Search

found 52 results

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

The Canterbury earthquake series of 2010/2011 has turned the city of Christchurch into a full scale natural laboratory testing the structural and non-structural response of buildings under moderate to very severe earthquake shaking. The lessons learned from this, which have come at great cost socially and economically, are extremely valuable in increasing our understanding of whole building performance in severe earthquakes. Given current initiatives underway on both sides of the Tasman towards developing joint Australasian steel and composite steel/concrete design and construction standards that would span a very wide range of geological conditions and seismic zones, these lessons are relevant to both countries. This paper focusses on the performance of steel framed buildings in Christchurch city, with greatest emphasis on multi-storey buildings, but also covering single storey steel framed buildings and light steel framed housing. It addresses such issues as the magnitude and structural impact of the earthquake series, importance of good detailing, lack of observed column base hinging, the excellent performance of composite floors and it will briefly cover research underway to quantify some of these effects for use in design.

Audio, Radio New Zealand

John Key wants inquiry into collapse of buildings; Police update on latest from Christchurch emergency; Cordon update; More budget cuts in store after Christchurch earthquake; Attention turns to shape of new Christchurch CBD; Clifton Hills residents able to go home after evacuations; Quake Minister says ten thousand homes may be written off.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Industrial steel storage pallet racking systems are used extensively worldwide to store goods. Forty percent of all goods are stored on storage racks at some time during their manufactureto- consumption life. In 2017, goods worth USD 16.5 billion were carried on cold-formed steel racking systems in seismically active regions worldwide. Historically, these racks are particularly vulnerable to collapse in severe earthquakes. In the 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquakes, around NZD 100 million of pallet racking stored goods were lost, with much greater associated economic losses due to disruptions to the national supply chain. A novel component, the friction slipper baseplate, has been designed and developed to very significantly improve the seismic performance of a selective pallet racking system in both the cross-aisle and the down-aisle directions. This thesis documents the whole progress of the development of the friction slipper baseplate from the design concept development to experimental verification and incorporation into the seismic design procedure for selective pallet racking systems. The test results on the component joint tests, full-scale pull-over and snap-back tests and fullscale shaking table tests of a steel storage racking system are presented. The extensive experimental observations show that the friction slipper baseplate exhibits the best seismic performance in both the cross-aisle and the down-aisle directions compared with all the other base-connections tested. It protects the rack frame and concrete floor from damage, reduces the risk of overturning in the cross-aisle direction, and minimises the damage at beam-end connectors in the down-aisle direction, without sustaining damage to the connection itself. Moreover, this high level of seismic performance can be delivered by a simple and costeffective baseplate with almost no additional cost. The significantly reduced internal force and frame acceleration response enable the more cost-effective and safer design of the pallet racking system with minimal extra cost for the baseplate. The friction slipper baseplate also provides enhanced protection to the column base from operational impact damage compared with other seismic resisting and standard baseplates.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

