Seismic Retrofit of Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings with Hysteretic Bracing Systems: Design Procedure and Behaviour Factor

This paper presents a design procedure to evaluate the mechanical characteristics of hysteretic Energy Dissipation Bracing (EDB) systems for seismic retrofitting of existing reinforced concrete framed buildings. The proposed procedure, aiming at controlling the maximum interstorey drifts, imposes a maximum top displacement as function of the seismic demand and, if needed, regularizes the stiffness and strength of the building along its elevation. In order to explain the application of the proposed procedure and its capacity to involve most of the devices in the energy dissipation with similar level of ductility demand, a simple benchmark structure has been studied and nonlinear dynamic analyses have been performed. A further goal of this work is to propose a simplified approach for designing dissipating systems based on linear analysis with the application of a suitable behaviour factor, in order to achieve a widespread adoption of the passive control techniques. At this goal, the increasing of the structural performances due to the addition of an EDB system designed with the above-mentioned procedure has been estimated considering one thousand case studies designed with different combinations of the main design parameters. An analytical formulation of the behaviour factor for braced buildings has been proposed

Nonlinear analysis of base isolated buildings with curved surface sliders including over-stroke displacements

eismic isolation represents one of the most suitable strategies for mitigating the seismic risk of structures and infrastructures. Acceptable probabilities of collapse for seis-mically isolated buildings could be achieved by an appropriate isolator displacement capacity. This paper investigates the effects of the over-stroke capacity of double concave curved sur-face sliding isolators, in addition to the nominal displacement capacity, on the seismic response of base isolated structures. The case study building is a reinforced concrete frame structure designed for high hazard seismic site. The level of performance of global collapse prevention has been investigated considering the earthquake intensity levels at the Collapse Limit State (with a return period of 1000 years). The results of the nonlinear static and dynamic analysis highlights that the seismic isolation without the over-stroke capability show a limited margin against collapse for seismic intensities beyond the design limit state lev

Experimental seismic response of a resilient 3-storey post-tensioned timber framed building with dissipative braces

AbstractWith the increased number of multi-storey buildings in seismic areas, research efforts have been focused on developing earthquake resilient systems, such as low-damage techniques based on the combination of post-tensioning and dissipating devices. This paper describes the experimental study performed on a 3-storey post-tensioned timber framed (Pres-Lam) building equipped with energy dissipating systems. The testing project consisted of three phases adopting different configurations of the experimental model: (1) post-tensioning to beam-column joints only, (2) post-tensioning and dissipative rocking mechanisms and (3) post-tensioning and dissipative braces. The main objective of this paper is to experimentally investigate on the seismic response of a large-scale specimen with dissipative braces located in high seismic area, considering construction details similar to those adopted in practical applications. During the experimental campaign, the test frame was subjected to more than one hundred ground motions considering a set of seven spectra-compatible earthquakes at increasing intensity levels. The dissipating bracing system with external replaceable hysteretic dampers improves the seismic resilience of multi-storey Pres-Lam buildings, showing inter-storey drift comparable to those with rocking walls, with full recentring capability and without structural damages or post-tensioning losses through seismic tests

Seismic Design and Testing of Post-tensioned Timber Buildings With Dissipative Bracing Systems

This paper describes a seismic design procedure for low-damage buildings composed by post-tensioned timber framed structures coupled with hysteretic dissipative bracing systems. The main goal of the design procedure is preventing or limiting earthquake-induced damage to the structural and non-structural elements. For this aim, a target design displacement is defined according to the desired performance level. Then, the corresponding design force, strength, and stiffness of the post-tensioning and of the dissipative braces are evaluated in order to size post-tensioned connections and dissipating devices. The results of shaking table testing performed at the University of Basilicata are also reported. A prototype model −2/3 scaled, three-dimensional, and three stories with a post-tensioned timber structure without and with V-inverted braces and U-shaped flexural steel dampers—has been extensively tested. During testing, the specimen was subjected to a set of seven earthquakes at different intensity levels of the peak ground acceleration. The effectiveness of the bracing system and the reliability of the proposed procedure are experimentally demonstrated. Non-linear dynamic analyses have been performed in order to simulate the experimental seismic response. The numerical model is based on a lumped plasticity approach, which combines the use of elastic elements with linear and rotational springs representing energy dissipating devices and plastic rotations of the connections. The numerical results accurately predict the non-linear behavior of the prototype model, obtaining a satisfactory matching with the target drift considered for design

Chapter Electromagnetic Sensing Techniques for Non-Destructive Diagnosis of Civil Engineering Structures

Environmental policy & protocol

Electromagnetic Sensing Techniques for Non-Destructive Diagnosis of Civil Engineering Structures

Environmental policy & protocol

Advanced Video-Based Processing for Low-Cost Damage Assessment of Buildings under Seismic Loading in Shaking Table Tests

