Seismic Behavior of FRP-Retrofitted Reinforced Concrete Frames

Although a significant number of studies have been conducted on the behavior of the reinforced concrete beam-column joints retrofitted with FRP materials, limited investigation considered the overall seismic behavior of the retrofitted frames. In this article, experimental and numerical studies are performed on a scaled-down eight-story and two full scaled low-rise ordinary moment resisting frames (OMRFs) retrofitted with FRP at the joints. Additional, rotational stiffness of the joints is implemented into pushover models to predict seismic performance and behavior factor of the retrofitted frames. Results indicate that FRP retrofitting is more effective than steel braces for low- and medium-rise OMRFs.     

Joseph Priestley and the Argument from Design

ABSTRACT

Although Joseph Priestley was notorious for rejecting much of orthodox Christianity and replacing it with a materialistic Unitarianism, in another respect he was an orthodox theist of his time in that he passionately upheld the Argument from Design. The Argument from Design was the heart of his “rational religion”. He contended that natural order, especially biological order, could only be successfully explained by intentional agency. At the time, however, the Argument was coming under attack, first from David Hume, then from Matthew Turner, and lastly from Erasmus Darwin. Priestley replied to each of these critics. This article surveys his replies. The three critics of the Argument contended that intelligent agency could offer only a weak explanation of natural order, that natural order is self-explanatory, or that natural mechanisms can explain biological order. Priestley in turn critiqued all three contentions, arguing that the Argument is a strong explanation; that natural order cannot be self-explanatory; and that the proposed natural explanations conflict with the empirical evidence.     

The Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI): A Research Overview

There have been a number of important efforts to map out the languages of Iran, but until now no language atlas, or even a comprehensive and detailed country-level language map, has been produced. One of the recent initiatives which aims to fill this gap is the online Atlas of the Languages of Iran (ALI) (http://iranatlas.net). This article delineates objectives of the ALI research programme, atlas architecture, research methodology, and preliminary results that have been generated. Specific topics of interest are the structure and content of the linguistic data questionnaire; the handling of contrasting perspectives about the status of “languages” and “dialects” through a flexible multi-dimensional classification web; and the role of ongoing comparisons between language distribution assessments and hard linguistic data.     

Physics-based Simulation and High-fidelity Visualization of Fire Following Earthquake Considering Building Seismic Damage

This work proposes a framework for the physics-based simulation and high-fidelity visualization of fire following earthquake (FFE) considering building seismic damage. The seismic damage of regional buildings is simulated using multiple degree-of-freedom building models in conjunction with nonlinear time-history analysis. In parallel, a high-fidelity visualization is presented to simulate fire spread and smoke effects. A case study of downtown Taiyuan with 44,152 buildings is performed. The results show that the influence of different ground motions and building seismic resistances on fire ignition and fire spread can be taken into account and that the FFE scene can be displayed realistically.     

明代隆昌寺无梁殿的动力特性及抗震性能研究

The brick - vault hall of Longchang Temple at Baohua Mountain is a representative of a series of Ming Dynasty brick - vault halls——a unique architectural heritage type in China. In order to evaluate the structural safety of this architectural heritage in earthquakes, we set up a three - dimensional finite element model to analyze its dynamic properties, seismic response spectrum and seismic time history in order to obtain the natural frequencies, modal modes, seismic effect, and seismic deformation and stress response. The results show that the structure of the hall features high symmetry and high torsional rigidity. The degrees of influence of earthquake on the vibration of the hall are as follows ： roof, side walls and arch on the second floor, eaves of the first floor, side walls and arch on the first floor. Under the Intensity 7 frequently - occurring earthquake, precautionary earthquake, and rarely - occurring earthquake, the most dangerous position of the hall is the junction of the arched window impost and sill wall on the side far away from the stairs on the first floor. In addition, prone to the tensile damage, each arch impost is a weak position in an earthquake. Finally, a seismic strengthening strategy for the brick - vault hall of Longchang Temple is presented based on the results of dynamic properties and seismic behavior analysis. © 2023, Sciences of Conservation and Archaeology. All Rights Reserved.     

Seismic Vulnerability of Historical Masonry Aggregate Buildings in Oriental Sicily

ABSTRACT

The seismic vulnerability assessment of historical UnReinforced Masonry (URM) buildings is a very complex task since it is strongly related to a great variety both of geometrical layouts and of masonry mechanical characteristics. In this article, some results of a Catania University research project, denomined “FIR 2014”, focused on the seismic vulnerability estimation of historical buildings, built in Catania after the 1963 earthquake, are presented. First, a detailed typological analysis of the considered urban fabric, characterized by typical residential masonry buildings, has been performed. Such analysis allowed recognizing an elementary structural modulus, which has been studied according to different geometrical layouts representative of isolated or aggregate buildings. The results of nonlinear static analyses, performed by applying an innovative macro-element approach, allowed for the assessment the seismic vulnerability of typical URM buildings coherently to the Italian seismic code. The adopted macro-element strategy for the seismic assessment of aggregate masonry buildings, although related to a specific historical center, may be applied to similar urban fabrics and can also be used for the calibration and validation of fast seismic assessment strategies, particularly useful for the evaluation of the seismic risk at urban scale.     

Intercontinental Hybrid Simulation for the Assessment of a Three-Span R/C Highway Overpass

This paper presents hybrid simulations of a three-span R/C bridge among EU, US, and Canada. The tests involved partners located on both sides of the Atlantic with each one assigned a numerical or a physical module of the substructured bridge. Despite the network latency in linking remote sites located on the two sides of the Atlantic the intercontinental hybrid simulation was accomplished and repeated successfully, highlighting the efficiency, and repetitiveness of the approach. Adaptations, challenges, and limitations are discussed, focusing on the implications of network communication latency, the insensitivity of the sub-structuring arrangement, and the accuracy of the results obtained.     

Distributed Tuned Mass Dampers for Multi-Mode Control of Benchmark Building under Seismic Excitations

The effectiveness of the multi-mode control of seismically excited building installed with distributed multiple tuned mass dampers (d-MTMDs) is investigated by comparing dynamic response with the other controllers, such as passive friction dampers, semi-active dampers, single tuned mass damper (STMD), and multiple tuned mass dampers (MTMDs-all.top), both installed at the top of the building, and arbitrarily distributed MTMDs (ad-MTMDs). It is concluded that the d-MTMDs exhibit improved performance as compared with the STMD, MTMDs-all.top, and ad-MTMDs. The d-MTMDs are also convenient to install owing to the reduced space requirements, being placed at various floors.