Research and development of seismic base isolation technique for civil engineering structures

Base isolation is one of the most promising alternatives among the structure control methods. In recent decades, base isolation has been seriously considered for civil structures, such as buildings and bridges, subjected to ground motion. The research achievements and development of seismic base isolation technique for civil structures in Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) are introduced. The achievements include project applications, experimental research results and theoretical innovation.

Development of piezoelectric-based technology for application in civil structural health monitoring

Piezoelectric material,as one of the great potential materials,had attracted lots of attention all over the world due to its distinguish advantages.In this paper,the development of piezoelectric-based technology for application in the field of civil structural health monitoring(CSHM),was summarized and discussed.Based on the different identification mechanisms,the piezoelectric transducer-based technology can be divided into two main approaches as the active or passive sensing and detection methods.This paper summarized the development of these two approaches and discussed their applications in the area of civil structural health monitoring,such as structural and concrete engineering,bridge engineering,pipeline engineering,protection engineering for geological hazards and earthquake disasters,and so on.In addition,the electrical mechanical impedance(EMI)technique,as one of the active identification methods,was also detailly presented.Finally,its great potential for the piezoelectric-based technique was presented based on the detail discussion,especially in the areas of civil structural health monitoring.

Progress and trend on near-field problems in civil engineering

In the last twenty years, near-field problems became an important topic for both seismologists and civil engineers. The one aspect is to illuminate mechanisms of earthquakes and explain new phenomena. The another aspect is the ground motions, which are usually assigned by engineers as a type of input load for seismic design of structures, sometimes can control the final design results. The experiments, performance evaluations and other related aspects are all based on the specified type of load. As a result, many aspects related to civil engineering will be influenced by changes of the type of load, Hence, the characteristics of the load and the corresponding response of structures are desired for studying. In this paper, the state-of-the-art of near-field problems in civil engineering is comprehensively reviewed, which include inherent characteristics of near-field ground motions and influences of these ground motions on civil structures. The existing problems are pointed out and work needed to be further investigated in the future is suggested. It is believed that the information in this paper can be useful to advance the state of investigation on near-field problems.

SIMULATION OF THE INTERFACED STRUCTURAL COMPONENT BASED ON A MULTIPLE-TIME-SCALE ALGORITHM

A multiple-time-scale algorithm is developed to numerically simulate certain structural components in civil structures where local defects inevitably exist. Spatially, the size of local defects is relatively small compared to the structural scale. Different length scales should be adopted considering the efficiency and computational cost. In the principle of physics, different length scales are stipulated to correspond to different time scales. This concept lays the foundation of the framework for this multiple-time-scale algorithm. A multiple-time-scale algorithm, which involves different time steps for different regions, while enforcing the compatibility of displacement, force and stress fields across the interface, is proposed. Furthermore, a defected beam component is studied as a numerical sample. The structural component is divided into two regions： a coarse one and a fine one; a micro-defect exists in the fine region and the finite element sizes of the two regions are diametrically different. Correspondingly, two different time steps are adopted. With dynamic load applied to the beam, stress and displacement distribution of the defected beam is investigated from the global and local perspectives. The numerical sample reflects that the proposed algorithm is physically rational and computationally efficient in the potential damage simulation of civil structures.