The paper presents a plastic analysis procedure based on the energy balance concept for performance based seismic retrofit of multi-story multi-bay masonry infilled reinforced concrete (R/C) frames with a ‘soft’ ground story using passive energy dissipation (PED) devices with the objective of achieving a target performance level of the retrofitted R/C frame for a given seismic hazard level at t...

Static force procedures of most building codes require that the lateral earthquake force at each floor level of an asymmetric-plan building be applied eccentrically from the centers of rigidity. To implement such procedures, it seemed necessary in the past to determine the locations of the centers of rigidity, an often confusing and cumbersome process. This paper presents a new approach for cod...

A feed-forward multilayer neural net is trained to learn the correspondence between seismic data and well logs. The introduction of a virtual input layer, connected to the nominal input layer through a special nonlinear transfer function, enables ultrafast (single iteration), near-optimal training of the net using numerical algebraic techniques. A unique computer code, named DeepNet, has been d...

This study investigates the potential seismic risks of double fab structures uniquely seen in Taiwan’s semi-conductor industry. A typical eight-story double fab structure is considered as the object to explore the seismic vulnerability of such structural systems via computer simulation under realistic earthquake ground motion. As expected, excessive storydrifts are found to be focused on the cl...

Abstract—This paper presents a numerical investigation on the seismic performance of a benchmark bridge with different optimal isolation systems under near fault ground motion. Usually, very large displacements make seismic isolation an unfeasible solution due to boundary conditions, especially in case of existing bridges or high risk seismic regions. Hence, near-fault ground motions are most l...

This dissertation consists of four research topics, addressing three different scales of crustal-scale seismic data analysis. At the large scale, this research involves determining the lithospheric crustal structure across the southern Rio Grande rift (SRGR) from a 205 km long refraction/wide-angle reflection profile across southern New Mexico into Far West Texas acquired during the Portillo Vo...