Numerical Simulation of Seismic-Induced Failure of a Precast Structure during the Emilia Earthquake
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 32, Issue 1
Abstract
The paper describes the failure scenario of a precast building that collapsed during the 2012 Emilia earthquake. By means of time-history analyses on a detailed finite-element model, the dynamic behavior of the structure was investigated and the most reliable causes producing the seismic collapse were established. All collapse mechanisms (column failures induced by exceeding the shear force capacity, attainment of ultimate chord rotation, equilibrium instability of columns due to second-order effects and loss of support due to sliding at the double-tee slab-beam and beam-column friction-based supports) were monitored for the whole earthquake duration. The collapse scenario obtained from the interpretation of numerical results was compared with that suggested by the in situ inspection, confirming that friction-based supports (with absence of connection mechanical devices), typically adopted in Italy in precast technology when no seismic design provisions were prescribed, are inadequate to carry medium-high horizontal seismic loading. The modeling criteria and the procedure adopted for safety checks until the attainment of a collapse condition are presented and discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The present investigation was developed within the activities of the (Italian) University Network of Seismic Engineering Laboratories—ReLUIS in the research program funded by the (Italian) National Civil Protection—Progetto Esecutivo 2016—Research Line “Reinforced Concrete Structures,” WP2.
References
Applied Technology Council. (1989). “Procedures for post earthquake safety evaluation of buildings.” ATC 20-89, Redwood City, CA.
Bathe, K. J., and Dvorkin, E. N. (1986). “A formulation of general shell elements—The use of mixed interpolation of tensorial components.” Int. J. Numer. Methods Eng., 22(3), 697–722.
Belleri, A., Brunesi, E., Nascimbene, R., Pagani, M., and Riva, P. (2014). “Seismic performance of precast industrial facilities following major earthquakes in the Italian territory.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 04014135.
Bournas, D. A., Negro, P., and Taucer, F. (2013). “The Emilia earthquakes: Report and analysis on the behaviour of precast industrial buildings from a field mission.” Proc., 4th Int. Conf. on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering: ECCOMAS Thematic Conf.-2 COMPDYN 2013, National Technical Univ. of Athens, Athens.
Brunesi, E., Nascimbene, R., Bolognini, D., and Bellotti, D. (2015). “Experimental investigation of the cyclic response of reinforced precast concrete framed structures.” PCI J., 60(2), 57–79.
CEN (European Committee for Standardization). (2004). “General rules and rules for buildings.” Eurocode 2, Brussels, Belgium.
CEN (European Committee for Standardization). (2005). “General rules, seismic actions and rules for building.” Eurocode 8, Brussels, Belgium.
Fardis, M. N. (1995). “Lessons learnt in past earthquakes.” Proc., 10th European Conf. on Earthquake Engineering, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
Ghosh, S. K., and Cleland, N. (2012). “Observations from the February 27, 2010, earthquake in Chile.” PCI J., 57(1), 52–75.
Hognestad, E. (1951). “A study of combined bending and axial load in reinforced concrete members.” Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL.
IESN (Italian Experimental Seismic Network). (2014). “Seismic sequence.” ⟨http://www.iesn.it⟩ (Dec. 11, 2014).
INGV (Istituto Nazionale Geofisica Vulcanologia). (2014). “Italian accelerometric archive (ITACA).” ⟨http://itaca.mi.ingv.it⟩ (Dec. 10, 2014).
INGV (Istituto Nazionale Geofisica Vulcanologia). (2015). “Catalogue of the Italian earthquake.” ⟨http://emidius.mi.ingv.it/CPTI⟩ (Jan. 10, 2015).
Ioannou, I., et al. (2012). “The 29th May 2012 Emilia Romagna earthquake.”, Univ. College London EPICentre, London.
Iverson, J. K., and Hawkins, N. M. (1994). “Performance of precast/prestressed concrete building structures during Northridge earthquake.” PCI J., 39(2), 38–55.
Khare, R. K., Maniyar, M. M., Uma, S. R., and Bidwai, V. B. (2011). “Seismic performance and design of precast concrete building structures: An overview.” J. Struct. Eng., 38(3), 272–284.
Kramer, S. L. (1996). Geotechnical earthquake engineering, Prentice-Hall, London.
Lam, S., Wu, B., Wong, Y. L., Wang, Z. Y., Liu, Z. Q., and Li, C. S. (2003). “Drift capacity of rectangular reinforced concrete columns with low lateral confinement and high-axial load.” J. Struct. Eng., 733–742.
Liberatore, L., Sorrentino, L., Liberatore, D., and Decanini, L. D. (2013). “Failure of industrial structures induced by the Emilia (Italy) 2012 earthquakes.” Eng. Fail. Anal., 34, 629–647.
