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A three-dimensional nonlinear modeling strategy for simulating the seismic response of slender reinforced concrete structural walls with different cross-sectional shapes is presented in this paper. A combination of nonlinear multi-layer shell elements and displacement-based beam-column elements are used to model the unconfined and confined parts of the walls, respectively. A uniaxial material model for reinforcing steel bars that includes buckling and low-cyclic fatigue effects is used to model the longitudinal steel bars within the structural walls. The material model parameters related to the buckling length are defined based on an analytical expression for reinforcing steel bars embedded in reinforced concrete elements, which are developed based on beam-on-springs model, and validated with experimental tests of boundary elements of structural walls available in the literature. Six experimental case studies of reinforced concrete walls with rectangular-shape, T-shape, and U-shape cross-section are used to validate the structural wall numerical modeling strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drilled shaft foundations commonly experience torsional loads, in addition to axial and lateral loading. Such cases include loads on mast arm traffic sign and signal poles, or seismically induced inertial loading of foundations supporting skewed or curved bridges. Despite the prevalence of drilled shafts, the understanding of the actual resistance to torsion provided by these deep foundation elements is not well established. To help address this gap in knowledge, two instrumented drilled shafts were constructed to evaluate the torsional capacity and load transfer at full scale. Both monotonic quasi-static and cyclic loading tests were performed. The imposed rotation and corresponding torque was monitored using string potentiometers and load cells, respectively. Strain gauges installed to measure shear strains facilitated computation of the torsional load transfer, which is described in detail. Design procedures for the calculation of the ultimate total and unit torsional resistances of drilled shafts are proposed and resulting estimates compared against the resistances observed in the testing program and other studies reported in the literature. The rational design methodology proposed herein overpredicts or underpredicts the torsional capacity, indicating the need for the development of improved methods for assessing the torsional resistance of drilled shaft foundations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an analytical study evaluating the influence of ground motion duration on structural damage of 3-story, 9-story, and 20-story SAC steel moment resisting frame buildings designed for downtown Seattle, WA, USA, using pre-Northridge codes. Two-dimensional nonlinear finite element models of the buildings are used to estimate the damage induced by the ground motions. A set of 44 ground motions is used to study the combined effect of spectral acceleration and ground motion significant duration on drift and damage measures. In addition, 10 spectrally equivalent short-duration shallow crustal ground motions and long-duration subduction zone records are selected to isolate duration effect and assess its effect on the response. For each ground motion pair, incremental dynamic analyses are performed at at least 20 intensity levels and response measures such as peak interstory drift ratio and energy dissipated are tracked. These response measures are combined into two damage metrics that account for the ductility and energy dissipation. Results indicate that the duration of the ground motion influences, above all, the combined damage measures, although some effect on drift-based response measures is also observed for larger levels of drift. These results indicate that because the current assessment methodologies do not capture the effects of ground motion duration, both performance-based and code-based assessment methodologies should be revised to consider damage measures that are sensitive to duration. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT A full-scale seven-story reinforced concrete building section/slice was tested on the Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) shake table at the University of California San Diego during the period of October 2005 to January 2006. Three output-only system identification methods were used to extract the modal parameters (natural frequencies, damping ratios, and mode shapes) of the test structure at different damage states. In this study, the performance of these system identification methods is investigated in two cases: (Case I) when these methods are applied to the measured dynamic response of the structure and (Case II) when these methods are applied to the dynamic response of the structure simulated using a three-dimensional nonlinear finite element model thereof. In both cases, the uncertainty/variability of the identified modal parameters due to the variability of several input factors is quantified through analysis of variance (ANOVA). In addition to ANOVA, meta-models are used for effect screening in Case II (based on the simulated data), which also capture the effects of linear interactions of the input factors. The four input factors considered in Case I are amplitude of input excitation, spatial density of measurements, length of response data used for system identification, and model order used in the parametric system identification methods. In the second case of uncertainty analysis, in addition to these four input factors, measurement noise is also considered. The results show that for all three methods considered, the amplitude of excitation is the most significant factor explaining the variability of the identified modal parameters, especially the natural frequencies. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Annual exceedance probabilities of the maximum tsunami inundation depth, hMax, and momentum flux, MMax, conditional on a full-rupture event of the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) were used to estimate the probability of building damage using a fragility analysis at Seaside, Oregon. Tax lot data, Google Street View, and field reconnaissance surveys were used to classify the buildings in Seaside and to correlate building typologies with existing fragility curves according to the construction material, number of stories, and building seismic design level based on the date of construction. A fragility analysis was used to estimate the damage probability of buildings for 500-, 1000-, and 2500-year exceedance probabilities conditioned on a full-rupture CSZ event. Finally, the sensitivity of building damage was estimated for both the aleatory and epistemic uncertainties involved in the process of damage estimation. Probable damage estimates from the fragility curves based on hMax and on MMax both generally show higher damage probability for structures that are wooden and closer to the shoreline than those that are reinforced concrete (RC) and further landward of the shoreline. However, a relatively high and somewhat unrealistic damage probability was found at the river and creek region from the fragility curve analysis using hMax. Within 500 m from the shoreline, wood structure damage shows significant sensitivity to the aleatory uncertainty of the tsunami generation from the CSZ event. On the other hand, RC structure damage showed equal sensitivity to the aleatory uncertainty of the tsunami generation as well as the epistemic uncertainties due to the numerical modeling of the tsunami inundation (friction), the building classification (material and date of construction), and the type of fragility curves (depth or momentum flux type curves). Further from the shoreline, the wood structures showed similar aleatory and epistemic uncertainties, qualitatively similar to the RC structure sensitivity closer to the shoreline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]