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Investigation Of The Seismic Behaviour Of Infill Masonry Using Numerical Modelling Approaches
(2017)
Masonry is a widely spread construction type which is used all over the world for different types of structures. Due to its simple and cheap construction, it is used as non-structural as well as structural element. In frame structures, such as
reinforced concrete frames, masonry may be used as infill. While the bare frame itself is able to carry the loads when it comes to seismic events, the infilled frame is not able to warp freely due to the constrained movement. This restraint results in a complex interaction between the infill and the surrounding frame, which may lead to severe damage to the infill as well as the surrounding frame. The interaction is studied in different projects and effective approaches for the description of the behavior are still lacking. Experimental programs are usually quite expensive, while numerical models, once validated, do offer an efficient approach for the investigation of the interaction when horizontally loaded. In order to study the numerous parameters influencing the seismic load bearing behavior, numerical models may be used. Therefore, this contribution presents a numerical approach for the simulation of infill masonry in reinforced concrete frames. Both parts, the surrounding frame as well as the infill are represented by micro modelling approaches to correctly take into account the different types of failure. The adopted numerical model describes the inelastic behavior of the system, as indicated by the obtained results of the overall structural response as well as the formation of damage in the infilled wall. Comparison of the numerical and experimental results highlights the valuable contribution of numerical simulations in the study and design of infilled frames. As damage of the infill masonry may occur in-plane due to the interaction as well as out-of-plane due to the low vertical load, both directions of loading are investigated.
The Effect of Openings on Out-of-Plane Capacity of Masonry Infilled Reinforced Concrete Frames
(2018)
Multi-dimensional fragility analysis of a RC building with components using response surface method
(2017)
Conventional fragility curves describe the vulnerability of the main structure under external hazards. However, in complex structures such as nuclear power plants, the safety or the risk depends also on the components associated with a system. The classical fault tree analysis gives an overall view of the failure and contains several subsystems to the main event, however, the interactions in the subsystems are not well represented. In order to represent the interaction of the components, a method suggested by Cimellaro et al. (2006) using multidimensional performance limit state functions to obtain the system fragility curves is adopted. This approach gives the possibility of deriving the cumulative fragility taking into account the interaction of the response of different components. In this paper, this approach is used to evaluate seismic risk of a representative electrical building infrastructure, including the component, of a nuclear power plant. A simplified model of the structure, with nonlinear material behavior is employed for the analysis in Abaqus©. The input variables considered are the material parameters, boundary conditions and the seismic input. The variability of the seismic input is obtained from selected ground motion time histories of spectrum compatible synthetic ccelerograms. Unlike the usual Monte Carlo methods used for the probabilistic analysis of the structure, a computationally effective response surface method is used. This method reduces the computational effort of the calculations by reducing the required
number of samples.
Past earthquakes demonstrated the high vulnerability of industrial facilities equipped with complex process technologies leading to serious damage of process equipment and multiple and simultaneous release of hazardous substances. Nonetheless, current standards for seismic design of industrial facilities are considered inadequate to guarantee proper safety conditions against exceptional events entailing loss of containment and related consequences. On these premises, the SPIF project -Seismic Performance of Multi-Component Systems in Special Risk Industrial Facilities- was proposed within the framework of the European H2020 SERA funding scheme. In detail, the objective of the SPIF project is the investigation of the seismic behaviour of a representative industrial multi-storey frame structure equipped with complex process components by means of shaking table tests. Along this main vein and in a performance-based design perspective, the issues investigated in depth are the interaction between a primary moment resisting frame (MRF) steel structure and secondary process components that influence the performance of the whole system; and a proper check of floor spectra predictions. The evaluation of experimental data clearly shows a favourable performance of the MRF structure, some weaknesses of local details due to the interaction between floor crossbeams and process components and, finally, the overconservatism of current design standards w.r.t. floor spectra predictions.
Monte Carlo Tree Search (MCTS) is a search technique that in the last decade emerged as a major breakthrough for Artificial Intelligence applications regarding board- and video-games. In 2016, AlphaGo, an MCTS-based software agent, outperformed the human world champion of the board game Go. This game was for long considered almost infeasible for machines, due to its immense search space and the need for a long-term strategy. Since this historical success, MCTS is considered as an effective new approach for many other scientific and technical problems. Interestingly, civil structural engineering, as a discipline, offers many tasks whose solution may benefit from intelligent search and in particular from adopting MCTS as a search tool. In this work, we show how MCTS can be adapted to search for suitable solutions of a structural engineering design problem. The problem consists of choosing the load-bearing elements in a reference reinforced concrete structure, so to achieve a set of specific dynamic characteristics. In the paper, we report the results obtained by applying both a plain and a hybrid version of single-agent MCTS. The hybrid approach consists of an integration of both MCTS and classic Genetic Algorithm (GA), the latter also serving as a term of comparison for the results. The study’s outcomes may open new perspectives for the adoption of MCTS as a design tool for civil engineers.