This paper explores the potential of a low-cost, advanced video-based technique for the assessment of structural damage to buildings caused by seismic loading. A low-cost, high-speed video camera was utilized for the motion magnification processing of footage of a two-story reinforcedconcrete frame building subjected to shaking table tests. The damage after seismic loading was estimated by analyzing the dynamic behavior (i.e., modal parameters) and the structural deformations of the building in magnified videos. The results using the motion magnification procedure were compared for validation of the method of the damage assessment obtained through analyses of conventional accelerometric sensors and high-precision optical markers tracked using a passive 3D motion capture system. In addition, 3D laser scanning to obtain an accurate survey of the building geometry before and after the seismic tests was carried out. In particular, accelerometric recordings were also processed and analyzed using several stationary and nonstationary signal processing techniques with the aim of analyzing the linear behavior of the undamaged structure and the nonlinear structural behavior during damaging shaking table tests. The proposed procedure based on the analysis of magnified videos provided an accurate estimate of the main modal frequency and the damage location through the analysis of the modal shapes, which were confirmed using advanced analyses of the accelerometric data. Consequently, the main novelty of the study was the highlighting of a simple procedure with high potential for the extraction and analysis of modal parameters, with a special focus on the analysis of the modal shape’s curvature, which provides accurate information on the location of the damage in a structure, while using a noncontact and low-cost method

Transport Infrastructure Surveillance and Monitoring by Electromagnetic Sensing: The ISTIMES Project

The ISTIMES project, funded by the European Commission in the frame of a joint Call “ICT and Security” of the Seventh Framework Programme, is presented and preliminary research results are discussed. The main objective of the ISTIMES project is to design, assess and promote an Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)-based system, exploiting distributed and local sensors, for non-destructive electromagnetic monitoring of critical transport infrastructures. The integration of electromagnetic technologies with new ICT information and telecommunications systems enables remotely controlled monitoring and surveillance and real time data imaging of the critical transport infrastructures. The project exploits different non-invasive imaging technologies based on electromagnetic sensing (optic fiber sensors, Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite platform based, hyperspectral spectroscopy, Infrared thermography, Ground Penetrating Radar-, low-frequency geophysical techniques, Ground based systems for displacement monitoring). In this paper, we show the preliminary results arising from the GPR and infrared thermographic measurements carried out on the Musmeci bridge in Potenza, located in a highly seismic area of the Apennine chain (Southern Italy) and representing one of the test beds of the project

Transport Infrastructure SHM Using Integrated SAR Data and On-Site Vibrational Acquisitions: “Ponte Della Musica–Armando Trovajoli” Case Study

This work presents the first results obtained by applying in situ and remote-sensing methodologies to monitor the Ponte della Musica-Armando Trovajoli located in Rome, within the activities of the WP6 “Structural Health Monitoring and Satellite Data” 2019-21 Reluis Project. In particular, the use of remote-sensing Differential Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Interferometry (DInSAR) measurements provided a spatial map of the displacement of the investigated infrastructure and the corresponding time-series, with the aim of monitoring deformation phenomena, focusing on the local scale analysis, which produces suitable results for urban monitoring and damage assessment. The DInSAR results have been integrated with the identification of the dynamic characteristics of the bridge, performed through an experimental campaign of ambient vibration measurements carried out in October 2020 and with the local-scale definition of the engineering geological setting of the foundation soil. The subsoil of the bridge is constituted by more than 50 m of recent alluvial deposits resting on Pliocene stiff clay acting as a geological bedrock. A substantially stable behavior of the bridge structural elements has been observed based on the analysis of both satellite and velocimetric data. This case represents a good example about how the integration of in situ sensors with remotely sensed data and the exploitation of a detailed knowledge regarding the on-site conditions represent a key factor for a sustainable structural and infrastructural monitoring and can support the planning both of maintenance and safety management

Automatic evaluation of the fundamental frequency variations and related damping factor of reinforced concrete framed structures using the Short Time Impulse Response Function (STIRF)

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) aims to improve knowledge of the safety and maintainability of civil structures and infrastructures. This paper presents an innovative strategy for automatic evaluation of the variable fundamental frequency and related damping factors of nonlinear structures during strong motion phases. In fact, most of methods for damage detection are based on the assessment of the variations related to dynamic parameters characterizing the monitored structure. In this case, a crucial aspect is a correct estimation of both structural eigenfrequencies and related damping factor also during the nonlinear behavior of a monitored structure. In this paper, nonlinear interferometric analyses combined with the Fourier Transform (FT) are proposed to evaluate the Short-Time Impulse Response Function (STIRF) able to characterize frequencies and damping variations of a monitored structure. Two application of the STIRF are proposed on both numerical and experimental models