Maximum Acceleration Response Research Articles

Simplified soil–structure interaction modeling techniques for the dynamic assessment of end shield bridges

In this paper, the dynamic behavior of four railway bridges with integrated retaining walls, considering the effect of soil–structure interaction (SSI), is investigated both numerically and experimentally. Among these bridges, two are single-span, and the remaining two are three-span. Each bridge is equipped with numerous accelerometers and is excited by a hydraulic actuator across various frequencies. Full 3D solid Finite Element (FE) models incorporating the railway bridges and surrounding soils are developed and calibrated using the Frequency Response Functions (FRFs) from each accelerometer. Furthermore, simplified 3D solid and 2D beam models are created for each railway bridge, incorporating springs and dashpots to account for the effect of surrounding soils. The values for these springs and dashpots are obtained from simple equations, except for the impact of the backfill soil in the simplified 2D beam models, which are derived from the impedance functions of the soil medium. The performance of these simplified models is then compared to the calibrated 3D models in terms of modal properties of the first bending mode and the maximum acceleration response during high-speed train passages. The results indicate that the simplified models closely align with the calibrated models in terms of modal properties and high-speed train passage response and can be used as simple and efficient alternatives for practical usage in bridge design.

Optimal seismic design for self-centering concrete wall structures equipped with U-shaped flexural plate dissipaters

In self-centering wall (SCW) structural system, additional energy dissipation devices are crucial members that are expected to provide both partial lateral force resistance and energy dissipation capacity aiming at mitigating structural response. This research aims to develop a seismic design framework based on particle swarm optimization algorithm for SCW structures equipped with U-Shaped Flexural Plates (UFPs), which can be used to seek out the optimal configuration of UFPs of each floor to reduce seismic response, while maintaining a constant total lateral force resistance provided by all UFPs. For validation, a 10-story SCW structure is chosen as the design case. Specifically, two configurations are considered: a 10-story SCW structure equipped with identical UFPs following conventional design (SCF10-Original) and one equipped with UFPs from optimized configuration (SCF10-Optimized). Their drift and acceleration response are calculated and compared under different seismic intensities through nonlinear time history analysis (NATH). The results demonstrate that the optimized configuration of UFPs can significantly mitigate the drift response in SCW structure. For instance, the maximum inter-story drift ratios of SCF10-Optimized are 0.2 % smaller than those of SCF10-Original under maximum considered earthquake, while the maximum residual inter-story drift ratios of SCF10-Optimized are only half those of SCF10-Original under Extremely Rare Earthquake. Furthermore, the optimized UFPs can effectively reduce the maximum floor acceleration response under various seismic intensities. Therefore, the optimized configuration of UFPs is more effective in reducing both structural and non-structural damage for SCW structural systems compared to conventional configuration. It is also found that greater energy dissipation levels in SCW structure equipped with UFPs may not always result in smaller seismic response, while the configuration of UFPs may play a major influencing factor due to different inter-story lateral force resistance and inter-story energy dissipation demands of SCW structure.

Dynamic soil–structure interaction of a three-span railway bridge subject to high-speed train passage

In this study, the influence of Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) on the dynamic behavior of a three-span concrete slab railway bridge with integrated retaining walls is investigated. The bridge is subjected to controlled excitations using a hydraulic actuator with different frequencies and load amplitudes. A 3D model of the railway bridge-soil system is implemented and calibrated using the experimental frequency response functions at each sensor location. A soil-free model is also created to compare with the calibrated model. It is observed that the dynamic behavior of the railway bridge is substantially altered by the presence of the surrounding soils, and neglecting SSI can lead to underestimation and inaccurate results. Additionally, the calibrated model is used for further train-passage analyses. For the studied bridge, neglecting SSI increases the maximum acceleration response of the bridge during high-speed train passages from 5.5 m/s2 up to 14.5 m/s2. It is also shown that the response of the bridge during train passage is predominantly influenced by its first bending mode, with higher modes inducing no discernible effect. Finally, parametric studies are performed in order to study the uncertainties related to the soil properties.

