Discontinuity of structural stability during earthquakes

Abstract eng:
Under loads, structures respond by deformations and loss of stability. Load histories may be considered to be described like continuous phenomena that pose less mathematical intricacies into simulating the structural response. Discontinuities may lead to supplementary loads due to sudden deformations and due to the loss of the structural (or at least of part of the structure's) stability. Dynamic loads that act upon structures determine phenomena that were called "dynamical instabilities" which can lead to structural damages during the excitation of the building. These changes may lead to phenomena like sudden accelerations or decelerations in the structure which cause damages of the secondary elements, installations or facilities housed by the main structure. Structures provided by passive control of friction devices go under changes of non-slip to slip behavior during the hysteretic behavior of the system. The simulation of the behavior of such systems leads to mathematical intricacies which lead to mathematical failure of the process. Sudden change of the slip – non-slip behavior may lead to unwanted accelerations which may produce unwanted physiological phenomena on the occupants of the building or may produce the damage of the secondary elements housed by the building. R.C. or steel framed structures provided by infill walls may go under sudden structural changes due to the sudden cracking of the wall elements during the excitation. Such phenomena require a great deal of experimental activity to get the actual structural behavior and to compare it with the simulative facilities. Experimental work was done by means of small scale models excited by means of QUANSER like shake table facility. This work is devoted to study the behavior of structures prone to sudden structural changes and to signal the damages and losses which may occur due to sudden nonlinear damage phenomena.

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