Ground Motion and Site Effects on Performance-Based Design

The objective of Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering （PBEE） is the analysis of performance objectives with a specified annual probability of exceedance. Increasingly undesirable performance is caused by increasing levels of strong ground motion having decreasing annual probabilities of exceedance. The development of this methodology includes three steps： （1） evaluation of the distribution of ground motion at a site; （2） evaluation of the distribution of system response; （3） evaluation of the probability of exceeding decision variables within a given time period, given appropriate damage measures. The work has taken a systematic approach to determine the impact of increasing levels of detail in site characterization on the accuracy of ground motion and site effects predictions. Complementary studies have investigated the use of the following models for evaluating site effects： （1） amplification factors defined on the basis of generalized site categories, （2） one-dimensional ground response analysis, and （3） two-dimensional ground response analysis for surface topography on ground motion. The paper provides a brief synthesis of ground motion and site effects analysis procedures within a Performance-Based Design framework. It focuses about the influence on the evaluation of site effects in some active regions by different shear waves velocity measurements Down Hole （D-H）, Cross Hole （C-H）, Seismic Dilatometer Marchetti Test （SDMT） and by different variation of shear modulus and damping ratio with strain level and depth from different laboratory dynamic tests for soil characterization： Resonant Column Test （RCT）, Cyclic Loading Torsional Shear Test （CLTST）.

Parametric study on performance of bridge retrofitted by unseating prevention devices

Over the past decade, seismically induced damage to bridges has been widely reported following major earthquakes such as the 1994 Northridge, 1995 Kobe and 1999 Chi-Chi events. Since these earthquakes, restrainers and stoppers have been installed on bridges to prevent unseating and excessive displacements, respectively. Alternatively, column jacketing has also been proven to be effective. However, the enhanced shear strength may result in extra retrofitting works on the footing. For bridges damaged in the Chi-Chi earthquake, investigations revealed that most bridge columns experienced none-to-minor damage in the longitudinal direction. The reason for this unexpected performance was the construction practice of using a rubber bearing, which is an unbolted design that may slide under large lateral forces. In this paper, parametric studies on simply-supported bridges retrofitted by a restrainer or concrete shear key along the longitudinal and transverse axes were carried out. The research focuses on finding suitable combinations of the design force and gap spacing so the restrainer and concrete shear key can be used as an unseating prevention device, with respect to the allowable column damage in terms of displacement ductility under near-fault type earthquakes. A two-lane PCI-girder bridge was selected as the benchmark model. In the longitudinal direction, a total of nine combinations considering yielding strength and gap spacing for the restrainer were analyzed; while parameters for the concrete shear key were divided into three shear force levels and three gap spacings. In the transverse direction, a similar approach was adapted, except smaller gap spacing was used. For each of the above mentioned earthquakes, seven input ground motions were selected and their PGAs were adjusted to 0.36g and 0.45g as the Design earthquake and Maximum Considerable Earthquake, respectively. Based on the results of nonlinear time history analyses, proper parameters to design the restrainers and concrete shear keys are obtained. Responses obtained from numerical simulations under the Chi-Chi earthquake leaded to new implications to design those devices. Restrainer should not exceed its breaking strain and sufficient unseating length will be needed always. Concrete Shear key was determined by considering both displacement demand of the superstructure and displacement ductility of the column at the same time. Further study is needed to provide optimal design parameters for use in performance based bridge design.

Soil Uncertainties on Performance of Geotechnical Works

Performance-Based Design （PBD） is a more rational approach, particularly in seismic environments. In this approach it is relevant the performance required to structures and to geotechnical works, as well as the geotechnical constitutive models used to predict the performance. The parameters of the constitutive models are related in turn to soil properties. So soil properties are a key point for Performance-Based Design. Questions arising are： （i） which are the more relevant soil properties to solve a specific PBD geotechnical problem？ （ii） which are the more relevant model parameters and how they can be evaluated and/or correlated to soil properties？ （iii） which is the role of the soil parameters uncertainty in Performance-Based Design？ An answer to these questions is given in this paper, outlining the potential offered by the new advanced in-situ and laboratory tests and discussing the performance required by some geotechnical works.

Expected Sliding Distance of Vertical Slit Caisson Breakwater

Evaluating the expected sliding distance of a vertical slit caisson breakwater is proposed. Time history for the wave load to a vertical slit caisson is made. It consists of two impulsive wave pressures followed by a smooth sinusoidal pressure. In the numerical analysis, the sliding distance for an attack of single wave was shown and the expected sliding distance during 50 years was also presented. Those results were compared with a vertical front caisson breakwater without slit. It was concluded that the sliding distance of a vertical slit caisson may be over-estimated if the wave pressure on the caisson is evaluated without considering vertical slit.

Sustainability of steel structures:towards an integrated approach to life-time engineering design

Nowadays,the construction sector is more and more oriented toward the promotion of sustainability in all its activities.The goal to achieve is the optimization of performances,over the whole life-cycle,with respect to environmental,economic and social requirements.According to the latest advances,the concept of sustainability applied to constructions covers a number of branches such as life-cycle costing,ecology,durability and even structural design.Several procedures and design tools have been implemented in the framework of international research.Indeed the current trend in civil engineering research is moving towards life-time engineering,with the aim to implement integrated methodologies to consider as a whole all the sustainability requirements according to time-dependent multi-performance-based design approaches.Following a general introduction of the concept of sustainability applied to constructions,this paper presents an overview of life-time engineering methodologies according to the current state-of-the-art.In particular the methods currently received by International Standards are discussed.A special focus is devoted to the durability design of metal structures with respect to the degradation phenomena able to impair the structural capacity over time.Finally a proposal towards an integrated approach to life-time engineering design of steel structures and needs for further advances are presented.