DEVELOPMENT OF THE GEORGE E. BROWN JR. NETWORK FOR EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING SIMULATION (NEES) LARGE HIGH PERFORMANCE OUTDOOR SHAKE TABLE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO

摘要

In October 2002, through the George E. Brown, Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (NEES) program, the National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) $5.9 Million to provide the NEES portfolio with a Large High Performance Outdoor Shake Table (LHPOST). The LHPOST will be the first outdoor and largest (12.2 m × 7.6 m) shake table in the United States. A large soil pit funded by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has been strategically located adjacent to the LHPOST for Soil-Foundation-Structure Interaction (SFSI) testing. The facilities will be used to conduct large- and full-scale testing to investigate structural and geotechnical seismic performance issues that cannot readily be extrapolated from testing at smaller scale, or under quasi-static or pseudo-dynamic conditions, including performance under near-field ground motions. Potential research that could be carried out on the LHPOST include (a) the effects of passive and semiactive energy dissipating systems on building response, (b) large-scale testing of kinematic soilfoundation- structure interaction, (c) seismic response of nuclear waste dry storage casks, including the soil-structure interaction and the kinematic interaction between casks, (d) loss estimation of buildings, including the interaction between their components, (e) seismic response of full-scale wood-frame construction including school buildings (f) response of building diaphragms, where the presence of a distributed mass constrains the testing to be performed solely under dynamic conditions, (g) assessment of liquefaction mitigation mechanisms, (g) optimization of shallow foundations to maximize kinematic soilfoundation interaction, and (h) the study of the complex interaction between interconnected components of electrical substations, such as high-voltage transformer-bushing systems. Such experiments will present unique opportunities to develop, calibrate, and validate predictive computational tools in earthquake engineering. The following paper summarizes design issues and specifications for the LHPOST.