NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Current Capabilities and Future Needs in Earthquake Engineering Research.
- File
- PB289826.pdf
- Author(s)
- Bartero, V. V.
- Source
- National Science Foundation, Washington, DC. Applied Science and Research Applications.; Universities Council for Earthquake Engineering Research, Pasadena, CA., June 29, 1976, 8 p.
- Abstract
- This paper attempts to determine the greatest needs in the area of aseismic building design and to justify the need for a national laboratory for large-scale experimentation that should consist of a combination of both the largest possible earthquake simulator facility and the largest loading facility. Studies of past earthquake damage have been severely hampered by the lack of ground motion records. It is recommended that strong-motion seismographs should be installed in all zones where severe shaking can occur. Since the largest shaking table facility available at present permits the testing of only 3- or 4-story buildings at full scale without the foundation material, it is recommended that the present difficulties of predicting critical ground motions can be overcome through experimental research in the field, rather than in the laboratory. Special three-dimensional arrays of seismometers and strain meters should be designed and placed throughout a given building, the building foundation, and on the surrounding ground to obtain sufficient data for studying the interaction between the structure and the soil and the relationship between the freefield motion and the motion at the building foundation. It is pointed out that, because there is a low probability that any of the of the instrumented building sites will be subjected to severe ground motions due to a real earthquake, it is necessary to supplement the above sources of information. The utilization of underground nuclear explosions is suggested but a drawback to this method is that only a few buildings could be tested to complete destruction. It is concluded that a large, three-dimensional pseudo-static testing facility should be developed.
- Keywords
- Seismic design; Earthquake resistant structures; Test facilities; Seismic arrays; Earth movements; Structural design; Forced vibration; Ground motion; Earthquake engineering; Earthquakes; Dynamic structural analysis