| | Category | EN | P14 | On Shaky Ground: A Study of Structural Strength During Earthquake |
| | Simulations |
| | Abstract | The purpose of this experiment was to determine which type of |
| | structure was the strongest during earthquake simulations. Ultimately, the |
| | goal was to apply this research to apartment building-sized structures for |
| | application in high-risk residential areas. |
| | Three types of structures were modeled and tested in this experiment: |
| | untrussed structures, x-braced structures, and central-tube structures. |
| | Untrussed structures were the control, and represent buildings with no |
| | built-in reinforcement. X-braced structures are more commonly used in |
| | high-risk areas, and tube structures are also used for similar situations. |
| | However, tube structures are often applied in skyscrapers because they |
| | reduce the need of internal columns, providing much more open space |
| | (which can be used as office space). This led to the hypothesis that the |
| | x-braced structure would be the strongest, the tube the second strongest, |
| | and the cube structure the weakest. |
| | A shake table was designed and created to test each building, and a |
| | motion sensor and accelerometer were used to capture data. The data |
| | recorded suggest that the hypothesis was partially supported; the cube |
| | structure was clearly the weakest, but the x-braced and tube structures |
| | were quite close. Unfortunately, the shake table failed before conclusive |
| | data could be recorded on the tube structure. However, the tube |
| | structure was cheaper to construct than the x-braced structure, and it is |
| | still possible that it will prove to be as strong, if not stronger. |
| | Bibliography | Works Cited |
| | Biggs, John M. Introduction to Structural Engineering Analysis and Design. |
| | Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986. Print. |
| | Bolt, Bruce A. Seismic Strong Motion Synthetics. Orlando, FL: Academic, |
| | 1987. Print. |
| | Chen, Wai-Fah. The Civil Engineering Handbook. Boca Raton: CRC, 1995. |
| | Print. |
| | "Earthquake Facts." U.S. Geological Survey Earthquake Hazards Program. |
| | 27 Oct. 2009. Web. 31 Jan. 2011. |
| | <http://earthquake.usgs.gov/learn/facts.php>. |
| | "Find Live and Dead Loads." Courses.cit.cornell.edu. Web. 22 Feb. 2011. |
| | <http://courses.cit.cornell.edu/arch264/calculators/example2.1/index.html>. |
| |
| | "MCEER Information Service "How Earthquakes Affect Buildings"" MCEER, |
| | from Earthquake Engineering to Extreme Events | Home Page. Web. 31 Jan. |
| | 2011. |
| | <http://mceer.buffalo.edu/infoservice/reference_services/EQaffectBuilding |
| | .asp>. |