Erdbebennachweis von Mauerwerksbauten mit realistischen Modellen und erhöhten Verhaltensbeiwerten
(2021)
Die Anwendung des linearen Nachweiskonzepts auf Mauerwerksbauten führt dazu, dass bereits heute Standsicherheitsnachweise für Gebäude mit üblichen Grundrissen in Gebieten mit moderaten Erdbebeneinwirkungen nicht mehr geführt werden können. Diese Problematik wird sich in Deutschland mit der Einführung kontinuierlicher probabilistischer Erdbebenkarten weiter verschärfen. Aufgrund der Erhöhung der seismischen Einwirkungen, die sich vielerorts ergibt, ist es erforderlich, die vorhandenen, bislang nicht berücksichtigten Tragfähigkeitsreserven in nachvollziehbaren Nachweiskonzepten in der Baupraxis verfügbar zu machen. Der vorliegende Beitrag stellt ein Konzept für die gebäudespezifische Ermittlung von erhöhten Verhaltensbeiwerten vor. Die Verhaltensbeiwerte setzen sich aus drei Anteilen zusammen, mit denen die Lastumverteilung im Grundriss, die Verformungsfähigkeit und Energiedissipation sowie die Überfestigkeiten berücksichtigt werden. Für die rechnerische Ermittlung dieser drei Anteile wird ein nichtlineares Nachweiskonzept auf Grundlage von Pushover-Analysen vorgeschlagen, in denen die Interaktionen von Wänden und Geschossdecken durch einen Einspanngrad beschrieben werden. Für die Bestimmung der Einspanngrade wird ein nichtlinearer Modellierungsansatz eingeführt, mit dem die Interaktion von Wänden und Decken abgebildet werden kann. Die Anwendung des Konzepts mit erhöhten gebäudespezifischen Verhaltensbeiwerten wird am Beispiel eines Mehrfamilienhauses aus Kalksandsteinen demonstriert. Die Ergebnisse der linearen Nachweise mit erhöhten Verhaltensbeiwerten für dieses Gebäude liegen deutlich näher an den Ergebnissen nichtlinearer Nachweise und somit bleiben übliche Grundrisse in Erdbebengebieten mit den traditionellen linearen Rechenansätzen nachweisbar.
Because of simple construction process, high energy efficiency, significant fire resistance and excellent sound isolation, masonry infilled reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures are very popular in most of the countries in the world, as well as in seismic active areas. However, many RC frame structures with masonry infills were seriously damaged during earthquake events, as the traditional infills are generally constructed with direct contact to the RC frame which brings undesirable infill/frame interaction. This interaction leads to the activation of the equivalent diagonal strut in the infill panel, due to the RC frame deformation, and combined with seismically induced loads perpendicular to the infill panel often causes total collapses of the masonry infills and heavy damages to the RC frames. This fact was the motivation for developing different approaches for improving the behaviour of masonry infills, where infill isolation (decoupling) from the frame has been more intensively studied in the last decade. In-plane isolation of the infill wall reduces infill activation, but causes the need for additional measures to restrain out-of-plane movements. This can be provided by installing steel anchors, as proposed by some researchers. Within the framework of European research project INSYSME (Innovative Systems for Earthquake Resistant Masonry Enclosures in Reinforced Concrete Buildings) the system based on a use of elastomers for in-plane decoupling and steel anchors for out-of-plane restrain was tested. This constructive solution was tested and deeply investigated during the experimental campaign where traditional and decoupled masonry infilled RC frames with anchors were subjected to separate and combined in-plane and out-of-plane loading. Based on a detailed evaluation and comparison of the test results, the performance and effectiveness of the developed system are illustrated.
Seismic excited liquid filled tanks are subjected to extreme loading due to hydrodynamic pressures, which can lead to nonlinear stability failure of the thinwalled cylindrical tanks, as it is known from past earthquakes. A significant reduction of the seismically induced loads can be obtained by the application of base isolation systems, which have to be designed carefully with respect to the modified hydrodynamic behaviour of the tank in interaction with the liquid. For this reason a highly sophisticated fluid-structure interaction model has to be applied for a realistic simulation of the overall dynamic system. In the following, such a model is presented and compared with the results of simplified mathematical models for rigidly supported tanks. Finally, it is examined to what extent a simple mechanical model can represent the behaviour of a base isolated tank in case of seismic excitation
Experimental investigation of behaviour of masonry infilled RC frames under out-of-plane loading
(2021)
Masonry infills are commonly used as exterior or interior walls in reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures and they can be encountered all over the world, including earthquake prone regions. Since the middle of the 20th century the behaviour of these non-structural elements under seismic loading has been studied in numerous experimental campaigns. However, most of the studies were carried out by means of in-plane tests, while there is a lack of out-of-plane experimental investigations. In this paper, the out-of-plane tests carried out on full scale masonry infilled frames are described. The results of the out-of-plane tests are presented in terms of force-displacement curves and measured out-of-plane displacements. Finally, the reliability of existing analytical approaches developed to estimate the out-of-plane strength of masonry infills is examined on presented experimental results.
