2-D analysis of circular tunnel against earthquake loading

The use of underground structures such as tunnel for subways, highways, material storage, and sewage and water transport is increasing in developed countries. The safety of these facilities during operation in areas with seismic activities such as in Japan, Taiwan and Turkey in recent earthquakes has been questioned. Dynamic effects on these structures are in the form of deformations that they experience during earthquakes. In this paper, first latest methods on the subject are reviewed and then the interaction between the ground and tunnel lining during earthquake excitation is investigated by a finite difference computer program (CA2). Analysis show that a good agreement between analytical closed form and numerical solutions exist. According to the results obtained in this study some practical suggestion for using closed form solution are also given.     

Random vibration of a train traversing a bridge subjected to traveling seismic waves

Non-stationary random vibration of 3D time-dependent train-bridge systems subjected to multi-point earthquake excitations, including wave passage effect, is investigated using the pseudo-excitation method (PEM). The motion equation of such a system is established by coupling the train and bridge through wheel-rail contact relationships and accounting for the phase-lags between pier excitations. The horizontal and vertical earthquake excitations are both assumed to be uniformly modulated, fully coherent random excitations with different phases, while the excitation due to track irregularities is assumed to be a 3D, fully coherent random excitation with velocity-dependent time lags. PEM is first proven to be applicable to such time-dependent systems, and is then used to transform the random excitations into a series of deterministic pseudo excitations. By solving for the corresponding deterministic pseudo responses, various non-stationary random responses, including the time-dependent power spectral density functions (PSD) and standard deviations (SD), can be obtained easily. A case study is then presented in which the China-Star high-speed train traverses a seven-span continuous bridge that is being excited by an earthquake. The results show the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method by comparison with a Monte Carlo simulation. Additionally, the influences of seismic apparent wave velocity and train speed on the system random responses are discussed.     

多跨等高单层厂房纵向结构基本自振周期的计算

结构的基本自振周期的计算是抗震计算的关键问题之一。本文就单层厂房纵向基本自振周期简化计算方法的现状及存在问题作了综述,并提出了自己的见解,可供工程应用时参考。     

汶川地震灾区部分城镇的房屋震害分析

“5·12”汶川地震山移河堵,四川省震害灾区的人民经受了极大的灾害摧残,笔者就都江堰市、彭州市区及有关城镇主要房屋建筑类型的震害现象,进行粗略分类,并进行初浅的原因分析。天灾难御,但我们可从生死灾难中振醒,从技术、材料、工艺、管理等方面反思而应有所提高。     

Seismic response analysis of structures with velocity-dependent dampers

This paper is concerned with seismic response analysis of structures with velocity-dependent passive energy dissipation devices, such as viscous and viscoelastic dampers. The modeling of a damper-brace component composed of a viscous or viscoelastic damper connecting with braces in series is presented. Several key parameters influencing the energy dissipation efficiency of such dampers in the damper-brace component are investigated and the relationships of the parameters and efficiency of the dampers are established. An equivalent model for the passive energy dissipation system is developed, which can significantly simplify the dynamic analysis of structures with the velocity-dependent dampers. The seismic responses of a single-story structure and a multi-story structure with the viscous and viscoelastic dampers are analyzed to verify the effectiveness of the passive energy dissipation devices for suppression of dynamic responses of structures and the reliability of the proposed simplified computational methods.     

Influence of longitudinal structural connectivity on seismic performance of three-hinged precast arch culverts

The hinge type of precast concrete arch culvert was introduced to Japan from France in the 1990s in consideration of the saving of labor, shortening of the construction period, and high quality control of the concrete members. However, due to the 2011 off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku Earthquake (March 11, 2011), the three-hinged precast arch culverts that had been constructed in Japan at the beginning of the period when precast arch culverts were firstly introduced, suffered damage, which spoiled their serviceability. According to the extent of the damage and the type of culverts that were damaged, the longitudinal structural connectivity of the culverts was assumed to be one of the possible reasons for the reported damage mechanism. Therefore, the objective of this paper was to clarify how strongly the longitudinal structural connectivity influenced the longitudinal seismic behavior of the three-hinged arch culverts. To achieve this objective, an elasto-plastic finite element analysis was conducted with an analytical model that could capture the characteristics of the damaged culverts. Simultaneously, a penalty method with the bi-linear spring model was applied as a solution to the contact-impact problems of the precast segmental arch members. As a result, it was found that the weaker longitudinal structural connectivity in the damaged culverts allowed the torsional displacements of the arch members to induce critical damage to the arch members, namely, edge defects in the arch crown and concrete foundation. The numerical results proved the unignorable influence of the longitudinal structural connection on the possible damage to three-hinged arch culverts.     

