Study on the Development of Seismic Fragility of Steel SMRF

Vulnerability assessment of the structure is the most important and wide area of research which requires more input from the engineers and seismologist. The seismic vulnerability assessment of the structure can be evaluated by developing Fragility curves. Fragility curves shows the conditional probability of the structure exceeding the particular performance limit of the given damage state during strong ground motions. Fragility curves can be developed for different parameters like spectral displacement (Sd), spectral acceleration (Sa) Peak ground acceleration (PGA) , Inter storey drift ratio (IDR) etc. This paper describes about the different methods used in deriving the Fragility curves like conventional methods, Nonlinear Dynamic analysis methods and Nonlinear Static analysis methods. Also the fragility analysis of 5 Storied Steel Moment Resisting Frame (SMRF) has been carried out based on the parameters suggested by HAZUS M.H 2.1. Nonlinear static pushover analysis of the frame has been carried out in ETABS2016. Fragility curves are developed based on the pushover analysis results. The damage states defined as per HAZUS are Slight damage (SD), Moderate damage (MD) Extensive damage (ED) and Complete damage (CD). After carrying out the fragility analysis for the steel SMRF, it has been found out that, as the spectral displacement increases probability of failure for the slight damage of the structure is very high and the probability of failure for the complete damage is very low. Hence the probability of failure of the structure reduces from slight damage to complete damage. Keywords: Fragility curves, vulnerability assessment, Nonlinear static pushover analysis, HAZUS M.H 2.1.

Application of fuzzy modelling to predict the earthquake damage degree of buildings based on field data

Prediction of structural damage prior to earthquake occurrence provides an early warning for stakeholders of building such as owners and urban managers and can lead to necessary decisions for retrofitting of structures before a disaster occurs, legislating urban provisions of execution of building particularly in earthquake prone areas and also management of critical situations and managing of relief and rescue. For proper prediction, an effective model should be produced according to field data that can predict damage degree of local buildings. In this paper in accordance with field data and Fuzzy logic, damage degree of building is evaluated. Effective parameters of this model as an input data of model consist of height and age of the building, shear wave velocity of soil, plan equivalent moment of inertia, fault distance, earthquake acceleration, the number of residents, the width of the street for 527 buildings in the city. The output parameter of the model, which was the damage degree of the buildings, was also classified as five groups of no damage, slight damage, moderate damage, extensive damage, and complete damage. The ranges of input and output classification were obtained based on the supervised center classification (SCC-FCM) method in accordance with field data.

Two Different Storage Environments for Palm Leaf Manuscripts: Comparison of Deterioration Phenomena

Precious palm leaf manuscripts are kept in public libraries, archives, museums, and temples in China. Recently, private collectors have gained interest in collecting such manuscripts as well. Different storage environments and preservation measures may have an impact on the overall condition and deterioration of manuscripts depending on the respective collecting entirety. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the storage situation of palm leaf manuscripts in different storage conditions, identify their state of deterioration and further analyze the underlying reasons. This research focuses on the palm leaf manuscripts stored at the Cultural Palace Library of Nationalities and in the Fandian Palace. Deterioration phenomena, such as acidification, staining, mold, tearing and blurred ink, have occurred. The main problems could be identified as inadequate storage materials and acidification of the wrapping materials. Unfavorable storage conditions also affect aging and deterioration. By comparing palm leaf manuscripts of the two collections, we found that the manuscripts of The Cultural Palace Library of Nationalities are well preserved as a whole, with few signs of deterioration and slight damage, while the manuscripts of the Fandian Palace show more serious problems. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the storage conditions at the latter location and take some measures to prevent the palm leaf manuscripts from continuing to deteriorate.