Reinforced concrete frames with masonry infill walls are popular form of construction all over the world as well in seismic regions. While severe earthquakes can cause high level of damage of both reinforced concrete and masonry infills, earthquakes of lower to medium intensity some-times can cause significant level of damage of masonry infill walls. Especially important is the level of damage of face loaded infill masonry walls (out-of-plane direction) as out-of-plane load cannot only bring high level of damage to the wall, it can also be life-threating for the people near the wall. The response in out-of-plane direction directly depends on the prior in-plane damage, as previous investigation shown that it decreases resistance capacity of the in-fills. Behaviour of infill masonry walls with and without prior in-plane load is investigated in the experimental campaign and the results are presented in this paper. These results are later compared with analytical approaches for the out-of-plane resistance from the literature. Conclusions based on the experimental campaign on the influence of prior in-plane damage on the out-of-plane response of infill walls are compared with the conclusions from other authors who investigated the same problematic.
In many historical centers in Europe, stone masonry is part of building aggregates, which developed when the layout of the city or village was densified. The analysis of such building aggregates is very challenging and modelling guidelines missing. Advances in the development of analysis methods have been impeded by the lack of experimental data on the seismic response of such aggregates. The SERA project AIMS (Seismic Testing of Adjacent Interacting Masonry Structures) provides such experimental data by testing an aggregate of two buildings under two horizontal components of dynamic excitation. With the aim to advance the modelling of unreinforced masonry aggregates, a blind prediction competition is organized before the experimental campaign. Each group has been provided a complete set of construction drawings, material properties, testing sequence and the list of measurements to be reported. The applied modelling approaches span from equivalent frame models to Finite Element models using shell elements and discrete element models with solid elements. This paper compares the first entries, regarding the modelling approaches, results in terms of base shear, roof displacements, interface openings, and the failure modes.
In many historical centres in Europe, stone masonry buildings are part of building aggregates, which developed when the layout of the city or village was densified. In these aggregates, adjacent buildings share structural walls to support floors and roofs. Meanwhile, the masonry walls of the façades of adjacent buildings are often connected by dry joints since adjacent buildings were constructed at different times. Observations after for example the recent Central Italy earthquakes showed that the dry joints between the building units were often the first elements to be damaged. As a result, the joints opened up leading to pounding between the building units and a complicated interaction at floor and roof beam supports. The analysis of such building aggregates is very challenging and modelling guidelines do not exist. Advances in the development of analysis methods have been impeded by the lack of experimental data on the seismic response of such aggregates. The objective of the project AIMS (Seismic Testing of Adjacent Interacting Masonry Structures), included in the H2020 project SERA, is to provide such experimental data by testing an aggregate of two buildings under two horizontal components of dynamic
excitation. The test unit is built at half-scale, with a two-storey building and a one-storey building. The buildings share one common wall while the façade walls are connected by dry joints. The floors are at different heights leading to a complex dynamic response of this smallest possible building aggregate. The shake table test is conducted at the LNEC seismic testing facility. The testing sequence comprises four levels of shaking: 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of nominal shaking table capacity. Extensive instrumentation, including accelerometers, displacement transducers and optical measurement systems, provides detailed information on the building aggregate response. Special attention is paid to the interface opening, the globa
Recent earthquakes showed that low-rise URM buildings following codecompliant seismic design and details behaved in general very well without substantial damages. Although advances in simulation tools make nonlinear calculation methods more readily accessible to designers, linear analyses will still be the standard design method for years to come. The present paper aims to improve the linear seismic design method by providing a proper definition of the q-factor of URM buildings. Values of q-factors are derived for low-rise URM buildings with rigid diaphragms, with reference to modern structural configurations realized in low to moderate seismic areas of Italy and Germany. The behaviour factor components for deformation and energy dissipation capacity and for overstrength due to the redistribution of forces are derived by means of pushover analyses. As a result of the investigations, rationally based values of the behaviour factor q to be used in linear analyses in the range of 2.0 to 3.0 are proposed.
Masonry infill walls are the most traditional enclosure system that is still widely used in RC frame buildings all over the world, particularly in seismic active regions. Although infill walls are usually neglected in seismic design, during an earthquake event they are subjected to in-plane and out-of-plane forces that can act separately or simultaneously. Since observations of damage to buildings after recent earthquakes showed detrimental effects of in-plane and out-of-plane load interaction on infill walls, the number of studies that focus on influence of in-plane damage on out-of-plane response has significantly increased. However, most of the xperimental campaigns have considered only solid infills and there is a lack of combined in-plane and out-of-plane experimental tests on masonry infills with openings, although windows and doors strongly affect seismic performance. In this paper, two types of experimental tests on infills with window openings are presented. The first is a pure out-of-plane test and the second one is a sequential in-plane and out-of-plane test aimed at investigating the effects of existing in-plane damage on outof-plane response. Additionally, findings from two tests with similar load procedure that were carried out on fully infilled RC frames in the scope of the same project are used for comparison. Test results clearly show that window opening increased vulnerability of infills to combined seismic actions and that prevention of damage in infills with openings is of the utmost importance for seismic safety.
