On 12 May 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck China, approximately 80 km west of Chengdu in the Sichuan (Wenchuan) province and 1550 km southwest of Beijing. The fatalities exceeded 70,000 and millions were injured or left homeless. Damage was estimated at over US $150 Billion. Thousands of unreinforced masonry […]
Current Implementation Practices Of Passive Energy Dissipaters In The United States
Performance based design (PBD) and a system of steel special moment resisting frames with viscous damping devices were used for the seismic design of two new multi-story midrise buildings in California. The first structure is located in Los Angeles Basin, in a region of high seismicity. The second building, which […]
Enhancing Sustainability of Structures: Retrofit of a Historic Building Using Energy Dissipation
Energy dissipation was used to retrofit a historic high-rise reinforced concrete building in California. The building was constructed in the 1920’s and was the first high-rise structure in the state capital. It has 14 stories and a basement. The building is a California registered historic structure, and has many important […]
The 2007 West Sumatra Earthquake: Seismic Hazard Mitigation In Developing Countries
Seismic hazard mitigation in developing countries is critical since even moderate earthquakes adversely affect many lives. On March 6, 2007, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake hit the Indonesian island of Sumatra. This moderate event caused 70 fatalities and 500 casualties, caused 130,000 displaced people, and severe damage or collapse of nearly […]
Seismic Evaluation and Upgrade of Historic Multi-Story Buildings in Sacramento, California
Structural performances of two historic high-rise buildings, constructed in the early 1920s and located in seismic zone 3 in downtown Sacramento, CA were investigated. The objectives of this evaluation were to determine whether these structures met the current seismic criteria and to propose strategies to upgrade such performance to an […]
Seismic Retrofit of a Hospital Building Using Fluid Viscous Dampers
Seismic performance of a multi-story hospital structure located in Southern California was evaluated using performance-based earthquake engineering. The uppermost eight stories of the superstructure use steel framed construction, whereas reinforced concrete framing is used for the lowest floor (L2) and the four sub-grade parking stories. The building is rectangular in […]
U.S. Experience – Seismic Rehabilitation Of Historic Structure With Dampers
The 145,000-sf (13,470 m2) building, built in 1910, is a torsionally nonsymmetrical structure comprised of a six-story portion adjacent to a two-story portion. The building is located in Northern California. There was significant concern that the building will not be able to withstand the level of earthquake shaking expected at […]
Design of an Essential Facility with Steel Moment Frames and Viscous Dampers Using US NEHRP Procedure
This paper presents the nonlinear seismic analysis, development, and implementation of an innovative seismic retrofit strategy for a six-story nonductile reinforced concrete 145,000-sf (13,470 m2) historic building. Dynamic and nonlinear static analytical results verified that the building had a weak soft-story with inadequate post-yield capacity, and large torsional response. The […]
Preliminary analysis of the Shanghai World Financial Center Incorporating Fluid Viscous Dampers
The Shanghai World Financial Center (WFC) is a 106- story building that is scheduled for construction in the near future. The structure, designed by KFP Associates, consists of office buildings, and a 10-story hotel segment located between floors 78 and 87. The structure is designed to be robust in resisting […]
Retrofit Strategies and Guidelines for Public Schools and Hospitals in Istanbul, Turkey
A task committee comprised of local structural engineers and earthquake engineering experts from abroad was formed to assess the seismic performance of public schools in under auspices of this group; a guideline has been developed better assess the existing conditions and develop retrofit options for school and hospital buildings in […]