Quantifying variation in maximum floor accelerations of modular buildings under earthquakes through stochastic nonlinear structural analysis

For earthquake-resistant design of modular buildings, reinforced concrete (RC) cores can be a viable choice as the vertical seismic force resisting system. The maximum floor acceleration determines the maximum inertial force that will be transferred by the connections in the horizontal diaphragm to the RC walls. However, the randomness in the structural properties of RC walls may result in fluctuations in the floor acceleration response. Given the limited number of horizontal inter-module connections in modular buildings, the failure of these connections can have severe consequences. To ensure adequate safety margins in the design of horizontal diaphragm connections, it is essential to account for the variations in maximum floor accelerations. To quantify these variations, a 9-story prototype building with RC walls was examined in this study. Monte Carlo simulations were conducted on sample structures with univariate and bivariate randomness in fc (concrete cylinder compressive strength) and Fy (yield strength of steel rebars) of RC walls. Nonlinear response history analyses were performed for each sample structure using 22 ground motions to account for uncertainty in earthquake excitation. The results demonstrated significant and highly complex variations in the maximum floor accelerations due to the randomness considered. A coefficient of variation (CoV) of 0.13 was determined for the maximum floor acceleration response resulting from the bivariate randomness in fc and Fy. Furthermore, the variations were found to increase as the correlation scale in the spatial variation of fc increased. Based on the findings, it is proposed to apply an increase ratio of 1.2 to the maximum floor acceleration to account for the randomness of RC wall properties to ensure adequate safety margins in the design of horizontal diaphragm connections.

Optimal control of high-rise building structures against earthquake excitations using independent stories as TMD

In this paper, in order to control the behavior of tall building structures against vibrations caused by earthquakes, the parameters of a new passive control system named “independent story” are optimized. This control system is installed like a large tuned mass damper in the main story of the building. Moreover, in order to improve the performance of this control system, six liquid viscous dampers connected from the roof of an independent story to the main story of the building, have also been used to increase damping of the system. The main goal of the present research is to optimize the parameters of this system, including selecting the optimal story/stories of the building to install the independent story/stories, such that the maximum reduction in the mean values of the maximum displacement and maximum acceleration responses of different stories of the building can be obtained, simultaneously. To evaluate the performance of the proposed control system, as a numerical example, a 3-D model of a twelve-story steel building structure is selected for which three degrees of freedom in each story have been considered. Then, a deep search is conducted to find the story/stories of the building at which the independent story control system along with the related supplemental liquid viscous dampers can be constructed/installed such that the best performance of this control system in response reduction of the building can be obtained. Finally, the optimal values of the mass and damping of the supplemental dampers of this system are found to be about 6% of the total mass of the building, and 13 kN-sec/mm, respectively; and the eighth and twelfth stories of the building are the best places for implementation of the proposed control system. By applying the optimal values of all the design parameters of the IS control system, the mean values of the building roof story response reductions were obtained to be about: 28.60% and 26.67% reduction on maximum displacement responses in x and y directions, respectively; and those of the maximum acceleration responses as 43% and 48.89%.

Seismic resilience analysis of self-centering prestressed concrete frames with generalized flag-shaped hysteretic behavior

To increase the stiffness and energy dissipation of conventional self-centering concrete joints, this paper proposes a self-centering prestressed concrete frame with a generalized flag-shaped hysteretic behavior (GFS-SCPC). First, the working mechanism of the GFS-SCPC joint is clarified, and the key parameters affecting the generalized flag-shaped hysteresis are proposed: the second stiffness ksθ and the energy dissipation ratio βE. Subsequently, the three-dimensional self-centering prestressed concrete frame with flag-shaped hysteretic behavior (FS-SCPC) and GFS-SCPC frames are established, and the time history analysis and incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method are carried out to compare their seismic performances. Finally, according to the FEMA P-58 specification, the resilience indexes of the frames with different hysteretic parameters are evaluated to clarify the influence of ksθ and βE. The results show that the energy dissipation capacity of the GFS-SCPC frame increases with larger second stiffness ksθ and the energy dissipation ratio βE. The increase of ksθ effectively controls the maximum drift angle and acceleration response of the GFS-SCPC frame, which would reduce the vulnerability of the structure. The main structure of the GFS-SCPC frame remains undamaged after the earthquake, and the loss mainly comes from the damage of the acceleration-sensitive non-structural components of the upper floors. The increase of ksθ can effectively reduce the damage degree of non-structural components and further reduce the resilience indexes, including casualties, repair time and repair cost, while the increase of βE alone does not significantly improve the resilience indexes. Therefore, the proposed GFS-SCPC frame with larger second stiffness has better seismic resilience performance.