A non-destructive hardness testing method has been developed to investigate the amount of plastic strain demand in steel elements subjected to cyclic loading. The focus of this research is on application to the active links of eccentrically braced frames (EBFs), which are a commonly used seismic-resisting system in modern steel framed buildings. The 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquake series, especially the very intense February 22 shaking, which was the first earthquake worldwide to push complete EBF systems fully into their inelastic state, generating a moderate to high level of plastic strain in EBF active links, for a range of buildings from 3 to 23 storeys in height. This raised two important questions: 1) what was the extent of plastic deformation in active links; and 2) what effect does that have to post-earthquake steel properties? This project comprised determining a robust relationship between hardness and plastic strain in order to be able to answer the first question and provide the necessary input into answering the second question. A non-destructive Leeb (portable) hardness tester (model TH170) has been used to measure the hardness, in order to determine the plastic strain, in hot rolled steel universal sections and steel plates. A bench top Rockwell B was used to compare and validated the hardness measured by the portable hardness tester. Hardness was measured from monotonically strained tensile test specimens to identify the relationship between hardness and plastic strain demand. Test results confirmed a good relationship between hardness and the amount of monotonically induced plastic strain. Surface roughness was identified as an important parameter in obtaining reliable hardness readings from a portable hardness reader. A proper surface preparation method was established by using three different cleaning methods, finished with hand sanding to achieve surface roughness coefficients sufficiently low not to distort the results. This work showed that a test surface roughness (Ra) is not more than 1.6 micron meter (μm) is required for accurate readings from the TH170 tester. A case study on an earthquake affected building was carried out to identify the relationship between hardness and amount of plastic strain demand in cyclically deformed active links. Hardness was carried out from active links shown visually to have been the most affected during one of the major earthquake events. Onsite hardness test results were then compared with laboratory hardness test results. A good relationship between hardness from onsite and laboratory was observed between the test methods; Rockwell B bench top and portable Leeb tester TH170. Manufacturing induced plastic strain in the top and bottom of the webs of hot rolled sections were discovered from this research, an important result which explains why visual effects of earthquake induced active link yielding (eg cracked or flaking paint) was typically more prevalent over the middle half depth of the active link. The extent of this was quantified. It was also evident that the hardness readings from the portable hardness tester are influenced by geometry, mass effects and rigidity of the links. The final experimental stage was application of the method to full scale cyclic inelastic tested nominally identical active links subjected to loading regimes comprising constant and variable plastic strain demands. The links were cyclically loaded to achieve different plastic strain level. A novel Digital Image Correlation (DIC) technique was incorporated during the tests of this scale, to confirm the level of plastic strain achieved. Tensile test specimens were water jet cut from cyclically deformed webs to analyse the level of plastic strain. Test results show clear evidence that cyclically deformed structural steel elements show good correlation between hardness and the amount of plastic strain demand. DIC method was found to be reliable and accurate to check the level of plastic strain within cyclically deformed structural steel elements.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A damaged house perched on the edge of the cliffs above Sumner. The photographer comments, "This house has slowly gone over the edge since the big earthquake in Christchurch in February 2011. Subsequent earthquakes has caused the rock face to crumble more and more".

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Five years after the devastating series of earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand, the structural engineering community is now focussing on low damage design by either proactively reducing the possibility of significant damage to primary steel members (i.e. developing seismic resisting systems that will deliver a high damage threshold in severe earthquakes) or by improved detailing of the primary steel members for rapid replacement. This paper presents a development of Eccentrically Braced Frames (EBFs) with replaceable active links. It uses the bolted flange- and web splicing concept to connect the active link to the collector beam or column. Finite element analyses have been performed to investigate the behaviour and reliability of EBFs with this new type replaceable active link. The results show a stable hysteretic behaviour and more significantly easier replacement of the damaged active link in comparison with conventional EBFs.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

Perimeter Moment resisting steel frames (PMRSFs) are a commonly used seismic resisting system, placed around the perimeter of the building for maximum torsional stiffness. They are typically designed as “strong column weak beam” systems with fixed column bases. When subjected to severe earthquake demand, sufficient to push the beams into the inelastic range, it is expected that plastic hinging at the column bases will occur. However, the response of PMRSF systems to the severe 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquake series did not generate column base hinging in systems which exhibited beam yielding.

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

This paper presents preliminary field observations on the performance of selected steel structures in Christchurch during the earthquake series of 2010 to 2011. This comprises 6 damaging earthquakes, on 4 September and 26 December 2010, February 22, June 6 and two on June 13, 2011. Most notable of these was the 4 September event, at Ms7.1 and MM7 (MM as observed in the Christchurch CBD) and most intense was the 22 February event at Ms6.3 and MM9-10 within the CBD. Focus is on performance of concentrically braced frames, eccentrically braced frames, moment resisting frames and industrial storage racks. With a few notable exceptions, steel structures performed well during this earthquake series, to the extent that inelastic deformations were less than what would have been expected given the severity of the recorded strong motions. Some hypotheses are formulated to explain this satisfactory performance. http://db.nzsee.org.nz/SpecialIssue/44%284%290297.pdf

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

© 2018 Springer Nature B.V. This study compares seismic losses considering initial construction costs and direct-repair costs for New Zealand steel moment-resisting frame buildings with friction connections and those with extended bolted-end-plate connections. A total of 12 buildings have been designed and analysed considering both connection types, two building heights (4-storey and 12-storey), and three locations around New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch, and Wellington). It was found that buildings with friction connections required design to a higher design ductility, yet are generally stiffer due to larger beams being required to satisfy higher connection overstrength requirements. This resulted in the frames with friction connections experiencing lower interstorey drifts on most floors but similar peak total floor accelerations, and subsequently incurring lower drift-related seismic repair losses. Frames with friction connections tended to have lower expected net-present-costs within 50 years of the building being in service for shorter buildings and/or if located in regions of high seismicity. None of the frames with friction connections in Auckland showed any benefits due to the low seismicity of the region.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

