The aim of the study is to develop new analytical fragility curves for the vulnerability assessment of tunnels based on actual damage data of tunnels obtained from past earthquakes. For this purpose, additional important damage data belonging to Bolu Tunnels, Turkey was utilized as a case study. Bolu Tunnels constitute a very interesting case from the earthquake hazard point of view, since two major earthquakes, 17 August 1999 Marmara and 12 November 1999 D&uuml / zce, occurred during the construction of the tunnels. The August 17, 1999 earthquake was reported to have had minimal impact on the Bolu Tunnels. However, the November 12, 1999 earthquake caused some sections of both tunnels to collapse. The remaining sections of the tunnels survived with various damage states which were subsequently documented in detail. This valuable damage data was thoroughly utilized in this study. To develop analytical fragility curves, the methodology described by Argyroudis et al. (2007) was followed. Seismic response of the Tunnels was assessed using analytical, pseudo-static and full-dynamic approaches. In this way, it was possible to make comparisons regarding the dynamic analysis methods of tunnels to predict the seismically induced damage. Compared to the pseudo-static and full-dynamic methods, the predictive capability of the analytical method is found to be relatively low due to limitations inherent to this method. The pseudo-static and full-dynamic solution results attained appear to be closer to each other and better represented the recorded damage states in general. Still, however, the predictive capability of the pseudo-static approach was observed to be limited for particular cases with reference to the full-dynamic method, especially for the sections with increasingly difficult ground conditions. The final goal of this study is the improvement of damage indexes corresponding to the defined damage states which were proposed by Argyroudis et al. (2005) based on the previous experience of damages in tunnels and engineering judgment. These damage indexes were modified in accordance with the findings from the dynamic analyses and actual damage data documented from Bolu Tunnels following the D&uuml / zce earthquake. Three damage states were utilized to quantify the damage in this study.

A new seismic isolation system for steel building structures based on the principle of mass isolation is introduced. In this system, isolating interfaces are placed between the lateral-load-resisting sub-system and the gravity-load-resisting sub-system. Because of the virtual decoupling existing between the two structural sub-systems, the gravity-load resisting one is susceptible to instability. Due to the fact that the provided level of isolation from the ground is constrained by the stability requirements of the gravity-load resisting structure, the system is named stability-dependent mass isolation (SDMI). Lyapunov stability and its association with energy principles are used to assess the stable limits of the SDMI system, its equilibrium positions, the stability of the equi-librium positions, and to propose a series of design guidelines and equations that allow the optimal seismic performance of the system while guaranteeing the restoration of its undistorted position. It is mathematically shown that the use of soft elastic interfaces, between the lateral- and gravity-load-resisting sub-systems, can serve the dual role of stability braces and isolators well. The second part of the document is concerned with the analytical evaluation of the seismic performance of the SDMI method. First, a genetic algorithm is used to find optimized SDMI building prototypes and, later, these prototypes are subjected to a series of earthquake records having different hazard levels. This analytical testing program shows that, with the use of SDMI, not only can structural failure be avoided, but a dam-age-free structural performance can also be achieved, accompanied by average reductions in the floor accelerations of ca. 70% when compared to those developed by typical braced-frame structures. Since the SDMI system is to be used in conjunction with viscous energy dissi-paters, the analytical testing program is also used to determine the best places to place the dampers so that they are most effective in minimizing the floor accelerations and controlling the floors’ drift-ratios. Finally, recommendations on continuing research are made.

No description available.

No description available.

