El Perú, debido a su ubicación geográfica en el Cinturón de Fuego del Pacífico, es un país con alta sismicidad; lo que hace que nuestras edificaciones se encuentren experimentando la ocurrencia de sismos con mucha frecuencia. A lo largo de los años, dichos eventos no habrían liberado la energía sísmica acumulada en su totalidad, por lo que el país se encuentra en un silencio sísmico, a la espera de un sismo de gran magnitud. Asimismo, existen muchas edificaciones esenciales, tales como hospitales, que fueron construidos antes de la emisión de la primera norma de Diseño Sismorresistente en 1970; siendo diseñadas posiblemente solo considerando cargas de gravedad. Es por esta razón que se tiene la incertidumbre de cuán preparadas están dichas edificaciones esenciales ante la ocurrencia de próximos eventos sísmicos de gran magnitud Este estudio presenta una serie de metodologías de tratamiento de registros sísmicos, modelamiento no lineal de una estructura de albañilería artesanal y su calibración con resultados experimentales, aplicación del análisis dinámico incremental (IDA) y proceso estadístico de los resultados. Todo ello para generar funciones de fragilidad analíticas que permitan estimar la probabilidad de exceder cada estado de daño para una determinada demanda sísmica. Los resultados muestran que las funciones de fragilidad analíticas son una herramienta útil para estimar la vulnerabilidad sísmica, puesto que se obtuvo altas probabilidades de colapso en ambas direcciones ortogonales. / Peru, due to its geographical location in the Pacific Ring of Fire, is a country with high seismicity; which makes our buildings are experiencing the occurrence of earthquakes very frequently. Over the years, these events would not have released the seismic energy accumulated in its entirety, so that’s why the country is waiting for a big earthquake. Also, there are many essential buildings, such as hospitals, that were built before the issuance of the first Seismic-Resistant Design standard in 1970; being designed possibly considering gravity loads. It’s for this reason that exist an uncertainty of how prepared our essential buildings are in the face of the occurrence of earthquakes of great magnitude. This study presents a series of methodologies for the treatment of seismic records, nonlinear structure modeling, application of incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) and statistical process of the results. All this to generate analytical fragility functions that allow estimating the probability of exceeding each damage state for a given seismic demand. The results show that analytical fragility functions are a useful tool to estimating the seismic vulnerability, because we obtain high probability of collapse in both orthogonal directions. Also, the results show the needed to reinforce this facilities. / Tesis

Low-aspect-ratio reinforced concrete (RC) shear walls, characterized by height-to-length ratios of less than two, have been widely used as a seismic force-resisting system (SFRS) in a wide array of structures, ranging from conventional buildings to critical infrastructure systems such as nuclear facilities. Despite their extensive applications, recent research has brought to light the inadequate understanding of their seismic performance, primarily attributed to the intricate nonlinear flexure-shear interaction behaviour unique to these walls. In this respect, the current research dissertation aims to bridge this knowledge gap by conducting a comprehensive evaluation to quantify the seismic performance of low-aspect-ratio RC shear walls when used in different applications. Chapter 2 focuses on low-aspect-ratio RC shear walls that are employed in residential and industrial structures. Considering their significance, the seismic response modification factors of such walls, as defined in various standards, are thoroughly examined and evaluated utilizing the FEMA P695 methodology. The analysis revealed potential deficiencies in the current code-based recommendations for response modification factors. Consequently, a novel set of response modification factors, capable of mitigating the seismic risk of collapse under the maximum considered earthquake, is proposed. Such proposed values can be integrated into the forthcoming revisions of relevant building codes and design standards. While the FEMA P695 methodology offers a comprehensive approach to assessing building seismic performance factors, its practical implementation is associated with many challenges for practicing engineers. Specifically, the methodology heavily relies on resource-intensive and time-consuming incremental dynamic analyses, making it less feasible for routine engineering practices. To enhance its practicality, a data-driven framework is developed in Chapter 3, circumventing the need for such demanding analyses. This framework provides genetic programming-based expressions capable of producing accurate predictions of the median collapse intensities—a key metric in the acceptance criteria of the FEMA P695 methodology, for different structural systems. To demonstrate its use, the developed framework is operationalized to low-aspect-ratio RC shear walls and the predictive expression is evaluated considering several statistical and structural parameters, which showed its adequacy in predicting the median collapse intensities of such walls. Furthermore, the adaptability of this framework is showcased, highlighting its applicability across various SFRSs. Chapters 4 and 5 tackle the scarcity of experimental assessments pertaining to the seismic performance of low-aspect-ratio RC walls in nuclear facilities. The seismic hybrid simulation testing technique is employed herein to merge the simplicity of numerical simulations with the efficiency of experimental tests. Hybrid simulation can overcome obstacles