35503 - Earthquake Engineering

Academic Year 2012/2013

  • Docente: Barbara Ferracuti
  • Credits: 6
  • SSD: ICAR/09
  • Language: English
  • Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
  • Campus: Bologna
  • Corso: Second cycle degree programme (LM) in Civil Engineering (cod. 8211)

Learning outcomes

During the course students will learn the fundamental aspects of earthquake engineering, and in particular: fundamentals of eingineering seismology, fundamentals of structural dynamics, definition of the seismic actions, behaviour of structures under earthquake actions -with reference to both the elastic and the inelastic behavior- structural design approaches according to the most important codes and regulations. The design methods will be described with reference to reinforced concrete and steel structures.

Course contents

1. SEISMOLOGY FUNDAMENTALS

a. Earth structure, tectonics, faults, faulting mechanisms, earthquake recurrence, elastic rebound theory, magnitude measures, earthquake energy.

b. Accelerograms: recording, properties, basic intensity measures. Soil and topographic effects.

2. STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS OF SDOF SYSTEMS
a. Un-damped free vibrations;
b. Damped free vibrations;
c. Forced vibrations;
d. Response to a base acceleration: Duhamel integral and time-stepping procedures (Newmark method etc.).
e. Elastoplastic SDOF systems.

3. RESPONSE SPECTRA
a. Acceleration, displacement, velocity, pseudo-acceleration and pseudo-velocity response spectra;
b. Soil effects, magnitude effects.
c. Non-linear response spectra: constant strength-reduction-factor spectra, and constant ductility spectra.
d. Ductility- and strength-based design.

4. SEISMIC HAZARD
a. Source models;
b. Recurrence relationships;
c. Attenuation relationships;
d. Deterministic seismic hazard analysis;
e. Probabilistic seismic hazard analysis;
f. Uniform hazard spectra.

5. STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS OF MDOF STRUCTURES
a. Mass, stiffness and damping matrixes;
b. Modal analysis of plane structures;
c. Static condensation;
d. Free vibration;
e. Response to ground acceleration;
f. Maximum response analysis (response spectra analysis).
g. Damping models;
h. Modal combination rules: SRSS, CQC;
i. Analysis of 3D structures. Effects of regularity.

6. SEISMIC DESIGN FUNDAMENTALS
a. Performance based design: Definition of limit states and performance levels.
b. Design response spectra: behaviour factor;
c. Linear analysis methods;
d. Definition of masses and combination of seismic effects with the effects of other loads;
e. Capacity design fundamentals.

7. SEISMIC DESIGN OF CONCRETE STRUCTURES
a. Ductility classes;
b. Capacity design of frame structures;
c. Interaction between walls and frames;
d. Design of ductile walls.

8. SEISMIC DESIGN OF STEEL STRUCTURES
a. Capacity design;
b. Moment resisting frames;
c. Concentrically Braced Frames;
d. Eccentrically Braced Frames;
e. Buckling Restrained Braced Frames;
f. Other systems

9. NONLINEAR ANALYSIS
a. Nonlinear beam-column models;
b. Nonlinear static analysis;
c. Nonlinear dynamic analysis;

10. ADVANCED SEISMIC PROTECTION TECHNIQUES
a. Base isolation;
b. Dampers.

11. SEMINARS ON VARIOUS ADVANCED TOPICS (e.g. displacement based design, rocking structures, etc.)

Readings/Bibliography

Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering, Steven L. Kramer, Prentice Hall
Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Applications to Earthquake Engineering (2nd Edition), Anil K. Chopra, Prentice Hall
Seismic Design of Buildings to Eurocode 8, Ahmed Elghazouli (Editor) , Taylor & Francis

Teaching methods

Lectures and homeworks

Assessment methods

2 or 3 homeworks (mandatory) + oral examination

Office hours

See the website of Barbara Ferracuti