EPICentre Seminars

Conventional earthquake engineering up to the mid-to-late 90s neglected the effect of vertical earthquake ground motion. This omission was justified on the basis of the large safety factor used in gravity load-dominated design. By the late 80s and early 90s a couple of research groups at the University of Illinois and at Imperial College had published analytical and observational findings that indicated that the dynamic nature of vertical earthquake motion leads to vibrational modes that both increase the damage potential of horizontal shaking and subject structural systems to damaging vertical vibrations. After reviewing the progression of the topic, this presentation focuses mainly on an extensive experimental program on large and small scale model RC bridge piers subjected to both vertical and horizontal ground motion. The experimental results not only confirm without doubt the increased demand imposed on RC columns due to vertical earthquake motion, but also presents a parameterization of force and deformation demands as well as failure modes. Whereas this study focused on reinforced concrete bridge piers, many of the observations and conclusions are pertinent to other structural forms as well as other construction materials.

Professor Amr Elnashai is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was professor for 16 years at Imperial College, where he also did his MSc and PhD degrees. He was Chaired Professor and CEE department head at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His 14 years at Illinois were followed by 4 years as Dean of Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, and 5 years as Vice President and Vice Chancellor for research and technology transfer at the University of Houston and the University of Houston System, respectively.

Professor Amr Elnashai is a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and was professor for 16 years at Imperial College, where he also did his MSc and PhD degrees. He was Chaired Professor and CEE department head at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His 14 years at Illinois were followed by 4 years as Dean of Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University, and 5 years as Vice President and Vice Chancellor for research and technology transfer at the University of Houston and the University of Houston System, respectively.