High-Force-to-Volume lead dampers (HF2V) have been recently developed through an experimental research program at University of Canterbury – New Zealand. Testing of the device and applications on beam column joints have demonstrated stable hysteretic behaviour with almost no damage. This paper reports testing of HF2V devices with straight, bulged and constricted shaft configurations subjected to velocities of 0.15 - 5.0mm/s. The effect of the shaft configuration on the hysteresis loop shape, design relationships and the effect of the velocity on the resistive force of the device are described. Results show that hysteresis loop shape of the device is almost square regardless of the shaft configuration, and that devices are characterized by noticeable velocity dependence in the range of 0.15-1.0mm/s.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

This poster presents preliminary results of ongoing experimental campaigns at the Universities of Auckland and Canterbury, aiming at investigating the seismic residual capacity of damaged reinforced concrete plastic hinges, as well as the effectiveness of epoxy injection techniques for restoring their stiffness, energy dissipation, and deformation capacity characteristics. This work is part of wider research project which started in 2012 at the University of Canterbury entitled “Residual Capacity and Repairing Options for Reinforced Concrete Buildings”, funded by the Natural Hazards Research Platform (NHRP). This research project aims at gaining a better understanding and providing the main end-users and stakeholders (practitioner engineers, owners, local and government authorities, insurers, and regulatory agencies) with comprehensive evidence-based information and practical guidelines to assess the residual capacity of damaged reinforced concrete buildings, as well as to evaluate the feasibility of repairing and thus support their delicate decision-making process of repair vs. demolition or replacement.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Shaking table testing of a full-scale three storey resilient and reparable complete composite steel framed building system is being conducted. The building incorporates a number of interchangeable seismic resisting systems of New Zealand and Chinese origin. The building has a steel frame and cold formed steel-concrete composite deck. Energy is dissipated by means of friction connections. These connections are arranged in a number of structural configurations. Typical building nonskeletal elements (NSEs) are also included. Testing is performed on the Jiading Campus shaking table at Tongji University, Shanghai, China. This RObust BUilding SysTem (ROBUST) project is a collaborative China-New Zealand project sponsored by the International Joint Research Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering (ILEE), Tongji University, and a number of agencies and universities within New Zealand including BRANZ, Comflor, Earthquake Commission, HERA, QuakeCoRE, QuakeCentre, University of Auckland, and the University of Canterbury. This paper provides a general overview of the project describing a number of issues encountered in the planning of this programme including issues related to international collaboration, the test plan, and technical issues.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Shaking table testing of a full-scale three storey resilient and reparable complete composite steel framed building system is being conducted. The building incorporates a number of interchangeable seismic resisting systems of New Zealand and Chinese origin. The building has a steel frame and cold formed steel-concrete composite deck. Energy is dissipated by means of friction connections. These connections are arranged in a number of structural configurations. Typical building non-skeletal elements (NSEs) are also included. Testing is performed on the Jiading Campus shaking table at Tongji University, Shanghai, China. This RObust BUilding SysTem (ROBUST) project is a collaborative China-New Zealand project sponsored by the International Joint Research Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering (ILEE), Tongji University, and a number of agencies and universities within New Zealand including the BRANZ, Comflor, Earthquake Commission, HERA, QuakeCoRE, QuakeCentre, University of Auckland, and the University of Canterbury. This paper provides a general overview of the project describing a number of issues encountered in the planning of this programme including issues related to international collaboration, the test plan, and technical issues.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Recent severe earthquakes, such as Christchurch earthquake series, worldwide have put emphasis on building resilience. In resilient systems, not only life is protected, but also undesirable economic effects of building repair or replacement are minimized following a severe earthquake. Friction connections are one way of providing structure resilience. These include the sliding hinge joint with asymmetric friction connections (SHJAFCs) in beam-to-column connections of the moment resisting steel frames (MRSFs), and the symmetric friction connections (SFCs) in braces of the braced frames. Experimental and numerical studies on components have been conducted internationally. However, actual building performance depends on the many interactions, occurring within a whole building system, which may be difficult to determine accurately by numerical modelling or testing of structural components alone. Dynamic inelastic testing of a full-scale multi-storey composite floor building with full range of non-structural elements (NSEs) has not yet been performed, so it is unclear if surprises are likely to occur in such a system. A 9 m tall three-storey configurable steel framed composite floor building incorporating friction-based connections is to be tested using two linked bi-directional shake tables at the International joint research Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering (ILEE) facilities, Shanghai, China. Beams and columns are designed to remain elastic during an earthquake event, with all non-linear behaviour occurring through stable sliding frictional behaviour, dissipating energy by SHJAFCs used in MRFs and SFCs in braced frames, with and without Belleville springs. Structural systems are configurable, allowing different moment and braced frame structural systems to be tested in two horizontal directions. In some cases, these systems interact with rocking frame or rocking column system in orthogonal directions subjected to unidirectional and bidirectional horizontal shaking. The structure is designed and detailed to undergo, at worst, minor damage under series of severe earthquakes. NSEs applied include precast-concrete panels, glass curtain walling, internal partitions, suspended ceilings, fire sprinkler piping as well as some other common contents. Some of the key design considerations are presented and discussed herein

