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Research papers, University of Canterbury Library

Research following the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquakes investigated the minimum vertical reinforcement required in RC walls to generate well distributed cracking in the plastic hinge region. However, the influence of the loading sequence and rate has not been fully addressed. The new minimum vertical reinforcement limits in NZS 3101:2006 (Amendment 3) include consideration of the material strengths under dynamic load rates, but these provisions have not been validated at a member or system level. A series of tests were conducted on RC prisms to investigate the effect of loading rate and sequence on the local behaviour of RC members. Fifteen axially loaded RC prisms with the designs representing the end region of RC walls were tested under various loading rates to cover the range of pseudo-static and earthquake loading scenarios. These tests will provide substantial data for understanding the local behaviour of RC members, including hysteretic load-deformation behaviour, crack patterns, failure mode, steel strain, strain rate and ductility. Recommendations will be made regarding the effect of loading rate and reinforcement content on the cracking behaviour and ductility of RC members.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

The now vacated Christchurch City Council building suffered some damage in the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Christchurch on Saturday 4 September 2010.

Images, eqnz.chch.2010

The now vacated Christchurch City Council building suffered some damage in the magnitude 7.1 earthquake that struck Christchurch on Saturday 4 September 2010.

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damage to the dome of the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Cracking around the base of the dome shows how it has moved. In the foreground, damage to the north-west corner of the building can be seen. The photographer comments, "A bike ride around the CBD. Catholic Cathedral, Barbadoes St".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A man takes a photograph in the kitchen of a damaged house in Richmond. Behind him, large cracks are visible above the doorway. The photographer comments, "Revisiting our abandoned house. Kitchen cracked, bench on a lean. (My brother Ross from Invercargill was visiting, he's in several of these)".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A man takes a photograph in the kitchen of a damaged house in Richmond. Behind him, cracks are visible in the walls. The photographer comments, "Revisiting our abandoned house. Kitchen and dining area. (My brother Ross from Invercargill was visiting, he's in several of these)".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damage to a house in Richmond. Stucco underneath a window has cracked, and the foundation appears to be on a lean. The photographer comments, "These photos show our old house in River Rd and recovery work around Richmond and St Albans. The bay window of our bedroom has jumped off the foundations, cracking the stucco".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

A large crack in the road surface at the intersection of Medway Street and River Road, where River Road has slumped towards the river. The photographer comments, "Medway Street is a buckled mess of broken seal and liquefaction. 79 Medway St is on the right - taken at the corner of Medway St and River Rd".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damage to River Road in Richmond. The road is badly cracked and buckled, and is partly blocked off with road cones and warning tape. In the background is a truck carrying more road cones and signs. The photographer comments, "Major slumps and cracks along River Rd. Near 381 River Rd, looking towards the Banks Ave - Dallington Terrace corner".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Internal damage to a house in Richmond. A doorframe has visibly warped, leaving a gap between the frame and the door. Outside, cracks can be seen in the concrete patio. The photographer comments, "Sunroom - bifold doors are now separated from the frame. The doors on the left blew right out in a strong wind 2 weeks after the quake".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damage to River Road in Richmond. The road surface is badly cracked and slumped, and liquefaction silt covers part of the road. Two people in gumboots walk towards a barrier erected across the road using road cones and warning tape, and in the background the badly twisted Medway Street bridge can be seen. The photographer comments, "Longitudinal cracks indicate lateral movement as the land sagged towards the river. Near 373 River Rd, looking south-east towards Medway St. The Medway St bridge is visible in the background".

Images, UC QuakeStudies

Damage to a house in Richmond. The foundation is all that remains of one room, and the exposed interior wall has been covered with builders' paper for protection. Weeds grow between cracks in the concrete patio. The photographer comments, "Revisiting our abandoned house. Cracked patio. The wooden floor is all that remains of a sunny living space with bifold doors, opening the house to the garden. This was so broken on 4/9/10 that it was immediately demolished".

Research papers, The University of Auckland Library

High demolition rates were observed in New Zealand after the 2010-2011 Canterbury Earthquake Sequence despite the success of modern seismic design standards to achieve required performance objectives such as life safety and collapse prevention. Approximately 60% of the multi-storey reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in the Christchurch Central Business District were demolished after these earthquakes, even when only minor structural damage was present. Several factors influenced the decision of demolition instead of repair, one of them being the uncertainty of the seismic capacity of a damaged structure. To provide more insight into this topic, the investigation conducted in this thesis evaluated the residual capacity of moderately damaged RC walls and the effectiveness of repair techniques to restore the seismic performance of heavily damaged RC walls. The research outcome provided insights for developing guidelines for post-earthquake assessment of earthquake-damaged RC structures. The methodology used to conduct the investigation was through an experimental program divided into two phases. During the first phase, two walls were subjected to different types of pre-cyclic loading to represent the damaged condition from a prior earthquake, and a third wall represented a repair scenario with the damaged wall being repaired using epoxy injection and repair mortar after the pre-cyclic loading. Comparisons of these test walls to a control undamaged wall identified significant reductions in the stiffness of the damaged walls and a partial recovery in the wall stiffness achieved following epoxy injection. Visual damage that included distributed horizontal and diagonal cracks and spalling of the cover concrete did not affect the residual strength or displacement capacity of the walls. However, evidence of buckling of the longitudinal reinforcement during the pre-cyclic loading resulted in a slight reduction in strength recovery and a significant reduction in the displacement capacity of the damaged walls. Additional experimental programs from the literature were used to provide recommendations for modelling the response of moderately damaged RC walls and to identify a threshold that represented a potential reduction in the residual strength and displacement capacity of damaged RC walls in future earthquakes. The second phase of the experimental program conducted in this thesis addressed the replacement of concrete and reinforcing steel as repair techniques for heavily damaged RC walls. Two walls were repaired by replacing the damaged concrete and using welded connections to connect new reinforcing bars with existing bars. Different locations of the welded connections were investigated in the repaired walls to study the impact of these discontinuities at the critical section. No significant changes were observed in the stiffness, strength, and displacement capacity of the repaired walls compared to the benchmark undamaged wall. Differences in the local behaviour at the critical section were observed in one of the walls but did not impact the global response. The results of these two repaired walls were combined with other experimental programs found in the literature to assemble a database of repaired RC walls. Qualitative and quantitative analyses identified trends across various parameters, including wall types, damage before repair, and repair techniques implemented. The primary outcome of the database analysis was recommendations for concrete and reinforcing steel replacement to restore the strength and displacement capacity of heavily damaged RC walls.