IREE: Integration of International Collaboration into a PreNEESR Project to Advance a Prefabricated Structural System for Seismic Design
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| Abstract | Over the past two decades, experimental and analytical research has demonstrated the performance of precast structural wall systems using unbonded post-tensioning for seismic applications. However, these wall systems are not as economically viable as monolithic reinforced concrete structural walls in resisting the lateral loads, thus limiting their usage in real-world applications. To overcome this challenge, a new precast wall system concept was developed by the authors. This new system known as the PreWEC (Precast Wall with End Columns) system improves the lateral load capacity through multiple means, making it an economically feasible precast concrete solution. This system consists of a precast concrete wall and two concrete or steel end columns. The wall and columns are anchored to the foundation using unbonded post-tensioning and joined horizontally by a specially designed, easily replaceable, low-cost connector. While the unbonded post-tensioning help the system to recenter after subjecting to lateral loads such as that from an earthquake, the connectors between the wall and the columns will be largely responsible for dissipating the energy imparted to the building during an earthquake event. The behavior of this system was analytically investigated previously and lacked the experimental validation. The IREE supplement award helped to conduct a large-scale experiment at the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE), Taiwan, to study the viability of the proposed precast concept. In addition to gaining new engineering knowledge, the visit to Taiwan provided unique opportunities for the authors to collaborate and exchange ideas with the local students and professors, learn about the capabilities of their earthquake testing facilities and techniques, and understand the culture and historical heritage in Taiwan. |
| Contributor | Mourad Ouzzani
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| Bio | Sri Sritharan received the BS degree in civil engineering from the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. He received his M.E. degree in civil engineering (structures) from the University of Auckland, New Zealand and a PhD from the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). He is currently an Associate Professor and Assistant Chair in the Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering department at Iowa State University. His research interests include the behaviour of reinforced and precast concrete structural systems, soil-foundation-structure interaction, and development of numerical models to characterize their seismic behaviour.
Sriram Aaleti received a B.Tech degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM), India in 2003. He received his MS degree in Civil Engineering from Iowa State University (ISU) in 2005 and is currently a PhD candidate in the Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering department at ISU. His research interests include the behaviour of precast and reinforced concrete structural wall systems for seismic regions, Finite Element Analysis and Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC). |
| Cite this work | Researchers should cite this work as follows: Sri Sritharan and Sriram Aaleti, "IREE: Integration of International Collaboration into a PreNEESR Project to Advance a Prefabricated Structural System for Seismic Design", Trip report presented at the NSF IREE 2008 Grantees Conference, May 2008, Washington, D.C. |
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