Current procedures for the design of earthquake (EQ) resistant structures generally consider lateral forces induced by the strong ground motion as equivalent static loads. Design codes such as FEMA 356 (2000), Eurocode, Turkish Earthquake Code (2007), and ASCE/SEI 7-10 (2010) are mainly based upon strength and displacement capabilities of a structure. However, another criterion known as “Energy” can be formulated and utilized in order to relate the forces acting on the system and the respective response. Since this approach encompasses both the duration and frequency content of the earthquake and the structural response into its formulation, it is accepted that the use of energy concept appears to have significant potential towards improving the computation of seismic demands and the design of systems. Shown below, despite the fact that the Chile Llolleo 1985 and the San Salvadore 1986 earthquakes have very similar response spectra, they have vastly different energy spectra, which is important to consider for the design of structures.
The objective of this work is to better characterize energy-based design (EBD) concepts and seismic energy demand distributions with a comprehensive experimental study, through a new framework for correlating analytical, finite element, and physical models, as a basis to provide design recommendations for new structures to better resist earthquake hazards. Laboratory tests will be conducted on both single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems and modular multiple degrees of freedom (MDOF) systems, on a shake table setup to validate the energy spectrums numerically developed by researchers in the literature.
MIT News, Using energy-based designs to enhance earthquake hazard resistance
A. Gullu, Y. Ercan, C. Yalcin, A. Dindar, H. Ozkaynak and O. Buyukozturk. An improved input energy spectrum verified by the shake table tests. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics 2019; 48(1): 27-45
A. A. Dindar, C. Yalcin, E. Yuksel, H. Ozkaynak, O. Buyukozturk. Development of Earthquake Energy Demand Spectra. Earthquake Spectra 2015; 31(3): 1667-1689.
A. Gullu, E. Yuksel, C. Yalcin, O. Buyukozturk. A new damping modofication factor for seismic input energy. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics 2019. in revision
A. Gullu, E. Yuksel, C. Yalcin, O. Buyukozturk. A unique intensity measure based on seismic input energy and its validation. Earthquake Spectra 2019. in review
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