Preparation for call for proposals for access to ELSA

The JRC Strategy 2030 for ‘Infrastructure fit for purpose’ includes an action to open up JRC’s research infrastructure to external use. This will give European research and business organisations access to equipment that they would not normally have. It will also raise the value and visibility of DG JRC’s research infrastructures. ELSA-OPEN is a pilot project of this action that will make available to researchers and industry the ELSA reaction wall and the HOPLAB facilities. Access will be granted through open calls and proposals will be evaluated by a selection panel, considering a set priority topics and other criteria. This report gives an overview of the facilities, the framework for access and the procedure and timetable for the submission and evaluation of proposals and the execution of accepted proposals.JRC.E.4-Safety and Security of Building

The Emilia earthquakes: Report and analysis on the behavior of precast industrial buildings from a field mission

A series of earthquakes, the highest of magnitude Mw 5.9, hit a portion of the Po Valley in Northern Italy, which was only recently classified as seismic. The paper reports the findings and the lessons learnt from a preliminary field survey which was conducted immediately after the second event. As a result of the economic attitude of the affected area, and possibly of the characteristics of the event, an unprecedented number of industrial precast buildings were affected, resulting into most of the casualties as well as in large economic losses. Whereas most of the damaged and collapsed buildings were designed for gravity loads only, evidence of poor behavior of some precast buildings designed according to seismic provisions were discovered. The paper provides a description of the performance of precast buildings, highlighting the deficiencies that led to their poor behavior as well as some preliminary .recommendationsJRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessmen

Seismic performance assessment addressing sustainability and energy efficiency

Sustainability has become one the most ambitious challenges for Europe growth, according to 2020 Europe Strategy. This high-priority theme braces a lot of industrial sectors. In particular the construction sector bears a huge responsibility in relation to sustainable development because of several impacts produced on its three dimensions: environment, economy and society. A building has to fulfill its own performance not only in the abovementioned common triple-bottom line of sustainability, but also in usability, capacity, reliability, safety and comfort. In that context, designing a sustainable construction turns out to be a very complex issue, so a holistic view is the key of sustainability in the construction sector. Furthermore, buildings should be designed and assessed in the light of time with a future in mind which can be predicted only in probabilistic terms, so an integral life-cycle approach is required. This report emphasizes the present need for the construction sector to develop a new way to conceive structures, with the aim to develop a competitive sustainable construction sector. In order to obtain this European objective a new design methodology is needed, focusing on a multi-performance, life-cycle oriented approach. A potential Sustainable Structural Design (SSD) methodology with its three main steps is presented, addressing the possibility to include environmental aspects in structural design, in order to obtain a global assessment parameter in monetary terms. In details, the building environmental analysis in terms of CO2 emissions and energy consumption, carried out by the LCA methodology should be combined with the structural analysis. For this reason environmental results have to be transformed in costs in order to be summed with structural results, expressed in economic terms thanks to the simplified Performance Based Assessment (sPBA) methodology. Finally, the importance of considering the resource efficiency in construction sector is discussed, highlighting a possible way to measure it. The necessity to develop a research programme to consider the economic dimension of this aspect in order to include it in the SSD methodology is considered. Other possible options to ensure resource efficiency in the construction sector through the re-use of building materials and the recycle of construction and demolition wastes or the reinforcement of economic instruments are underlined.JRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessmen

Guidelines for typology definition of European physical assets for earthquake risk assessment

It is an essential step in urban earthquake risk assessment to compile inventory databases of elements at risk and to make a classification on the basis of pre-defined typology/taxonomy definitions. Typology definitions and the classification system should reflect the vulnerability characteristics of the systems at risk, e.g. buildings, lifeline networks, transportation infrastructures, etc., as well as of their sub-components in order to ensure a uniform interpretation of data and risk analyses results. In this report, a summary of literature review of existing classification systems and taxonomies of the European physical assets at risk is provided in Chapter 2. The identified main typologies and the classification of the systems and their sub-components, i.e. SYNER-G taxonomies, for Buildings, Utility Networks, Transportation Infrastructures and Critical Facilities are presented in Chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively.JRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessmen

