Advances in Estimating Seismic Responses of Steel Frames and Rocking Structures

Synopsis

Presentation 1: Hazard-consistent performance assessment of Steel Moment Frames

Steel Moment Resisting Frames (MRFs) are ductile structures characterised by their large lateral deformation capacity. Although much research has been done to date on the prediction of peak and residual deformations in MRFs, all modelling efforts have remained oblivious to the central issue of hazard consistency. Hence, missing the causal connection between the seismic hazard level and the ground-motion suite used and potentially compromising the meaningfulness of their results. This presentation will call the attention to the massive misrepresentations of peak and residual drifts observed when a proper consideration of hazard-consistent assumptions is not adopted. Finally, comparisons between the seismic performance of MRFs designed with the current and new Eurocode 8 as well as the American seismic code, the ASCE 7-16, are presented within a hazard-consistent point of view and conclusions are drawn on the efficiency of the proposed designs.

Presentation 2: Modelling structures with clutched inerter devices

Inerters (ID) and Clutched Inerter Devices (CID) are an innovative technology with proven potential for seismic control. Nonetheless, the intrinsic non-linearity and discontinuity of the clutching mechanism in CIDs can create significant difficulties for their precise numerical modelling. Most of currently available modelling methods either overly simplify the physics of dynamic contact or are highly sensitive to the step size, potentially leading instability or requiring considerable computational resources. This presentation introduces an original formulation of the ID and CID element by means of a Mixed Lagrangian Formulation (MLF). The newly proposed MLF-CID element is then implemented into hazard-consistent estimations of MRF and self-centring rocking structures. The advantages of using the MLF are stressed, and the response of structures clutched inerters is discussed.

About the speakers

Dr Christian Málaga-Chuquitaype

Christian Málaga-Chuquitaype is Associate Professor (Senior Lecturer) at Imperial College London where he leads the Earthquake Engineering and Applied Dynamics research areas and heads the Emerging Structural Technologies Research Group. His publication record includes more than 80 papers in topics related to earthquake engineering, computational modelling, and AI. His work has been recognised with multiple awards, including the Tso Kung Hsieh Research Award from the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Structures Best Research Paper Prize from the Institution of Structural Engineers, and the Unwin Prize from Imperial College. Christian also serves in several committees related to international code development and the advancement of engineering practice and is active as specialist consultant in related areas. 

Faridah Zahra

Faridah Zahra is a doctoral researcher in the Emerging Structural Technologies Research Group at Imperial College London, currently working on the development of hazard consistent models for steel frames using mechanistic and data-driven techniques. She holds an MSc, with Distinction, from the University of Aberdeen (UK) and a BSc in Ocean Engineering from Institut Teknologi Bandungdegree (Indonesia). She has over 7 years of experience carrying out structural analysis in several industrial projects in Indonesia.

Yixuan Zhang

Yixuan Zhang is a doctoral researcher in the Emerging Structural Technologies Research Group at Imperial College London, currently working on the optimization of the design of rocking timber structures and their large-scale testing. He holds an MSc, with Distinction, from Imperial College (UK) and a BSc in Civil Engineering from Southwest Jiaotong University (China).

Registration

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Further information

This online meeting is organised by Young SECED. For further information, please contact Evangelos Yfantidis (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).

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