Building fragility describes the likelihood of damage to a building due to random ground motions. Conventional methods for computing building fragilities are either based on statistical extrapolation of detailed analyses on one or two specific buildings or make use of Monte Carlo simulation with these models. However, the Monte Carlo technique usually requires a relatively large number of simulations in order to obtain a sufficiently reliable estimate of the fragilities, and it quickly becomes impractical to simulate the required thousands of dynamic time-history structural analyses for physics-based analytical models. An alternative approach for carrying out the structural simulation is explored in this work. The use of Response Surface Methodology in connection with the Monte Carlo simulations simplifies the process of fragility computation. More specifically, a response surface is sought to predict the structural response calculated from complex dynamic analyses. Computational cost required in a Monte Carlo simulation will be significantly reduced since the simulation is performed on a polynomial response surface function, rather than a complex dynamic model. The methodology is applied to the fragility computation of an unreinforced masonry (URM) building located in the New Madrid Seismic Zone. Different rehabilitation schemes for this structure are proposed and evaluated through fragility curves. Response surface equations for predicting peak drift are generated and used in the Monte Carlo simulation. Resulting fragility curves show that the URM building is less likely to be damaged from future earthquakes when rehabilitation is properly incorporated. The thesis concludes with a discussion of an extension of the methodology to the problem of computing fragilities for a collection of buildings of interest. Previous approaches have considered uncertainties in material properties, but this research incorporates building parameters such as geometry, stiffness, and strength variabilities as well as nonstructural parameters (age, design code) over an aggregation of buildings in the response surface models. Simulation on the response surface yields the likelihood of damage to a group of buildings under various earthquake intensity levels. This aspect is of interest to governmental agencies or building owners who are responsible for planning proper mitigation measures for collections of buildings.

Seismic provisions for steel buildings present limiting width-thickness and slenderness ratios for bracing members. Most of these limits were established based on experimental observations. The number of experimental studies is limited due to the costs associated with them. With the rapid increase in computing power / however, it is now possible to conduct finite element simulation of brace components using personal computers. A finite element study has been undertaken to evaluate the aforementioned limits for pin-ended pipe section steel braces. Fifty four tubular pipe brace models possessing different diameter-to-thickness ratios varying from 5 to 30 and slenderness ratios varying from 40 to 200 were analyzed. The effect of cyclic hardening modulus on the response of braces was explored. In all analysis, the models were subjected to reversed cyclic displacements up to ten times the yield displacement. Local buckling was traced during the loading history using a criterion based on local strains. Results are presented in terms of the ductility level attained by the member at the onset of local buckling. It is shown that local buckling of the section is influenced by the diameter-to-thickness and the slenderness ratios of the member. Moreover, the amount of hardening modulus was found to affect the local buckling response significantly. The need to include this material property into seismic provisions is demonstrated. Finally, the hysteretic energy dissipated by the member was quantified for each displacement excursion.

In this study, a new vector form intrinsic finite element (VFIFE) for the plate is developed and applied to study the responses of a traditional plate member applied to engineering structures. The VFIFE method is a solution procedure for the mechanic problems by adopting the traditional co-rotational explicit finite element method developed by Belyschko and Hsieh (1973). Three different shape-functions including the simplest polynomial form shape-function (Poly), non-conforming area coordinate shape-function (BCIZ) and the conforming area coordinate shape-function (BCIZC) are utilized to simulate the displacement field of the plate. For a system with nonzero rigid-body displacement, the equilibrium will be difficult to achieve in the global coordinate system when the traditional finite element method is applied. By separating the rigid-body motions from the deformed motions, this problem can be easily taken care. In numerical examples, the accuracy and efficiency of this new developed vector form intrinsic finite element for plate simulation are also examined. It is found that compared to the analytical solution, the accuracy is excellent, while compared to traditional finite element method, the efficiency is also encouraging. This new VIFIFE plate element was also applied to the analysis for the sheet plate members in the harbor structures such as the sheep-pile wharf structural system. It was found that not only can the global behaviors of the pile be clearly observed but also local variations in deformations of the steel sheet are clearly shown.