Measures to Improve Seismic Resistance by Fuse Mechanism in Pier Structures

AbstractIn Japan, temporary pier structures are designed to withstand earthquakes in consideration of their short service life, and seismic inputs exceeding the design are also expected. In order to confirm the deformation behavior of the fuse mechanism in this temporary pier structure, a fundamental study was conducted using a model specimen. The strength test results showed that the fuse mechanism behaved similar to a rigid body, and then the mortar fuse failed. After the failure of the mortar fuse, the reaction force was generated by the addition of the residual bearing capacity of the mortar fuse and the reaction force of the coil spring. The dynamic loading test results showed that the CFT columns contacted the remaining portion of the fuse after the mortar fuse ruptured, temporarily increasing the maximum response acceleration to 35 m/s2, but the response period became longer, indicating the deformation behavior of the fuse mechanism. In addition, the maximum load of the mortar fuse mechanism and the natural period after the mortar fuse rupture were calculated from the design values of the mortar fuse strength and the spring constant of the coil spring.

Nonlinear coupling vibration analyses of large-scale wind turbine system

With the development of wind energy, the unit capacity of wind turbine is becoming larger and the height of the support tower is getting higher. Limited by the transport conditions, the diameter of the tubular steel tower cannot further increase with the increase of the tower height, which results in the lower natural frequencies of the tower. The higher and more slender wind turbine towers are more sensitive to the external excitation and many tower collapses have occurred in recent years because of the interplay with the longer rotor blades. A 2 MW wind turbine system with a 120 m full steel tubular tower is taken as an example in this study to research the nonlinear coupling vibration mechanism under the normal operation case and the emergency shut-down case. An integrated model of large-scale wind turbine system including the tower, blades, hub, and nacelle is established by the open-source software FAST to study its nonlinear interaction vibration mechanism. Under the normal operation load case, the acceleration response of the steel wind turbine tower is greatly affected by the rotational frequency of the rotor. The maximum accelerations in the fore-aft and side-side directions both appear around the middle-upper height of the tower. Under the emergency shut-down load case, the maximum fore-aft acceleration response appears at the top of the tower, but the maximum side-side response still appears around the middle-upper height of the tower. The first-order vibration mode plays a dominant role in the top fore-aft acceleration and the second-order vibration mode has great contribution to the side-side acceleration under the emergency shut-down load case. The numerical results of this study can provide insight into the vibration control mechanism of the full steel tower.

Seismic response control of core wall structures using tuned viscous mass damper (TVMD) outriggers

This paper presents research on the seismic response control of core wall structures through the installation of innovative damped outriggers known as tuned viscous mass damper (TVMD) outriggers. In this novel system, the TVMDs are arranged vertically between the outrigger trusses/beams and perimeter columns. A simplified model based on the distributed-parameter system was developed to represent a core wall structure equipped with TVMD outriggers. The dynamic properties and seismic responses of high-rise buildings were calculated through a dynamic analysis of the simplified model in MATLAB. The results indicate that TVMD outriggers designed by using fixed-point theory not only suppress the dynamic responses for the target tuning mode, but also supplement additional damping to lower-order modes. When tuned to the second mode, TVMD outriggers with a mass ratio of 0.1 reduce the maximum inter-story drift and floor acceleration responses by 23.48% and 35.80%, respectively. In addition, the control advantages of TVMD outriggers were demonstrated through energy dissipation analysis and damper force decomposition. The vibration control performance of multiple TVMD outriggers was also investigated and was found to achieve superior seismic control with a significantly reduced demand on the TVMD parameters.

