tout niveau d’étanchéité ont été établis pour la prise en compte des infiltrations naturelles dans les calculs de débit total de ventilation. Une plus petite échelle est ensuite considérée pour l’étude de l’étanchéité à l’air, avec la caractérisation expérimentale de parois ossature bois, de matériaux et de détails de construction, notamment grâce à la construction d’un banc d’essai adapté. Un certain nombre de tests de pressurisation ont permis de quantifier les fuites d’air induites par des défauts d’étanchéité spécifiques et peuvent être utilisés pour les simulations numériques à l’échelle du bâtiment.L’impact des infiltrations d’air sur les performances hygrothermiques d’une paroi est intimement lié à la dispersion de l’air à l’intérieur de celle-ci, mais il y a actuellement un manque d’études et de techniques expérimentales pour la déterminer. Une nouvelle méthode a donc été développée, à savoir l’utilisation de microparticules de fluorescéine comme traceur à l’intérieur des isolants. L’établissement de cartographies de la concentration en fluorescéine a permis d’étudier l’impact de certains paramètres tels que la vitesse d’air, le matériau isolant ou encore la géométrie sur les infiltrations d’air, et a mis en évidence des phénomènes tels que l’apparition de lames d’air entre les composants de la paroi. Par ailleurs un modèle du transport des particules de fluorescéine a été développé et couplé à un modèle CFD pour des analyses plus fines du chemin de l’air.Enfin, une étude de cas a été effectuée sur des parois simplifiées afin de comparer les différentes méthodes expérimentales, de vérifier leur applicabilité à l’étude du chemin de l’air, et d’obtenir des données pour la validation de modèles numériques. La dispersion de l’air en entrée/sortie de l’isolant a été étudiée par thermographie infrarouge et PIV. Le chemin de l’air à l’intérieur de l’isolant a lui été étudié par 3 techniques : des mesures de température avec des thermocouples ; d’humidité relative avec des capteurs capacitifs SHT 75 ; et l’utilisation de microparticules de fluorescéine. Les avantages et inconvénients de chaque méthode ont été identifiés pour aider à sélectionner la plus adaptée pour de futures études. / Poor airtightness in buildings can lead to an over-consumption of energy and to many issues such as moisture damage and poor indoor climate. The timber frame constructions are particularly subject to air leakage and further knowledge in this field is needed to meet the regulation requirements tightened by the development of low-energy and passive houses. This study focuses on the impact of air infiltration on the buildings’ performance, both at the building and the wall assembly scales.The air infiltration through the envelope can disrupt the proper functioning of mechanical ventilation and increase the global energy load. This issue was first investigated numerically at the building scale on a wide range of housing and weather conditions. Simplified models working across the whole airtightness spectrum were established for the inclusion of natural infiltration in buildings’ total ventilation rate calculations. The airtightness was then considered at a smaller scale with the experimental characterization of timber frame wall assemblies, components and construction details, in particular with an original test set-up built for this purpose. A number of pressurization tests enabled to quantify the additional leakage air flow induced by specific airtightness defects and may be of use for building scale numerical simulations.The impact of air infiltration on the hygro-thermal performance of a wall is closely linked to the air dispersion inside it, but there is a lack of experimental studies and methods for the air path investigation. A new technique has therefore been developed, consisting in an innovative use of fluorescein micro-particles as tracer inside the insulation material. It was first applied to specific configurations: straight/angled air channels in contact with porous media. A simple analysis of the fluorescein concentration mappings enabled to investigate the impact of parameters such as the flow velocity, the insulation material and the geometry on the air infiltration in the glass wool, and gave evidences of phenomena such as the appearance of thin air gaps between the components of the wall. A fluorescein transport model was developed and coupled to a CFD model for finer analysis.Finally a case study on simple wall assemblies was carried out to compare experimental techniques, to verify their applicability to the air path study and to provide data for possible numerical model validation. The air dispersion at the inlet/outlet of the insulation was studied with both infrared thermography and the PIV. The air path inside the insulation layer was investigated using three experimental approaches: a temperature monitoring with thermocouples; a relative humidity monitoring with capacitive sensors SHT 75; and the use of fluorescein tracer micro-particles. The respective benefits and limitations of the various methods were identified to help in the selection of the most appropriate one for further studies.