The Woodford Shale is an important unconventional oil and gas resource. It can act as a source rock, seal and reservoir, and may have significant elastic anisotropy, which would greatly affect seismic response. Understanding how anisotropy may affect the seismic response of the Woodford Shale is important in processing and interpreting surface reflection seismic data. The objective of this study is to identify the differences between isotropic and anisotropic seismic responses in the Woodford Shale, and to understand how these anisotropy parameters and physical properties influence the resultant synthetic seismograms. I divide the Woodford Shale into three different units based on the data from the Pioneer Reliance Triple Crown #1 (RTC #1) borehole, which includes density, gamma ray, resistivity, sonic, dipole sonic logs, part of imaging (FMI) logs, elemental capture spectroscopy (ECS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) data from core samples. Different elastic parameters based on the well log data are used as input models to generate synthetic seismograms. I use a vertical impulsive source, which generates P-P, P-SV and SV-SV waves, and three component receivers for synthetic modeling. Sensitivity study is performed by assuming different anisotropic scenarios in the Woodford Shale, including vertical transverse isotropy (VTI), horizontal transverse isotropy (HTI) and orthorhombic anisotropy. Through the simulation, I demonstrate that there are notable differences in the seismic response between isotropic and anisotropic models. Three different types of elastic waves, i.e., P-P, P-SV and SV-SV waves respond differently to anisotropy parameter changes. Results suggest that multicomponent data might be useful in analyzing the anisotropy for the surface seismic data. Results also indicate the sensitivity offset range might be helpful in determining the location for prestack seismic amplitude analysis. All these findings demonstrate the potentially useful sensitivity parameters to the seismic data. The paucity of data resources limits the evaluation of the anisotropy in the Woodford. However, the seismic modeling with different type of anisotropy assumptions leads to understand what type of anisotropy and how this anisotropy affects the change of seismic data. / text

Η εργασία αυτή ασχολείται με τον υπολογισμό της δυναμικής απόκρισης επίπεδων μεταλλικών πλαισίων που υποβάλλονται σε σεισμική διέγερση, λαμβάνοντας υπόψη την επίδραση του ρυθμού παραμόρφωσης στις ιδιότητες του υλικού κατασκευής.Από την έρευνα προέκυψαν πολύ χρήσιμα συμπεράσματα που αιτιολογούν, σε ικανοποιητικό βαθμό, την απρόβλεπτη συμπεριφορά μεταλλικών κατασκευών κατά τη διάρκεια ισχυρών σεισμικών γεγονότων στο παρελθόν. / This work elaborates with the calculation of the dynamic response of plane steel frames subjected to earthquake motions taking care of strain rate effect on material properties. The obtained results justify, in a satisfactory way, the unpredictable behavior of steel structures observed in the past due to severe earthquake ground motions.

This thesis explores the creation and assessment of semi-active control algorithms for both squat shear buildings and tall flexible structures. If cost-effective, practicable, semi-active structural control systems can be developed, the potential reduction in loss of both property and lives due to seismic events is significant. Semi-active controllers offer many of the benefits of active systems, but have power requirements orders of magnitude smaller, and do not introduce energy to the structural system. Previous research into semi-active controllers has shown their potential in linear simulations with single earthquake excitations. The distinguishing feature of this investigation is the use of appropriate non-linear modelling techniques and realistic suites of seismic excitations in the statistical assessment of the semi-active control systems developed. Finite element time-history analysis techniques are used in the performance assessment of the control algorithms developed for three and nine story structural models. The models include non-linear effects due to structural plasticity, yielding, hysteretic behaviour, and P-delta effects. Realistic suites of earthquake records, representing seismic excitations with specific return period probability, are utilised, with lognormal statistical analysis used to represent the response distribution. In addition to displacement focused control laws, acceleration and jerk regulation control methods are developed, showing that potential damage reduction benefits can be obtained from these new control approaches. A statistical assessment of control architecture is developed and undertaken, examining the distribution of constant maximum actuator authority for both squat shear buildings, and tall slender structures, highlighting the need to consider non-linear structural response characteristics when implementing semi-active control systems. Finally, statistical analysis of all results and normalised values shows the efficacy of each control law and actuator type relative to different magnitude seismic events. As a result, this research clearly presents, for the first time, explicit tradeoffs between control law, architecture type, non-linear structural effects, and seismic input characteristics for the semi-active control of civil structures.