Analytical study on abnormal change in time-variable gravity at Yichang seismostation before the M5.1 Badong earthquake

An M5.1 earthquake occurred in Badong County, only 66 km from the Three Gorges Dam, on De- cember 16, 2013. The continuous gravity observation data obtained at Yichang seismostation nearest to the epi- center （96 km） were analyzed, and it was found that the continuous gravity observation data obtained in this rainy season did not exhibit a characteristic of seasonal change in gravity identical to that in the past years, and thereafter the M5.1 Badong earthquake occurred. Numerical simulation revealed that the water storage and discharge of the Three Gorges reservoir generated seasonal change in gravity, and the changes in atmospheric pressure and gravity load were not the main sources of the seasonal change of continuous gravity observation data whether in respect of magnitude or phase and did not have obvious breaking change on annual variation before the earthquake. Through analysis of the seasonal change data observed on the same site including cavern temperature, rainfall data and global terrestrial water model （CPC） simulated water load, it was thought that, in the observation room with cavern temperature change of only -0.1 l^C/a at Yichang seismostation, the sea- sonal change of continuous gravity observation result mainly originated from the seasonal change in rainfall. In the case that the changes in rainfall and its water load did not have evident breaking change on annual varia- tion law before the earthquake, if the MS. 1 Badong earthquake was the cause of the breaking change on annual variation law in Yichang this time, then it was believed through analysis of crust expansion ratio that similar a- nomaly should occur at a crust expansion and compression intersection, no more than 100 km away from the epicenter.

Gravity anomaly before the Leshan M5.0 earthquake?

The North-South Seismic Belt was analyzed using gravity observation data from 2011 to 2015, and the nontidal analysis results show that there was a nonlinear gravity change at both the Chengdu and Guza seismostations one month before the Leshan M5.0 earthquake.

Displacement-based seismic design of flat slab-shear wall buildings

Flat slab system is becoming widely popular for multistory buildings due to its several advantages. However, the performance of flat slab buildings under earthquake loading is unsatisfactory due to their vulnerability to punching shear failure. Several national design codes provide guidelines for designing flat slab system under gravity load only. Nevertheless, flat slab buildings are also being constructed in high seismicity regions. In this paper, performance of flat slab buildings of various heights, designed for gravity load alone according to code, is evaluated under earthquake loading as per ASCE/SEI 41 methodology. Continuity of slab bottom reinforcement through column cage improves the performance of flat slab buildings to some extent, but it is observed that these flat slab systems are not adequate in high seismicity areas and need additional primary lateral load resisting systems such as shear walls. A displacement-based method is proposed to proportion shear walls as primary lateral load resisting elements to ensure satisfactory performance. The methodology is validated using design examples of flat slab buildings with various heights.

Downward continuation of airborne gravimetry data based on Poisson integral iteration method

The research and application of airborne gravimetry technology has become one of the hottest topics in gravity field in recent years. Downward continuation is one of the key steps in airborne gravimetry data processing, and the quality of continuation results directly influence the further application of surveying data. The Poisson integral iteration method is proposed in this paper, and the modified Poisson integral discretization formulae are also introduced in the downward continuation of airborne gravimerty data. For the test area in this paper, compared with traditional Poisson integral discretization formula, the continuation result of modified formulae is improved by 10.8 mGal, and the precision of Poisson integral iteration method is in the same amplitude as modified formulae. So the Poisson integral iteration method can reduce the discretization error of Poisson integral formula effectively. Therefore, the research achievements in this paper can be applied directly in the data processing of our country＇s airborne scalar and vector gravimetry.