Shake table tests on the out-of-plane response of unreinforced masonry wallsThis article is one of a selection of papers published in this Special Issue on Masonry.

2007 ◽  
Vol 34 (11) ◽  
pp. 1381-1392 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. S. Meisl ◽  
K. J. Elwood ◽  
C. E. Ventura

Given sufficient anchorage to the diaphragms, out-of-plane walls in unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings have been shown to crack above midheight and then rock as two rigid bodies. This study investigates the sensitivity of the rocking response to the type of ground motion and the quality of the wall construction. Shake table tests were conducted on four full-scale multi-wythe walls, all with a height to thickness (h/t) ratio of 12 but of varying construction quality and subjected to three different ground motions. All walls experienced cracking at less than one half of the 2005 National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) level for Vancouver, but exhibited a stable rocking behaviour without collapse beyond a ground motion 1.5 times the 2005 NBCC level.

2007 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 893-908 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iman Sharif ◽  
Christopher S. Meisl ◽  
Kenneth J. Elwood

Unreinforced masonry (URM) walls with sufficient anchorage to the diaphragms will crack above mid-height when subjected to out-of-plane ground motions. This study investigates the sensitivity of the out-of-plane response to varying height-to-thickness ( h/ t) ratios for URM walls connected to rigid diaphragms. ASCE 41, Seismic Rehabilitation Standard, provides guidelines for permissible h/ t ratios for out-of-plane URM walls. To assess these limits, a rigid-body numerical model, calibrated to full-scale shake table tests, was used. The focus of the analysis was to identify the minimum h/ t ratio that would cause collapse of the wall when subjected to seismic shaking. The analysis was performed for 80 input motions and accounted for variability in the crack location. The results of the study suggest that the probability of collapse is dependent on the site class and that walls with limited overburden and satisfying the h/ t limits in ASCE 41 have a very low probability of collapse.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 1675-1697 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osmar Penner ◽  
Kenneth J. Elwood

Given sufficient anchorage to the diaphragms, an unreinforced masonry (URM) wall subjected to out-of-plane inertial forces will likely develop a horizontal crack at an intermediate height about which the wall will rock as semirigid bodies. The effect of wall slenderness on out-of-plane stability has been demonstrated in past studies, but treatment of the effects of diaphragm flexibility and ground motion variability has been limited. This paper presents an experimental study examining the out-of-plane stability under seismic loading of URM walls connected to flexible diaphragms. Five full-scale unreinforced solid clay brick wall specimens spanning one story were subjected to earthquake ground motions using a shake table. The top and bottom of the walls were independently connected to the shake table through coil springs, simulating the flexibility of diaphragms. Variables examined experimentally included diaphragm stiffness and wall height. Both the amount of rocking observed as well as the ground motion scale causing collapse varied significantly with changes in the diaphragm properties. The test results provided data used for validation of a rigid-body rocking model, enabling an extensive parametric study on wall stability and the development of new assessment guidelines in a companion paper.


2010 ◽  
Vol 132 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Izumi Nakamura ◽  
Akihito Otani ◽  
Masaki Shiratori

Pressurized piping systems used for an extended period may develop degradations such as wall thinning or cracks due to aging. It is important to estimate the effects of degradation on the dynamic behavior and to ascertain the failure modes and remaining strength of the piping systems with degradation through experiments and analyses to ensure the seismic safety of degraded piping systems under destructive seismic events. In order to investigate the influence of degradation on the dynamic behavior and failure modes of piping systems with local wall thinning, shake table tests using 3D piping system models were conducted. About 50% full circumferential wall thinning at elbows was considered in the test. Three types of models were used in the shake table tests. The difference of the models was the applied bending direction to the thinned-wall elbow. The bending direction considered in the tests was either of the in-plane bending, out-of-plane bending, or mixed bending of the in-plane and out-of-plane. These models were excited under the same input acceleration until failure occurred. Through these tests, the vibration characteristic and failure modes of the piping models with wall thinning under seismic load were obtained. The test results showed that the out-of-plane bending is not significant for a sound elbow, but should be considered for a thinned-wall elbow, because the life of the piping models with wall thinning subjected to out-of-plane bending may reduce significantly.


Author(s):  
Izumi Nakamura ◽  
Akihito Otani ◽  
Masaki Shiratori

In order to investigate the influence of degradation on the dynamic behavior and failure modes of piping systems with local wall thinning, shake table tests using 3-D piping system models were conducted. About 50% full circumferential wall thinning at elbows was considered in the test. Three types of models were used in the shake table tests. The difference of the models was the applied bending direction to the thinned wall elbow. The bending direction considered in the tests was either of the in-plane bending, out-of-plane bending, or mixed bending of the in-plane and out-of-plane. These models were excited under the same input acceleration until failure occurred. Through these tests, the vibration characteristic and failure modes of piping models with wall thinning under seismic load were obtained. The test results showed that the out-of-plane bending is not significant for a sound elbow, but should be considered for a thinned wall elbow, because the life of piping models with wall thinning subjected to out-of-plane bending may reduce significantly.


2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 1691-1710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne S. Burks ◽  
Reid B. Zimmerman ◽  
Jack W. Baker

Chapter 16 of ASCE 7 governs the selection of ground motions for analysis of new buildings and requires recordings that meet specified criteria. If a sufficient number of recordings cannot be found, it allows the use of “appropriate simulated ground motions,” but does not provide further guidance. This paper outlines a procedure for generating and selecting a set of “appropriate” hybrid broadband simulations and a comparable set of recordings. Both ground motion sets are used to analyze a building in Berkeley, California, and the predicted structural performance is compared. The structural behavior resulting from recordings and simulations is similar, and most discrepancies are explained by differences in directional properties such as orientation of the maximum spectral response. These results suggest that when simulations meet the criteria outlined for recordings in ASCE 7 and properties such as directionality are realistically represented, simulations provide useful results for structural analysis and design.


1994 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 919-926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim E. Little ◽  
Alan S. Imrie ◽  
John F. Psutka

Duncan Dam is a B.C. Hydro facility constructed on the Duncan River in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, between 1965 and 1967. The dam was founded on a complex sequence of more than 380 m of glacial drift and glaciofluvial sediments, some of which are pervious and compressible. Some sandy units are potentially liquefiable, in particular a sand layer (unit 3c) up to 23 m thick. Current B.C. Hydro seismic guidelines for dams require that Duncan Dam should be able to withstand the Maximum Credible Earthquake (MCE) without catastrophic release of the reservoir. This paper describes the geologic and seismic setting of the region around the dam and the selection of seismic ground motion parameters. Probabilistic methods were applied to develop MCE ground motions, which were estimated to consist of a firm ground peak horizontal acceleration of 0.12 g, which could be caused by a M 6.5 earthquake at a distance of about 50 km. Several time histories with characteristics similar to this design earthquake were selected for dynamic soil analyses. Key words : dam safety, embankment dam, liquefaction, sand, seismicity, seismic ground motion.


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