Simulation of the Overall Performance of Glazed Unitised Curtain Walls Under Seismic Action Through Finite Element Modelling and Validation via Full-scale Experimental Testing

Although relevant information regarding the curtain walls structural damage state is available, hardly any data referring to the seismic loading effect on the overall façade performance is found in the literature. The present research attempts to assess the unitised curtain walls seismic performance by identifying the occurring damage mechanisms...

Experimental Validation of a Structural Glass Window Design for In-plane Seismic Strengthening: Numerical predictions and experimental validation of unreinforced masonry structures in Groningen area

Gas extractions are responsible for mostly all induced earthquakes in the Groningen area and this leads to damage of houses and buildings and issues regarding safety. Current strengthening measurements are mostly very visible. However, this can change by using the window frame as part of the structure, particularly interesting for Dutch houses...

Analytical Models to Determine In-Plane Damage Initiation and Force Capacity of Masonry Walls with Openings

Masonry panels consisting of piers and spandrels in buildings are vulnerable to in-plane actions caused by seismicity and soil subsidence. Tectonic seismicity is a safety hazard for masonry structures, whereas low-magnitude induced seismicity can be detrimental to their durability due to the accumulation of light damage. This is particularly...

Seismic Response of Liquid Storage Tanks: A Mode-Matching Approach Considering both Fluid-Structure and Soil-Structure Interaction

Liquid storage tanks are used worldwide to contain liquids such as drinking water, fuel and chemicals. Loss of containment during a seismic event can add to an earthquake’s destructiveness by posing a fire hazard, spilling toxic substances or reducing the supply of drinking water. It is therefore important that they remain operational at a pre...

Seismic Analysis of Cranes on Jack-Ups

GustoMSC, an NOV company, is a market leader in the design of offshore wind installation jack-ups. Offshore wind turbine installation has been situated mainly in the North Sea, which is not very seismically active. As a consequence, wind turbine installation jack-ups have been designed and analysed for low seismic excitations. The offshore wind...

Capturing 3D Continuum Effects in a 1D Soil-Structure Interaction Model for Seismic Analysis of Offshore Wind Turbines

Offshore wind energy is considered a necessary energy resource, that may stimulate the transition from fossil fuels. Following the successful development in Western Europe, offshore wind is quickly gaining momentum in the Asia-Pacific region. At variance with North-Sea based offshore wind turbines (OWTs), structures installed in the Asia-Pacific...

Liquefaction Modelling using the PM4Sand Soil Constitutive Model in PLAXIS 2D

The phenomenon of earthquake-induced soil liquefaction has been a major issue among geotechnical engineers mainly due to the dramatic consequences this could have on civil structures. Basically, earthquakes propagate shear waves generating excess pore pressures and thus weakening the effective shear resistance of granular soils to their minimum...

Seismic Response of Liquid Storage Tank in a Semi Analytical Method

This thesis focuses on the dynamic analysis of liquid storage tanks subjected to seismic excitation with its primary aim being the development of a semi-analytical model able to predict this dynamic response accurately. In engineering practice, there are two primary methods to solve this problem. Numerical models based primarily on the finite...

Site effect affecting a runway in NAICM

In near future the Nuevo Aeropuerto Internacional de la Ciudad de México (NAICM) will be built in Mexico City. The airport’s construction is necessary as the Benitto Juarez Internatinal airport has reached its full capacity. The Mexico City area is notorious about its subsoil complexity and earthquake presence. Tunnel Engineer Company (TEC) has...

Earthquake engineering: Balancing conflicting objectives

In 2012 an earthquake measuring 3.6 on the scale of Richter struck the village of Huizinge; this quake was the heaviest so far recorded in the region. This shocked the community: earthquakes, a serious threat in the Netherlands? The earthquakes are acknowledged to be caused by the production of natural gas of the Groningen gas field. A...

Feasibility study of Air Traffic Control Towers around the globe: “International research regarding the local influences providing an optimal structural design for air traffic control towers around the globe in an economical perspective”

At this moment the global human wealth is getting to the next level, which means a growing amount of people is able to travel by plane and these growth figures are seen in the latest global annual passenger’s flows. These latest developments demand building new airports and extending the existing airports heavily around the world in the nearby...

Numerical modeling of dam-reservoir interaction seismic response using the Hybrid Frequency–Time Domain (HFTD) method

The research work studies the fundamentals of the Hybrid Frequency-Time Domain (HFTD) method for dynamic analysis of structures, applied to the seismic analysis of dam-reservoir interaction systems. The theoretical consistency and accuracy of the HFTD method, based on the frequency domain Fourier analysis, is demonstrated through all the parts...

Finite-element modelling of stress development and fault reactivation in and around a producing gas reservoir: quantification of calculation results in DIANA

Stress changes related to the depletion of gas reservoirs in the northern Netherlands can lead to small seismic events. Field data analysis makes it very likely that these events are the result of reactivation of existing faults or joints in or near the reservoirs. DIANA is used to model 3D gas reservoirs, in order to analyse stress development...