STRUCTURAL REHABILITATION OF DAMAGED RC BUILDINGS AFTER THE 1 OCTOBER 1995 DİNAR EARTHQUAKE

This paper contains technical information related to the Dinar project for the rehabilitation of moderately damaged reinforced concrete buildings after the 1 October 1995 Dinar earthquake. The structural appraisal of the damaged buildings, analytical studies leading to decisions regarding structural rehabilitation or demolition, the supervision on site of the rehabilitation and the overall coordination of the project was entrusted to the Middle East Technical University Earthquake Engineering Research Center [METU-EERC] by the Turkish Ministry of Public Works and Settlement. The project involved the rehabilitation of 35 moderately damaged RC buildings with a total floor plan area of 22 000 square metres.     

FRAGILITY ASSESSMENT OF SLAB-COLUMN CONNECTIONS IN EXISTING NON-DUCTILE REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS

Fragility functions that estimate the probability of exceeding different levels of damage in slab-column connections of existing non-ductile reinforced concrete buildings subjected to earthquakes are presented. The proposed fragility functions are based on experimental data from 16 investigations conducted in the last 36 years that include a total of 82 specimens. Fragility functions corresponding to four damage states are presented as functions of the level of peak interstory drift imposed on the connection. For damage states involving punching shear failure and loss of vertical carrying capacity, the fragility functions are also a function of the vertical shear in the connection produced by gravity loads normalised by the nominal vertical shear strength in the absence of unbalanced moments. Two sources of uncertainty in the estimation of damage as a function of lateral deformation are studied and discussed. The first is the specimen-to-specimen variability of the drifts associated with a damage state, and the second the epistemic uncertainty arising from using small samples of experimental data and from interpreting the experimental results. For a given peak interstorey drift ratio, the proposed fragility curves permit the estimation of the probability of experiencing different levels of damage in slab-column connections.     

EVALUATION OF CONVENTIONAL AND ADAPTIVE PUSHOVER ANALYSIS II: COMPARATIVE RESULTS

In this paper, the methodology for evaluation of conventional and adaptive pushover analysis presented in a companion paper is applied to a set of eight different reinforced concrete buildings, covering various levels of irregularity in plan and elevation, structural ductility and directional effects. An extensive series of pushover analysis results, monitored on various levels is presented and compared to inelastic dynamic analysis under various strong motion records, using a new quantitative measure. It is concluded that advanced (adaptive) pushover analysis often gives results superior to those from conventional pushover. However, the consistency of the improvement is unreliable. It is also emphasised that global response parameter comparisons often give an incomplete and sometimes even misleading impression of the performance.     

SEISMIC HAZARD ASSESSMENT OF METROPOLITAN TEHRAN,IRAN

This paper presents a probabilistic seismic hazard assessment of Tehran, the capital of Iran. Two maps have been prepared to indicate the earthquake hazard of Tehran and its vicinity in the form of iso-acceleration contour lines. They display the probabilistic estimate of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) over bedrock for the return periods of 475 and 950 years. Tehran is a densely populated metropolitan in which more than 10 million people live. Many destructive earthquakes happened in Iran in the last centuries. It comes from historical references that at least 6 times, Tehran has been destroyed by catastrophic earthquakes. The oldest one happened in the 4th century BC. A collected catalogue, containing both historical and instrumental events and covering the period from the 4th century BC to 1999 is then used. Seismic sources are modelled and recurrence relationship is established. For this purpose the method proposed by Kijko [2000] was employed considering uncertainty in magnitude and incomplete earthquake catalogue. The calculations were performed using the logic tree method and three weighted attenuation relationships; Ramazi [1999], 0.4, Ambraseys and Bommer [1991], 0.35, and Sarma and Srbulov [1996], 0.25. Seismic hazard assessment is then carried out for 12×11 grid points using SEISRISK III. Finally, two seismic hazard maps of the studied area based on Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) over bedrock for 10% probability of exceedance in two life cycles of 50 and 100 years are presented. The results showed that the PGA ranges from 0.27(g) to 0.46(g) for a return period of 475 years and from 0.33(g) to 0.55(g) for a return period of 950 years. Since population is very dense in Tehran and vulnerability of buildings is high, the risk of future earthquakes will be very significant.     

