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Infrastructures
Special Issues
Seismic Reliability Assessment and Advances in Structural Modelling
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Seismic Reliability Assessment and Advances in Structural Modelling

A special issue of Infrastructures (ISSN 2412-3811). This special issue belongs to the section "Infrastructures and Structural Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 March 2023) | Viewed by 10293

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Francesco Cavalieri

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering (EUCENTRE), Via Adolfo Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy
Interests: earthquake engineering; multi-hazard risk and resilience assessment of infrastructures; seismic reliability of buildings; soil-structure interaction (SSI); precast buildings; steel storage pallet racks

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I kindly invite you to submit contributions to this Special Issue, titled “Seismic Reliability Assessment and Advances in Structural Modelling”.

Numerical simulation is commonly used to assess structural seismic risk, notwithstanding its high computational burden and the limitations of stochastic models used to generate synthetic ground motions. In the effort to overcome these difficulties, the last decades witnessed a considerable amount of research focussed on the development of approximate affordable alternatives, which are conditional on a seismic intensity measure (IM) and rely on the hazard-fragility split of risk. Contributions focussing on one of these classes of methods, or on the comparison between them, are welcome.

Submission of papers dealing with the treatment of uncertainties is also encouraged. It is known that the seismic vulnerability and risk assessment of structures is affected by several sources of uncertainties, which can be categorised as either aleatory or epistemic and should be properly taken into account. For the analyst, the final goal of the treatment of uncertainties should be to provide the confidence in the estimate and quantify the contribution of the adopted models and parameters to the total output uncertainty.

The scope of this Special Issue also extends to exploring the impact of recent structural modelling advancements on fragility functions or seismic risk assessment. Amongst such modelling refinements, the following non-exhaustive examples are cited: dynamic nonlinear soil-structure interaction (SSI), flexure-axial-shear interaction, explicit modelling of progressive collapse and debris accumulation.

To summarise, this Special Issue will include contributions whose topics fall in the general framework of seismic reliability analysis of structures and advanced structural modelling. Both state-of-the-art papers and original research contributions are welcome.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Probabilistic methods (simulation-based, IM-based) for seismic risk assessment of structures, the latter including reinforced concrete, steel, masonry, precast buildings and steel storage racks
  • Treatment and sensitivity of uncertainties
  • Nonlinear modelling of structures
  • Ground motion selection methods
  • Stochastic models for artificial record generation
  • Physics-based models for synthetic record generation
  • Derivation of hazard and fragility curves
  • Dynamic SSI modelling, encompassing linear substructure approach, direct approach with a finite element soil-block, hybrid methods (e.g., employing a nonlinear macro-element)
  • Comparative assessment of SSI models in affecting seismic risk

 

Dr. Francesco Cavalieri
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Infrastructures is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Seismic risk assessment
  • Nonlinear dynamic analysis
  • Treatment of uncertainties
  • Numerical simulation
  • IM-based methods
  • Record selection
  • Fragility functions
  • Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI)
  • Soil nonlinearity
  • Progressive collapse

