Fourth Annual NEES Consortium Meeting

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The UB-NEES Site Pushing Experimental
Boundaries in Full and Large Scale Structural and
Non-Structural Hybrid Testing

• Thomas Albrechcinski, Andrei M. Reinhorn, Andre
  Filiatrault, Sabanayagam Thevanayagam, Mark
  Pitman, Jason Hanley, Xiaoyun Shao, Goran
  Josipovic

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Presentation Outline

• Introduction
• UB-NEES Vision Facility Overview
• Real Time Dynamic Hybrid Testing (RTDHT)
• Zipper Frames
• Nonstructural Component Simulator (NCS)
• Geotechnical Laminar Box-Liquefaction..
• NEESWood
• Summary

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SEESL / UB - NEES Vision

• Develop a Versatile National Large-Scale
  Earthquake Engineering Facility - a Site of
  George E Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake
  Engineering Simulation NEES
• The development of the physical infrastructure,
  equipment, capabilities and expertise to test
  full size or large sub-scale structures and
  components

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Facility Overview

• 13,000sq,ft.expansion
• -600 sq.ft. for control and server rooms
• -800 sq. ft. of elevated observation space
• -1,500 sq. ft. of renovated space
  
• 3,400 sq.ft. strong floor
• 1,800 sq. ft. reaction wall
• 125 ft. long shake table trench
• 40-ton overhead crane
• Twin 6-degree-of-freedom relocatable
• shake tables (50 m-ton capacity)
• 7mx7m platforms
• Three high performance 100-ton dynamic actuators
• Two high performance 200-ton static actuators

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Facility Overview (Cont)

• 2-D Geotechnical Laminar Box
• Modular Multilayer-Laminate-Bearing Design
  5.0x2.75x6.2m (85 cubic meter maximum capacity)
• Simulate 2-D Ground Response for
  Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction Studies at
  or Near Full Scale
• 1-g Geotechnical Studies

• Non Structural Component Simulator (NCS)
• A modular-versatile two-level platform system for
  the experimetal evaluation of non-structural
  components under realistic floor motions

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RTDHT

• Real-Time Dynamic Hybrid Testing
• A novel structural testing method developed at
  UB, involving the integrated use of shake tables,
  actuators, reaction wall, strong floor and
  computational resources (unique to UB) in which
  shake table and/or dynamic force experiments on
  substructures are combined in real-time with
  computer simulations of the remainder of the
  structure.
• This provides a more complete picture of how
  earthquakes would affect large structures,
  including buildings and bridges, without the need
  to physically test the entire structure.
• Building and Cable Stayed Bridge Segments With
  RTDHT Using Two Shake Tables, the Reaction Wall
  and Large Actuators

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RTDHT (Cont)

• The structure to be simulated is divided into a
  physical substructure and one or more
  computational substructures.
• The interface forces between the physical and
  computational substructures are imposed by
  actuators and resulting displacements and
  velocities are fed back to the computational
  engine.
• The earthquake ground motion, or motion of other
  computational substructures, is applied to the
  experimental substructure by shake tables.

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RTDHT (Cont)
Pilot System A software framework has been
designed for performing RTDHT based on the
UB-NEES facility capabilities

• Structural Simulator
• -Finite element program
• -Real time simulation of structures response
• -Real time calculation of boundary loadings
• Compensation Controller
• -Determines the real time command to the
  structural
• actuator, shake table based on the
  hydraulic loading system
• -Determines the interface loading command so
  that the exact load is applied to the
• substructure at the desired rate

• Experimental Verification of the Unified
  Controller
• -Three Story Hybrid Simulation with only the
  second story physically tested
• -Top and bottom stories numerically modeled

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Zipper Frames

• Dynamic Seismic Response of Steel Braced Frames
  with Innovative Bracing Configurations
• A Pre-NEESR Grant involving a collaboration
  among several universities including The
  University at Buffalo, Georgia Tech, The
  University of Colorado at Boulder, The University
  of California at Berkeley and Florida AM
  University
• To solve the traditional problems associated with
  conventional braced frames, the objective of this
  collaborative project is to develop a new class
  of bracing systems known as Zipper Frames
  through testing of new design configurations
  coupled with analytical investigations

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Zipper Frames (Cont)

• The UB-NEES tests employ a modular reconfigurable
  structural frame system within which the
  sacrificial elements are introduced.
• The two phases of UB tests provided results on
  the behavior of the full structural assembly,
  sub-assemblages and individual elements with and
  w/o energy dissipating elements serving as inputs
  for fast hybrid tests to be conducted at
  UC-Berkeley and U-Colorado and story
  displacements as inputs in 2nd tests at GT.