Experimental investigation on the performance of multi-tiered geogrid mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls with wrap-around facing subjected to earthquake loading

Construction of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls in multi-tiered configurations is a promising solution for increasing the height of such walls. The good performance of this type of walls after recent major earthquakes was reported in a number of technical studies. In the present study, an experimental approach was adopted to compare the seismic performance of single-tiered and multi-tiered MSE walls using physical modeling and through conducting a series of uniaxial shaking table tests. To do so, several geogrid-reinforced soil walls with wrap-around facing (i.e., three-, two-, and single-tiered) with a total height of 10 m were designed in the form of prototypes of 1-m-height wall models. The step-wise intensified sinusoidal waves were applied to the models in 14 typical forms. Comparing the shaking table test results confirmed the post-earthquake advantages of multi-tiered MSE walls. The results revealed that tiered walls exhibited better behaviors under earthquake loading in terms of the seismic stability of the wall, displacement of the wall crest, horizontal displacement of the wall facing, deformation mode and failure mechanism of the wall, settlement of backfill surface, and seismic acceleration responses.     

Uncertainty quantification and seismic fragility of base-isolated liquid storage tanks using response surface models

Seismic response of base-isolated liquid storage tank is represented using response surface model (RSM) to consider the uncertainty in the isolator parameters. The effectiveness of RSM to represent the probability distributions of the peak seismic response quantities of the base-isolated liquid storage tank is studied in the framework of Monte Carlo (MC) simulation. Broad and slender configurations of the tanks isolated by lead–rubber bearing (New Zealand – NZ system) characterized with non-linear force-deformation behavior is considered in the present study. The influence of the uncertain isolator parameters on the seismic response of the base-isolated liquid storage tanks is investigated. Subsequently, seismic fragility of the base-isolated liquid storage tanks is evaluated using the RSM based MC simulation. The RSM estimates the non-linear seismic response of the base-isolated liquid storage tanks with sufficient accuracy. It is observed that the uncertainties in the isolator parameters significantly influence the peak response quantities of the base-isolated liquid storage tanks. The effectiveness of the base isolation technique, in terms of the reduced probability of failure, is observed by comparing the fragility curves for the fixed-base and base-isolated liquid storage tanks. It is also observed that increase in the isolation time period decreases the probability of failure for the base-isolated liquid storage tanks. It is concluded that the peak ground acceleration (PGA) of the earthquake ground motion can be included in the RSM to reduce the computational efforts for seismic fragility analysis.     

Model test study on the dynamic response of the portal section of two parallel tunnels in a seismically active area

A model test of the portals of two parallel tunnels is carried out to learn about the dynamic response of tunnel liner and the interaction between surrounding rock and liner in earthquakes. The experiment results show that: first, when the seismic acceleration traverses the model material, the low-frequency segment of seismic acceleration is magnified and the high-frequency segment of seismic acceleration is attenuated; second, the horizontal shear failure of the surrounding rock is caused by the interaction between the surrounding rock and the tunnel liner, and the cracks in the surrounding rock grow nearly in the same direction, however, because of the different constraints on the tunnel liner by the surrounding rock outside the tunnel, the destruction degree is different; third, the liner cracks of the left tunnel with short length appear mainly at the left tunnel entrance, the cracks of right tunnel with large length appear mainly at the right tunnel entrance and the tunnel cross-section nearly which is in the same vertical plane with the left tunnel portal, and the liner cracks are distributed mainly on the closer side of two liners between the two holes; finally, in the same vertical testing cross-section, the liner maximal strain at the inner sides between two tunnels is greater than outer sides. In addition, the cross-section maximal strain on the right tunnel decreases with the increasing distance between the tested cross-section and a reference vertical plane containing the left tunnel portal.     

汶川地震余震记录及紫坪铺面板堆石坝余震反应研究

对汶川地震后紫坪铺面板堆石坝台阵余震记录进行了分析,研究实测余震地震动频谱特性等基本特征。选择有代表性的坝址基岩台站记录到的余震地震动作为大坝地震动输入,对紫坪铺大坝进行了三维动力有限元分析,并将计算得到的坝体加速度放大倍数与不同坝高台站的监测数据进行了对比。研究结果表明：实测余震地震动加速度反应谱在短周期部分有一定波动,在周期稍长时随周期增加而衰减,符合地震动反应谱的基本特征;综合实测大坝反应、数值计算结果以及以往实测相关资料,本次紫坪铺大坝余震实测结果反映了土工构筑物反应的一般规律。