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SUMMARY:Rocking as a Seismic Isolation Technique for Modern Bridges
DTSTART:20131219T121500
DTEND:20131219T131500
DTSTAMP:20260509T054221Z
UID:86bc572dda4be162d18c0a7fc639f4b82fbd9d18adfe2eb8bc349405
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Elias Dimitrakopoulos\nConventional seismic (code-based)
  design focuses on accommodating structural deformation\, during an earthq
 uake excitation\, but accepts the prize of "sustainable" damage after a ma
 jor earthquake. Recently\, the concept of re-centering structures\, which 
 hinge on (some degree of) rocking motion\, as a means of seismic isolation
  is proliferating. Rocking isolation allows the (bridge) piers to uplift a
 nd pivot\, as a means to relieve (isolate) the structure from deformation\
 , stresses and hence damage. This talk outlines the discrete evolution pha
 ses of the civil engineering rocking structures (with emphasis on bridges)
  and highlights peculiar features of rocking dynamics. It offers a descrip
 tion of the rocking response which elucidates the behaviour of rocking str
 uctures under excitations of different intensity\, despite the nonlinear a
 nd nonsmooth nature of the rocking dynamics. Further\, the talk presents a
 n analytical investigation of the benefits of using viscous damping to lim
 it the rocking motion. Finally\, the talk proposes a methodology to derive
  equivalence between the archetypal rocking block and more complicated/rea
 listic rocking structures.\nshort bio: Dr. Elias Dimitrakopoulos is an Ass
 istant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology sin
 ce Fall 2011. He received his Civil Engineering diploma\, Master of Scienc
 e in Seismic Engineering\, and Doctoral Degree\, from the Aristotle Univer
 sity of Thessaloniki (AUTH) in Greece. In addition\, he was a Post-Doctora
 l researcher at the University of Cambridge U.K.\, at the Department of En
 gineering. Dr. Dimitrakopoulos’ research interests lie in the areas of e
 arthquake engineering\, structural dynamics and bridge engineering with em
 phasis on nonlinear and nonsmooth phenomena.
LOCATION:GC B331
STATUS:CONFIRMED
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