Parametric Simulation of Multi-Level Rigid Blocks Under Horizontal Excitations

Abstract eng:
The construction of stone pagodas had been changed depending on design trend and material accessibility from low-rise to high-rise while keeping three major parts consisting of (1) upper part; (2) body part; and (3) base part. Each part takes on different function from both structural and architectural aspects. In order for such stone pagodas to represent their uniqueness by their geometric shapes, their deviation from symmetric and regular shapes has been pronounced. The problems related with the geometric deviation are apparent in the case of pagodas that greatly varied course size and pattern over heights. Therefore the effect of the geometric irregularity must be considered in the development of seismic vulnerability assessment of stone pagodas under horizontal excitations. The purpose of this study is to investigate the seismic performance of stone pagodas with vertical geometric irregular shapes by performing numerical analysis using the discrete element method for multi-level rigid blocks. First, major parameters that seem to affect seismic performance dominantly are identified based on the overview of Korean stone pagodas. And a baseline study is done for a single block to provide starting values for the numerical analysis for multi-level rigid blocks. Specifically, the frequency associated parameter and its related stiffness values are set through the baseline study by using Housner’s simple rocking model that does not consider sliding motion. Upon the starting values, eigenvalue analysis is done using the DEM analysis by varying the size and the block segmentation. The main purpose of the eigenvalue analysis is to investigate the distribution of eigenvalues, which might have a relationship with motion changes of stone pagodas. Then, the parametric simulation has been performed for two-level block models to understand the vertical geometric irregularity in relation to the seismic performance under horizontal excitation. Five different cases including typical proportions of Korean stone pagodas and one case without vertical irregularity are simulated for numerical simulation. The numerical results of the parametric simulation have shown that the vertical geometric irregularity has much relevancy to the seismic performance. It is expected that this study will provide a starting point to consider the irregularity of stone structures under earthquake loadings.

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