PEER Reports

This research presents a novel methodology that uses Temporal Convolutional Networks (TCNs), a state-of-the-art deep learning architecture, for predicting the time history of structural responses to seismic events. By leveraging accelerometer data from instrumented buildings, the proposed approach complements traditional structural analysis models, offering a computationally efficient alternative to nonlinear time history analysis. The methodology is validated across a broad spectrum of structural scenarios, including buildings with pronounced higher-mode effects and those exhibiting both...

The motivation for this project developed from testing of a full scale building isolated with triple friction pendulum bearings on the E-defense shake table in Japan. The test demonstrated experimentally that the vertical component of ground motion can amplify both the base shear and the story acceleration in the isolated building. Vertical shaking introduced high-frequency variation in the axial force of the bearings, and, consequently, a high-frequency component in the bearing lateral force, which excited higher structural modes in the building. Since vertical bridges are flexible in the...

The Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center (PEER) is a multi-institutional research and education center with headquarters at the University of California, Berkeley. PEER’s mission is to (1) develop, validate, and disseminate performance-based engineering (PBE) technologies for buildings and infrastructure networks subjected to earthquakes and other natural hazards, with the goal of achieving community resilience; and (2) equip the earthquake engineering and other extreme-event communities with new tools. This report presents the activities of the Center over the period of July 1,...

Reinforced concrete walls are used commonly to resist lateral loads; often, concrete walls have
three-dimensional configurations to maximize stiffness and strength. Seismic design, evaluation,
and retrofit of concrete wall structures often requires nonlinear analysis to predict performance,
and assessment of earthquake risk for regions and individual structures often requires nonlinear
analysis to predict damage, loss of functionality, and repair time and cost. This report presents the
results of a research study in which high-performance cloud-computing resources were used...