PEER Reports

PEER Reports

Analytical Investigations of New Methods for Reducing Residual Displacements of Reinforced Concrete Bridge Columns, PEER Report 2004-02

Junichi Sakai
Stephen A. Mahin
2004

Reinforced concrete bridge columns located in regions of high seismicity are designed with large ductility capacity for adequate protection against collapse. This type of design tends to result in large permanent displacements. To maximize post-event operability and to minimize repair costs, new design strategies to reduce these residual displacements are necessary.

To minimize residual displacements in reinforced concrete columns, a new method is proposed whereby longitudinal prestressing strands replace some of the typical longitudinal mild reinforcing bars. The seismic...

Evaluation and Application of Concrete Tilt-up Assessment Methodologies, PEER Report 2004-03

Timothy Graf
James O. Malley
2004

This report covers Task 1 of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center Task 509 — Evaluation and Application of Concrete Tilt-up Assessment Methodologies. The objective of Task 1 of Lifelines 509 is to summarize the research findings and results of previous PEER research projects on concrete tilt-up buildings and to assess the report findings on their impact upon current design codes and guidelines. From all four reports evaluated, some suggestions are presented for changes in design. Ideas for future PEER research not specific to any of the reports are also presented....

Seismic Performance of an Instrumented Tilt-up Wall Building, PEER Report 2004-04

James C. Anderson
Vitelmo V. Bertero
Mohsen Kargah
Mohamed Al Satari
2004

The seismic response of an instrumented tilt-up wall building is initially investigated under the action of four earthquake ground motions that were recorded at the site . The strongest base acceleration was 0.18g recorded during the Big Bear, California, earthquake. Building response was obtained from nine sensors located in the building, and these data were used to evaluate the behavior of the building and the accuracy of the numerical calculations obtained from a three- dimensional building model. A site visit indicated that the response of the walls to the recorded ground motions had...

Performance-Based Seismic Design Concepts and Implementation Proceedings of the International Workshop Bled, Slovenia, June 28 - July 1, 2004, PEER Report 2004-05

Peter Fajfar
Helmut Krawinkler
2004

The workshop on “Seismic Design Methodologies for the Next Generation of Codes,” held in Bled, Slovenia, in 1997, initiated considerable progress worldwide to establish basic concepts and methods for performance-based earthquake engineering. An increasing acceptance of PBEE concepts by practicing engineers, together with extensive research, has led to implementation in the design and upgrade of buildings, bridges, and other man-made structures.

Encouraged by the success of the 1997 workshop, we decided to organize an international forum aimed at continuing dialog on the...

Ground Motions for Earthquake Simulator Qualification of Electrical Substation Equipment, PEER Report 2004-07

Shakhzod M. Takhirov
Gregory L. Fenves
E. Fujisaki
Don Clyde
2004

The main objective of the study was to develop a set of strong motion time histories suitable for seismic qualification testing of electrical substation equipment in accordance with the IEEE 693- 1997 standard. Although the objective deals with sh ake table testing of a particular class of equipment, many of the issues investigated are equally relevant to the dynamic testing of other types of equipment and components. This study was motivated by a desire to introduce a standard set of input motions in three orthogonal directions and thus achieve more consistency in earthquake simulator...

Seismic Qualification and Fragility Testing of Line Break 550-kV Disconnect Switches, PEER Report 2004-08

Shakhzod M. Takhirov
Gregory L. Fenves
Eric Fujisaki
2004

The objective of the study was to conduct seismic qualification and fragility testing of a single pole of a 550-kV porcelain disconnect switch. Due to clearance limitations above the shake table, the switch with the main blade in the open position could not be tested in a typical field installation; therefore, several switch configurations were developed for testing. The 550-kV disconnect switch was tested in three configurations: mounted on typical 14-ft-tall supports, mounted on a short 4-in. spacer to simulate flexibility of the top plat es of the supports, and rigidly fixed to the...

Electrical Substation Equipment Interaction: Experimental Rigid Conductor Studies, PEER Report 2004-09

Christopher Stearns
André Filiatrault
2004

The main objective of the research described in this report was through quasi-static and shake table testing to experimentally investigate th e interaction between components of substation equipment connected by redesigned (or improved) rigid bus connectors. The purpose was to generate data that would provide guidance in the design of conductor assemblies with the improved connectors. Another objective was to provide experimental validation data for a current PEER-PG&E project in which analytical studies are being conducted at the University of California, Berkeley. Specific te sts...

Application of the PEER PBEE Methodology to the I-880 Viaduct, PEER Report 2006-10

Sashi K. Kunnath
2006

This report summarizes the efforts of several in vestigators involved in reviewing, assessing, and applying the PEER performance-based methodology (PBM) to an existing viaduct in California. The expected seismic performance of the 5th and 6 th Street viaduct, denoted in this report as the I-880 viaduct, is investigated
probabilistically within the context of the PEER framework. The PEER approach consists of four essential components: development of a site-specific hazard curve; estimation of seismic demands given a set of ground motions consistent with the site hazard; prediction of...

Probabilistic Seismic Demand Analysis Using Advanced Ground Motion Intensity Measures, Attenuation Relationships, and Near-Fault Effects, PEER Report 2006-11

Polsak Tothong
C. Allin Cornell
2006

In performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE), evaluating the seismic performance (or seismic risk) of a structure at a designated site has gained major attention, especially in the past decade. One of the objectives in PBEE is to quantify the seismic reliability of a structure due to future random earthquakes at a site. For that purpose, probabilistic seismic demand analysis (PSDA) is utilized as a tool to estimate the mean annual frequency of exceeding a specified value of a structural demand parameter (e.g., interstory drift ratio).

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Societal Implications of Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering, PEER Report 2006-12

Peter J. May
2006

This report considers various aspects of the societal implications of performance-based approaches to earthquake engineering. The societal benefits can generally be characterized as the “value added” of performance information in enhancing seismic design and risk management. The realization of these benefits rests on widesp read adoption of perfor mance-based approaches in engineering practice. At present, this is somewhat limited. Several future scenarios are considered that may result from changes in code provisions or from changes in societal perspectives about seismic safety. The...