Development of a pseudostatic method for seismic performance evaluation of rocking bridge foundations

AbstractPseudostatic analysis can be an efficient approach to evaluating the dynamic response of structures for a preliminary design. In this paper, we present a pseudostatic method based on a pushover analysis to assess the seismic performance of bridge piers supported by rocking‐governed shallow foundations. The method has two stages. In the first stage, the capacity spectrum method (CSM) is applied to evaluate the maximum acceleration and displacement response of the bridge system. To have an appropriate system damping ratio in the CSM, we propose a method to consider various earthquake energy dissipation mechanisms for the pier and foundation. In the second stage, the footing settlement is evaluated based on the maximum footing rotation; an incrementally cyclic pushover analysis with a fixed footing rotation increment is performed to estimate the footing settlement. Examples are presented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed method and the results of the proposed method are compared with the dynamic analysis results. Compared with the conventional CSM, the proposed method improves the estimation of system damping and can estimate the settlement after earthquakes.

Residual deformation considered harmonic-pulse response analysis on self-centering structures with hybrid damping

Self-centering structures feature on its outstanding performance with low residual deformation, while the overuse of the self-centering component significantly increases its production cost. There recommends a structure that has reasonable use of the self-centering component to balance the cost of construction and reparation. With that purpose, the harmonic-pulse response analysis method, which considers not only the maximum displacement and acceleration responses but also the residual displacement, is proposed for the self-centering elastic-plastic structures. Based on this method, a design methodology for hybrid damping is proposed, and the novel response spectra corresponding to the method are solved. Through analysis, it was discovered that hybrid damping for viscoelastic and friction with a percentage range of 25%–50% is appropriate for reducing the maximum and residual displacement. No matter what damping type is adopted, the maximum and residual displacements are reduced by choosing an appropriate combination of the self-centering and elastic-plastic components.

Cushioning properties and application of expanded polystyrene for a dynamic nonlinear system

AbstractTo explore the cushioning properties of expanded polystyrene (EPS), a novel two‐degree‐of‐freedom mathematical model is proposed with a dynamic nonlinear system and successfully implemented it. The maximum response acceleration of the product was first determined in the novel dynamic mathematical model and used as a parameter for evaluating product damage. Furthermore, a drop test was carried out to verify the theoretical model and showed good consistency. Based on the correct theoretical model, a number of simulations with different drop heights and thicknesses of the cushion were done to investigate cushioning properties of EPS. The results show that EPS can reduce the maximum response acceleration of the product by more than 20% of the excitation acceleration. Thus, EPS has good cushioning ability and can be used as packaging material to protect products. Finally, the theoretical model was applied to an example application. A new method for constructing the cushioning curve is recommended, which could replace the traditional ASTM D 1596 drop test method.

Crashworthiness Study of a Newly Developed Civil Aircraft Fuselage Section with Auxiliary Fuel Tank Reinforced with Composite Foam

Over the past two decades, aircraft crashworthiness has seen major developments, mainly with modern computing systems and commercial finite element (FE) codes. The structure and the material have been designed to absorb more kinetic energy to ensure enough safety during a controlled crash condition. However, the fuselage section with an onboard auxiliary fuel tank requires special arrangements, since the inclined strut system with an efficient energy absorber is difficult to install under the cabin floor due to the space occupied by the fuel tank. To solve this shortcoming, a PVC composite foam along with an aluminum plate is introduced beneath the fuel tank to improve the crashworthiness metrics of the fuselage. Drop tests for both the conventional design and the proposed model are investigated by adopting the nonlinear explicit dynamics code Ansys Autodyn, with an impact velocity of 9.14 m/s. It was found that the kinetic energy absorption of the original fuselage section can be improved by 3.54% by reinforcing the foam and the plate. Moreover, they contribute to 20% of total internal energy dissipation. Numerical outcomes also suggest that the cabin floor surface experiences a 41% lower maximum stress, in addition to the mitigation of the maximum peak acceleration responses of the cabin floor at different measured locations from 6% to 36%.

