Search results for " seismic"

Il recupero parziale di opere in muratura di interesse storico in zona sismica

2011

An open-source GA framework for optimizing the seismic upgrading design of RC frames through BRBs

2022

Abstract Optimizing seismic upgrading interventions in reinforced concrete (RC) structures is a difficult task, due to the inner non-linearity of the analyses usually performed. Additionally, it is well known that the displacement demand to the structure depends from the mass and stiffness of the system, and consequently its definition cannot be made a-priori. This paper presents the application of a soft-computing method -i.e. Genetic Algorithm (GA)- for the shaping optimization of code-compliant seismic upgrading interventions on plane RC frames through Buckling-Restrained Braces (BRB). The metaheuristic procedure allows to minimize the cost while ensuring the required safety level, witho…

Evaluation of the shakedown limit load multiplier for stochastic seismic actions

2017

A new approach for the evaluation of the shakedown limit load multiplier for structures subjected to a combination of quasi-statically variable loads and seismic actions is presented. The common case of frame structures constituted by elastic perfectly plastic material is considered. The acting load history during the lifetime of the structure will be defined as a suitable combination of never ending quasi-statical loads, variable within an appropriate given domain, and stochastic seismic actions occurring for limited time interval. The proposed approach utilizes the Monte Carlo method in order to generate a suitable large number of seismic acceleration histories and the corresponding shake…

Urban MEMS based seismic network for post-earthquakes rapid disaster assessment

2014

Abstract. In this paper, we introduce a project for the realization of the first European real-time urban seismic network based on Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) technology. MEMS accelerometers are a highly enabling technology, and nowadays, the sensitivity and the dynamic range of these sensors are such as to allow the recording of earthquakes of moderate magnitude even at a distance of several tens of kilometers. Moreover, thanks to their low cost and smaller size, MEMS accelerometers can be easily installed in urban areas in order to achieve an urban seismic network constituted by high density of observation points. The network is being implemented in the Acireale Municipality (…

Kernel intensity for space-time point processes with application to seismological problems

2010

Dealing with data coming from a space-time inhomogeneous process, there is often the need of semi-parametric estimates of the conditional intensity function; isotropic or anisotropic multivariate kernel estimates can be used, with windows sizes h. The properties of the intensities estimated with this choice of h are not always good for specific fields of application; we could try to choose h in order to have good predictive properties of the estimated intensity function. Since a direct ML approach cannot be followed, we propose an estimation procedure, computationally intensive, based on the subsequent increments of likelihood obtained adding an observation at time. The first results obtain…

Relationship Between Neotectonics And Fluid Escaping In The Northern Sicilian Continental Margin

2011

New exploration in the marine environments has revealed that the fluid escape structures are often associated with neotectonic elements and are aligned along the same direction. Sometimes is observed the migration of fluid along fault planes to the sea floor as gas venting (Forrest et al., 2005). This paper aims to recognize and to classify the different types of structures associated with fluid seepage, particularly those that develop along alignments coinciding with or parallel to the neotectonic lineaments, in order to assess the interactions between tectonics and fluid circulation. The study area extends, from west to east, from the Gulf of Castellammare to the Gulf of Termini (offshore…

Seismic prevention and rehabilitation of nonstructural elements. Application experiences of nonstructural pre-seismic evaluation

2012

Topics concerning nonstructural seismic prevention and rehabilitation take their place in the main context of buildings safety in order to explore some aspects of performance of those technical elements. They have become very topical in Italy in the last decade since the repetition of seismic events has made vulnerability and its implications obvious not only in terms of safety risk. This paper reports briefly about author research experiences in this topic and more detail an experience as a component of research team, organizer and tutor in the activities of an international cooperation project between University of Palermo and University of California-Berkeley. After a short introduction …

Numerical modelling of out-of-plane response of infilled frames: State of the art and future challenges for the equivalent strut macromodels

2017

Abstract Infill-frame interaction constitutes a still open question both in research and in practicing engineering. Computational models used to predict this interaction are, in most cases, addressing the estimation of the response of the infilled frames when subjected to actions parallel to their plane. However, the observation of the post-earthquake damage has demonstrated that infills, weakened by the in-plane actions, may fail out-of-plane increasing the risks associated to the earthquake scenarios. In spite of this, different studies have shown that infills, if properly designed and supported by the frame, exhibit a significant strength and displacement capacity when called to resist t…

On the optimal design of base isolation devices

2013

The paper deals with the optimal design of a base isolation system for a given structure subjected to seismic loads. In particular, an appropriate minimum displacement seismic protection device optimal design formulation is proposed for an assigned elastic perfectly plastic steel frame constrained to behave in conditions of elastic shakedown. The chosen base isolation device is constituted by elastomeric isolators. Suitable combinations of fixed and seismic loads are considered. According to the unrestricted shakedown theory, the seismic input is given as any load history appertaining to a suitably defined seismic load admissibility domain. The relevant dynamic structural response is obtain…

Analysis and design of elastic plastic structures subjected to dynamic loads

In the last decades, the concept of “optimization” has reached considerable value in many different fields of scientific research and, in particular, it has assumed great importance in the field of structural mechanics. The present study describes and shows the scientific path followed in the three years of doctoral studies. The state of the art concerning the optimization of elastic plastic structures subjected to quasi-static loads was already well established at the beginning of the Ph.D. course. Actually, it was already faced the study of structures subjected to quasi-static cyclic loads able to ensure different structural behaviors in relation to different intensity levels of the appli…