Experimental assessment of the seismic performance of hospital cabinets using shake table testing

Abstract

Summary An experimental investigation of hospital building equipment is presented. Dynamic properties and seismic performance of typical ambulatory freestanding cabinets are assessed by unidirectional and bidirectional shake table tests, also considering the presence of internal partitions and cabinet contents. Vulnerability analysis is performed according to the most recent and reliable assessment methods, evaluating the influence of different parameters of the sample cabinets. The performance criteria referred within this research are the limit states reached by the specimens (ie, rocking and overturning) and by their contents (ie, overturning and breaking). Fragility curves are evaluated for the components and the contents, considering both acceleration and velocity intensity measures, and also using dimensionless intensity measures developed in recent studies. The outcomes of the present study confirm the findings of previous laboratory tests and numerical simulations carried out by the same authors and provide a further insight for the reliable seismic performance assessment of hospital cabinets and their contents.

Study on Seismic Performance of a Mold Transformer through Shaking Table Tests

“…During the past few decades, strong earthquake ground motions have caused severe physical, as well as functional, damage to non-structural elements, especially to electrical components, which have led to major operational failures and economic loss of electrical power systems in buildings and special facilities. Depending on the dynamic characteristics, electrical components can be exposed to high-frequency acceleration arising from resonance effects, which result in the loosening of anchor bolts or connecting fasteners, and damage to enclosed plates and frames [4]. For example, the 1994 Northridge earthquake in Los Angeles caused severe damage to crucial non-structural equipment in a major local hospital, such as the emergency power systems, control systems of medical equipment, and water supply piping systems [5].…”

Rolling and rocking of rigid uplifting structures

“…Their systematic study started after the 1960 Chilean earthquake, when Housner published his seminal paper 1 on the behavior of "inverted pendulum structures." [44][45][46][47][48][49] What has received less attention in the literature published in English is that rocking has been used in the USSR since 1960s (and is still used in former USSR states) as a seismic response modification technique for buildings. [17][18][19][20][21][22] The rocking oscillator has been used in bridge engineering, [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] as well as to model the behavior of masonry walls, [35][36][37][38][39][40] of ancient temples, [41][42][43] of unanchored equipment, and of museum artifacts.…”

“…[17][18][19][20][21][22] The rocking oscillator has been used in bridge engineering, [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34] as well as to model the behavior of masonry walls, [35][36][37][38][39][40] of ancient temples, [41][42][43] of unanchored equipment, and of museum artifacts. [44][45][46][47][48][49] What has received less attention in the literature published in English is that rocking has been used in the USSR since 1960s (and is still used in former USSR states) as a seismic response modification technique for buildings. This application is usually termed "kinematic isolation" [50][51][52][53][54][55] : The bottom floor comprises rocking concrete rocking columns and is essentially an intentionally designed soft story with large displacement capacity.…”

Displacement‐based analysis and design of rocking structures

“…The interest on the rocking oscillator sources from its ability to describe systems that cannot be described adequately by the classical elastic oscillator . Indeed, the rocking oscillator can be used to understand the behavior of masonry structures, the seismic behavior of unanchored equipment, and to explain the stability of ancient Greco‐Roman and Chinese temples that have been standing for more than 2500 years in earthquake prone regions . Rocking motion has also inspired researchers to use inerters as seismic protection devices .…”