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

In recent years, rocking isolation has become an effective approach to improve seismic performance of steel and reinforced concrete structures. These systems can mitigate structural damage through rigid body displacement and thus relatively low requirements for structural ductility, which can significantly improve seismic resilience of structures and reduce repairing costs after strong earthquakes. A number of base rocking structural systems with only a single rocking interface have been proposed. However, these systems can have significant high mode effect for high rise structures due to the single rocking interface. This RObust BUilding SysTem (ROBUST) project is a collaborative China-New Zealand project sponsored by the International Joint Research Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering (ILEE), Tongji University, and a number of agencies and universities within New Zealand including the BRANZ, Comflor, Earthquake Commission, HERA, QuakeCoRE, QuakeCentre, University of Auckland, and the University of Canterbury. A number of structural configurations will be tested [1, 2], and non-structural elements including ceilings, infilling walls, glazed curtain walls, precast concrete panels, piping system will also be tested in this project [3]. Within this study, a multiple rocking column steel structural system was proposed and investigated mainly by Tongji team with assistance of NZ members. The concept of rocking column system initiates from the structure of Chinese ancient wooden pagoda. In some of Chinese wooden pagodas, there are continuous core columns hanged only at the top of each pagoda, which is not connected to each stories. This core column can effectively avoid collapse of the whole structure under large storey drifts. Likewise, there are also central continuous columns in the newly proposed steel rocking column system, which can avoid weak story failure mechanism and make story drifts more uniform. In the proposed rocking column system, the structure can switch between an elastic rigidly connected moment resisting frame and a controlled rocking column system when subjected to strong ground motion excitations. The main seismic energy can be dissipated by asymmetric friction beam–column connections, thereby effectively reducing residual displacement of the structure under seismic loading without causing excessive damage to structural members. Re–centering of the structure is provided not only by gravity load carried by rocking columns, but also by mould coil springs. To investigate dynamic properties of the proposed system under different levels of ground excitations, a full-scale threestory steel rocking column structural system with central continuous columns is to be tested using the International joint research Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering (ILEE) facilities, Shanghai, China and an analytical model is established. A finite element model is also developed using ABAQUS to simulate the structural dynamic responses. The rocking column system proposed in this paper is shown to produce resilient design with quick repair or replacement.

Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Recent severe earthquakes, such as the 2010-2011 Christchurch earthquake series, have put emphasis on building resilience all over the world. To achieve such resilience, procedures for low damage seismic design have been developed to satisfy both life safety requirements and the need to minimize undesirable economic effects of required building repair or structural member replacement following a major earthquake. Seismic resisting systems following this concept are expected to withstand severe earthquakes without requiring major post-earthquake repairs, using isolating mechanisms or sacrificial systems that either do not need repair or are readily repairable or replaceable. These include the sliding hinge joint with asymmetric friction connections (SHJAFCs) in beam-to-column connections of the moment resisting steel frames (MRSFs) and symmetric friction connections (SFCs) in braces of the braced frames. A 9 m tall, configurable three-storey steel framed composite floor building incorporating frictionbased connections is to be tested using two linked bi-directional shake tables at the International joint research Laboratory of Earthquake Engineering (ILEE) facilities, Shanghai, China. The structural systems are configurable, allowing different moment and braced frame structural systems tested in two horizontal directions. The structure is designed and detailed to undergo, at worst, minor damage under a planned series of severe earthquakes.