ON THE SEISMIC VULNERABILITY OF EXISTING UNREINFORCED MASONRY BUILDINGS

A large part of the building population in Switzerland is made of unreinforced masonry. For the assessment of the seismic risk the evaluation of the seismic vulnerability of existing unreinforced masonry buildings is therefore crucial. In this paper a method to evaluate existing buildings, which was developed for the earthquake scenario project for Switzerland, is briefly introduced and discussed in more detail for unreinforced masonry buildings. The method is based on a non-linear static approach where the seismic demand on the building is compared with the capacity of the building. In-plane and out-of-plane behaviour are considered. Comparisons with test results from model buildings show that the proposed method suitably forecasts the capacity of a building. Finally, a numerical example of the application of the method to a building in the city of Basel is given.     

INFLUENCE OF CAPACITY DESIGN METHOD ON THE SEISMIC RESPONSE OF R/C COLUMNS

Abstract

This paper aims at assessing the influence of the design procedure followed in designing the columns of a reinforced concrete (R/C) building on the performance of the columns, aa well as of the structure as a whole, when subjected to seismic loading; to identify potential weaknesses in currently adopted procedures; and to present a new procedure which is based on currently-available, powerful analytical tools, and results in increased reliability with regard to seismic loading. Two case studies are presented, involving multistorey reinforced concrete buildings with frame and dual structural systems subjected to various appropriately-scaled input accelerograms. The results obtained indicate that capacity design of columns results in adequate safety margins against failure, even when the adopted overstrength factors are quite low, but hinging in columns is not avoided unless very high overstrength factors are used. The suggested novel technique of capacity design led to very satisfactory seismic performance, and offers the possibility of cost reduction by achieving an appropriate balance between provided flexural strength and corresponding confinement.     

The Study of the Relation Between Gender and Second Language Acquisition

本研究考察性别差异对二语习得能力的影响。结果显示,女性二语习得能力整体上高于男性。     

CIVIL WAR,MARRIAGE BAN AND SEX RATIO

The civil war in mainland China during 1945–1949 resulted in an enormous influx of immigrants to Taiwan, the majority of whom were single male soldiers in their twenties or thirties. In addition, a military marriage ban prevented most of the immigrant soldiers from getting married until 1959. These two factors have profound, but distinct, influences on the effective prime-age sex ratio in the marriage market in post-war Taiwan. Unfortunately, the official population data in Taiwan excluded the military and thus did not reveal the true male population until the late 1960s. This paper proposes a method to impute the effective prime-age sex ratio. The imputation result shows that the effective prime-age sex ratio first rose in the 1950s, peaked in the 1960s, and then declined in the 1970s. At its peak, as many as 120 men were competing for only 100 women in the marriage market.     

Vietnamese Aging and Marital Sexual Behavior in Comparative Perspective

This study examines marital sexual activity in relation to age and its significance for marital relationships in Vietnam with particular attention to older persons. Results are compared with Thailand and the US. Two regional surveys provide the first quantitative assessment of marital sex in Vietnam. As elsewhere, marital sexual activity declines with age. At older ages, substantial proportions of married Vietnamese are sexually inactive. Levels of activity among older Vietnamese and Thais are remarkably similar and substantially lower than in the US. Contrary to US studies, the frequency of sexual activity shows little relationship to marital satisfaction and harmony in Vietnam. Possible explanations for these differences are discussed in terms of biases in the data, differences in health and living arrangements, and societal, cultural and normative contexts. We speculate that a main reason underlying the differences is a lesser societal emphasis on sex in general and on the importance of sexual and physical intimacy in marital relationships in Vietnam and Thailand than in the US.     

An Indecent Proposal: The Theological Core of the Book of Ruth

ABSTRACT

Traditionally, biblical commentators either tone down the sex-ual tension within Ruth 3 or celebrate it with sensationalistic exuberance. However, theologians have not attempted to integrate the provocative nature of the passage into a theological understanding of the book or the character of Ruth. This essay outlines the reasons why Naomi's plan is rightly interpreted as an attempt at sexual entrapment. Ruth follows this plan until the very last minute when she reveals herself and her intentions to Boaz. Both of these ac-tions―showing fidelity to both Naomi and Boaz―exposed Ruth to potential harm and as such serves as a picture what ?esed entails.