• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.531-543
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• 2023

Base isolation is one of the most widely implemented and well-known technique to reduce structural vibration and damages during an earthquake. However, while the base-isolated structure reduces storey drift significantly, it also increases the base drifts causing many practical problems. This study proposes the use of Shape Memory Alloys (SMA) wires for the reduction in base drift while controlling the overall structure vibrations. A multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) structure along with base isolators and Shape-Memory-Alloys (SMA) wires in diagonal is tested experimentally and analytically. The isolation bearing considered in this study consists of laminates of steel and silicon rubber. The performance of the proposed structure is evaluated and studied under different loadings including harmonic loading and seismic excitation. To assess the seismic performance of the proposed structure, shake table tests are conducted on base-isolated MDOF frame structure incorporating SMA wires, which is subjected to incremental harmonic and historic seismic loadings. Root mean square acceleration, displacement and drift are analyzed and discussed in detail for each story. To better understand the structure response, the percentage reduction of displacement is also determined for each story. The result shows that the reduction in the response of the proposed structure is much better than conventional base-isolated structure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.539-560
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• 2014

Shaking tables are devices for testing structures or structural components models with a wide range of synthetic ground motions or real recorded earthquakes. They are essential tools in earthquake engineering research since they simulate the effects of the true inertial forces on the test specimens. The destructive earthquakes that occurred at the north part of Algeria during the period of 1954-2003 resulted in an initiative from the Algerian authorities for the construction of a shaking simulator at the National Earthquake Engineering Research Center, CGS. The acceleration tracking performance and specifically the inability of the earthquake simulator to accurately replicate the input signal can be considered as the main challenge during shaking table test. The objective of this study is to validate the uni-axial sinusoidal performances curves and to assess the accuracy and fidelity in signal reproduction using the advanced adaptive control techniques incorporated into the MTS Digital controller and software of the CGS shaking table. A set of shake table tests using harmonic and earthquake acceleration records as reference/commanded signals were performed for four test configurations: bare table, 60 t rigid mass and two 20 t elastic specimens with natural frequencies of 5 Hz and 10 Hz.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.149-160
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• 2021

Buildings made using the locally available clay materials are amongst the least expensive forms of construction in many developing countries, and therefore, widely popular in remote areas. It is despite the fact that these low-strength masonry structures are vulnerable to seismic forces. Since transporting imported materials like cement and steel in areas inaccessible by motorable roads is challenging and financially unviable. This paper presents, and experimentally investigates, adobe masonry structures that utilize the abundantly available local clay materials with moderate use of imported materials like cement, aggregates, and steel. Shake-table tests were performed on two 1:3 reduce-scaled adobe masonry models for experimental seismic testing and verification. The model AM1 was confined with vertical lightly reinforced concrete columns provided at all corners and reinforced concrete horizontal bands (i.e., tie beams) provided at sill, lintel, and eave levels. The model AM2 was confined only with the horizontal bands provided at sill, lintel, and eave levels. The models were subjected to sinusoidal base motions for studying the damage evolution and response of the model under dynamic lateral loading. The lateral forcedeformation capacity curves for both models were developed and bi-linearized to compute the seismic response parameters: stiffness, strength, ductility, and response modification factor R. Seismic performance levels, story-drift, base shear coefficient, and the expected structural damages, were defined for both the models. Seismic performance assessment of the selected models was carried out using the lateral seismic force procedure to evaluate their safety in different seismic zones. The use of vertical columns in AM1 has shown a considerable increase in the lateral strength of the model in comparison to AM2. Although an R factor equal to 2.0 is recommended for both the models, AM1 has exhibited better seismic performance in all seismic zones due to its relatively high lateral strength in comparison to AM2.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.275-281
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• 2015

In this study, vertical motion of a Tuned Liquid Column Damper(TLCD) is measured by a variable voltage measurement system in the electric field and design parameters of the TLCD are determined. First, nonlinear damping term of the TLCD is replaced as the equivalent viscous damping term. The natural frequency and damping ratio of dynamic characteristics of the TLCD are verified. In addition, a novel liquid level measurement system is developed for measuring vertical motion of the TLCD. For the experimental achievement, experimental characterizations of natural frequency and damping ratio of the TLCD are undertaken utilizing the developed variable voltage sensing. Also, shake table testing is performed to determine the dynamic characteristics of the TLCD. As a result, the feasibility of the proposed liquid level measurement system is verified by comparison with the capacitive type wavemeter.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.329-348
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• 2013

This study aims at observing the coupling behaviours between suspended ceilings and partition walls in terms of their global seismic performance using full-scale shake table tests. The suspended ceilings with planar dimensions of $6.0m{\times}3.6m$ were tested with two types of panels: acoustic lay-in and metal clip-on panels. They were further categorized as seismic-braced, seismic-unbraced, and non-seismic installations. Also, two configurations of 2.7 m high partition wall specimens, with C-shape and I-shape in the plane layouts, were tested. In total, seven ceiling-partition-coupling (CPC) specimens were tested utilizing a unidirectional seismic simulator. The test results indicate that the damage patterns of the tested CPC systems included failure of the ceiling grids, shearing-off of the wall top railing, and, most destructively, numerous partial detachments and falling of the ceiling panels. The loss of panels was mostly concentrated near the center of the tested partition wall. The testing results also confirmed that the failure mode of the non-seismic CPC systems was brittle: The whole system would collapse suddenly all at once when the magnitude of the inputs hit the capacity threshold, rather than displaying progressive damage. Overall, the seismic capacity of the unbraced and braced CPC systems could be up to 1.23 g and 2.67 g, respectively; these accelerations were both achieved at the base of the partition wall. Nonetheless, for practical applications, it is noteworthy that the three-dimensional nature of seismic excitations and the size effect of the ceiling area are parameters that exacerbate the CPC's seismic response so that their actual capacity may be dramatically decreased, leading to important losses even in moderate seismic events.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.467-476
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• 2018