Evaluasi Perilaku Seismik Akibat Ketidakberaturan Vertikal pada Bangunan Beton Bertulang Bertingkat Tinggi

This study investigated the behavior of high-rise reinforced concrete structures with vertical irregularities caused by seismic loading. The ability of the building to endure all of the load during operation should be considered in design process. The irregularities in the building cause to impair stiffness and performance of the structure, particularly during the earthquake. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the effects of vertical irregularities on building, especially high-rise buildings. This study employs an S-Shaped structure with five vertical irregularities. Numerical analysis was used by using STEDA 3D software. The dynamic load used is based on time history data from the previous earthquakes, including the El-Centro, Kobe, and Parkfield. The seismic behavior evaluated in this study consist of shear force, lateral deformation, structural stiffness, the relationship between base shear and top displacement, drift ratio, maximum acceleration response, capacity curve, and top orbit of the building. Based on the numerical analysis results, it can be concluded that each model has a different seismic performance even though it is given the same earthquake load and material properties. The vertical irregularity of the building greatly affects the behavior of the structure due to seismic analysis.

Seismic Response of Cable-Stayed Spanning Pipeline Considering Medium-Pipeline Fluid–Solid Coupling Dynamic Effect

With the aim of determining the influence of the fluid–structure coupling dynamic effect of the oil and gas transmission medium and pipeline on the seismic response, an oil pipeline supported by a cable-stayed spanning structure was taken as the study object. Kinetic equations taking into account the action of oil and gas medium were studied, and a finite element model structure considering the additional-mass method and the fluid–structure coupling effect were established separately. In addition, the mechanism of the oil–gas–pipeline coupling action on the seismic response of pipeline structure was analyzed, and the results were obtained. The results show that the pipeline has a minimal seismic response at the abutment location, the seismic response gradually increases along the abutment to the main tower, and the seismic response reach is maximized at about one-fifth of the bridge platform. The seismic response of the oil and gas pipeline model structure using the additional-mass method is generally more significant than that based on the fluid–solid coupled dynamic model; moreover, the maximum displacement response differs by about 24%, and the maximum acceleration response differs by approximately 30%, indicating that the oil and gas medium has a certain viscoelastic damping effect on the seismic response of the oil pipeline, which provides a reference for the seismic response calculation theory and analysis method of cable-stayed spanning oil pipelines.

Impact response analysis of vibration system with inerter

This research investigates using an inerter system to control the impact-induced vibration response of a single degree of freedom(SDOF) and two degrees of freedom(TDOF) vibration system. An analytic model of the SDOF system with an inerter is first derived, and simulation is performed to compare the inerter performance in suppressing the maximum acceleration response under shock load. Next, a more complex TDOF vibration model with an inerter is derived, and the effectiveness of the inerter in reducing the large acceleration amplitude is evaluated. The energy analysis is conducted to investigate the energy transfer mechanism during impact. The simulation study shows that one can significantly decrease the maximum acceleration response with an appropriate selection of the inerter parameters. For the SDOF vibration system with an inerter, response reduction is greatly influenced by the system’s natural frequency. In the TDOF vibration system, the maximum acceleration response attenuation is caused by two factors. For a large inerter radius, the acceleration response reduction is mainly influenced by energy transfer between unsprung and inerter mass. However, for a big inerter mass, attenuation of the acceleration response is caused by decreasing the system’s natural frequency. It is observed from the simulation that the maximum acceleration response can be reduced up to 35% by adjusting the inerter radius of gyration. Furthermore, the optimum condition for reducing the acceleration response occurs when the inerter mass is half the unsprung mass ( m i = 0.5 m u). An experimental study is conducted to validate the simulation results.

Seismic design and assessment for midrise buildings equipped with damped‐outrigger system

SummaryThe damped‐outrigger system has been proposed to improve the performance of conventional outrigger systems in controlling the structural seismic response by increasing the damping and stiffness. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the effectiveness of using damped‐outrigger systems in midrise buildings and provide engineers with a comparison between conventional structural systems such as moment resisting frame (MRF) and buckling‐restrained braced frame (BRBF) in proposing the most suitable structural system. In this study, the buckling‐restrained brace and viscous damper are adopted as the energy dissipation devices in the damped‐outrigger system. A total of 48 midrise numerical models with various building heights and structural systems are analyzed using nonlinear response history analysis and incremental dynamic analyses. The analysis results show that the midrise buildings equipped with a damped‐outrigger system with either viscous damper or buckling‐restrained brace (BRB) can reach similar and even better seismic performance when compared with the BRBF; it also reduces the structural responses by around 30% for the maximum roof drift and acceleration responses when compared with MRF. The analysis results could provide a reference for structural engineers when selecting suitable lateral force resisting systems for midrise buildings.

