Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering最新文献

Seismic rehabilitation of precast concrete structures is today implemented with both traditional and innovative, dissipation-based solutions. The relative scarcity of available works focussing on dissipative bracing systems, especially those equipped with external dissipaters, motivated this research, whose main goal is to analyse an innovative technique comprising dissipative steel braces embedding sacrificial elements, coupled with a friction rotation damper for beam-to-column connections. Both devices can be replaced after a seismic event and put in place by dry installation. With reference to a single-storey precast building, representative of the Italian construction period of the ‘70s and hypothetically located in three Italian cities characterised by increasing levels of seismic hazard, the proposed solution was compared with two traditional rehabilitation techniques, featuring low and high invasiveness, respectively. After addressing the retrofit design phase, nonlinear three-dimensional models of three variants of the building in their unretrofitted and retrofitted configurations were created in OpenSees and subjected to nonlinear static and dynamic analyses. The latter were carried out within a multiple-stripe analysis framework. The comparative evaluation, undertaken in terms of pushover curves and demand-over-capacity ratio median curves for two limit states, provided reassurance on the efficacy of the proposed dissipation-based strategy, as well as the more invasive traditional solution, in effectively improving the seismic response of this construction system.

This study investigates the seismic performance and strengthening of the historic Cimcime Hatun Cupola, a representative example of Turkish-Islamic masonry heritage. A detailed finite element (FE) model was developed using material parameters derived from established design codes and literature. Nonlinear time-history and pushover analyses were conducted to assess structural behavior under seismic loading and evaluate a proposed internal steel plate retrofit system. The reinforcement increased the first modal frequency by 2.2 times and improved lateral load capacity by 3.375 times, demonstrating substantial gains in global stiffness and stability. The retrofit strategy, designed to be reversible and minimally intrusive, offers a practical and conservation-compatible solution for similar mausoleum-type structures. The findings contribute to advancing heritage engineering practices by providing a validated numerical approach and a case-specific strengthening methodology applicable to other historical masonry monuments.

The frame structure comprised infilled walls and constructional columns. The finite element model was established based on full-scale model experiments, which were used to evaluate the seismic performance of a frame-infilled wall withouta constructional column, with a cast-in-place constructional column, and with a fabricated constructional column. The action mechanism of the constructional columns in a frame-infilled wall was summarized. The experimental and numerical analysis results showed that the in-plane load-displacement response and load-bearing capacity variation of the frame-infilled wall with a fabricated constructional column were comparable to the frame-infilled wall without a constructional column. The height of the frame had a significant effect on the load-bearing capacity of the frame-infilled wall with a constructional column. When the height increased, the bearing capacity of the frame-infilled wall decreased. The existing three-strut models were modified. The errors of both the modified three-strut model and the bearing capacity calculation model for computing the load-bearing capacity of a frame-infilled wall with a constructional column were under 11%, which can be used to predict the behavior of a frame-infilled wall with a constructional column.

Unreinforced masonry structures are a significant percentage of the global building stock and are often vulnerable to seismic events due to their inherent structural weaknesses and limited deformation capacity. Although seismic codes promote regularity in structural design, achieving this in unreinforced masonry buildings is often a challenging task. Despite extensive research using shake table tests, quasi-static testing of unreinforced masonry buildings remains limited, particularly in the presence of plan irregularity and rigid diaphragm. The present study addresses this research gap by investigating the seismic response of a half-scale, two-story, unreinforced masonry building with plan irregularity through cyclic quasi-static testing. The experimental campaign presented here shows the findings from two tests, including dynamic identification. The first test indicated torsional amplification and rocking-induced wall detachment during the pre-peak response. These results prompted modifications to the experimental setup, including the addition of extra weight to prevent overall rocking and the repairing of the boundary interface to re-establish structural integrity for subsequent testing. The initial results highlight the influence of plan irregularity within the pre-peak behaviour and provide a basis for further exploration in the seismic assessment of irregular, unreinforced masonry buildings.

Due to architectural and open-ground space constraints, buildings with transfer structures are often constructed in areas with minimal earthquake activity. Since the current building code standards of different countries lack explicit design guidelines, it is critical to identify the critical factors influencing their ability to respond to severe shaking. By (i) adding a transfer storey up to the first, third, and fifth storeys, (ii) altering the dimensions of the transfer storey, and (ii) raising the buildings’ heights, respectively, a parametric study is carried out on 2D RC moment frame buildings. Additionally, their responses are compared to those of a conventional building. The number of transfer storeys and their dimensions have a significant impact on the stiffness ratio (K_SR) of buildings. Their performances are evaluated using nonlinear static and nonlinear dynamic time history analysis. As a building’s height and dimensions of transfer storey increase, its lateral stiffness and strength decrease, but they increase with the number of transfer storeys. Increasing the number of transfer storeys and their dimensions also reduces the inelastic drift, which is mobilized by about 1.5% to 2%. However, it shifts the damage to the beams and columns above them and only ensures damage-free transfer storeys when the K_SR is ≥ 27. More focus is then needed on the columns just above the transfer storey. Buildings with transfer structures often feature structural walls to reduce the possibility of damage to structural elements. Although these walls lessen damage to the transfer structure and the conventional frame, probabilistic analyses (using developed fragility curves) show that these buildings are still quite vulnerable to catastrophic damage and collapse under earthquakes. In areas with high earthquake risk, buildings using transfer structures should not be utilised.

