• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.6
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• pp.589-599
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• 2024

This study presents the usability of the high-rate single-frequency Precise Point Positioning (SF-PPP) technique based on 20 Hz Global Positioning Systems (GPS)-only observations in detecting dynamic motions. SF-PPP solutions were obtained from post-mission and real-time GNSS corrections. These include the International GNSS Service (IGS)-Final, IGS real-time (RT), real-time MADOCA (Multi-GNSS Advanced Demonstration tool for Orbit and Clock Analysis), and real-time products from the Australian/New Zealand satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS, known as SouthPAN). SF-PPP results were compared with LVDT (Linear Variable Differential Transformer) sensor and single-frequency relative positioning (SF-RP) solutions. The findings show that the SF-PPP technique successfully detects the harmonic motions, and the real-time products-based PPP solutions were as accurate as the final post-mission products. In the frequency domain, all GNSS-based methods evaluated in this contribution correctly detect the dominant frequency of short-term harmonic oscillations, while the differences in the amplitude values corresponding to the peak frequency do not exceed 1.1 mm. However, evaluations in the time domain show that SF-PPP needs high-pass filtering to detect accurate displacement since SF-PPP solutions include trends and low-frequency fluctuations, mainly due to atmospheric effects. Findings obtained in the time domain indicate that final, real-time, and MADOCA-based PPP results capture short-term dynamic behaviors with an accuracy ranging from 3.4 mm to 8.5 mm, and SBAS-based PPP solutions have several times higher RMSE values compared to other methods. However, after high-pass filtering, the accuracies obtained from PPP methods decreased to a few mm. The outcomes demonstrate the potential of the high-rate SF-PPP method to reliably monitor structural and earthquake-induced ground motions and vibration frequencies of structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.1127-1146
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• 2015

The excitation angle or angle of incidence is the angle in which the horizontal seismic components are applied with respect to the principal structural axes during a time history analysis. In this study, numerical simulations and parametric studies are performed for the investigation of the effect of the angle of seismic incidence on the response of adjacent buildings, which may experience structural pounding during strong earthquakes due to insufficient or no separation distance between them. A specially developed software application has been used that implements a simple and efficient methodology, according to which buildings are modelled in three dimensions and potential impacts are simulated using a novel impact model that takes into account the arbitrary location of impacts and the geometry at the point of impact. Two typical multi-storey buildings and a set of earthquake records have been used in the performed analyses. The results of the conducted parametric studies reveal that it is very important to consider the arbitrary direction of the ground motion with respect to the structural axes of the simulated buildings, especially during pounding, since, in many cases, the detrimental effects of pounding become more pronounced for an excitation angle different from the commonly examined 0 or 90 degrees.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.26-33
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• 2008

The analysis of wide-angle seismic reflection and refraction data plays an important role in lithospheric-scale crustal structure study. However, it is extremely difficult to develop an appropriate velocity structure model directly from the observed data, and we have to improve the structure model step by step, because the crustal structure analysis is an intrinsically non-linear problem. There are several subjective processes in wide-angle crustal structure modelling, such as phase identification and trial-and-error forward modelling. Because these subjective processes in wide-angle data analysis reduce the uniqueness and credibility of the resultant models, it is important to reduce subjectivity in the analysis procedure. From this point of view, we describe two software tools, PASTEUP and MODELING, to be used for developing crustal structure models. PASTEUP is an interactive application that facilitates the plotting of record sections, analysis of wide-angle seismic data, and picking of phases. PASTEUP is equipped with various filters and analysis functions to enhance signal-to-noise ratio and to help phase identification. MODELING is an interactive application for editing velocity models, and ray-tracing. Synthetic traveltimes computed by the MODELING application can be directly compared with the observed waveforms in the PASTEUP application. This reduces subjectivity in crustal structure modelling because traveltime picking, which is one of the most subjective process in the crustal structure analysis, is not required. MODELING can convert an editable layered structure model into two-way traveltimes which can be compared with time-sections of Multi Channel Seismic (MCS) reflection data. Direct comparison between the structure model of wide-angle data with the reflection data will give the model more credibility. In addition, both PASTEUP and MODELING are efficient tools for handling a large dataset. These software tools help us develop more plausible lithospheric-scale structure models using wide-angle seismic data.