Experimental Methods in Seismic Engineering Fall 2018

Homework set #1
(due April 20th, 2018)
Problem 1
A 400 m high TV concrete tower weighing 200,000tons must be scaled down in order
to be tested on a shake table. The basic limitations are: i) The available laboratory
height above the table is 10m. ii) The shaking table can support less than 50 tons. iii)
Suggested material is plexiglass. The prototype and model material properties are
summarized below:
Concrete:
Elastic Modulus E = 31GPa, Density ρ = 2400kgr/m3, Ultimate Stress fu = 41MPa
(assuming high strength concrete)
Plexiglas:
Elastic Modulus E = 3.1GPa, Density ρ = 1200 kgr/m3, Ultimate Stress fu = 70MPa
The basic scale parameters that are first determined are the acceleration scale factor,
λα, the elastic modulus scale factor, λE, and the geometric scale factor, λL.
•   For a TV tower the lateral load resisting system coincides with the gravity load
resisting system. Therefore the gravity is important for this test and the
acceleration scale factor should be consistent with the gravity scale factor
which is 1.
•   The geometric scale factor is dictated by the maximum height of the testing
facility, since the other dimensions of the prototype tower are significantly
smaller than its height. For a selected height of 8 m (<10m) the geometric
scale factor is 50. The 2 m free space above the model is provided for
constructability (use of overhead crane etc.)
Define all other scale factors for testing, including additional mass calculation.

Problem 2
Reinforced concrete column with cross-section 400x400mm is to be tested under
biaxial flexure without axial force. During the test, the intended displacement history
to be followed by the column is composed of the following branches:

Number of characters Column Loading history along (x,y)

in your Last Name
4 (0 , 0) à (1 , 0) à (1 ,1) à (-1 , 1) à (-1 , -1) à (1 ,-1) à (1 , 0)
5 (0 , 0) à (1 , 0) à (1 ,1) à (-1 , -1) à (-1 , 0) à (0 , 0)
6 (0 , 0) à (1 , 0) à (1, 1) à (1 , -1) à (1 , 0) à (0 , 0)
7 (0 , 0) à (1 ,1) à (-1 ,1) à (0 , 0) à (1 , -1) à (-1 ,-1) à (0 , 0)
8 (0, 0) à circular with radius equal to 1
9 (0 , 0) à elliptic trace of ±1 along the major axis &
±0.5 along the minor one
10 (0 , 0) à (0,1) à (-1,0) à (0,-1) à (1,0) à (0,1)

Department of Civil Engineering - University of Patras

 >10 (0 , 0) à (0.5,0.5) à (0,1) à (-1,0) à (1,0) à (0.5,0.5)
(Note: 1unit=100mm)
Assume that each branch will be applied by the actuators in 500 steps. Prepare the
algorithm to calculate the reference displacement (command) to be sent to each
actuator.
Data:
-   Initial length of the actuators is 1.95m
-   The algorithm will be implemented in Matlab (www.mathworks.com) with a 6-digit
accuracy.
-   The code will be submitted to the instructor by email (sbousias@upatras.gr)
-   Maximun length of the essay : 3 pages

Problem 3
A reinforced concrete column with cross-section 400x400mm is tested under cyclic
uniaxial flexure with constant axial force. The accompanying file (data.txt) includes
the experimental results obtained from the test. Columns in the file are ordered as:
1.   Time,
2.   Horizontal actuator displacement (in mm),
3.   Horizontal actuator force (in kN),
4.   Displacement measured by displacement transducer #2 (mm)
5.   Displacement measured by displacement transducer #4 (mm)
6.   (to be ignored),
7.   Axial Force (kN),
8.   Displacement measured by displacement transducer #5 (mm)
9.   Displacement measured by displacement transducer #6 (mm)
Displacement transducers #2 & #4 measure the deformation at the lower 0.2m part of
the column and are positioned 25mm from the face of the section. Similarly,
transducers #5 & #6 measure the deformation at the lower 0.4m part of the column
and are positioned 25mm from the face of the section.
1.   Construct the force-displacement diagram for the column. What do you
observe in terms of the response? How should the initial non-zero values of the
measurements be treated
2.   Device and implement in Matlab an algorithm that will construct the envelope
of the loops.
3.   Calculate the energy absorbed (total area inside the loop)
4.   Construct the axial force- horizontal displacement diagram. What do you
observe in relation to the intended action?
5.   To build a model for the column the moment-base rotation relationship is to
be constructed. Draw the moment-base rotation graph using the provided
measurements.
6.   What is the actual axial force applied at the base section of the column if
h=0.21m ?
7.   Calculate the axial deformation of the column and draw the relevant axial
deformation-horizontal displacement graph. What do you observe ? Is the
result expected?

Department of Civil Engineering - University of Patras

All the above are to be calculated by MATLAB.
Submit to the instructor (by email) the routine you will prepare (file named as:
“HWK_*_**_BOUSIAS.m”, where “*” is the homework number and “**” the number of
the problem)

V
Δ
P
Θ
P
Psin(θ)

H2
H1 δ

Maximum length of the essay 8 pages

Department of Civil Engineering - University of Patras