Seismic responses of base-isolated buildings: efficacy of equivalent linear modeling under near-fault earthquakes

Cenk Alhan,Murat Özgür 국제구조공학회 2015 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.15 No.6

Design criteria, modeling rules, and analysis principles of seismic isolation systems have already found place in important building codes and standards such as the Uniform Building Code and ASCE/SEI 7-05. Although real behaviors of isolation systems composed of high damping or lead rubber bearings are nonlinear, equivalent linear models can be obtained using effective stiffness and damping which makes use of linear seismic analysis methods for seismic-isolated buildings possible. However, equivalent linear modeling and analysis may lead to errors in seismic response terms of multi-story buildings and thus need to be assessed comprehensively. This study investigates the accuracy of equivalent linear modeling via numerical experiments conducted on generic five-story three dimensional seismic-isolated buildings. A wide range of nonlinear isolation systems with different characteristics and their equivalent linear counterparts are subjected to historical earthquakes and isolation system displacements, top floor accelerations, story drifts, base shears, and torsional base moments are compared. Relations between the accuracy of the estimates of peak structural responses from equivalent linear models and typical characteristics of nonlinear isolation systems including effective period, rigid-body mode period, effective viscous damping ratio, and post-yield to pre-yield stiffness ratio are established. Influence of biaxial interaction and plan eccentricity are also examined.

Seismic isolation performance sensitivity to potential deviations from design values

Cenk Alhan,Kemal Hisman 국제구조공학회 2016 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.18 No.2

Seismic isolation is often used in protecting mission-critical structures including hospitals, data centers, telecommunication buildings, etc. Such structures typically house vibration-sensitive equipment which has to provide continued service but may fail in case sustained accelerations during earthquakes exceed threshold limit values. Thus, peak floor acceleration is one of the two main parameters that control the design of such structures while the other one is peak base displacement since the overall safety of the structure depends on the safety of the isolation system. And in case peak base displacement exceeds the design base displacement during an earthquake, rupture and/or buckling of isolators as well as bumping against stops around the seismic gap may occur. Therefore, obtaining accurate peak floor accelerations and peak base displacement is vital. However, although nominal design values for isolation system and superstructure parameters are calculated in order to meet target peak design base displacement and peak floor accelerations, their actual values may potentially deviate from these nominal design values. In this study, the sensitivity of the seismic performance of structures equipped with linear and nonlinear seismic isolation systems to the aforementioned potential deviations is assessed in the context of a benchmark shear building under different earthquake records with near-fault and far-fault characteristics. The results put forth the degree of sensitivity of peak top floor acceleration and peak base displacement to superstructure parameters including mass, stiffness, and damping and isolation system parameters including stiffness, damping, yield strength, yield displacement, and post-yield to pre-yield stiffness ratio.

Probabilistic sensitivity of base-isolated buildings to uncertainties

Gazi, Hatice,Alhan, Cenk 국제구조공학회 2018 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.22 No.4

Characteristic parameter values of seismic isolators deviate from their nominal design values due to uncertainties and/or errors in their material properties and element dimensions, etc. Deviations may increase over service life due to environmental effects and service conditions. For accurate evaluation of the seismic safety level, all such effects, which would result in deviations in the structural response, need to be taken into account. In this study, the sensitivity of the probability of failure of the structures equipped with nonlinear base isolation systems to the uncertainties in various isolation system characteristic parameters is investigated in terms of various isolation system and superstructure response parameters in the context of a realistic three-dimensional base-isolated building model via Monte Carlo Simulations. The inherent record-to-record variability nature of the earthquake ground motions is also taken into account by carrying out analyses for a large number of ground motion records which are classified as those with and without forward-directivity effects. Two levels of nominal isolation periods each with three different levels of uncertainty are considered. Comparative plots of cumulative distribution functions and related statistical evaluation presented here portray the potential extent of the deviation of the structural response parameters resulting from the uncertainties and the uncertainty levels considered, which is expected to be useful for practicing engineers in evaluating isolator test results for their projects.

Probabilistic sensitivity of base-isolated buildings to uncertainties

Hatice Gazi,Cenk Alhan 국제구조공학회 2018 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.22 No.4

Characteristic parameter values of seismic isolators deviate from their nominal design values due to uncertainties and/or errors in their material properties and element dimensions, etc. Deviations may increase over service life due to environmental effects and service conditions. For accurate evaluation of the seismic safety level, all such effects, which would result in deviations in the structural response, need to be taken into account. In this study, the sensitivity of the probability of failure of the structures equipped with nonlinear base isolation systems to the uncertainties in various isolation system characteristic parameters is investigated in terms of various isolation system and superstructure response parameters in the context of a realistic three-dimensional base-isolated building model via Monte Carlo Simulations. The inherent record-to-record variability nature of the earthquake ground motions is also taken into account by carrying out analyses for a large number of ground motion records which are classified as those with and without forward-directivity effects. Two levels of nominal isolation periods each with three different levels of uncertainty are considered. Comparative plots of cumulative distribution functions and related statistical evaluation presented here portray the potential extent of the deviation of the structural response parameters resulting from the uncertainties and the uncertainty levels considered, which is expected to be useful for practicing engineers in evaluating isolator test results for their projects.

Probabilistic behavior of semi-active isolated buildings under pulse-like earthquakes

Seda Öncü-Davas,Cenk Alhan 국제구조공학회 2019 Smart Structures and Systems, An International Jou Vol.23 No.3

Seismic isolation systems employ structural control that protect both buildings and vibration-sensitive contents from destructive effects of earthquakes. Structural control is divided into three main groups: passive, active, and semi-active. Among them, semi-active isolation systems, which can reduce floor displacements and accelerations concurrently, has gained importance in recent years since they don’t require large power or pose stability problems like active ones. However, their seismic performance may vary depending on the variations that may be observed in the mechanical properties of semi-active devices and/or seismic isolators. Uncertainties relating to isolators can arise from variations in geometry, boundary conditions, material behavior, or temperature, or aging whereas those relating to semi-active control devices can be due to thermal changes, inefficiencies in calibrations, manufacturing errors, etc. For a more realistic evaluation of the seismic behavior of semi-active isolated buildings, such uncertainties must be taken into account. Here, the probabilistic behavior of semi-active isolated buildings under historical pulse-like near-fault earthquakes is evaluated in terms of their performance in preserving structural integrity and protecting vibration-sensitive contents considering aforementioned uncertainties via Monte-Carlo simulations of 3-story and 9-story semi-active isolated benchmark buildings. The results are presented in the form of fragility curves and probability of failure profiles.