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Zipper Frames (Cont)

• The Zipper Frames tests performed at the UB-NEES
  Site included the successful deployment and
  application of the KRYPTON 3-D Displacement
  Measurement System obtaining x,y,z, deformations
  of the Zipper Frame

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Zipper Frames (Cont)

• KRYPTON Displacement Records

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Nonstructural Component Simulator (NCS)

• Both displacement sensitive and acceleration
  sensitive nonstructural components and equipment
  can be experimentally evaluated under full-scale
  floor motions to understand, quantify and control
  their seismic response.

• Under extended NSF funding, the UB-NEES Site
  commissioned a dedicated Nonstructural Component
  Simulator (NCS).
• Leveraging off of the equipment and
  infrastructure at the UB-NEES Site, the NCS is a
  modular and versatile two-level platform for
  experimental performance evaluation of
  nonstructural components and equipment under
  realistic full scale floor motions.
• NCS can provide the dynamic stroke necessary to
  replicate full-scale displacements, velocities
  and accelerations of two adjacent upper floor
• levels of multi-story buildings during
  earthquake shaking

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NCS (Cont)

• The NCS testing frame is composed of two square
  12.5 ft (3.8 m) platforms with an inter-story
  height of 14 ft (4.27 m).

• The NCS testing frame is activated by two
  identical high performance dynamic actuators
  supplied by MTS Corporation.
• NCS is capable of subjecting nonstructural
  components and equipment up to 3g horizontal
  accelerations, 100 in/s (2.5 m/s) velocities and
  40 inches ( 1m) displacements for specimens up
  to 6.9 kips (3.1 mtons) per level.
• Each actuator has a load capacity of 22 kips (10
  mton), a displacement stroke of 80 inches (2 m)
  and a mid-stroke length of approximately 15 feet
  (4.6 m).
• Uni-axial and bi-axial testing configurations are
  possible
• Vertical accelerations can also be included in an
  experiment by mounting the testing frame on one
  of the UB-NEES shake tables.

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Geotechnical Laminar Box-Liquefaction..

• Experimental and Micromechanical Computational
  Study of Pile Foundations Subjected to
  Liquefaction-Induced Lateral Spreading
• A NEESR-SG Grant involving Rensselaer
  Polytechnic Institute, University at Buffalo,
  University of California-San Diego, Tulane, NIED,
  and Tokyo Institute of Technology
• Leveraging off of the facility infrastructure at
  the UB-NEES Site Reaction Wall, Strong Floor,
  Dynamic Actuators-High Performance Hydraulic
  System, 2-D Geotechnical Laminar Box and DAQ and
  Image processing, tests will be performed in
  years 1-4

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Geotechnical Laminar Box (Cont)

• The 2-D Geotechnical Laminar Box is deployed on a
  12x26 steel plate leveled and secured to the
  strong floor upon which 240 ball bearings
  integrated into the base assembly will allow 2-D
  motions.
• Two dynamic actuators deployed against the
• reaction wall will be used to shake the
• 170 ton assembly containing 80-cubic meters
  
• of sand.

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NEESWood

• Development of a Performance Based Seismic
  Design Philosophy for Mid-Rise Woodframe
  Construction
• A NEESR-SG grant involving Colorado State,
  University at Buffalo, Cornell University, Texas
  AM University and Rensselaer Polytechnic
  Institute.
• The objective of this project is to develop a
  seismic design philosophy that will provide the
  necessary mechanisms to safely increase the
  height of woodframe structures in active seismic
  zones of the U.S. as well as mitigating damage to
  low-rise woodframe structures.
• The first phase of the project involves shake
  table testing of a two-story woodframe townhouse
  that requires the simultaneous use of the two
  6-DOF shake tables at the UB-NEES Site.
• The largest full-scale three-dimensional shake
  table test ever performed on a woodframe
  structure in the world.

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NEESWood (Cont)

• This project is enabled by the combined payload
  capacity and more importantly, the unique
  capability of the UB-NEES shake tables to operate
  fully synchronized in all six degrees of freedom.
  

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NEESWood (Cont)

• The motions of the twin shake tables were
  synchronized and tuned using ballast (dead
  weight) replicating the weight of the 2-story
  townhouse.
• 120 of Canoga Park Record, 1994 Northridge
  Earthquake

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NEESWood (Cont)

• 53 of Canoga Park Record

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Summary

• The UB-NEES Site has fulfilled the vision of
  developing a versatile large scale facility for
  testing of full size or large sub-scale
  structures and components.
• UB-NEES is pushing experimental boundaries and
  advancing the state of the art in earthquake
  engineering research and testing through the
  continued development of unique experimental
  techniques and capabilities and in the support
  and execution of truly novel research programs.
  

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Thank You

• Questions
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