October 17, 2019

SEAOC Resilience Committee Update and Report to the Membership

By: Ronald Mayes, Jonathan Buckalew, Anna Lang, Katie Wade

The engineering community has made great progress on improving building performance. Performance based design is now widely accepted in national standards. New tools (FEMA P58 and SP3) have been developed to evaluate the impacts of earthquakes on...

Keywords:Resiliency
October 17, 2019

San Francisco Nonductile Concrete Buildings Part II: Analysis, Assessment and Comparison of Older San Francisco Concrete Buildings

By: Keith Palmer, Scott Darling, Sunny Nguyen, Megan Pouliot, Pearl Ranchal, Erick Gerardo Garcia Chavez, Duke Crestfield, Stephen Kadysiewski, Robert Kraus, Katie Wade

The building stock of large metropolitan areas comprise buildings of various materials constructed over the course of many years. A significant number of these buildings utilized concrete construction with details drastically different than...

Keywords:Concrete, Seismic Engineering and Retrofit
October 17, 2019

Using Computer Automation to Simplify Seismic Evaluation of Existing Buildings

By: Kevin Moore, Pearl Ranchal, Ayush Singhania

Several commercially available software packages automate the structural design process for new buildings, allowing engineers to deliver projects with unparalleled efficiency. These software packages contain structural engineering standards (e.g...

Keywords:Concrete-Reinforced, Frame Moment, Metal-Steel, Seismic Analyses
September 26, 2019

Combating Condensation at the National Air and Space Museum

By: Brian Rose, Richard Renaud

This article discusses the condensation analysis and CFD modeling that SGH performed for the ongoing revitalization project at the National Air and Space Museum.

It is ...

September 26, 2019

Energy, Hygrothermal, and Freeze-Thaw Considerations for Insulating Mass Masonry Walls

By: David Artigas, Sean OBrien

This paper discusses energy modeling and previous research regarding freeze-thaw masonry deterioration to challenge common assumptions about the benefits and risks of insulating masonry walls.

It is...

Keywords:Freeze-Thaw, Masonry
September 13, 2019

Numerical Simulation of a Transportation Cask and Transmissibility due to 0.3 M Drop

By: Ricardo Medina, Shokoufeh Zargar, Luis F. Ibarra

In the absence of experimental and measured data, a reliable numerical model is needed to predict the performance of fuel assemblies after extended storage, including acceleration and strain of fuel rods due to impact and vibration, and quantify...

Markets:Nuclear
Keywords:Risk Assessment
September 13, 2019

Partial Correlation and Dependence Between Seismic Fragilities of Multiple Adjacent Structures with Significant Soil-Structure-Interaction Effects

By: Mohamed Talaat, Robert P. Kennedy

Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessment (SPRA) of nuclear power plants (NPPs) is typically performed using three major analysis components: probabilistic seismic hazard, seismic fragility, and plant response. The fragility analysis develops...

Markets:Nuclear
Keywords:Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA)
September 13, 2019

Case Study: Cable Tray Seismic Fragility Evaluation Involving Ductile Failure of a Cold-Formed Steel Section in Flexure

By: Michael Perkins, Frederic Grant

This paper presents a case study for a recent seismic fragility evaluation of cable trays at a nuclear power plant in the United States. The evaluation was initiated due to the presence of non-serrated strut nuts in cable tray supports throughout...

Markets:Nuclear
Keywords:Seismic Analyses
September 13, 2019

Reinforced Concrete Shear Wall Capacity Advances

By: Gregory Hardy, Timothy Graf, Riccardo Cappa, John Richards

Seismic PRAs have become more common in the nuclear power industry following the Fukushima accident caused by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. In order to provide best estimates of the risk, the seismic fragilities should be as realistic as...

Markets:Nuclear
Keywords:Concrete-Reinforced, Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA)
September 13, 2019

Nonlinear Response of a Structure with Significant Soil-Structure Interaction Effects for Application to Seismic Fragility Evaluation

By: Philip Hashimoto, Juan Jimenez-Chong, David Nakaki, Robert P. Kennedy

An important element of structure seismic fragility evaluation for seismic probabilistic risk assessment is determination of the inelastic energy absorption factor. This factor accounts for a structure’s ability to withstand earthquake...

Markets:Nuclear
Keywords:Nonlinear, Seismic Probabilistic Risk Assessment (PRA), Soil-Structure Interaction

Pages