Introduction to

Earthquake Engineering

Behaviour of structures
under earthquakes

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe E. Dorka

Stand: September 2013

Conventional rc-frame structure under Kobe earthquake

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Non-linear cyclic behaviour of frames
Plastic hinge

From Petersen (9)

Failure in soft storey

From Müller, Keintzel (2)

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Non-linear cyclic behaviour of walls

flexural failure shear failure sliding failure rotation of foundation

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Behaviour of reinforced concrete structures

Flexural cyclic behaviour in plastic hinges

From Earthquake Spectra (10)

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Concrete columns

Buckling of longitudinal reinforcement

From Wakabayashi (1)

From Earthquake Spectra (10)

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Concrete columns
Behaviour under combined bending and axial load:

From Wakabayashi (1)

From Wakabayashi (1)

From Petersen (9)

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Short columns

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dorka | Behaviour of structures under earthquakes 8

Short columns
Extreme pinching of hysteresis loop and failure in shear

From Wakabayashi (1)

From Wakabayashi (1)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dorka | Behaviour of structures under earthquakes 9

Rc frame corners
pinching effect and deterioration due to large shear

From Wakabayashi (1)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dorka | Behaviour of structures under earthquakes 10

Complicated details in rc-frames:

From Müller, Keintzel (2)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dorka | Behaviour of structures under earthquakes 11

Shear walls

Brittle behaviour, but large capacity!

From Wakabayashi (1)

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Coupled shear walls

Brittle failure in shear!

From Wakabayashi (1)

From Earthquake Spectra (10)

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Coupled shear walls

Large shear in connecting

beam leads to “Impossible”
detailing requirements for
an rc-solution!
Better: steel beam, but
special attention must be
paid to the connection!

From Müller, Keintzel (2)

From Müller, Keintzel (2)

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Pre-cast structures

“Domino effect” due to

sudden connection failure
often leads to total collapse!

From Wakabayashi (1)

From Earthquake Spectra (10)

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Behaviour of steel structures
Conventional steel structure under Kobe earthquake: soft storey

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dorka | Behaviour of structures under earthquakes 16

Steel beams

Plastic hinges

From DGEB (8)

Local buckling under cyclic loading

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dorka | Behaviour of structures under earthquakes 17

Steel beams
Moment-rotation hysteresis loop of a steel beam

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Steel columns
Hysteresis of column with P-D effect Instable load bearing due to negative
post-yield stiffness can lead to total
collapse of structure
Rapid deterioration due to local
buckling
Columns should not yield, only beams!

From Wakabayashi (1)

Strong column – weak beam concept!

From Petersen (9)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dorka | Behaviour of structures under earthquakes 19

Steel struts
Cyclic buckling of struts

From Earthquake Spectra (10)

From Wakabayashi (1)

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Braced steel frames
Braced full-scale portal frame under constant vertical
load and cyclic horizontal load.
Combined action of beam plastic hinges and cyclic
strut behaviour: stiff but ductile!

P= 0,5* Npl P= 0,5* Npl

H H

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Steel connections

Brittle fracture in welds

Both Pictures from earthquake Spectra (10)

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Steel connections

Brittle fracture in welds

and rupture of bolts

Both Pictures from earthquake Spectra (10)

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Steel connections

Seismically sound connections in

frame corners

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Behaviour of timber structures
Modern Japanese residential structure under Kobe earthquake:

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Behaviour of timber structures
Insufficient connections can lead to brittle failure

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Timber wall with cladding

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Timber wall with cladding
Load-deflection relationship for a timber wall with cladding under cyclic shear

From Wakabayashi (1)

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dorka | Behaviour of structures under earthquakes 28

Behaviour of masonry structures
Typical crack pattern between openings and at corners

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Behaviour of masonry structures
Typical crack pattern between openings and at corners

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Behaviour of masonry structures

From Earthquake Spectra (10)

Collapse of chimneys and

out-of-plane failure of roof
gable walls due to insufficient
lateral support

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Masonry walls
Horizontal load-deflection relationship for a wall subjected to cyclic shear and
constant vertical load showing rapid deterioration of hysteresis loop

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Masonry in-filled rc-frames

Non-linear mechanism with compression strut developing in masonry wall

causing shear failure in rc-columns

From Wakabayashi (1)

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Behaviour of historic structures
Many old historic structures
behave well having sustained
several earthquakes during their
history
“Intact” historical structural systems
are usually quite safe, sometimes
with surprising effects

From Earthquake Spectra (10)

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Behaviour of historic structures

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Behaviour of historic structures
“New” (18th – 20th century) historic
structures are often derived from
“non-seismic” countries like Britain
or Germany with modern structural
systems not capable of resisting
large earthquakes

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Behaviour of historic structures
Modern alterations often lead to a change in behaviour and collapse

 Car parking or shops

create soft storeys
 Rc- additions change
historic load paths
 etc.

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Behaviour of bridges

Horizontal shear failure in deck due

to differences in deformations of
supporting frames (short frame vs.
long frame)

Both Pictures from Earthquake Spectra (10)

Relative motion of single-

span deck caused drop-off

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Behaviour of bridges

Brittle shear failure in columns

(short column effect) and
frame corners

Both Pictures from Earthquake Spectra (10)

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Behaviour of bridges
Toppling due to P-D effect

From Petersen (9)

Both Pictures from Earthquake Spectra (10)

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Behaviour of bridges

Both Pictures from Earthquake Spectra (10)

Bearing failure due to large

mass effect

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Behaviour of bridges

Both Pictures from Earthquake Spectra (10)

Insufficient retrofit due to neglect

of differential motion between
large masses:
“band-aid” solution!

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References
(1) Wakabayashi –
Design of Earthquake-Resistant Buildings
McGraw-Hill Book Company
(2) Müller, Keintzel –
Erdbebensicherung von Hochbauten
Verlag Ernst & Sohn
(3) Deutsche Gesellschaft für
Erdbebeningenieurwesen - DGEB
Schriftenreihe der DGEB, Heft 2
Elsevier
(4) Petersen
Statik und Stabilität der Baukonstruktionen
Vieweg
(5) Jack P. Moehle
Earthquake Spectra – April 1995

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