Development and Application of Hybrid Simulation for Seismic Testing of Large-scale Structural Systems

Hybrid simulation combining physical and numerical simulations provides a cost-effective means to experimentally examine the performance of large-scale structural systems under extreme loading events. It can be particularly beneficial to investigate the behavior of large scale structures subjected to seismic loads through collapse given that shake table tests pose significant risk to support a collapsing structure.  To examine the reliability of the test method, hybrid simulation is first applied to a steel moment frame that has been the subject of previous collapse studies including shake table testing, extensive quasi-static component testing and numerical simulations. These past studies provide the benchmark data for verification and examining sources of errors in hybrid simulation. After developing reliable approaches to the test method, two series of hybrid simulations are presented that aim to trace the system-level seismic response of a four-story steel moment frame building structure through collapse. The experimental substructures include a half-scale 1½-bay by 1½-story physical substructure of a special steel moment-resisting frame and the physical substructure corresponding to the gravity framing system. The hybrid simulation test method is shown to be reliable and can provide insight into experimental behavior of structural subassemblies under realistic seismic loading given that errors are properly mitigated. Other large-scale applications of hybrid simulation will be discussed including testing of seismic isolation bearings in nuclear powerplants.

Bio : Gilberto Mosqueda is a professor in the Department Structural Engineering at the University at California San Diego since 2012.  Previously, he was on the faculty at the University at Buffalo since 2004. He received his Ph.D. (2003) from the University of California at Berkeley, M.S (1998) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and B.S. (1996) from the University of California at Irvine all in civil engineering.  He received the NSF CAREER award in 2008 and is currently on the editorial board for the journal Earthquake Spectra. The focus of his research is in the area of structural and earthquake engineering, particularly on understanding and improving the seismic performance of structural and nonstructural systems under seismic loads. Recent research has examined the seismic response of structural systems under extreme loads including the collapse of steel structures and limit states in seismic isolation system using hybrid simulation. He has over 100 publications in peer reviewed journals and conference proceedings and has led and participated in various reconnaissance mission following earthquakes around the world.  Most recently he co-led the team organized by the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute to investigate damage from the 2017 Puebla-Morelos Earthquake in Mexico.