Low, S. S., and Moehle, J. P. (1987). “Experimental study of reinforced concrete columns subjected to multi-axial cyclic loading.”, Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center, Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA.
Magliulo, G., Capozzi, V., Fabbrocino, G., and Manfredi, G. (2011). “Neoprene-concrete friction relationships for seismic assessment of existing precast buildings.” Eng. Struct., 33(2), 532–538.
Magliulo, G., Ercolino, M., Petrone, C., Coppola, O., and Manfredi, G. (2014). “The Emilia earthquake: Seismic performance of precast reinforced concrete buildings.” Earthquake Spectra, 30(2), 891–912.
Magliulo, G., Fabbrocino, G., and Manfredi, G. (2008). “Seismic assessment of existing precast industrial buildings using static and dynamic nonlinear analyses.” Eng. Struct., 30(9), 2580–2588.
Mander, J. B., Priestley, M. J. N., and Park, R. (1988). “Theoretical stress-strain model for confined concrete.” J. Struct. Eng., 1804–1826.
Menegotto, M., and Pinto, P. E. (1973). “Method of analysis for cyclically loaded R.C. plane frames including changes in geometry and non-elastic behavior of element under combined normal force and bending.” Proc., IABSE Symp. of Resistance and Ultimate Deformability of Structures Acted on by Well-Defined Repeated Loads, International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineering, Zurich, Switzerland.
MIDASGen [Computer software]. MIDAS, Seongnam-si, Korea.
Minghini, F., Ongaretto, E., Ligabue, V., Savoia, M., and Tullini, N. (2016). “Observational failure analysis of precast buildings after the 2012 Emilia earthquakes.” Earthquakes Struct., 11(2), 327–346.
Muguruma, H., Nishiyama, M., and Watanabe, F. (1995). “Lessons learned from the Kobe earthquake—A Japanese perspective.” PCI J., 40(4), 28–42.
Panagiotakos, T. B., and Fardis, M. N. (2001). “Deformations of reinforced concrete members at yielding and ultimate.” ACI Struct. J., 98(2), 135–148.
Park, R., Priestley, M. J. N., and Gill, W. D. (1982). “Ductility of square-confined concrete columns.” J. Struct. Div., 108(4), 929–950.
Posada, M., and Wood, S. L. (2002). “Seismic performance of precast industrial buildings in Turkey.” Proc., 7th U.S. National Conf. on Earthquake Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Oakland, CA.
Prime Minister Decree. (2003). “Primi elementi in materia di criteri generali per la classificazione sismica del territorio nazionale e di normative tecniche per le costruzioni in zona sismica.”, Rome (in Italian).
Ricciardi, A. (2013). “I distretti industriali italiani: recenti tendenze evolutive.” Sinergie, 91, 21–58 (in Italian).
Savoia, M., Buratti, N., and Vincenzi, L. (2017). “Damage and collapses in industrial precast buildings after the 2012 Emilia earthquake.” Eng. Struct., 137, 162–180.
Savoia, M., Mazzotti, C., Buratti, N., Ferracuti, B., Bovo, M., Ligabue, V., and Vincenzi, L. (2012). “Damages and collapses in industrial precast buildings after the Emilia earthquake.” Ingegneria Sismica, 29(2–3), 120–130.
Senel, S. M., and Palanci, M. (2013). “Structural aspects and seismic performance of 1-story precast buildings in Turkey.” J. Perform. Constr. Facil., 437–449.
Slejko, D., et al. (1999). “Seismic hazard assessment for Adria.” Ann. Geofis., 42(6), 1085–1107.
Spacone, E., Filippou, F. C., and Taucer, F. F. (1996). “Fibre beam-column model for non-linear analysis of R/C frames. I: Formulation.” Earthquake Eng. Struct. Dyn., 25(7), 711–725.
STIL version 1.0 [Computer software]. RELUIS, Naples, Italy.
Tapan, M., Comert, M., Demir, C., Sayan, Y., Orakcal, K., and Ilki, A. (2013). “Failures of structures during the October 23, 2011 Tabanlı (Van) and November 9, 2011 Edremit (Van) earthquakes in Turkey.” Eng. Fail. Anal., 34, 606–628.
Toniolo, G., and Colombo, A. (2012). “Precast concrete structures: The lessons learned from the L’Aquila earthquake.” Struct. Concr., 13(2), 73–83.
Tzenov, L., Sotirov, L., and Boncheva, P. (1978). “Study of some damaged industrial buildings due to Vrancea earthquake.” Proc., 6th European Conf. on Earthquake Engineering, A.A. Balkema, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
WGS. (1984). “World geodetic system.” ⟨https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Geodetic_System⟩ (Jan. 10, 2015).
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 32 • Issue 1 • February 2018
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 17, 2016
Accepted: Apr 26, 2017
Published online: Nov 15, 2017
Published in print: Feb 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Apr 15, 2018
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.