The seismic vulnerability of skewed bridges had been observed in many past earthquakes. Researchers have found that the in-plane rotation of the girders was one of the main reasons for the vulnerability of these types of bridges. To date, not many experimental works have been done on this topic, especially those including pounding between adjacent structures. In this study, shake table tests were performed on a bridge-abutment system consisting of a straight, $30^{\circ}$, and $45^{\circ}$ bridge with and without considering pounding. Skewed bridges with the same fundamental frequency and those having the same girder mass as the straight bridge were studied. Under the loadings considered, skewed bridges with the same frequency as the straight tend to have smaller responses than those with the same mass. The average maximum bending moment developed in the piers of the $30^{\circ}$ bridge with the same mass as that of the straight when pounding was not considered was 1.6 times larger than when the frequencies were the same. It was also found that the NZTA recommendations for the seat lengths of skewed bridges could severely underestimate the relative displacements of these types of bridges in the transverse direction, especially when pounding occurs. In the worst case, the average transverse displacement of the $45^{\circ}$ bridge was about 2.6 times the longitudinal displacement of the straight, which was greatly over the limit suggested by the NZTA of 1.25 times.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.275-290
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• 2006

In this paper, the performance of a tuned liquid damper (TLD) in suppressing the seismic response of buildings is investigated with shake table testing of a four-story steel frame model that rests on pile foundation. The model tests were performed in three phases with the steel frame structure alone, the soil and pile foundation system, and the soil-foundation-structure system, respectively. The test results from different phases were compared to study the effect of soil-structure interaction on the efficiency of a TLD in reducing the peak response of the structure. The influence of a TLD on the dynamic response of the pile foundation was investigated as well. Three types of earthquake excitations were considered with different frequency characteristics. Test results indicated that TLD can suppress the peak response of the structure up to 20% regardless of the presence of soils. TLD is also effective in reducing the dynamic responses of pile foundation.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.37-52
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• 2019

Despite its success and wide application, base isolation system has been challenged for its passive nature, i.e., incapable of working with versatile external loadings. This is particularly exaggerated during near-source earthquakes and earthquakes with dominate low-frequency components. To address this issue, many efforts have been explored, including active base isolation system and hybrid base isolation system (with added controllable damping). Active base isolation system requires extra energy input which is not economical and the power supply may not be available during earthquakes. Although with tunable energy dissipation ability, hybrid base isolation systems are not able to alter its fundamental natural frequency to cope with varying external loadings. This paper reports an overview of new adventure with aim to develop adaptive base isolation system with controllable stiffness (thus adaptive natural frequency). With assistance of the feedback control system and the use of smart material technology, the proposed smart base isolation system is able to realize real-time decoupling of external loading and hence provides effective seismic protection against different types of earthquakes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.53-71
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• 2016

Unconventional computer vision and image processing techniques offer significant advantages for experimental applications to shaking table testing, as they allow the overcoming of most typical problems of traditional sensors, such as encumbrance, limitations in the number of devices, range restrictions and risk of damage of the instruments in case of specimen failure. In this study, a 3D motion optical system was applied to analyze shake table tests carried out, up to failure, on a natural-scale masonry structure retrofitted with steel reinforced grout (SRG). The system makes use of wireless passive spherical retro-reflecting markers positioned on several points of the specimen, whose spatial displacements are recorded by near-infrared digital cameras. Analyses in the time domain allowed the monitoring of the deformations of the wall and of crack development through a displacement data processing (DDP) procedure implemented ad hoc. Fundamental frequencies and modal shapes were calculated in the frequency domain through an integrated methodology of experimental/operational modal analysis (EMA/OMA) techniques with 3D finite element analysis (FEA). Meaningful information on the structural response (e.g., displacements, damage development, and dynamic properties) were obtained, profitably integrating the results from conventional measurements. Furthermore, the comparison between 3D motion system and traditional instruments (i.e., displacement transducers and accelerometers) permitted a mutual validation of both experimental data and measurement methods.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.215-234
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• 2004

The tuned liquid damper (TLD) is increasingly being used as an economical and effective vibration absorber. It consists of a water tank having the fundamental sloshing fluid frequency tuned to the natural frequency of the structure. In order to perform efficiently, the TLD must possess a certain amount of inherent damping. This can be achieved by placing screens inside the tank. The current study experimentally investigates the behaviour of a TLD equipped with damping screens. A series of shake table tests are conducted in order to assess the effect of the screens on the free surface motion, the base shear forces and the amount of energy dissipated. The variation of these parameters with the level of excitation is also studied. Finally, an amplitude dependent equivalent tuned mass damper (TMD), representing the TLD, is determined based on the experimental results. The dynamic characteristics of this equivalent TMD, in terms of mass, stiffness and damping parameters are determined by energy equivalence. The above parameters are expressed in terms of the base excitation amplitude. The parameters are compared to those obtained using linear small amplitude wave theory. The validity of this nonlinear model is examined in the companion paper.