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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Probabilistic Analysis Of Slide-Rocking Structures Under Earthquake Loads, Taylor J. Knickerbocker Aug 2019

Probabilistic Analysis Of Slide-Rocking Structures Under Earthquake Loads, Taylor J. Knickerbocker

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Estimates of rare seismic hazard are essential for the resilience of critical infrastructure and facilities. However, these estimates are highly uncertain at long return periods due to the lack of observed earthquake records. Several ground motion prediction equations have been proposed to close this gap and estimate rare seismic demands; however, these models were developed based on more moderate earthquake records and can yield physically unrealizable ground motions when extrapolated to long return periods. For this reason, seismologists have proposed using precariously balanced rocks (PBRs) as a way to constrain rare seismic hazard. PBRs are a type of fragile geologic …


Post-Earthquake Assessment And Numerical Modeling Of Freestanding Heritage Structures, M. Khalid Saifullah, Christine E. Wittich Jan 2019

Post-Earthquake Assessment And Numerical Modeling Of Freestanding Heritage Structures, M. Khalid Saifullah, Christine E. Wittich

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Faculty Publications

Historic and heritage structures are particularly vulnerable to earthquakes, where damage or collapse can not only lead to loss of a structure but also the loss of irreplaceable heritage. Many heritage structures can be classified as freestanding (detached) structures, including unreinforced masonry walls, classical multi-drum columns, and statue-pedestal systems. However, the seismic response of freestanding structures (sliding, rocking, rock-slide, overturning) is poorly predicted by existing methods due to geometric non-linearities as well as sensitivity to interface conditions and modeling parameters. Previous studies have focused on analytical modeling of simplified systems and/or experimentation under controlled laboratory conditions. In contrast, this paper …