Pomological Characteristics and Ploidy Levels of Japanese Plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) Cultivars Preserved in Poland

Research on the resistance to frost, susceptibility to sharka, flowering biology, fruit setting, yield, and ploidy levels of 36 Japanese plum cultivars (mostly hybrids of Prunus salicina with Prunus cerasifera) were carried out in 2015–2020 at the Experimental Orchard located in Dąbrowice near Skierniewice. Relatively mild winters with sporadic temperature drops to nearly −21 °C in January of 2017 and 2018 caused slight damage to several cultivars of Japanese plum insufficiently resistant to frost. The trees of most cultivars remained healthy, with no signs of damage. ‘Barkhatnaya’ and ‘Tatyana’ cultivars turned out to be very susceptible to sharka. ‘Herkules’ trees were the most vigorous. ‘Barkhatnaja’, ‘Blue Gigant’, ‘Shater’, and ‘Tatyana’ trees were characterized by weak growth. The trees of Japanese plum started flowering early, usually in the first or second decade of April. Most of the cultivars belonged to early season cultivars, the fruits of which ripened in July. Based on the assessment of tree productivity, ‘Barkhatnaya’, ‘Inese’, ‘Shater’, ‘Tatyana’, and ‘Vanier’ are the best for growing in the climate of Central Europe. ‘Tsernushka’, ‘Chuk’, ‘Dofi Sandra’, ‘Early Golden’, ‘Ewierch Rannyj’, ‘Yevraziya’, ‘Gek’, ‘General’, ‘Kometa’, ‘Kometa Late’, ‘Maschenka’, and ‘Naidyona’ trees also yielded well. ‘Blue Gigant’, ‘Black Amber’, and ‘Herkules’ had the largest fruits, and ‘Chuk’ and ‘Inese’ cultivars produced the smallest fruits. Among the assessed Japanese plum cultivars, those with round fruit, dark skin with various shades of purple, yellow flesh, and A cytometric analysis showed that almost all cultivars are diploid, except for ‘Herkules’ (possibly pentaploid) and ‘Yevraziya’ (possibly hexaploid or aneuploid).

Effects of Cold Durations on Chilling Injury in Lagenaria Germplasm

Cucurbit plants usually are sensitive to chilling and easily damaged. Although bottle gourds, which are members of the Cucurbitaceae family, are considered as fresh vegetables in some Asian countries, their main use in recent years is to be used as rootstocks in grafted watermelon cultivation. We tested 163 bottle gourd accessions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) genebank for cold tolerance in the early seedling stage. The experiment was conducted using controlled environment chambers with 3 chilling durations (36, 48, and 60 hours) at 4 °C. Chilling damage was rated 0 to 9 (0 = no damage, 1 to 2 = trace of damage, 3 to 4 = slight damage, 5 to 6 = moderate damage, 7 to 8 = advanced damage, 9 = plant totally dead). We rated damage separately for the cotyledons, true leaf, and growing point. Cold damage was higher at a chilling duration of 60 hours, and decreased at 48 and 36 hours. Most tolerant cultigens were PI 491272, PI 491280, PI 491281, PI 491286, and PI 491326. Most susceptible were PI 381845, PI 381846, PI 534556, PI 636137, and PI 668365.

The Invasive Box Tree Moth Five Years after Introduction in Slovakia: Damage Risk to Box Trees in Urban Habitats

The box tree moth Cydalima perspectalis (Walker, 1859) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) is an invasive species in Europe and a serious pest of box trees (Buxus spp.). In Slovakia, Central Europe, it was first reported in 2012 within the low elevation region with a warm climate. We hypothesize that the cold mountain region of Slovakia would provide less suitable conditions for the spread of this species, indicated by no or only slight damage to box trees. Five years after C. perspectalis was first recorded in Slovakia, we assessed the probability of occurrence of the moth and the probability of damage to box trees (Buxus sempervirens) by its larvae, using temperature and altitude data as predictors. In June and July 2017, at 156 locations (towns and villages) between the altitudes of 109 and 888 m, we recorded damage and categorized the intensity of damage to box trees by C. perspectalis using a four-point scale. Box trees infested by C. perspectalis were recorded in most locations at altitudes between 110 and 400 m with the mean annual temperature varying between 10.5 and 7.9 °C. High damage to box trees was found in locations up to 340 m a.s.l. characterized by mean annual temperatures above 8.5 °C. Our results suggested high probability (>60%) of any damage to box trees for the area up to approximately 300 m a.s.l. (mean annual temperature above 8.4 °C), and high probability (>60%) of high damage for the area up to approximately 250 m a.s.l. (mean annual temperature above 9 °C). The area where damage to box trees was predicted using the altitude showed great overlap with the area predicted using the mean annual temperature. The area with the probability of any damage was only slightly larger than the area with the probability of high damage.

