SBIR-STTR Award

Develop an Improved Rapid Seismic Analysis Procedure (RSAP) approach as related to Tri-Service manual, Army TM 5-809-10-2, Seismic Design Guidelines for Upgrading Existing Facilities. The improved RSAP includes development of methodology and algorithm and modification of existing RSAP to incorporate recent advances in the field of eqrthquake engineering, changes inthe Uniform Building Code and SEAOC Blue Book and learnings of the Seismology Committee of the SEAOC, and recent advances in microcomputer programming. These modifications include such structural parameters as damping, ductility, fundamental natural period, evaluation of building capacities at the yield and ultimate levels, and determination of damage index. Product of Phase I effort will be an algorithm that willbe later used in Phase Ii to develop a software usable on personal microcomputers. This software will be an Improved version of RSAP that replaces the existing one.

Benefits:
Improved procedure to evaluate expected earthquake damage to military buildings. The procedure will be transformed into a software under Phase II and will provide a faster and more accurate tool to evaluate earthquake damages to military as well as a large group of non-military buildings.

Keywords:
earthquake damage evaluation buildings software Rapid Seismic Analys

The methodology that has been developed under the Phase I effort of the Improved Rapid Seismic Analysis Procedure (IRSAP) will be used to create the data base and will be automated and tested against selected buildings and example problems. The IRSAP incorporates ATC-22 questionnaire to categorize the type of building as well as whether the system is ductile or not. In the first half of the Phase II effort a data base will be prepared by applying the detailed analytical approach developed under Phase I to a set of selected buildings. In the detailed analysis a finite element model of the building is developed with the aid of IMAGES-3D or a similar structural analysis program. Nonlinear dynamic behavior of the system is analyzed in linearized incremental steps to develop the Capacity Spectrum. Value of the demand reduction factor at the ultimate level is obtained from the force-deflection characteristics of the structure. The results of this effort is to develop a method that more accurately and realistically estimate the damage level to various earthquake levels. In the second half of the Phase II effort, all of the tasks mentioned above will be automated that an engineer can focus on the judgement rather than detailed hand calculations. The final product is a software package that performs the IRSAP as well as performing the detailed evaluation that creates the data base.