The seismic performance and safety of major European industrial facilities has a global interest for Europe, its citizens and economy. A potential major disaster at an industrial site could affect several countries, probably far beyond the country where it is located. However, the seismic design and safety assessment of these facilities is practically based on national, often outdated seismic hazard assessment studies, due to many reasons, including the absence of a reliable, commonly developed seismic hazard model for whole Europe. This important gap is no more existing, as the 2020 European Seismic Hazard Model ESHM20 was released in December 2021. In this paper we investigate the expected impact of the adoption of ESHM20 on the seismic demand for industrial facilities, through the comparison of the ESHM20 probabilistic hazard at the sites where industrial facilities are located with the respective national and European regulations. The goal of this preliminary work in the framework of Working Group 13 of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering (EAEE), is to identify potential inadequacies in the design and safety control of existing industrial facilities and to highlight the expected impact of the adoption of the new European Seismic Hazard Model on the design of new industrial facilities and the safety assessment of existing ones.
Masonry infill walls are commonly used in reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures, also in seismically active areas, although they often experience serious damage during earthquakes. One of the main reasons for their poor behaviour is the connection to the frame, which is usually constructed using mortar. This paper describes the novel solution for infill/frame connection based on application of elastomeric material between them. The system called INODIS (Innovative Decoupled Infill System) has the aim to postpone the activation of infill in in-plane direction and at the same time to provide sufficient out-of-plane support. First, experimental tests on infilled frame specimens are presented and the comparison of the results between traditionally infilled frames and infilled frames with the INODIS system are given. The results are then used for calibration and validation of numerical model, which can be further employed for investigating the influence of some material parameters on the behaviour of infilled frames with the INODIS system.
Masonry is used in many buildings not only for load-bearing walls, but also for non-load-bearing enclosure elements in the form of infill walls. Many studies confirmed that infill walls interact with the surrounding reinforced concrete frame, thus changing dynamic characteristics of the structure. Consequently, masonry infills cannot be neglected in the design process. However, although the relevant standards contain requirements for infill walls, they do not describe how these requirements are to be met concretely. This leads in practice to the fact that the infill walls are neither dimensioned nor constructed correctly. The evidence of this fact is confirmed by the recent earthquakes, which have led to enormous damages, sometimes followed by the total collapse of buildings and loss of human lives. Recently, the increasing effort has been dedicated to the approach of decoupling of masonry infills from the frame elements by introducing the gap in between. This helps in removing the interaction between infills and frame, but raises the question of out-of-plane stability of the panel. This paper presents the results of the experimental campaign showing the out-of-plane behavior of masonry infills decoupled with the system called INODIS (Innovative decoupled infill system), developed within the European project INSYSME (Innovative Systems for Earthquake Resistant Masonry Enclosures in Reinforced Concrete Buildings). Full scale specimens were subjected to the different loading conditions and combinations of in-plane and out-of-plane loading. Out-of-plane capacity of the masonry infills with the INODIS system is compared with traditionally constructed infills, showing that INODIS system provides reliable out-of-plane connection under various loading conditions. In contrast, traditional infills performed very poor in the case of combined and simultaneously applied in-plane and out-of-plane loading, experiencing brittle behavior under small in-plane drifts followed by high out-of-plane displacements. Decoupled infills with the INODIS system have remained stable under out-of-plane loads, even after reaching high in-plane drifts and being damaged.
Seismic behavior of an existing unreinforced masonry building built pre-modern code, located in the City of Ohrid, Republic of North Macedonia has been investigated in this paper. The analyzed school building is selected as an archetype in an ongoing project named “Seismic vulnerability assessment of existing masonry structures in Republic of North Macedonia (SeismoWall)”. Two independent segments were included in this research: Seismic hazard assessment by creating a cite specific response spectra and Seismic vulnerability definition by creating a region - specific series of vulnerability curves for the chosen building topology. A reliable Seismic Hazard Assessment for a selected region is a crucial point for performing a seismic risk analysis of a characteristic building class. In that manner, a scenario – based method that incorporates together the knowledge of tectonic style of the considered region, the active fault characterization, the earth crust model and the historical seismicity named Neo Deterministic approach is used for calculation of the response spectra for the location of the building. Variations of the rupturing process are taken into account in the nucleation point of the rupture, in the rupture velocity pattern and in the istribution of the slip on the fault. The results obtained from the multiple scenarios are obtained as an envelope of the response spectra computed for the cite using the procedure Maximum Credible Seismic Input (MCSI). Capacity of the selected building has been determined by using nonlinear static analysis. MINEA software (SDA Engineering) was used for verification of the structural safety of the chosen unreinforced masonry structure. In the process of optimization of the number of samples, computational cost required in a Monte Carlo simulation is significantly reduced since the simulation is performed on a polynomial response surface function for prediction of the structural response. Performance point, found as the intersection of the capacity of the building and the spectra used, is chosen as a response parameter. Five levels of damage limit states based on the capacity curve of the building are defined in dependency on the yield displacement and the maximum displacement. Maximum likelihood estimation procedure is utilized in the process of vulnerability curves determination. As a result, region specific series of vulnerability curves for the chosen type of masonry structures are defined. The obtained probabilities of exceedance a specific damage states as a result from vulnerability curves are compared with the observed damages happened after the earthquake in July 2017 in the City of Ohrid, North Macedonia.