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 11820 KiB  
Article
Shake Table Testing of Voltage and Current Transformers and Numerical Derivation of Corresponding Fragility Curves
by Francesco Cavalieri, Giuseppe Donelli, Rui Pinho, Filippo Dacarro, Nunzia Bernardo and Michele de Nigris
Infrastructures 2022, 7(12), 171; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/infrastructures7120171 - 14 Dec 2022
Viewed by 1680
Abstract
Damage to devices installed in electric substations, which have shown vulnerable behaviour under strong earthquakes in the last decades, may endanger power delivery in the emergency phases during and after an earthquake. Within seismic risk assessment of power networks, the definition of the [...] Read more.
Damage to devices installed in electric substations, which have shown vulnerable behaviour under strong earthquakes in the last decades, may endanger power delivery in the emergency phases during and after an earthquake. Within seismic risk assessment of power networks, the definition of the fragility functions of electric equipment is paramount. However, in the current literature the availability of such fragility models for some specific electric substation components, including instrument transformers, is relatively limited, this being the reason behind the deployment of the current experimental and numerical research endeavour. Two voltage transformers and two current transformers having different system voltage levels (respectively in the high voltage HV and extra-high voltage EHV ranges) were subjected to shake table tests, and the experimental results were used to calibrate the corresponding 3D numerical models developed in OpenSees. A number of nonlinear dynamic analyses carried out within a multiple-stripe analysis (MSA) framework allowed the derivation of 16 fragility curves for the four transformers in both stand-alone and elevated/supported configurations, considering also two different soil types. Based on the derived curves, one of the voltage transformers is expected to experience light or negligible damage due to earthquake shaking, owing to its high resonance frequencies (and hence stiffness), whilst the remaining three devices may suffer moderate damage under medium to strong shaking intensities; however, their seismic risk is in effect mitigated by the presence of the typically employed supporting column. Comparison against models available in the literature lent valuable reassurance on the adequacy of the employed methodology and the reliability of the derived fragility curves. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seismic Reliability Assessment and Advances in Structural Modelling)
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18 pages, 6170 KiB  
Article
On the Applicability of Transfer Function Models for SSI Embedment Effects
by Francesco Cavalieri, António A. Correia and Rui Pinho
Infrastructures 2021, 6(10), 137; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/infrastructures6100137 - 24 Sep 2021
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2260
Abstract
Soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects are typically neglected for relatively lightweight buildings that are less than two-three storeys high with a limited footprint area and resting on shallow foundations (i.e., not featuring a basement). However, when the above conditions are not satisfied, and in [...] Read more.
Soil-structure interaction (SSI) effects are typically neglected for relatively lightweight buildings that are less than two-three storeys high with a limited footprint area and resting on shallow foundations (i.e., not featuring a basement). However, when the above conditions are not satisfied, and in particular when large basements are present, important kinematic SSI may develop, causing the foundation-level motion to deviate from the free-field one due to embedment effects. In the literature, transfer function models that estimate the filtering effect induced by rigid massless embedded foundations are available to “transform” foundation-level recordings into free-field ones, and vice-versa. This work describes therefore a numerical study aimed at assessing potential limits of the applicability of such transfer functions through the employment of a 3D nonlinear soil-block model representing a layered soil, recently developed and validated by the authors, and featuring on top a large heavy building with basement. A number of finite element site response analyses were carried out for different seismic input signals, soil profiles and embedment depths of the building’s basement. The numerically obtained transfer functions were compared with the curves derived using two analytical models. It was observed that the latter are able to reliably predict the embedment effects in “idealised” soil/input conditions under which they have been developed. However, in real conditions, namely when a non-homogeneous profile with nonlinear behaviour under a given seismic excitation is considered, especially in presence of a basement that is more than one storey high, they may fail in capturing some features, such as the frequency-dependent amplification of the motion at the basement level of a building with respect to the free-field one. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seismic Reliability Assessment and Advances in Structural Modelling)
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22 pages, 2548 KiB  
Article
Seismic Risk of Infrastructure Systems with Treatment of and Sensitivity to Epistemic Uncertainty
by Francesco Cavalieri and Paolo Franchin
Infrastructures 2020, 5(11), 103; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/infrastructures5110103 - 18 Nov 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2724
Abstract
Modern society’s very existence is tied to the proper and reliable functioning of its Critical Infrastructure (CI) systems. In the seismic risk assessment of an infrastructure, taking into account all the relevant uncertainties affecting the problem is crucial. While both aleatory and epistemic [...] Read more.
Modern society’s very existence is tied to the proper and reliable functioning of its Critical Infrastructure (CI) systems. In the seismic risk assessment of an infrastructure, taking into account all the relevant uncertainties affecting the problem is crucial. While both aleatory and epistemic uncertainties affect the estimate of seismic risk to an infrastructure and should be considered, the focus herein is on the latter. After providing an up-to-date literature review about the treatment of and sensitivity to epistemic uncertainty, this paper presents a comprehensive framework for seismic risk assessment of interdependent spatially distributed infrastructure systems that accounts for both aleatory and epistemic uncertainties and provides confidence in the estimate, as well as sensitivity of uncertainty in the output to the components of epistemic uncertainty in the input. The logic tree approach is used for the treatment of epistemic uncertainty and for the sensitivity analysis, whose results are presented through tornado diagrams. Sensitivity is also evaluated by elaborating the logic tree results through weighted ANOVA. The formulation is general and can be applied to risk assessment problems involving not only infrastructural but also structural systems. The presented methodology was implemented into an open-source software, OOFIMS, and applied to a synthetic city composed of buildings and a gas network and subjected to seismic hazard. The gas system’s performance is assessed through a flow-based analysis. The seismic hazard, the vulnerability assessment and the evaluation of the gas system’s operational state are addressed with a simulation-based approach. The presence of two systems (buildings and gas network) proves the capability to handle system interdependencies and highlights that uncertainty in models/parameters related to one system can affect uncertainty in the output related to dependent systems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seismic Reliability Assessment and Advances in Structural Modelling)
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Graphical abstract

14 pages, 2117 KiB  
Article
A Resilience-Based Methodology to Assess Soil Structure Interaction on a Benchmark Bridge
by Davide Forcellini
Infrastructures 2020, 5(11), 90; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/infrastructures5110090 - 28 Oct 2020
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 2530
Abstract
The assessment of bridge functionality during earthquakes is fundamental in the evaluation of emergency response and socio-economic recovery procedures. In this regard, resilience may be considered a key parameter for decision-making procedures such as post-hazard event mitigations and recovery investments on bridges. The [...] Read more.
The assessment of bridge functionality during earthquakes is fundamental in the evaluation of emergency response and socio-economic recovery procedures. In this regard, resilience may be considered a key parameter for decision-making procedures such as post-hazard event mitigations and recovery investments on bridges. The paper proposes a case study of a bridge configuration subjected to seismic hazard and aims to consider the effects of the soil–structure interaction on the recovery to various levels of pre-earthquake functionality. The principal outcome of the paper consists of calculating resilience as a readable finding that may have many applications for a wide range of stakeholders, such as bridge owners, transportation authorities and public administrators who can apply the outcomes in the assessment of the best recovery techniques and solutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Seismic Reliability Assessment and Advances in Structural Modelling)
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