Evaluation of Iterative DBD Procedures for Bridges

This report addresses the problem of the Displacement Based Evaluation/Design (DBE/D) of reinforced concrete bridges. Throughout the report, the aims and limitations of current seismic evaluation and design practice and the tendencies of the displacement-based seismic evaluation/design are discussed. It presents a state-of-the-art review on the most important results and lessons derived from previous works, and based on them, two evaluation/design methods consistent with the performance-based seismic design philosophy are presentedJRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessmen

Validation of Simplified Procedures for Predicting Global Response in the Context of DBD of Bridges, Including the Flexibility of Foundations / Case Study Comparison of DBD Iterative Procedures for Bridges

The present report collects the work performed in Deliverable 112 "Validation of simplified procedures for predicting global response in the context of DBD of bridges, including the flexibility of foundations" and in the chapter corresponding to Displacement Based Design of Deliverable 113 "Case study comparison of DBD iterative procedures for bridges" of the LESSLOSS Project, dealing with three main subjects: verifying that the concept of the Substitute Structure constitutes a valid means of predicting the response of a bridge structure undergoing plastic deformations; formulating a procedure for the displacement based design performance of bridges; defining the parameters of a Takeda Model to be used within the context of non-linear time history analysis of bridges with RC rectangular hollow columns.JRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessmen

Enhancing the collaboration of earthquake engineering research infrastructures

Towards stronger international collaboration of earthquake engineering research infrastructures International collaboration and mobility of researchers is a means for maximising the efficiency of use of research infrastructures. The European infrastructures are committed to widen joint research and access to their facilities. This is relevant to European framework for research and innovation, the single market and the competitiveness of the construction industry.JRC.G.4-European laboratory for structural assessmen

Guidelines for deriving seismic fragility functions of elements at risk: Buildings, lifelines, transportation networks and critical facilities

The objective of SYNER-G in regards to the fragility functions is to propose the most appropriate functions for the construction typologies in Europe. To this end, fragility curves from literature were collected, reviewed and, where possible, validated against observed damage and harmonised. In some cases these functions were modified and adapted, and in other cases new curves were developed. The most appropriate fragility functions are proposed for buildings, lifelines, transportation infrastructures and critical facilities. A software tool was also developed for the storage, harmonisation and estimation of the uncertainty of fragility functions.JRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessmen

Simplified Models/Procedures for Estimation of Secant-to-Yielding Stiffness, Equivalent Damping, Ultimate Deformations and Shear Capacity of Bridge Piers on the Basis of Numerical Analysis

The present report gives charts and expressions for computing the equivalent stiffness and damping of bridge piers of rectangular hollow cross section at maximum displacement within the framework of displacement based design and assessment of bridges, based on the results of parametric non-linear cyclic fibre section analysis calibrated from full-scale experimental results. A state of the art review is presented concerning the different approaches that may be adopted to model shear effects in reinforced concrete columns concerning the different approaches that may be adopted to model the shear effects in reinforced concrete columns.JRC.G.5-European laboratory for structural assessmen

Dual-Steel Eccentrically Braced Frames with Bolted Links – Simulation of Safe Removal Process

Current seismic design philosophy is based on dissipative structural response, which implicitly accepts damage to the main structure and significant economic losses. Repair of the structure is often impeded by the permanent (residual) drifts of the structure. The proposed research aims at reducing the repair costs and downtime of a structure hit by an earthquake, and consequently more rational design approach in the context of sustainability. These objectives are to be attained through removable dissipative members and re-centring capability of the structure, concepts that are to be implemented in a dual structure, obtained by combining steel eccentrically braced frames with removable bolted links with moment resisting frames. The bolted links are intended to provide the energy dissipation capacity and to be easily replaceable, while the more flexible moment resisting frames would provide the necessary re-centring capability to the structure. The columns of the structure are to be realised from high strength steel, in order to keep these members in the elastic range even under strong seismic input. Practical solutions regarding order in which bolted links need to be replaced are proposed. In order that the link removal process to be a safe one, there is analyzed and chosen a solution that uses tension rods with viscous dampers mounted on the structure during link removal. Once the seismic link is removed from the structure, this system slowly releases the accumulated forces and the structure comes back to its initial position.JRC.G.4-European laboratory for structural assessmen