Until now, many probabilistic seismic hazard analyses (PSHA) have been conducted for Turkey. However, except in a limited number of cases, characteristic fault source modeling was not used. Since the North and East Anatolian Faults (NAF and EAF) show some evidence of characteristic rupture behavior, the first objective of this research is to develop a sound hybrid characteristic recurrence model for the NAF and EAF. The so-called hybrid model involves a composite characteristic model (i.e., an exponential part for the smaller and a characteristic part for larger magnitudes) developed for each segment combined with a characteristic recurrence proposed for multi-segment ruptures. Two different hybrid earthquake recurrence models are developed with time-independent (or Poissonian) and time-dependent (or renewal) characteristics. The North Anatolian Fault has been known for its capacity to generate multi-segment ruptures, evidenced in the twentieth century by the 1939 Erzincan and the 1999 Kocaeli earthquakes. The EAF, on the other hand, had not produced any multi-segment rupture in the recent past. The occurrence of the February 6, 2023, Kahramanmaraş-Pazarcık earthquake (Mw 7.8, rupture length of 350 km) shed new light on the earthquake hazard-related analyses of this fault zone. In the present study which also allows for multi-segment ruptures on both faults, the effects of characteristic modeling, as well as those of seismic gaps along the NAF and EAF on seismic hazard are assessed, including a pre- and post-2023 modeling comparison for the EAF. The model also allows for a comparison of the results with the fully exponential model of the NAF and EAF, which, generally, produced higher seismic hazard compared to the Poissonian hybrid model. As shown by the occurrence of the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake, slip deficits on some fault segments can increase the seismic hazard dramatically. A renewal seismic hazard model would be more suitable to handle such cases. In any case, the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquake has also shown that modeling for the really (even inconceivably) big one is never an overestimation, especially for the major plate-boundary faults.

Recent studies have placed growing emphasis on the significant role of mainshock-aftershock (MS-AS) sequences in seismic structural fragility and risk analyses. An important step involved is the probabilistic characterization of aftershock ground-motion intensity measures (IMs) (e.g., 5%-damped spectral acceleration). This study presents a versatile framework to construct the damping-dependent conditional joint distribution of aftershock multi-component IMs based on novel generalized intensity measure correlation models (GIMCMs). A step-by-step procedure with mathematical expressions is provided to facilitate the implementation of this framework. As a key feature, the GIMCMs quantify damping-dependent correlations between MS-AS pairs of ten representative IMs in both horizontal and vertical directions for the first time, based upon a substantial database and machine learning. The MS-AS correlations are found to be generally stronger when IM pairs correspond to larger damping ratio, or more similar ground-motion frequency ranges (e.g., same-IM pairs), or identical (horizontal or vertical) directions. The presented framework is applied to two examples for modeling aftershock IMs conditioned on a vector of recorded mainshock IM values and a specified mainshock IM value from seismic-hazard disaggregation, respectively. When utilizing recorded mainshock IM values as conditioning information, the framework can significantly improve IM prediction with a reduction in the mean absolute error by over 20% relative to the conventional unconditional approach. This study could be useful for seismic risk assessment of damping-specific structures and geotechnical systems subjected to MS-AS multi-component ground-motion sequences.

For the low-strength shear wall where cross-sectional enlargement is constrained, the partial concrete replacement method at wall ends with conventional high-strength concrete offers a cost-effective strengthening solution. To evaluate the seismic performance of strengthened walls in comparison with both low-strength and design-strength reference specimens, cyclic lateral loading tests were conducted on 12 concrete walls with an aspect ratio of 2.4. Meanwhile, the effects of concrete replacement length on the seismic performance of the strengthened walls under different axial loads were analyzed. The results s indicate all specimens exhibited flexural failure and all strengthened specimens demonstrated excellent interfacial bond performance. The strengthened specimens exhibited significant enhancements in both load-bearing capacity (increased by 13 ~ 22%) and seismic performance compared to the low-strength specimens. Compared to the design-strength specimens, the strengthened specimens demonstrated a 2 ~ 12% increase in load-bearing capacity, while the improvement in seismic performance was found to be dependent on the replacement length under different axial loads. Additionally, the calculation model and formula of flexural capacity for strengthened specimens were proposed. The study demonstrates the strengthened wall can achieve seismic performance comparable to the design-strength wall, provided that the replacement length of the strengthened wall exceeds its calculated compression zone height at peak load. Beyond this critical length, increasing the replacement length further has negligible effects on seismic performance of the strengthened wall.