Abstract

Buildings on hill slopes are highly vulnerable due to its less resistive lateral load capacity. This type of buildings are unsymmetrical and are of in irregular configuration. There are variations in the column height which gives eccentricity to the structure as the center of mass and center of rigidity doesn’t coincide. This irregularity leads to its torsional behavior and gives us the necessity for analyzing these buildings for its base conditions and its behavior by changing its plan configuration. This paper contain the calculation of Twist which is an effective parameter to decide the behavior of the building, Axial forces on the members that can lead to collapse in the structure and about the twist variation with change in the aspect ratio so that we can know the suitability of the configuration of the building. The building on hill slopes does not behave similar to the buildings which are on plane ground. Change in the Aspect ratio means changing the length of the building in ridge direction. Changing the length in valley direction will disturb the load path of gravity load for each and every change in the structure and after some increment of the length in valley direction will fail the structure for its gravity load path. So we can’t play with the length of the building along the valley direction but changing the length along ridge direction does not effect that much to the load path of gravity load and we can obtain a best aspect ratio of the structure for that region.

Abstract

Radiating boundary conditions are essential in the numerical analysis of infinite domains such as dynamic SoilStructure-Interaction analysis. Local absorbing boundary conditions proposed by Lysmer and Kuhlemeyer (1969) are widely used in SSI analysis. These boundary conditions are developed based on the wave propagation in elastic materials. However, almost all soil materials exhibit viscoelastic properties. Badry and Ramancharla (2018) proposed the Absorbing Boundary Conditions for wave propagation in viscoelastic materials (VABC). The VABC conditions were developed from the original Absorbing Boundary Conditions (ABC) by including a spring in addition to the dashpot. In fact, these boundary conditions are inefficient when the waves impinge other than normal direction. In this paper, the radiating boundary conditions are modelled using VABC and ALID (Absorbing Layers by Increase in Damping) together to include the advantages of both the boundary conditions and to overcome the drawback of ABC on angle incidence. A detailed numerical analysis is carried out to verify the boundary conditions. The efficiency of the proposed method has been verified for both 1D and 2D wave propagation problems. The efficiency on angle incidence is verified using 2D plane strain model response through spatial Fourier Transformation. The study concludes that the proposed method is simple and reliable method for modelling radiating boundary conditions. Keywords: Local Absorbing Boundaries, Viscoelastic wave propagation, Rayleigh damping, Soil-Structure interaction, Absorbing Layers by Increase in Damping (ALID)

Abstract

In last two decades, operational modal analysis is widely used for modal identification of structures which uses ambient responses of structure for determining the modal parameters and Frequency Domain Decomposition is one of the most popular method, but seismic excitations and high damping values of structures do not satisfy the assumptions of this classical method. The dynamic modal parameters derived from earthquake responses are more reliable than those from small amplitude responses since dynamic properties of civil structures are dependent on amplitude. In recent years, a new algorithm known as refined Frequency Domain Decomposition (rFDD) is developed which uses structural response to strong ground motions that can be short in duration and is applicable for structures with light to heavy damping. The refined Frequency Domain Decomposition (rFDD) algorithm was initially developed using synthetic seismic response signals as input and later real strong motion response records were used to demonstrate the effectiveness of this algorithm for modal dynamic identification of structures under real earthquake excitations. This method is well developed to counter the problems that normally arise in modal identification and in cases of heavy damping and non-stationarity of the signal, making it lengthy and tedious to process. In this paper the main feature of this method which is Integrated Power Spectral Density matrix computation is taken and applied on mild earthquakes responses of structure. The modal parameters identified are then compared with target values obtained from classical FDD method using ambient responses and interpreted, presenting a case for usage of rFDD in simplified manner in modal dynamic identification of structures. Keywords: Operational Modal analysis, mild earthquake response, refined Frequency Domain Decomposition

Abstract

UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in 2015 at Sendai, Japan, reiterated the need for substantial reduction in loss of life and property. Thus, assessing disaster risk and identifying key items for risk mitigation are in focus. Assessment of disaster risk is a multidisciplinary effort, which includes expected tangible physical loss, such as collapse and damage to built environment. In countries with limited resources, prioritizing risk reduction effort across the different parts of the country needs a quantitative (yet simple) approach to bring objectivity into the decision-making process. This paper presents a simple method, called Earthquake Disaster Risk Index (EDRI), for estimating relative earthquake risk across the different regions in a country; it uses three major constituents of risk, namely Hazard, Exposure and Vulnerability. Hazard is taken as the acceleration hazard specified in the national earthquake design standard, Exposure as per the permitted occupancy in the Local Municipal Byelaws, and Vulnerability through a Level 2 Detailed Qualitative Assessment of buildings built in the Town or City (with penalty points for missing features of earthquake resistance compared to an Ideal Building). First, the EDRI of a Town or City is estimated for each typology of building in the Town or City, and then the net EDRI of the Town or City is obtained as a weighted average of the EDRI of each typology of buildings using the number of buildings of each typology present in the city.

