Aims

The aims of the course are to:

• introduce the behaviour and design of civil engineering structures subjected to time-varying loads.
• introduce earthquake-resistant design, dynamic soil-structure interaction, machine foundation design, blast effects on structures and the fundamentals of wind engineering.

Objectives

As specific objectives, by the end of the course students should be able to:

• identify cases where a static model of a structure is inadequate, and a dynamic model should be used
• produce a simple estimate of the natural frequency and fundamental natural mode of any linear-elastic structure.
• estimate linear-elastic spring parameters for a given foundation.
• compute the natural frequencies and natural modes of structures using the ABAQUS package and include simple soil models to account for soil-structure interaction.
• estimate the response of complex linear-elastic structures to earthquakes using modal superposition and the response spectrum.
• use elastic and inelastic design spectra, and to understand their form.
• perform simple designs for vibration isolation.
• perform simplified soil stiffness calculations accounting for partial liquefaction, and to use this approach in simple liquefaction resistant designs.
• describe some standard methods of seismic-resistant structural design.
• describe blast processes and their effects on structures.
• appreciate the factors involved in the estimation of wind climates and of structural response to wind.
• understand the various measures that characterise atmospheric turbulence.
• anticipate the circumstances under which aeroelastic phenomena may be problematic.
• estimate the dynamic response of a tall structure in a given wind environment

Content

LECTURE SYLLABUS

Structural dynamics (3L, Dr James Talbot)

               Linear Elastic dynamics

á        Introduction to dynamic loads in Civil Engineering;  dynamic amplification factors.

á        Approximate single-degree-of-freedom analysis of complex structures; sway frames; structures with distributed mass.

á        Rayleigh's principle;  natural frequency of simple systems using energy methods.

á        Linear models to represent structures and their relevance;  analysis in frequency domain; mode superposition method.

á        Modal analysis of vibration; use of finite element packages.

 

Application of dynamics in Civil Engineering Structures :

Soil-Structure Interaction (3L,Prof G Madabhushi)

Non-linear Systems

á        Sources of nonlinearity in structures and foundations

Soils during earthquakes 

              á        Earthquake loading on structures;  response and design spectra;

á        Structures subject to ground motion; deformations due to lateral accelerations; Newmark's sliding block analysis; concept of threshold acceleration

á        Foundations effects;  stiffness of soil foundation and soil-structure interaction;

á        Pore pressure build-up during earthquakes;  partial liquefaction; degradation in soil stiffness; non-linear soil models.

á        Liquefaction resistant design, simple examples.

 

Earthquakes Effects on Structures and Seismic resistant design  (3L, Prof F.A. McRobie)

Response Spectrum Analysis for Earthquakes 

á        Introduction to Response Spectrum Analysis

á        Earthquake Spectra and Design Spectra, Design of linear systems

 

á        Non-linear Response Spectrum Analysis, Ductility in Structures

Seismic Resistant Design

á        Structural design and detailing considerations.

 

Wind Engineering and Blast Resistant Design  (3L, Prof F.A. McRobie)

Wind loading

á        Nature of wind;

á        Wind forces on structures.

á        Response of structures to buffetting.  

 

á        Aeroelasticity. Fluid-structure interaction (vortex-shedding, galloping and flutter). Long-span bridge case study.

Blast Loading

á        Physics of blasts;  blast effects on structures;  blast-resistant design.