Experiments and Simulation of Reinforced Concrete Buildings Subjected to Reversed Cyclic Loading and Shake Table Excitation

An integrated experiment and analysis research program is proposed to address the complex behavior of reinforced concrete buildings subjected to multi-directional earthquake loading and the subsequent interactions resulting from the nonlinear response of individual components that compound further the multi-directional affect of the ground motion. Results will impact a broad community ranging from K-12 students to practitioners. The entire effort is led by a diverse team of participants from institutions around the country and the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) in Taiwan. Emphasis is placed on using simulation response histories to provide actuation forces applied to the Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings subjected to reversed cyclic loading. The associated simulated response will be fed back into building characteristics for additional shake table simulations. The facilities, expertise, and support of NCREE will be used for tests on one near full-scale RC building (Bldg 1). Analytical simulation studies of Bldg 1 will be performed using OpenSees incorporating nonlinear elements recently calibrated at the University of Houston. The results will be used to correlate analytical tools and the new design methodologies. An integral element of the tests includes the use of novel wireless telemetry for data collection and distributed data interrogation.