PEER Reports

PEER Reports

NGA-West2 Ground Motion Prediction Equations for Vertical Ground Motions, PEER Report 2013-24

2013

This report documents the development of the NGA-West2 empirical ground-motion prediction equations (GMPEs) for ground-motion intensity measures derived from recordings of the vertical component of ground motion. The extensive and expanded PEER NGA-West2 ground-motion database recorded from shallow crustal earthqua kes in active tectonic domains was used to develop GMPEs for the vertical component of peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV), and 5%-damped elastic pseudo-absolute acceleration response spectral ordinates (PSA) at periods ranging from 0.01 to 3 sec (the NGA-...

Retest of Thirty-Year-Old Neoprene Isolation Bearings, PEER Report 2014-03

James M. Kelly
Niel C. Van Engelen
2014

A set of Neoprene isolation bearings remaining from a 1981 shake table test series conducted at the Earthquake Simulator Laboratory at the Earthquake Engineering Research Center (now the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center) were retested in 2012. The new test series was conducted at the NEES site at the Richmond Field Station, University of California, Berkeley. The retest program had the dual purpose of determining the changes in the isolation properties, namely, the horizontal stiffness and equivalent viscous damping, and to study the behavior of the isolators at dynamic...

Effect of Vertical Acceleration on Shear Strength of Reinforced Concrete Columns, PEER Report 2014-04

Hyerin Lee
Khalid M. Mosalam
2014

The effect of vertical excitation on shear strength of reinforced concrete (RC) columns has been investigated by various researcher s. Field evidence, analytical studies, and static or hybrid simulations suggested that excessi ve tension or tensile strain of the column may lead to shear degradation, and that vertical excitation can be one of the causes of shear failure. Due to limitations of testing facilities , published literature has not reported the results of dynamic experiments to investigate the effect of vertical excitation on the shear strength of RC columns. Considering that...

Report of the Tenth Planning Meeting of NEES/E-Defense Collaborative Research on Earthquake Engineering, PEER Report 2014-06

Convened by NEES Operation Center and Hyogo Earthquake Engineering Research Center, NIED
2014

Following an agreement between the Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the First Planning Meeting for NEES/E-Defense Collaboration on Earthquake Engineering Research was held in 2004. This meeting laid the groundwork for an initial joint research program related to improving understanding of seismic effects and reducing the seismic vulnerability of bridges and steel buildings. The emphasis of the program was to conduct experimental research using the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake...

New PEER Report 2021/02: "Implementation, Verification, and Validation of the PM4Sand Model in OpenSees"

June 7, 2021

PEER has just published Report No. 2021/02: "Implementation, Verification, and Validation of the PM4Sand Model in OpenSees." It was authored by Long Chen and Pedro Arduino, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Washington. https://doi.org/10.55461/SJEU6160

Visit the PEER publications page to download a free color pdf of the document.

Abstract

Human and economic losses caused by earthquake-induced soil...

Implementation, Verification, and Validation of the PM4Sand Model in OpenSees, PEER Report 2021-02

Long Chen
Pedro Arduino
2021

Human and economic losses caused by earthquake-induced soil liquefaction underscore the importance of assessing liquefaction hazards, both by determining whether a soil is likely to liquefy and by estimating consequences these events may cause. Numerical simulations have proven to be useful for these purposes. Reliable numerical analysis requires that constitutive models represent the in situ soil behavior as well as general loading and drainage conditions. For this purpose, comprehensive verification and validation studies of material models are imperative for successful...

Fire-Induced Structural Collapse on Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California, May 23, 2020, PEER Report 2021-01

Mohammadreza Eslami
Khalid Mosalam
Ankit Angrawal
Amarnath Kasalanati
2021

On May 23, 2020, a severe fire resulted in progressive collapse of a processing and storage ware-house structure located at Pier 45, Fisherman’s Wharf, in San Francisco, California. This incidentprovided a unique opportunity to study the performance of structural systems exposed to largeopen-compartment fires resulting in progressive collapse. Subsequently, a post-fire investigationwas conducted to collect data pertinent to both fire severity and key structural characteristics, whichwere made available to the Pacific...

New PEER Report 2021/01: "Fire-Induced Structural Collapse on Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California, May 23, 2020"

February 23, 2021

PEER has just published Report No. 2021/01: "Fire-Induced Structural Collapse on Pier 45 at Fisherman's Wharf, San Francisco, California, May 23, 2020." It was authored by Mohammadreza Eslami, Khalid Mosalam, Ankit Agrawal, Amarnath Kasalanati, UC Berkeley. https://doi.org/10.55461/JFUJ6011

Visit the PEER publications page to download a free color pdf of the document.

Abstract

On May 23, 2020, a severe fire resulted in...

Scaling Relations between Seismic Moment and Rupture Area of Earthquakes in Stable Continental Regions, PEER Report 2014-14

Paul Somerville
2014

This report describes the development of scaling relations between seismic moment and rupture area of earthquakes in stable continental regions (SCR). The report reviews existing relations, develops new relations, and compares the new relations with the existing relations. It also compares the scaling relations of SCR earthquakes with those in tectonically active continental regions (TCR). Three different methods of estimating rupture area—based on aftershocks, slip models, and duration—were used to analyze the relation between seismic moment and rupture area, using earthquake source...

Single Series Solution for the Rectangular Fiber-Reinforced Elastomeric Isolator Compression Modulus, PEER Report 2015-03

James M. Kelly
Niel C. Van Engelen
2015

Fiber-reinforced elastomeric bearings were originally proposed as an alternative to conventional steel-reinforced elastomeric bearings for seismic isolation applications. The flexible fiber reinforcement is a light-weight and potentially cost-saving alternative to steel reinforcement, which is assumed rigid in the design process. The variety of fiber materials available also serves as an additional parameter for designers to tailor the vertical stiffness of the bearing. In this report, a further cost reduction is visualized by manufacturing the bearing in a large sheet that can be cut to...