NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Shake Table Test of a 1/6 Scale Two-Story Lightly Reinforced Concrete Building.
- File
- PB92222447.pdf
- Author(s)
- El-Attar, A. G.; White, R. N.; Gergely, P.
- Source
- National Science Foundation, Washington, DC., February 28, 1991, 107 p.
- Identifying Number(s)
- NCEER-91-0017
- Abstract
- A 1/6 scale, 2-story, one-bay by one-bay, lightly reinforced concrete building was tested on the Cornell University shake table. The model structure was designed solely for gravity loads and had no walls or partitions. Reinforcement was based on reinforced concrete frame structures constructed in the Central and Eastern United States since the mid 1900's, and characterized by (1) low reinforcement ratio in the columns; (2) discontinuous positive moment beam reinforcement at the columns; (3) little or no joint confinement; and (4) lap splices located immediately above the floor level. The model was tested using the time-compressed Taft 1952 S69E at different amplitudes. Auxiliary tests (static loading and free-vibration) were performed before and after each seismic test to study the changes in the model building properties. Results indicated that this type of reinforced concrete frame will experience very large deformations and considerable stiffness degradation during a moderate earthquake. Non-seismic reinforcement details may form a potential source of damage for lightly reinforced concrete buildings, though they did not lead to collapse or complete failure. The model failures occurred outside the joint region, inidcating that the lack of joint confinement was not a potential source of damage.
- Keywords
- Reinforced concrete; Structural vibration; Deformation; Test facilities; Model tests; Dynamic response; Buildings; Concrete structures; Earthquake engineering; Shake table tests; Stiffness; Reinforcement (Structures); Earthquakes; Structural analysis