Past earthquakes demonstrated the high vulnerability of industrial facilities equipped with complex process technologies leading to serious damage of the process equipment and multiple and simultaneous release of hazardous substances in industrial facilities. Nevertheless, the design of industrial plants is inadequately described in recent codes and guidelines, as they do not consider the dynamic interaction between the structure and the installations and thus the effect of seismic response of the installations on the response of the structure and vice versa. The current code-based approach for the seismic design of industrial facilities is considered not enough for ensure proper safety conditions against exceptional event entailing loss of content and related consequences. Accordingly, SPIF project (Seismic Performance of Multi-Component Systems in Special Risk Industrial Facilities) was proposed within the framework of the European H2020 - SERA funding scheme (Seismology and Earthquake Engineering Research Infrastructure Alliance for Europe). The objective of the SPIF project is the investigation of the seismic behaviour of a representative industrial structure equipped with complex process technology by means of shaking table tests. The test structure is a three-story moment resisting steel frame with vertical and horizontal vessels and cabinets, arranged on the three levels and connected by pipes. The dynamic behaviour of the test structure and of its relative several installations is investigated. Furthermore, both process components and primary structure interactions are considered and analyzed. Several PGA-scaled artificial ground motions are applied to study the seismic response at different levels. After each test, dynamic identification measurements are carried out to characterize the system condition. The contribution presents the experimental setup of the investigated structure and installations, selected measurement data and describes the obtained damage. Furthermore, important findings for the definition of performance limits, the effectiveness of floor response spectra in industrial facilities will be presented and discussed.
This paper describes the concept of an innovative, interdisciplinary, user-oriented earthquake warning and rapid response system coupled with a structural health monitoring system (SHM), capable to detect structural damages in real time. The novel system is based on interconnected decentralized seismic and structural health monitoring sensors. It is developed and will be exemplarily applied on critical infrastructures in Lower Rhine Region, in particular on a road bridge and within a chemical industrial facility. A communication network is responsible to exchange information between sensors and forward warnings and status reports about infrastructures’health condition to the concerned recipients (e.g., facility operators, local authorities). Safety measures such as emergency shutdowns are activated to mitigate structural damages and damage propagation. Local monitoring systems of the infrastructures are integrated in BIM models. The visualization of sensor data and the graphic representation of the detected damages provide spatial content to sensors data and serve as a useful and effective tool for the decision-making processes after an earthquake in the region under consideration.
Seismic vulnerability estimation of existing structures is unquestionably interesting topic of high priority, particularly after earthquake events. Having in mind the vast number of old masonry buildings in North Macedonia serving as public institutions, it is evident that the structural assessment of these buildings is an issue of great importance. In this paper, a comprehensive methodology for the development of seismic fragility curves of existing masonry buildings is presented. A scenario – based method that incorporates the knowledge of the tectonic style of the considered region, the active fault characterization, the earth crust model and the historical seismicity (determined via the Neo Deterministic approach) is used for calculation of the necessary response spectra. The capacity of the investigated masonry buildings has been determined by using nonlinear static analysis. MINEA software (SDA Engineering) is used for verification of the structural safety of the structures Performance point, obtained from the intersection of the capacity of the building and the spectra used, is selected as a response parameter. The thresholds of the spectral displacement are obtained by splitting the capacity curve into five parts, utilizing empirical formulas which are represented as a function of yield displacement and ultimate displacement. As a result, four levels of damage limit states are determined. A maximum likelihood estimation procedure for the process of fragility curves determination is noted as a final step in the proposed procedure. As a result, region specific series of vulnerability curves for structures are defined.
Nowadays modern high-performance buildings and facilities are equipped with monitoring systems and sensors to control building characteristics like energy consumption, temperature pattern and structural safety. The visualization and interpretation of sensor data is typically based on simple spreadsheets and non-standardized user-oriented solutions, which makes it difficult for building owners, facility managers and decision-makers to evaluate and understand the data. The solution of this problem in the future are integrated BIM-Sensor approaches which allow the generation of BIM models incorporating all relevant information of monitoring systems. These approaches support both the dynamic visualization of key structural performance parameters, the effective long-term management of sensor data based on BIM and provide a user-friendly interface to communicate with various stakeholders. A major benefit for the end user is the use of the BIM software architecture, which is the future standard anyway. In the following, the application of the integrated BIM-Sensor approach is illustrated for a typical industrial facility as a part of an early warning and rapid response system for earthquake events currently developed in the research project “ROBUST” with financial support by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWI).