related to physical specimen sizes, limited actuator capacities, and space constraints in most laboratories. In these two chapters, the experimental program delves into evaluating the seismic performance of three two-storey low-aspect-ratio nuclear RC walls under different earthquake levels, including operational, design, and beyond-design-level scenarios. Diverse design configurations, including the use of increased thickness boundary elements and different materials (i.e., normal- and high-strength reinforcement), are considered in such walls to provide a comprehensive understanding of several structural parameters and economic metrics. Key structural parameters, such as the force-displacement responses, multi-storey effects, lateral and rotational stiffnesses, ductility capacities, displacement components, rebar strains, crack patterns and damage sequences, are all investigated to provide direct comparisons between the walls in terms of their seismic performances. Additionally, economic metrics, including the total rebar weights, overall construction costs and the expected seismic repair costs, are considered in order to evaluate the seismic performance of the walls considering an economic perspective. The findings of this experimental investigation are expected to inform future nuclear design standards by enhancing the resilience and safety of their structures incorporating low-aspect-ratio RC shear walls. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The Insurance Bureau of Canada released a report in 2013 that evaluated the seismic risk of two major metropolitan areas of Canada, with projected losses of $75bn in British Columbia along the Cascadia subduction zone, and $63bn in the east through the Ottawa-Montreal-Quebec corridor. Such reports should prompt researchers and designers alike to rethink the way that seismic design is approached in Canada to develop resilient and sustainable cities for the future. To mitigate the economic losses associated with earthquake damage to buildings in seismically active areas, controlled rocking steel braced frames have been developed as a seismically resilient low-damage lateral-force resisting system. Controlled rocking steel braced frames (CRSBFs) mitigate structural damage during earthquakes through a controlled rocking mechanism, where energy dissipation can be provided at the base of the frame, and pre-stressed tendons pull the frame back to its centred position after rocking. The result is a building for which the residual drifts of the system after an earthquake are essentially zero, and the energy dissipation does not result from structural damage. Design methods for the base rocking joint and the capacity-protected frame members in CRSBFs have been proposed and validated both numerically and experimentally. However, the is no consensus on how to approach the design of the frame members, questions remain regarding how best to design CRSBFs to prevent building collapse, and no experimental work has been done regarding how to connect the CRSBF to the rest of the structure to accommodate the rocking motion. Because the force limiting mechanism of a CRSBF is rocking only at the base of the frame, the frame member forces are greatly influenced by the higher-mode response, resulting in more complex methods to design the frame members. This thesis begins by outlining two new design procedures for the frame members in controlled rocking steel braced frames that target both simplicity and accuracy. The first is a dynamic procedure that requires a truncated response spectrum analysis on a model of the frame with modified boundary conditions to consider the rocking behaviour. The second is an equivalent static procedure that does not require any modifications to the elastic frame model, instead using theory-based lateral force distributions to consider the higher modes of the rocking structure. Neither method requires empirical calibration to estimate the forces at the target intensity. The base rocking joint design is generally in good agreement between the various research programs pioneering the development of the CRSBFs. However, the numerous parameters available to select during the design of the base rocking joint give designers an exceptional amount of control over the performance of the system, and little research is available on how best to select these parameters to target or minimise the probability of collapse for the building. This thesis presents a detailed numerical model to capture collapse of buildings with CRSBFs as their primary lateral force resisting system and uses this model to generate collapse fragility curves for different base rocking joint design parameters. The parameters include the response modification factor, the hysteretic energy dissipation ratio, and the post-tensioning prestress ratio. This work demonstrates that CRSBFs are resilient against collapse, as designing the base rocking joint with response modification factors as large as 30, designing the post-tensioning to prevent yielding at moderate seismic hazard levels, and using zero energy dissipation could lead to designs with acceptable margins of safety against collapse. While the design procedures are shown to be accurate for estimating the frame member force demand for the targeted intensity level, there is still a high level of uncertainty around what intensity of earthquake a building will experience during its lifespan, and there is no consensus on what intensity should be targeted for design. To address this, the ability of the capacity design procedures to provide a sufficiently low probability of collapse due to excessive frame member buckling and yielding is evaluated and compared to the probability that the building will collapse due to excessive rocking of the frame. The results of the research presented here suggest that