Shake Table Test for the Collapse Investigation of a Typical Multi-Story Reinforced Concrete Frame Structure in the Meizoseismal Area

Abstract

According to statistics from past earthquakes, it is observed that multi-story reinforced concrete (RC) frames represent a large proportion of the structural failures or collapses in seismic events. Hence, research on seismic collapse mechanisms and risks of RC frame structures subjected to extreme earthquakes is of foremost importance. Both experimental and numerical studies have been substantially carried out in this field. In order to represent an actual process of structural damage in an actual seismic event and provide a calibration test for numerical studies, a shake table collapse test of a typical multi-story RC frame structural model, which is scaled from a nearly collapsed building in the 2010 Ms 7.1 Yushu earthquake in China, was performed. Both the test and earthquake field investigation indicate that severe damage mainly occurred at the column ends. As dual structural systems, i.e., systems combining frames and additional members that mainly carry seismic loading, could be a better way to solve the unexpected damage mechanism of RC frames, a practical stiffness iteration design method based on the nonlinear static analysis to obtain the optimal stiffness demanding of the lateral load-resisting members in each story is proposed. This approach aims to control the structural deformation pattern along the height. The outcome of this study provides some intrinsic understanding of the inherent collapse mechanisms of similar RC frames during strong earthquakes. It also offers a practical design method to improve the seismic collapse resistance of RC frames.

Investigation of Collapsed Building Incidents on Soft Marine Deposit: Both from Social and Technical Perspectives

“…According to preliminary investigation, the collapsed residential buildings were constructed with brick structures, which leads to an inability of withstanding natural hazards (e.g., earthquakes, floods, landslides) and illegal man-made hazards (e.g., rooftop addition) [60]. According to Xu et al, 2017 [60], reinforced concrete may be used to provide an increasing collapse resistance of building.…”

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Hybrid Mold Transformer Based on Dynamic Analyses

“…In order to investigate the behavior and vulnerability of structural and nonstructural elements under realistic earthquakes, experimental earthquake simulation methods such as shaking table tests have been used by several previous research studies [7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. These shaking table tests could enable more realistic simulation and performance assessment of nonstructural elements.…”