Recent earthquakes as the 2012 Emilia earthquake sequence showed that recently built unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings behaved much better than expected and sustained, despite the maximum PGA values ranged between 0.20–0.30 g, either minor damage or structural damage that is deemed repairable. Especially low-rise residential and commercial masonry buildings with a code-conforming seismic design and detailing behaved in general very well without substantial damages. The low damage grades of modern masonry buildings that was observed during this earthquake series highlighted again that codified design procedures based on linear analysis can be rather conservative. Although advances in simulation tools make nonlinear calculation methods more readily accessible to designers, linear analyses will still be the standard design method for years to come. The present paper aims to improve the linear seismic design method by providing a proper definition of the q-factor of URM buildings. These q-factors are derived for low-rise URM buildings with rigid diaphragms which represent recent construction practise in low to moderate seismic areas of Italy and Germany. The behaviour factor components for deformation and energy dissipation capacity and for overstrength due to the redistribution of forces are derived by means of pushover analyses. Furthermore, considerations on the behaviour factor component due to other sources of overstrength in masonry buildings are presented. As a result of the investigations, rationally based values of the behaviour factor q to be used in linear analyses in the range of 2.0–3.0 are proposed.
Im Norden von Serbien erfolgt in Novi Sad der Neubau eines modernen Forschungsgebäudes für das BioSense-Institut mit finanzieller Unterstützung durch die Eu-ropäische Union. Der Gebäudeteil mit Laboren wird zum Schutz und zur Sicherstellung des reibungslosen Betriebs der sensiblen und kapitalintensiven technischen Einbauten mit ei-ner Erdbebenisolierung mit integrierter Körperschallisolation versehen. Zusätzlich wird der entkoppelte Laborteil des For-schungsgebäudes mit einem BIM-basierten Bauwerksmonito-ring versehen, um Änderungen des Gebäudezustands jederzeit abfragen und beurteilen zu können.
Aufgrund der gestiegenen Anforderungen durch höhere Ein-wirkungen aus Wind und Erdbeben ist eine Verbesserung und Optimierung der Berechnungs- und Bemessungsansätze für Mauerwerksbauten erforderlich. Eine bessere Ausnutzung der Tragwerksreserven ist durch die Berücksichtigung der Rah-mentragwirkung mit einer Aktivierung der Deckenscheiben in den Rechenmodellen möglich, die in der Praxis aufgrund der Komplexität der Wand-Decken-Interaktion bislang nicht aus-genutzt wird. Im vorliegenden Aufsatz wird ein vereinfachter Ansatz auf Grundlage der mitwirkenden Plattenbreite von Schubwänden aus Mauerwerk vorgestellt, der die wesentli-chen Einfl ussfaktoren in parametrisierten Tabellen erfasst. Damit steht den Tragwerksplanern ein einfach anwendbares Werkzeug zur Verfügung, um die Rahmentragwirkung in der Mauerwerksbemessung anzusetzen.
Influence of slab deflection on the out-of-plane capacity of unreinforced masonry partition walls
(2023)
Severe damage of non-structural elements is noticed in previous earthquakes, causing high economic losses and posing a life threat for the people. Masonry partition walls are one of the most commonly used non-structural elements. Therefore, their behaviour under earthquake loading in out-of-plane (OOP) direction is investigated by several researches in the past years. However, none of the existing experimental campaigns or analytical approaches consider the influence of prior slab deflection on OOP response of partition walls. Moreover, none of the existing construction techniques for the connection of partition walls with surrounding reinforced concrete (RC) is investigated for the combined slab deflection and OOP loading. However, the inevitable time-dependent behaviour of RC slabs leads to high values of final slab deflections which can further influence boundary conditions of partition walls. Therefore, a comprehensive study on the influence of slab deflection on the OOP capacity of masonry partitions is conducted. In the first step, experimental tests are carried out. Results of experimental tests are further used for the calibration of the numerical model employed for a parametric study. Based on the results, behaviour under combined loading for different construction techniques is explained. The results show that slab deflection leads either to severe damage or to a high reduction of OOP capacity. Existing practical solutions do not account for these effects. In this contribution, recommendations to overcome the problems of combined slab deflection and OOP loading on masonry partition walls are given. Possible interaction of in-plane (IP) loading, with the combined slab deflection and OOP loading on partition walls, is not investigated in this study.
Past earthquakes demonstrated the high vulnerability of industrial facilities equipped with complex process technologies leading to serious damage of the process equipment and multiple and simultaneous release of hazardous substances in industrial facilities. Nevertheless, the design of industrial plants is inadequately described in recent codes and guidelines, as they do not consider the dynamic interaction between the structure and the installations and thus the effect of seismic response of the installations on the response of the structure and vice versa. The current code-based approach for the seismic design of industrial facilities is considered not enough for ensure proper safety conditions against exceptional event entailing loss of content and related consequences. Accordingly, SPIF project (Seismic Performance of Multi- Component Systems in Special Risk Industrial Facilities) was proposed within the framework of the European H2020 - SERA funding scheme (Seismology and Earthquake Engineering Research Infrastructure Alliance for Europe). The objective of the SPIF project is the investigation of the seismic behavior of a representative industrial structure equipped with complex process technology by means of shaking table tests. The test structure is a three-story moment resisting steel frame with vertical and horizontal vessels and cabinets, arranged on the three levels and connected by pipes. The dynamic behavior of the test structure and installations is investigated with and without base isolation. Furthermore, both firmly anchored and isolated components are taken into account to compare their dynamic behavior and interactions with each other. Artificial and synthetic ground motions are applied to study the seismic response at different PGA levels. After each test, dynamic identification measurements are carried out to characterize the system condition. The contribution presents the numerical simulations to calibrate the tests on the prototype, the experimental setup of the investigated structure and installations, selected measurement data and finally describes preliminary experimental results.