Abstract

Structural engineering involves clear understanding of characteristics of ground motion used in the design of structures to identify the critical aspects of their behavior. Peak amplitude of response (a, v, or d), predominant frequency and duration of strong ground motion are the most important parameters of ground motion that are required for this purpose. These parameters are influenced by the source, path and site conditions. However, it is also found that for the same distance these characteristics are highly sensitive to the fault direction and the side on which the site lies ie, hanging wall or foot wall. In this paper, a case study is performed to understand the influence of fault direction and location of site on the characteristics of the ground motion. For this purpose, 371 ground motions recorded during 1999 Chi-Chi, Taiwan earthquake are selected. Initially, these ground motions were arranged in terms of fault parallel and fault normal direction and also according to distance from the fault. Later, ground motion characteristics were obtained using standard procedures. From the above, it was found that, in the near-fault region, PGA and PGV on the hanging wall are higher by at-least 20% than that on the footwall. From this observation, the near-fault region can be defined not by using the distance from the fault, but by observing the ratio of PGA values in fault normal and parallel directions. This method of estimating the near-fault region is reliable because the hanging wall effect is caused only due to the inclined dip-angle of the fault which is inevitable in most of the thrust and normal faults.

Abstract

Development of Force-based seismic design is historical, and every earthquake has thrown new challenges for already existing assumptions and principles, which helped in the evolution of force-based design. Although many of the assumptions were answered but some remained unaltered and unanswered. Hence, this paved way for developing new theories and philosophies and one such theory is Direct Displacement-Based seismic Design (DDBD). Indian Standard codes, IS 1893 and IS 13920, underwent a major revision in the year 2016, considering the latest developments in Force based design principles. Current work is an attempt to understand the performance comparison between latest IS 1893 & IS 13920 with DDBD method. Initially, three buildings ie, 3, 6 and 9 storey buildings were designed using DDBD at inter-storey drift of 4% with a performance objective to achieve “No collapse”. The spectrum developed using IS code equations does not represent ideal displacement spectrum shape and hence PGA, T and CA dependent equations are used for DDBD methodology of design. PGA of 0.36 g is used in the current study which represents the highest seismic zone in India. Later these buildings were subjected to lateral displacement using displacement-based pushover analysis method. The inelastic strength along with drifts achieved by DDBD are compared with the IS code compliant buildings. From the comparison, it was observed that inelastic strength achieved by 6, 9 storey buildings designed according to FBD are greater than the buildings designed according to DDBD at “No Collapse”. For 3 storey structure, the strength …

Abstract

A ground-structure vibration response study was carried out at the Ramappa Temple near Warangal, Telangana, India, shaken by underground blasting undertaken at the neighbouring Devadula Lift Irrigation Project to build water tunnels. The intensities of vibrations were examined–subsurface and ground vibrations were measured using velocity meters, and shaking at the temple using accelerometers. The study concluded that high-frequency vibrations of the ground were filtered by the soft natural clay bed underneath, and vibrations at the temple structure were small and well below the levels that can cause damage to it. Here we present the scientific findings of the vibrations recorded during the blasts and their implications.

Abstract

In building construction, reinforced concrete (RC) Frame structures are frequently used due to ease of construction and rapid progress of work. In this study, two types of infill’s are used ie, unreinforced masonry infill and semi-interlocked masonry infill. For the analysis purpose of infill, a double strut nonlinear cyclic model is used. The main objective of the study is to investigate the importance of interlocked brick infill in the RC frame structure. For understanding the same, nonlinear static pushover analysis is carried out on analytical models using finite element based software, SeismoStruct. The response reduction factor components such as ductility reduction factor and overstrength factors were computed from nonlinear static pushover analysis and finally, the response reduction factor is calculated for all models. The primary focus is given to numerical modeling, nonlinear behavior of brick masonry RC buildings subjected to lateral loads and calculation of the response reduction factor of'RC'infilled frames with different aspect ratios.

Abstract

Catchment scale conceptual hydrological models apply calibration parameters entirely based on observed historical data in the climate change impact assessment. The study used the most advanced machine learning algorithms based on Ensemble Regression and Random Forest models to develop dynamically calibrated factors which can form as a basis for the analysis of hydrological responses under climate change. The Random Forest algorithm was identified as a robust method to model the calibration factors with limited data for training and testing with precipitation, evapotranspiration and uncalibrated runoff based on various performance measures. The developed model was further used to study the runoff response under climate change variability of precipitation and temperatures. A statistical downscaling model based on K-means clustering, Classification and Regression Trees and Support Vector …

Abstract

In the present study, it was attempted to investigate the cyclic resistance of equi-proportionate silt–sand range pond ash (with 50% fines) at relatively high shear strains using the strain-controlled cyclic triaxial test. The cyclic triaxial tests have been performed considering the effect of relative compaction (97–99%), cyclic shear strain (0.6–1.35%), frequency of loading (0.3–1 Hz) and effective confining pressure (50–100 kPa) on cyclic resistance of pond ash. Dynamic characteristics such as dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of equi-proportionate silt–sand range pond ash was evaluated for all the parameters considered at high shear strain. The maximum value of the dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of pond ash observed in this study was 6534.8 kPa and 23.64%, respectively. The dynamic shear modulus and damping ratio of pond ash was decreased from 6534.8 to 5023.87 kPa and 23.64 to 14.17 …