Depuis quelques années, d'importants efforts ont été réalisés sur l'amélioration de la performance énergétique des bâtiments qui représentent le premier poste de consommation énergétique en France. Les exigences de la nouvelle réglementation thermique 2012 illustrent bien ces évolutions avec une consommation conventionnelle d'énergie primaire comprenant l'ensemble des postes (chauffage, climatisation, éclairage, ventilation, eau chaude sanitaire), déduction faite de l'électricité produite sur place, qui devra être inférieure à 50 kWh.m2.an-1 d'énergie primaire. La réponse à cette nouvelle exigence se fera par l'adoption de technologies constructives conduisant à une consommation pour le chauffage équivalente aux constructions dites « passives » (environ 15 kWh.m2.an-1) et dont le recours à la climatisation est limité voir inexistant. Il s'agit pour cela de limiter toutes les contributions à l'échauffement du bâtiment et éventuellement de lui adjoindre un système de rafraichissement à coefficient de performance élevé. Après avoir montré par l'exemple qu'un bâtiment à ossature à faible inertie en métropole, par sa capacité de stockage thermique limitée, est prédisposé à des problèmes de surchauffe, nous avons construit cette thèse autour de deux axes d'amélioration, dédiés aux constructions à ossature, que sont : - La limitation des charges solaires transmises au travers de l'enveloppe en faisant appel à une spécificité des constructions à ossature qu'est la présence d'un espace naturellement ventilé en sous-face du parement extérieur que nous utiliserons afin d'extraire une partie des charges solaires incidentes; - Le couplage de ces bâtiments « légers » à un échangeur air/masse qui contient l'inertie nécessaire au maintien des conditions de confort estivales lorsque la réduction de température nocturne le permet. Basée sur une approche numérique et expérimentale en vrai grandeur et en conditions réelles, nous proposons d'aborder tour à tour chacune de ces stratégies d'amélioration du confort qui trouvent leurs applications aussi bien en climat chaud et sec qu'en climat tropical. / Building sector is the most important energy consumer in France, and one of the field where there is the highest potential for improvement. In recent years, building energy consumption has been the subject of continuously up-dated regulations aimed at reducing its impact. As an example, the latest national thermal regulation (RT 2012) makes it compulsory to respect the limits previously introduced by RT 2005 as a voluntary label, corresponding to the definition of guil{Low energy consumption buildings} (BBC); in order to get such a label, a building should have a primary energy consumption lower than 50 kWh.m2.an-1, calculated by making a balance between consumptions (heating, cooling, domestic hot water, lighting, ventilation) and local electricity production. In order to respond to this new requirement, appropriate architectural and technological solutions have to be used. As a results, heating needs should be limited to approximately 15 kWh.m2.an-1 - by improving the building insulation or by adopting passive solar techniques - and summer thermal comfort should be achieved with a minimum primary energy waste. Therefore, internal heat gains and external solar transmission must be limited and, if necessary, low energy cooling systems could be used. In the present work, we firstly studied the case of a low thermal inertia building. The simulation results show that this construction typology is subject to uncomfortable temperature swing. Afterwards, two propositions leading to the improvement of summer thermal comfort were developed. The first, dedicated to warm and humid climates, consists in limiting solar transmission through the wall by using a gap, generally integrated in a timber frame structure, to eliminate part of the absorbed heat by means of natural ventilation. Then, the increase of the building thermal inertia through the association of an air/mass storage system was assessed, which is especially suitable in warm and dry climates. Both propositions were based both on numerical studies and on experimentation performed on a full-scale test rig installed at CSTB (Scientific and Technical Centre for Building research).

A aplicação do bambu como elemento estrutural é comum em muitos países da Ásia e da América do Sul, ainda que com diferentes metodologias construtivas. Apesar de algumas espécies, como a bambu Mosô (Phyllostachys Pubescens) utilizada neste trabalho, possuírem excelentes propriedades mecânicas, sua difusão como elemento construtivo esbarra na dificuldade de se conceber sistemas de ligação eficientes entre os elementos estruturais. Uma vez que as ligações são o ponto frágil da estrutura, o colapso da estrutura pode ocorrer com o elemento estrutural ainda intacto. Este trabalho buscou avaliar a influência do sistema de ligação no desempenho estrutural de treliças planas executadas com três diferentes sistemas de ligação, sujeitas a condições de carregamento semelhantes. Ao comparar as resistências obtidas em ensaios de caracterização: compressão (41 MPa), tração (146 MPa) e cisalhamento (10 MPa), com as tensões solicitantes nas barras das treliças no momento do colapso, verificou-se que as propriedades mecânicas do bambu foram subutilizadas, uma vez que o colapso das estruturas ensaiadas teve início invariavelmente nas ligações. / The use of bamboo as structural element is a reality in many countries in Asia and South America, even with different building methodologies. Although some bamboo species, as Moso (Phyllostachys Pubescens) have excellent mechanical properties, its diffusion as a building element conflicts with the difficulty on conceiving efficient connection systems between structural elements. Given that joints are the weak point of the structure, collapse may occur even when the structural element is intact. This research aimed to evaluate the influence of connection systems on the structural performance of plan trusses built with three different connection systems subjected to similar load conditions. By comparing the strengths obtained on the characterization tests of compression (41 MPa), tension (146 MPa) and shear (10 MPa) to the acting stresses on the truss bars in the moment of collapse, it was noted that bamboo mechanical properties were underused, once the collapse of the tested structures always started by the connections.