Armiranobetonske (AB) zgrade sa zidanom ispunom
se izvode u mnogim zemljama širom sveta. Iako se
zidana ispuna posmatra kao nekonstruktivni element, ona
značajno utiče na promenu dinamičkih karakteristika AB
ramovskih konstrukcija u toku zemljotresnog dejstva.
Odskora, značajan napor je utrošen na istraživanje
izolovanih ispuna, koje su odvojene od okolnog rama
obično ostavljanjem prostora između rama i ispune. U
ovom slučaju deformacija rama ne aktivira ispunu i na taj
način ispuna ne utiče na ponašanje rama. Ovaj rad
predstavlja rezultate istraživanja ponašanja AB
ramovskih zgrada sa INODIS sistemom koji izoluje ispunu
u odnosu na okolni ram. Uticaj izolovane ispune je prvo
ispitan na jednospratnim i jednobrodnim ramovima. Ovo
je iskorišćeno kao osnova za parametarsku analizu na
višespratnim i višebrodnim ramovima, kao i na primeru
zgrade. Promena krutosti i dinamičkih karakteristika je
analizirano kao i odgovor pri zemljotresnom dejstvu.
Izvršeno je poređenje sa praznom ramovskom
konstrukcijom kao i ramovima ispunjenim ispunom na
tradicionalni način. Rezultati pokazuju da je ponašanje
ramova sa izolovanom ispunom slično ponašanju praznih
ramova, dok je ponašanje ramova sa tradicionalnom
ispunom daleko drugačije i zahteva kompleksne
numeričke modele. Ovo znači da ukoliko se primeni
adekvatna konstruktivna mera izolacije ispune, proračun
ramovskim zgrada sa zidanom ispunom se može
značajno pojednostaviti.
Im Rahmen des europäischen Verbundprojekts INSYSME wurden von den deutschen Partnern die Systeme IMES und INODIS zur Verbesserung des seismischen Verhaltens von ausgefachten Stahlbetonrahmen entwickelt. Ziel beider Systeme ist es, Stahlbetonrahmen und Ausfachung zu entkoppeln, anstatt die Tragfähigkeit durch aufwendige und kostspielige zusätzliche Bewehrungseinlagen zu erhöhen. Erste Ergebnisse des Systems IMES für Belastungen in und senkrecht zu der Wandebene werden vorgestellt.
Im Rahmen des europäischen Verbundprojekts INSYSME wurden von den deutschen Partnern die Systeme IMES und INODIS zur Verbesserung des seismischen Verhaltens von ausgefachten Stahlbetonrahmen entwickelt. Ziel beider Systeme ist es, Stahlbetonrahmen und Ausfachung zu entkoppeln, anstatt die Tragfähigkeit durch aufwendige und kostspielige zusätzliche Bewehrungseinlagen zu erhöhen. Erste Ergebnisse des Systems IMES für Belastungen in und senkrecht zu der Wandebene werden vorgestellt.
A methodology for assessment, seismic verification and strengthening of existing masonry buildings is presented in this paper. The verification is performed using a calculation model calibrated with the results from ambient vibration measurements. The calibrated model serves as an input for a deformation-based verification procedure based on the Capacity Spectrum Method (CSM). The bearing capacity of the building is calculated from experimental capacity curves of the individual walls idealized with bilinear elastic-perfectly plastic curves. The experimental capacity curves were obtained from in-plane cyclic loading tests on unreinforced and strengthened masonry walls with reinforced concrete jackets. The seismic action is compared with the load-bearing capacity of the building considering non-linear material behavior with its post-peak capacity. The application of the CSM to masonry buildings and the influence of a traditional strengthening method are demonstrated on the example of a public school building in Skopje, Macedonia.
Damage of reinforced concrete (RC) frames with masonry infill walls has been observed after many earthquakes. Brittle behaviour of the masonry infills in combination with the ductile behaviour of the RC frames makes infill walls prone to damage during earthquakes. Interstory deformations lead to an interaction between the infill and the RC frame, which affects the structural response. The result of this interaction is significant damage to the infill wall and sometimes to the surrounding structural system too. In most design codes, infill walls are considered as non-structural elements and neglected in the design process, because taking into account the infills and considering the interaction between frame and infill in software packages can be complicated and impractical. A good way to avoid negative aspects arising from this behavior is to ensure no or low-interaction of the frame and infill wall, for instance by decoupling the infill from the frame. This paper presents the numerical study performed to investigate new connection system called INODIS (Innovative Decoupled Infill System) for decoupling infill walls from surrounding frame with the aim to postpone infill activation to high interstory drifts thus reducing infill/frame interaction and minimizing damage to both infills and frames. The experimental results are first used for calibration and validation of the numerical model, which is then employed for investigating the influence of the material parameters as well as infill’s and frame’s geometry on the in-plane behaviour of the infilled frames with the INODIS system. For all the investigated situations, simulation results show significant improvements in behaviour for decoupled infilled RC frames in comparison to the traditionally infilled frames.