Dynamic response of floors induced by a single walking pedestrian including walking path variability

This paper proposes a general non-dimensional closed-form solution to calculate the dynamic response of simply supported rectangular floors crossed by a single pedestrian schematized as a deterministic moving multi-harmonic load. The critical walking paths, which can provide the maximum vibration response, are identified and then a simplified approximated closed-form solution for the dynamic response due to a moving resonant harmonic load along the critical walking paths is proposed. Finally, the accuracy of simplified methods suggested by current guidelines is investigated by comparing the maximum non-dimensional acceleration response obtained from design guidelines with the corresponding value calculated by the analytical solution.

The Change in Dynamic Response Distribution of Double-Track Tunnel Structure Caused by Adding Middle Partition Wall

Adding a middle partition wall is an effective method to prevent the interaction between the upper and lower subway lines in a double-track tunnel, and the subsequent change in the dynamic response of the tunnel structure caused by adding a middle partition wall has drawn attention. We analyzed the displacement and acceleration responses of the upper part (zone A), the lower part (zone B), the tunnel bed and the surrounding connecting part (zone C) of the double-track tunnel by establishing a two-dimensional finite element model of the double-track tunnel and soil with and without a middle partition wall. The numerical results demonstrate that the addition of the middle partition wall improves the displacement and acceleration response distribution of the double-track tunnel structure. Compared with single-train traffic, the addition of the middle partition wall brings more obvious changes to the dynamic response of the double-track tunnel during double-train traffic. The maximum displacement response decreases from 5.881 mm to 5.335 mm, and the maximum acceleration response decreases from 18.51 m/s2 to 16.62 m/s2. The displacement response value in the upper part increases from 1.0 mm to 1.5 mm, the acceleration response value increases from 3.0 m/s2 to 4.6 m/s2, the displacement response value in the tunnel bed and the surrounding connecting part decreases from 5.0 mm to 3.0 mm, and the acceleration response value in the tunnel bed and the surrounding connecting part decreases from 18.0 m/s2 to 10.0 m/s2. There is no obvious change in the lower part. During double-train traffic, after adding the middle partition wall, the horizontal displacement and horizontal acceleration response values of the double-track tunnel structure decrease by about 30% to 45%; the vertical displacement response value of the connection between the middle partition wall and the lining increases from 1.337 mm to 1.774 mm, an increase of 32.7%, and the vertical acceleration of the lower half of the tunnel lining is partially transferred to the upper half. The response values of horizontal displacement and acceleration in the middle part of the middle partition wall are the largest, at 1.6 mm and 6.0 m/s2, while the response values of vertical displacement and acceleration in the bottom of the partition wall are the largest, at 3.3 mm and 9.0 m/s2. The research results provide a reference for the structural design of middle partition walls to ensure the safety and stability of trains running in double-track tunnels.

Typical site seismic response analysis with reinforcement under earthquake and rainfall in the mountainous areas of China

Multi-tilted layered soil is widespread in the mountainous areas of China, and pile systems are widely applied to foundation support and repair. In order to investigate the seismic response of pile systems in multi-tilted layered soils under earthquake and rainfall, two models were built and tested through a large 1-g shaking table. The interlayer was tilted and highly weathered, and it was saturated during rainfall. The piles were embedded in the bedrock with different lengths. The results showed that: 1) The acceleration response was weakened in the interlayer, and it diminished as the earthquake amplitude increased. The structures showed the maximum acceleration response. 2) The existence of water in the tilted interlayer led to a greater response of the superstructure. The bending moment of piles varied under different containers, which was mainly due to the inertial force of the container and the potential sliding force of the covering layer. The water in the interlayer from rainfall promoted the bending moment caused by the potential sliding force, increasing the potential risk of instability of the system. 3) The motion mode of the container under rainfall was translation. The rotation angle of the container with saturated moisture content was significant and it increased with the increase of the earthquake amplitude.