Dynamic behavior of rocking structures allowed to uplift

Strong shaking of structures during large earthquakes may result in some cases in partial separation of the base of the structure from the sail. This phenomenon of uplifting, which can affect the dynamic behavior of the structure significantly, even if the amount of uplift is small, is examined in this thesis. First the case of a rocking rigid block is investigated and then more complicated, flexible superstructures are introduced. Two foundation models which permit uplift are considered: the Winkler foundation and the much simpler "two-spring" foundation. Several energy dissipating mechanisms are also introduced into these models. It is shown that an equivalence between these two models for the foundation can be established, so that one can always work with the much simpler two-spring foundation. In this way complete analytical solutions can be derived in most cases. Moreover, simple approximate methods for the calculation of the apparent fundamental period of the rocking system are developed and simplified methods of analysis are proposed. In general, uplift leads to a softer vibrating system which behaves nonlinearly, although the response is composed of a sequence of linear responses. As a result, the apparent fundamental resonant frequency of the uplifting system is always less than the fundamental resonant frequency of both the soil-structure interacting system, in which lift-off is not allowed, and the superstructure itself. The second and higher resonant frequencies of the superstructure, however, are not affected significantly by lift-off. For damped foundations, the ratio of critical damping associated with the apparent fundamental mode decreases, in general, with the amount of lift-off. These effects of uplift on the dynamic properties of the rocking system can alter the response of the structure significantly during an earthquake. Nevertheless, it cannot be said a priori whether they are favorable to the behavior or not; this depends on the parameters of the system and the time history of the excitation

Analysis of the Lee-Yang zeros in a dynamical mass generation model in three dimensions

We investigate a strongly U(1) gauge theory with fermions and scalars on a three dimensional lattice and analyze whether the cintinuum limit might be a renormalizable theory with dynamical mass generation. Most attention is paid to the weak coupling region where a possible new dynamical mass generation mechanism might exist. There we investigate the mass of the composite fermion, the chiral condensate and the scaling of the Lee-Yang zeros.Comment: 3 pages,4 figures,talk presented at Lattice97(Edinburgh

Strongly coupled lattice gauge theory with dynamical fermion mass generation in three dimensions

We investigate the critical behaviour of a three-dimensional lattice \chiU\phi_3 model in the chiral limit. The model consists of a staggered fermion field, a U(1) gauge field (with coupling parameter $\beta$) and a complex scalar field (with hopping parameter $\kappa$). Two different methods are used: 1) fits of the chiral condensate and the mass of the neutral unconfined composite fermion to an equation of state and 2) finite size scaling investigations of the Lee-Yang zeros of the partition function in the complex fermion mass plane. For strong gauge coupling ($\beta < 1$) the critical exponents for the chiral phase transition are determined. We find strong indications that the chiral phase transition is in one universality class in this $\beta$ interval: that of the three-dimensional Gross-Neveu model with two fermions. Thus the continuum limit of the \chiU\phi_3 model defines here a nonperturbatively renormalizable gauge theory with dynamical mass generation. At weak gauge coupling and small $\kappa$, we explore a region in which the mass in the neutral fermion channel is large but the chiral condensate on finite lattices very small. If it does not vanish in the infinite volume limit, then a continuum limit with massive unconfined fermion might be possible in this region, too.Comment: 27 pages, 16 figure

Upthrow of objects due to horizontal impulse excitation

The phenomenon of upthrow of rigid blocks, excited into motion by horizontal impulses, is examined in this study. A simple foundation model is used, consisting of two sets of springs and dashpots; one set near each corner of the block. Each set consists of vertical and horizontal elements. The vertical springs are not permitted to take tensile forces, so separation of the block from the ground is allowed. The associated horizontal spring separates along with the vertical spring. The response can be separated into three regimes, namely, full contact, partial uplift, and complete separation. Analytical expressions for the response are given for the first two cases; the third case is simply rigid body motion. The overall response is nonlinear and analytical criteria for upthrow were not found. The minimum value of the impulse required for complete separation, expressed as a normalized initial velocity, was determined numerically and a parametric investigation performed. Although the irregularity of the results does not allow many general conclusions to be drawn, it was found that for short blocks, a decrease in the stiffness of the horizontal foundation springs required larger impulses for separation. These effects had mixed results for tall blocks