Evaluation of Seismic Fragility Analysis of the Mega Sub-Controlled Structural System (MSCSS)

The improved mega sub-controlled structure system (MSCSS) significantly reduced the building responses and improved the control effectiveness as compared to conventional mega substructure (MSS). However, since the MSCSS is designed to resist future earthquakes, the seismic risk assessment of the structure remains a significant concern. In this study, the seismic risk analysis of MSCSS is performed to probabilistically compare the building performance and its resistance to future earthquake damage at certain categories of limit states (LSs), which include category one (slight damage, moderate damage, and collapse damage LS) and category two (damage control and collapse prevention). The comparison is realized with the result of the traditional MSS. The probability of exceedance of the above damage LS for a particular ground motion (GM) intensity (i.e. Sa (T1,5%)) is evaluated to assess and compare the vulnerability of these buildings. The evaluation is done through developing fragility curves and relationships for MSCSS and MSS. The result showed that the improved MSCSS has strong seismic resistance ability and provides a better response from a nonlinear analysis result. Furthermore, the fragility curve of moderate and collapse damage LSs indicated that MSCSS requires higher GM intensity to reach a moderate and collapse damage LS than MSS. That means MSCSS is the most stable with a significant difference as compared to its counterpart. This is also true for the second category of LS, that is, damage control and collapse prevention. While at the slight damage LS, both the MSCSS and MSS require approximately the same GM intensity to reach a slight damage LS, as the difference is not significant.

Surface Geometry of Four Conventional Nanohybrid Resin-Based Composites and Four Regular Viscosity Bulk Fill Resin-Based Composites after Two-Step Polishing Procedure

Objectives. The aim of the study was to determine the quantitative and qualitative surface structure of contemporary RBCs in posterior teeth reconstructions: regular viscosity bulk fill and conventional composites, obtained after two-stage polishing procedure. Materials and Methods. Four conventional nanohybrid composites (Tetric EvoCeram, GrandioSO, Filtek Z550, and Ceram·X Mono) and four regular viscosity bulk fill composites (Tetric EvoCeram Bulk Fill, X-tra fil, Filtek Bulk Fill Posterior, and QuixFil) were tested. Samples of each RBC were prepared using PMMA cylindrical mold. After two-step polishing procedure, a surface geometry was evaluated under profilometry (Turbowave v. 7.36, Hommel-Etamic) and SEM (VEGA 3, Tescan Analytics). To evaluate differences between values, the following nonparametric tests were used: Friedman’s ANOVA, Wilcoxon’s matched-pair test, ANOVA Kruskal-Wallis, and Mann-Whitney U. Results. All conventional RBCs showed Ra values in the range of 0.20-0.26 μm. Bulk fill showed higher values in range of 0.49-1.36 μm except for Filtek Bulk Fill Posterior, which achieved 0.23 μm Ra value. SEM images of conventional RBCs were described as smooth surfaces with slight damage except for TEC, which presented smooth surface with no damage. Bulk fill composites showed rough surface, except for TBF, which presented smooth surface with slight damage. Conclusions. Regular viscosity bulk fill composites do not constitute a homogeneous group regarding surface roughness after polishing. They obtain, for the most part, poorer smoothness values after polishing than conventional RBCs.