the probability of collapse due to either frame member failure or excessive rocking should be evaluated separately, and that targeting the intensity with a 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years is sufficient for the design of the frame members. Finally, critical to the implementation of CRSBFs in practice is how they may be connected to the rest of the structure to accommodate the uplifting of the CRSBF while rocking under large lateral forces. An experimental program was undertaken to test three proposed connection details to accommodate the relative uplifts and forces. The connections that accommodate the uplifts through sliding performed better than that which accommodated the uplifts though material yielding, but the best way to transfer the forces and accommodate the uplifting without influencing the overall behaviour of the system is to position the connection such that it does not need to undergo large uplifts and carry lateral force simultaneously. A detailed numerical model of the experimental setup is presented and is shown to simulate the important response quantities for each of the tested connections. Using the results of this work, designers worldwide will be confident to design CRSBFs for structures from the base rocking joint to the selection of floor-to-frame connections for a complete system design while ensuring a safe and resilient building structure for public use and well-being. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Traditional approaches to seismic design of buildings have generally been successful at preventing collapse and protecting the lives of the occupants. However, the buildings are often left severely damaged, often beyond repair. To address these concerns, controlled rocking steel braced frames have been proposed as part of a new construction technique to mitigate or prevent damage to steel buildings during earthquakes, but several aspects of the design and overall safety have yet to be explored or demonstrated. This thesis proposes and validates new tools to design controlled rocking steel braced frames and provides recommendations on how best to design them to achieve a safe probability against collapse. Details are proposed and presented for components to connect the controlled rocking steel braced frames into the rest of the structure. The findings of this thesis will aid practitioners looking to deliver resilient and sustainable structural designs for buildings in our cities of the future.

This thesis is a study into the response and seismic safety of three-dimensional multi-storey concrete structures under concurrent orthogonal seismic excitations. It employs the nonlinear time-history method as its analysis tools. Time-history analyses rely heavily on their utilised earthquake records. Accordingly, this study examines the different approaches of selecting earthquake suites and develops a methodology of selecting representative earthquake scenarios. This methodology is credibly implemented in selecting a far- and a near field suites representative of the New Zealand seismic hazard. The study investigates the response of 6-, 9- and 12-storey concrete structures of different n-X-bays × m-Y-bays. Bidirectional responses of these considered structures are examined and consequently the current combination rules are scrutinised. Consequently this study strongly recommends the use of the 40-percent combination rule in lieu of the widely used 30-percent rule; and the use of time-history analysis in lieu of quasi/equivalent static and response modal analysis methods to avoid their strong dependence on combination rules. An intensive study is conducted employing the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) technique to investigate structural demands of interstorey drifts, lateral storey drifts and storey accelerations. The study utilises the developed far-field suite and identifies the 50th and 90th percentile demands. Hence it provides easy-to-use expressions to facilitate rapid calculation of the structural demands and the effects of biaxial interactions. An implementation into the Demand and Capacity Factor Design (DCFD) format is presented that infers confidence in the performance levels of the considered structures. The study also draws attention to the importance of considering storey accelerations as their storey values reach as high as 10 × PGA. A sensitivity study is conducted by repeating the IDA investigation while using the developed near-field suite. Subsequently a comparison between the near- and the far-field results is conducted. The results were markedly similar albeit of less magnitudes until the (seismic hazard) intensity measure IM = Sa(T₁) = 0.4g when the near-field results show sudden flat large increase in demands suggesting a brittle collapse. This is attributed to the higher content of the higher mode frequencies contained in near-field ground motions. Finally, the study examines the (vectorial) radial horizontal shear demands in columns and beam-column joints of the previous far- and near-field studies. The combined radial shear demands in corner, edge and internal columns and joints are evaluated that roughly show a square-root proportional relationship with IM that exhibit somewhat brittle failure at IM ≥ 0.35g. Shears demands in the (4-way) internal columns and the (2-way) corner joints show highest magnitude in their respective class. The results suggest transverse joint shear reinforcement of 1.5, 1.0 and 0.5 of the longitudinal reinforcement of the neighbouring beam respectively for corner, edge and internal joints. An implementation of a proposed practical (and simpler) DCFD format shows satisfactory confidence in columns performance in shear up to IM = 0.35g, conversely to joints unsatisfactory performance in shear at the onset of inelastic behaviour (IM > 0.05g).