PEER Reports

PEER Reports

Probabilistic Seismic Evaluation of Reinforced Concrete Structural Components and Systems, PEER Report 2006-04

Tae-Hyung Lee
Khalid M. Mosalam
2006

An accurate evaluation of the structural performance of reinforced concrete structural systems under seismic loading requires a probabilistic approach due to uncertainties in structural properties and the ground motion (referred to as basic uncertainties). The objective of this study is to identify and rank significant sources of basic uncertainties and structural components with respect to the seismic demand (referred to as the Engineering Demand Parameters, EDP) of reinforced concrete structural systems. The methodology for accomplishing this objective consists of three phases. In the...

Advanced Seismic Assessment Guidelines, PEER Report 2006-05

Paolo Bazzurro
C. Allin Cornell
Charles Menun
Maziar Motahari
Nicolas Luco
2006

This document presents guidelines for a practical assessment of the seismic performance of existing structures. Performance is measured in terms of the likelihood that a building, given a level of ground motion, can be in any one of five structural limit states after an earthquake: onset-of-damage, green tag, yellow tag, red tag, and collapse. The green-, yellow-, and red-tag states are directly related to structural post-earthquake functionality. The link between the patterns of structural damage that could be observed after a mainshock and the assignment of the appropriate limit state to...

Nonlinear Analysis of a Soil-Drilled Pier System under Static and Dynamic Axial Loading, PEER Report 2006-06

Gang Wang
Nicholas Sitar
2006

Realistic time history simulation of a soil-drilled pier system under static and dynamic load-ing is essential for the development of effective performance-based earthquake design of deep foundations. Due to the nonlinear transient nature of the system and high computational requirements, to date the application of nonlinear finite element analyses to this problem has been limited. Thus, an important aspect of numerical modeling is a soil model that is simple enough to be computationally efficient yet able to capture the cyclic stress-strain behavior. In particular, it is essential to...

Analytical Modeling of Reinforced Concrete Walls for Predicting Flexural and Coupled Shear-Flexural Responses, PEER Report 2006-07

Kutay Orakcal
Leonardo M. Massone
John W. Wallace
2006

This study investigates an effective modeling approach that integrates important material characteristics and behavioral response features (e.g., neutral axis migration, tension stiffening, gap closure, and nonlinear shear be havior) for a reliable prediction of reinforced concrete (RC) wall response. A wall macro-model was improved by implementing refined constitutive relations for materials and by incorporating a methodology that couples shear and flexural response components. Detailed calibration of the model and comprehensive correlation studies were conducted to compare the model...

Vector-Valued Ground Motion Intensity Measures for Probabilistic Seismic Demand Analysis, PEER Report 2006-08

Jack W. Baker
C. Allin Cornell
2006

The “strength” of an earthquake ground motion is often quantified by an intensity measure (IM), such as peak ground acceleration or spectral acceleration at a given period. This IM is used to quantify both the rate of occurrence of future earthquake ground motions (hazard) and the effect of these ground motions on the structure (response). In this report, intensity measures consisting of multiple parameters are considered. These intensity measures are termed vector-valued IMs, as opposed to the single parameter, or scalar, IMs that are traditionally used. Challenges associated with...

Quantifying Economic Losses from Travel Forgone Following a Large Metropolitan Earthquake, PEER Report 2006-09

James E. Moore
Sungbin Cho
Yue Yue Fan
Stuart Werner
2006

The goal of this research is to provide tools for seismic retrofit decisions in metropolitan transportation networks. The objective is to extend the work completed for the PEER Highway Demonstration Project by developing and implementing a transportation network model capable of estimating increased travel delays and the economic losses associated with trips eliminated from the transportation network following an earthquake.

The work completed in PEER projects A5, 104199, and 3222001 links earthquake damage to transportation structures to transportation network performance and...

Seismic Performance of Masonry Buildings and Design Implications, PEER Report 2004-01

Kerri Anne Taeko Tokoro
James C. Anderson
Vitelmo V. Bertero
2004

The seismic response of three reinforced masonry buildings with flexible diaphragms is investigated, two buildings with instrumentation, and one without. An instrumented three-story building is investigated for its response during the Whittier Narrows (1989), Landers (1992), and Northridge (1994), California, ear thquakes, and the response of an instrumented two-story building during the Loma Prieta (1989) earthquake is presented. Flexibility of the diaphragms of the two instrumented buildings was also stud ied by using the 1997 UBC criteria. Static and dynamic analyses were used to...

Analytical Investigations of New Methods for Reducing Residual Displacements of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns, PEER Report 2004-02

Junichi Sakai
Stephen A. Mahin
2004

Reinforced concrete bridge columns located in regions of high seismicity are designed with large ductility capacity for adequate protection against collapse. This type of design tends to result in large permanent displacements. To maximize post-event operability and to minimize repair costs, new design strategies to reduce these residual displacements are necessary.

To minimize residual displacements in reinforced concrete columns, a new method is proposed whereby longitudinal prestressing strands replace some of the typical longitudinal mild reinforcing bars. The seismic...

Evaluation and Application of Concrete Tilt-up Assessment Methodologies, PEER Report 2004-03

Timothy Graf
James O. Malley
2004

This report covers Task 1 of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center Task 509 — Evaluation and Application of Concrete Tilt-up Assessment Methodologies. The objective of Task 1 of Lifelines 509 is to summarize the research findings and results of previous PEER research projects on concrete tilt-up buildings and to assess the report findings on their impact upon current design codes and guidelines. From all four reports evaluated, some suggestions are presented for changes in design. Ideas for future PEER research not specific to any of the reports are also presented....

Seismic Performance of an Instrumented Tilt-up Wall Building, PEER Report 2004-04

James C. Anderson
Vitelmo V. Bertero
Mohsen Kargah
Mohamed Al Satari
2004

The seismic response of an instrumented tilt-up wall building is initially investigated under the action of four earthquake ground motions that were recorded at the site . The strongest base acceleration was 0.18g recorded during the Big Bear, California, earthquake. Building response was obtained from nine sensors located in the building, and these data were used to evaluate the behavior of the building and the accuracy of the numerical calculations obtained from a three- dimensional building model. A site visit indicated that the response of the walls to the recorded ground motions had...