Recent progress and application on seismic isolation energy dissipation and control for structures in China

China is a country where 100% of the territory is located in a seismic zone. Most of the strong earthquakes are over prediction. Most fatalities are caused by structural collapse. Earthquakes not only cause severe damage to structures, but can also damage non-structural elements on and inside of facilities. This can halt city life, and disrupt hospitals, airports, bridges, power plants, and other infrastructure. Designers need to use new techniques to protect structures and facilities inside. Isolation, energy dissipation and, control systems are more and more widely used in recent years in China. Currently, there are nearly 6,500 structures with isolation and about 3,000 structures with passive energy dissipation or hybrid control in China. The mitigation techniques are applied to structures like residential buildings, large or complex structures, bridges, underwater tunnels, historical or cultural relic sites, and industrial facilities, and are used for retrofitting of existed structures. This paper introduces design rules and some new and innovative devices for seismic isolation, energy dissipation and hybrid control for civil and industrial structures. This paper also discusses the development trends for seismic resistance, seismic isolation, passive and active control techniques for the future in China and in the world.

Experimental investigation of BRB with transverse rib restraints

To develop a high performance buckling-restrained brace （BRB） with less weight, an innovative type of the BRB with transverse rib restraints is proposed and studied through experiment. Three BRB specimens are cyclically loaded in the investigation. Specimen 1 adopts a Q235 core member and transverse rib restraints. Specimen 2 adopts a LYP160 low yield point steel core member and transverse rib restraints. Specimen 3 adopts a LYP160 low yield point steel core member and mortar restraint. The experimental results indicate that the transverse rib restraining mode can provide sufficient lateral stiffness for the core member and effectively restrain its buckling. The BRB specimens with a LYP160 core member exhibit better hysteretic performance and energy dissipation capacity than the specimens with a Q235 core member.

Recent advances in structural control research and applications in China mainland

The recent developments of theoretical research, model tests and engineering applications of structural control in China's Mainland are reviewed in this paper. It includes seismic isolation, passive energy dissipation, active and semi-active control, smart materials and smart structural systems. It can be seen that passive control methods, such as seismic isolation and energy dissipation methods, have developed into the mature stage in China. At the same time, great progress has been made in active and semi-active control, and smart actuators or smart dampers and smart structural systems. Finally, some future research initiatives for structural control in civil engineering are suggested. Keywords state-of-the-art review - structural control - seismic isolation - passive energy dissipation - active and semi-active control - smart material and smart structure Supported by : National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 50025821)