Earthquake Proof Engineering Assignment
Added on 2021-04-24
11 Pages2806 Words130 Views
Calculus and Analysis
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Earthquake Proof Engineering 1EARTHQUAKE PROOF ENGINEERINGNameCourseProfessorUniversityCity/stateDate
Earthquake Proof Engineering 2Earthquake Proof EngineeringHistorical and Literature ReviewEarthquakes (also known as seismic activities) are natural disasters that can cause loss of lives and destruction of properties worth billions of dollars, depending on the magnitude of the earthquake. These disasters have been in existence for centuries and their recent damages and consequences have prompted engineers to focus on designing and constructing earthquake proof structures. The number of earthquake occurrences has been increasing over the years, putting stability and safety of structures and their users at high risk[ CITATION Rag15 \l 1033 ]. This makes earthquake proof engineering very important in modern engineering practice because engineers have to design and build structures that are stable, safe and sound. Earthquake proof engineering is basically an interdisciplinary branch of engineering that deals with the design and analysis of structures (such as bridges, buildings, dams, roads, etc.) with an aim of making them resistant to earthquakes. The main concern of this scientific field of engineering is to protect the society, natural environment and the built environment. Earthquake proof engineers aim at designing and constructing structures that will not get damaged when an earthquake occurs. Therefore the key objectives of earthquake proof engineering are to predict possible consequences of earthquakes on built structures, and to design, construct, operate and maintain structures to the expected earthquake exposure levels and in compliance with the relevant building codes. In general, earthquake proof is a very critical safety feature of buildings and other engineering structures.The continued urban development and global population increase have prompted engineers to maximize space utilization by building upwards instead of outwards. This has resulted to sprout of big skyscrapers in many cities across the world. Some of these areas are prone to earthquakes. Earthquake proof engineering has enabled engineers and architects to
Earthquake Proof Engineering 3prevent damage of these buildings during an earthquake. Some of the earthquake proof buildingsinclude: Tapei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan, Shanghai Tower in Shanghai, China, Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, California, Mori Tower in Tokyo, Japan, New Wilshire Center in Los Angeles, California, Sabiha Gokcen Airport in Istanbul, Turkey, and Komatsu Seiren in Nomi, Japan[ CITATION Ada17 \l 1033 ], U.S. Bank Tower in Los Angeles, Yokohama Landmark Tower in Japan and The Burj Khalifa in Dubai, among others.The reason why 7.0 magnitude earthquake in Haiti killed more than 220,000 people in 2010[ CITATION Rod10 \l 1033 ] while an 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile killed slightly above 700 people in 2010[ CITATION Fra10 \l 1033 ] is because most of the structures in Haiti did not have earthquake proof features[ CITATION The10 \l 1033 ]. There are several earthquake proof engineering techniques that are used to create strong and stiff structures and protect them against seismic shockwaves. These techniques mainly focus on minimizing motion of the structure whenit is exposed to seismic waves. Typically, buildings and other structures are designed to support vertical loads. However, an earthquake imposes lateral loads on these structures causes them to move sideways. Therefore earthquake proof engineering techniques aim at resisting the lateral loads imposed by earthquakes. Aspects of earthquake proof engineeringThere are several aspects of earthquake proof engineering. The keys aspects are as follows:Seismic loadingThis entails creating an earthquake-produced excitation and applying it on a structure’s model or prototype. Here, engineering seismology is used to estimate expected loading at a particular location. This loading is related to the location’s seismic hazard. Seismic loading helps
Earthquake Proof Engineering 4engineers to identify potential earthquake risks that may damage the structure or compromise its stability, safety, usability and performance. Seismic performanceThis involves establishing the ability of a structure to sustain its key functions, including serviceability and safety, during and after an earthquake occurrence. Engineers analyze the structure’s prototype when subjected to seismic hazards so as to establish if it will remain safe and serviceable by withstanding substantial damage in case of an earthquake but without collapsing entirely. Seismic performance assessmentThis is where engineers perform assessment on a structure’s model analytically or experimentally so as to quantify the seismic performance level that is related with direct damage of the building during an earthquake. Experimental assessment mainly includes seismic tests, which are usually expensive. In these tests, the structure’s model is placed on a shake-table, which generates the earth shaking. The behavior of the structure’s model is observed and the findings used to understand how the structure will behave during an earthquake, validate the design models and authenticate analysis methods used. Analytical assessment involves use of numerical or analytical tools together with structural analysis methods to understand the structure’s seismic performance (for both linear and non-linear systems). The analysis is usually done based on structural dynamics methods, such as earthquake response spectrum method and numerical step-by-step integration method. In general, numerical analysis is used to evaluate the structure’s seismic performance. Seismic control
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