This paper proposes a quick and simplified method to describe masonry vaults in global seismic analyses of buildings. An equivalent macro-element constituted by a set of six trusses, two for each transverse, longitudinal and diagonal direction, is introduced. The equivalent trusses, whose stiffness is calculated by fully modeled vaults of different geometry, mechanical properties and boundary conditions, simulate the vault in both global analysis and local analysis, such as kinematic or rocking approaches. A parametric study was carried out to investigate the influence of geometrical characteristics and mechanical features on the equivalent stiffness values. The method was numerically validated by performing modal and transient analysis on a three naves-church in the elastic range. Vibration modes and displacement time-histories were compared showing satisfying agreement between the complete and the simplified models. This procedure is particularly useful in engineering practice because it allows to assess, in a simplified way, the effectiveness of strengthening interventions for reducing horizontal relative displacements between vault supports.
This paper describes the procedure on the evaluation of the masonry chapter for the next generation of Eurocode 8, the European Standard for earthquake-resistant design. In CEN, TC 250/SC8, working group WG 1 has been established to support the subcommittee on the topic of masonry on both design of new structures (EN1998-1) and assessment of existing structures (EN1998-3). The aim is to elaborate suggestions for amendments which fit the current state of the art in masonry and earthquake-resistant design. Focus will be on modelling, simplified methods, linear-analysis (q-values, overstrength-values), nonlinear procedures, out-of-plane design as well as on clearer definition of limit states. Beside these, topics related to general material properties, reinforced masonry, confined masonry, mixed structures and non-structural infills will be covered too. This paper presents the preliminary work and results up to the submission date.
Objective: As high-field cardiac MRI (CMR) becomes more widespread the propensity of ECG to interference from electromagnetic fields (EMF) and to magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) effects increases and with it the motivation for a CMR triggering alternative. This study explores the suitability of acoustic cardiac triggering (ACT) for left ventricular (LV) function assessment in healthy subjects (n=14). Methods: Quantitative analysis of 2D CINE steady-state free precession (SSFP) images was conducted to compare ACT’s performance with vector ECG (VCG). Endocardial border sharpness (EBS) was examined paralleled by quantitative LV function assessment. Results: Unlike VCG, ACT provided signal traces free of interference from EMF or MHD effects. In the case of correct Rwave recognition, VCG-triggered 2D CINE SSFP was immune to cardiac motion effects—even at 3.0 T. However, VCG-triggered 2D SSFP CINE imaging was prone to cardiac motion and EBS degradation if R-wave misregistration occurred. ACT-triggered acquisitions yielded LV parameters (end-diastolic volume (EDV), endsystolic volume (ESV), stroke volume (SV), ejection fraction (EF) and left ventricular mass (LVM)) comparable with those derived fromVCG-triggered acquisitions (1.5 T: ESVVCG=(56± 17) ml, EDVVCG=(151±32)ml, LVMVCG=(97±27) g, SVVCG=(94± 19)ml, EFVCG=(63±5)% cf. ESVACT= (56±18) ml, EDVACT=(147±36) ml, LVMACT=(102±29) g, SVACT=(91± 22) ml, EFACT=(62±6)%; 3.0 T: ESVVCG=(55±21) ml, EDVVCG=(151±32) ml, LVMVCG=(101±27) g, SVVCG=(96±15) ml, EFVCG=(65±7)% cf. ESVACT=(54±20) ml, EDVACT=(146±35) ml, LVMACT= (101±30) g, SVACT=(92±17) ml, EFACT=(64±6)%). Conclusions: ACT’s intrinsic insensitivity to interference from electromagnetic fields renders
The sandfish (Scincus scincus) is a lizard having the remarkable ability to move through desert sand for significant distances. It is well adapted to living in loose sand by virtue of a combination of morphological and behavioural specializations. We investigated the bodyform of the sandfish using 3D-laserscanning and explored its locomotion in loose desert sand using fast nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) imaging. The sandfish exhibits an in-plane meandering motion with a frequency of about 3 Hz and an amplitude of about half its body length accompanied by swimming-like (or trotting) movements of its limbs. No torsion of the body was observed, a movement required for a digging-behaviour. Simple calculations based on the Janssen model for granular material related to our findings on bodyform and locomotor behaviour render a local decompaction of the sand surrounding the moving sandfish very likely. Thus the sand locally behaves as a viscous fluid and not as a solid material. In this fluidised sand the sandfish is able to “swim” using its limbs.
Since fluid-structure interaction within the finite-element method is state of the art in many engineering fields, this method is used in voice analysis. A quasi two-dimensional model of the vocal folds including the ventricular folds is presented. First results of self-sustained vocal fold oscillation are presented and possibilities as well as limitations are discussed.