The Salonica (Thessaloniki) earthquake of June 20, 1978

The 6.5 magnitude Salonica earthquake of June 20, 1978 is an earthquake of major interest from the engineering point of view, since it occurred near a city of 700,000 inhabitants. In general, the damage was not extensive and modern buildings performed quite well during the earthquake, while some old ones suffered severe damage. The author was on vacation in Athens at the time of the earthquake and visited Salonica on June 23rd. As the intention of this visit was to make a general survey of the affected area, detailed descriptions of the engineering features of the earthquake and the building damage are not included in this report

Solvothermal synthesis and photocatalytic performance of Mn4+-doped anatase nanoplates with exposed {001} facets

The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 and manganese doped TiO2 nanoplates with various manganese atomic percentages, in the range of 2-7%, was studied. The undoped and doped nanoplates with exposed {001} facets were produced by a solvothermal method. The crystal structure as well as the shape of the TiO2 and Mn4+/TiO2 anatase nanoparticles was determined with X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Both techniques revealed that the nanocrystals are in the form of plates. Moreover, the anisotropic peak broadening of the X-ray diffraction patterns was studied using the Rietveld refining method. Chemical analysis of the photocatalyst that was carried out with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed the presence of manganese ions in the TiO2 anatase matrix. The Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations exhibited a decrease in the energy gap and an increase in the density of the electronic stated inside the gap for the doped TiO2. These observations were in agreement with the results of the UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) that demonstrated an adsorption shift towards the visible region for the same samples. The photocatalytic activity of the synthesized catalysts was investigated by the photocatalytic oxidation of the gaseous nitric oxide (NO) and decomposition of the gaseous acetaldehyde (CH3CHO) under visible light irradiation. The optimal concentration of dopant that improves the photocatalytic activity of the nanoplates was determined. © 2014 Elsevier B.V

On the rocking behavior of rigid objects

A novel formulation for the rocking motion of a rigid block on a rigid foundation is presented in this work. The traditional piecewise equations are replaced by a single ordinary differential equation. In addition, damping effects are no longer introduced by means of a coefficient of restitution but understood as the presence of impulsive forces. The agreement with the classical formalism is very good for both free rocking regime and harmonic forcing excitation

Rocking isolation of a typical bridge pier on spread foundation

It has been observed that after some earthquakes a number of structures resting on spread footings responded to seismic excitation by rocking on their foundation and in some cases this enabled them to avoid failure. Through application to a standard bridge supported by direct foundations, this paper discusses the major differences in response when foundation uplift is taken into consideration. Special focus is given on the modifications of rocking response under biaxial and tri-axial excitation with respect to uniaxial excitation. It is found that inelastic rocking has a significant isolation effect. It is also shown that this effect increases under biaxial excitation while it is less sensitive to the vertical component of the earthquake. Finally, parametric analyses show that the isolation effect of foundation rocking increases as the size of the footing and the yield strength of the underlying soil decreases

Engineering reconnaissance following the August 24, 2016 M6.0 Central Italy earthquake

An earthquake with a moment magnitude reported as 6.0 from INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia); occurred at 03:36 AM (local time) on 24 August 2016 in the central part of Italy. The epicenter was located at the borders of the Lazio, Abruzzi, Marche and Umbria regions, about 2.5 km north-east of the village of Accumoli and about 100 km from Rome. The hypocentral depth was about 8 km (INGV). We summarize preliminary findings of the Italy-US GEER (Geotechnical Extreme Events Reconnaissance) team, on damage distribution, causative faults, earthquake-induced landslides and rockfalls, building and bridge performance, and ground motion characterization. Our reconnaissance team used multidisciplinary approaches, combining expertise in geology, seismology, geomatics, geotechnical engineering, and structural engineering. Our approach was to combine traditional reconnaissance activities of on-ground recording and mapping of field conditions, with advanced imaging and damage detection routines enabled by state-of-the-art geomatics technology. We anticipate that results from this study, will be useful for future post-earthquake reconnaissance efforts, and improved emergency respons