Name: ________________________________

University of California, Berkeley Fall Semester, 2018

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Preliminary Examination - Dynamics

Problem 1 (30% weight)

An undamped SDOF system with mass m and stiffness k is initially at rest and is then subjected to a
full-cycle sine pulse of ground motion, as shown in Figure 1. The natural period of the system is Tn
= td /2. Determine the deformation, u(t), for the time interval 0 < t < td .

𝑢𝑢̈ 𝑔𝑔

𝑢𝑢̈ 𝑔𝑔0

−𝑢𝑢̈ 𝑔𝑔0

Figure 1

Problem 2 (30% weight)

The beam in Figure 2 has a uniform mass per unit length of m(x) = m and a uniform bending
stiffness of EI(x) = EI. Using Rayleigh’s method, estimate the fundamental natural frequency of the
beam.

Recall:

EI(x), m(x)

L 2L L

Figure 2
 Name: ________________________________

University of California, Berkeley Fall Semester, 2018

Civil and Environmental Engineering

Problem 3 (40% weight)

Figure 3a shows a small mass m and a large mass 5m that can only translate in the vertical direction.
(a) Determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes.
(b) The system experiences a vertical ground motion which can be described by the response
spectra in Figure 3b. Using modal superposition, estimate the maximum force in the spring
between the two masses during the earthquake. Assume that all modes of the system have
5% damping.
m

5m

2k 2k 𝑢𝑢̈ g

Figure 3a

* Spectra shown for ζ = 0, 2, 5, 10, 20%

Figure 3b
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Spring Semester 2018 Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials

Ph.D. Preliminary Examination: Dynamics

Name: ________________________________

QUESTION 1 [30%]:
An air-conditioning unit weighing 1200 lb is bolted at the middle of two parallel simply supported
steel beams (E = 30,000 ksi) as shown below. The clear span of the beams is L = 8 ft. The second
moment of cross-sectional area of each beam is I = 10 in4. The motor in the unit runs at 300 rpm
and produces an unbalanced vertical force of 60 lb at this speed. Neglect the weight of the beams
and assume ζ = 1% viscous damping in the system. Determine the amplitudes of:
1) steady-state deflection, and 2) steady-state acceleration (in g’s) of the beams at their
midpoints which result from the unbalanced force.

Hints:
Deformation response factor:
g = 386 in/sec2

1
QUESTION 2 [70%]:
The umbrella structure shown below has 3 DOF with the listed eigen solution. It is made of
standard steel pipe and has the following properties: I = 28.1 in4, E = 29,000 ksi, weight = 18.97
lb/ft, m = 1.5 kips/g, and L = 10 ft. It is required to determine the peak response of this structure
to horizontal ground motion characterized by the design spectrum shown below (for 5%
damping) scaled to 0.20g peak ground acceleration and using the SRSS modal combination rule.
It is required to perform the following: 1) Check that the distributed weight of the umbrella
structure can be neglected (i.e. less than 10%) compared to the lumped weights and find the
corresponding mass matrix, 2) Compute the displacements u1, u2, and u3, and 3) Computed the
bending moments at the base of the column “b” and at location “a” of the beam.

Elastic pseudo-acceleration design spectrum for

ground motion: ügo = 1g (g = 386 in/sec2) and ζ = 5%.

2
 Name: ________________________
University of California at Berkeley Structural Engineering, Mechanics & Materials
Civil and Environmental Engineering Fall Semester 2017

Preliminary Examination in Dynamics

Problem 1
The simple structure shown below weighs 1,000 kips and has a period of 1.25 sec. It has no
viscous damping. It is subjected to the impulsive load shown in the figure. If the structure is to
be designed such that it has only one-third the strength necessary to keep it elastic, what is the
expected peak lateral displacement of the structure?
P 1200 kips
P(t)
1000 k
Time

0.00 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 Seconds

Problem 2
Consider the elastic two degree-of-freedom shear building shown below. Stories and floors are
numbered starting at the bottom of the building (like an elevator). Floor masses and story
stiffnesses are indicated in the figure below. You should ONLY consider the first mode dynamic
response to horizontal base seismic excitations. The structure may be assumed to have zero
inherent viscous damping. It is desired to increase the effective viscous damping in the first
mode to 15% by adding linear fluid viscous dampers between each floor as shown below. The
viscous dampers may be assumed to provide NO stiffness to the structure, and can be assumed to
provide a transverse velocity dependent force between each level of Fd = Cv, where C is the
damping coefficient, and v is the relative lateral velocity between adjacent floors. Identical
dampers are to be placed in each story. The braces used to hold the dampers in place may be
assumed to be inextensible. You may make any other common simplifying assumptions in your
analyses, but please indicate all such assumptions.

Determine the value of C1 necessary to achieve the 15% effective viscous damping ratio in the
first mode (note C2 = C1/2).
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Fall Semester 2016 Structural Engineering, Mechanics and Materials

Ph.D. Preliminary Examination: Dynamics

QUESTION 1 [20%: Part a=15%; Part b=5%]:

a) The response spectrum (ζ =0.02) for the El Centro earthquake is shown in Fig. 1 in terms
of pseudo-displacements (D [m]), pseudo-velocities (V [m/sec]), and pseudo-
accelerations (A [g]). Calculate the four values with question marks. Note that the
acceleration of gravity is to be taken as g = 9.8 m/sec2.
b) From part (c), if a structural engineer underestimated the stiffness of an equivalent SDOF,
comment on the safety of the design regarding equipment attached to this SDOF if it is
sensitive to: (i) deformation; (ii) acceleration.
D [m]

D(1)=? D(2)=?

V(1)=0.95
V [m/sec]

V(2)=0.60
A [g]

A(1)=?

A(2)=?

Tn [sec]
Fig. Q3: (a)(b)
Fig. 1: (a) Displacement, Displacement, (b) Pseudo-velocity,
Pseudo-velocity, (c) Pseudo-acceleration
(c) Pseudo-acceleration response spectra (ζ=0.02)
response spectra forfor
(ζ=0.02) El Centro ground
El Centro ground motion motion .

QUESTION 2 [80%: Part a(i)=25%; Part a(ii)=20%; Part a(iii)=5%; Part b(i)=25%; Part b(ii)=5%]:
a) Let’s take a look at a reactor building at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant, shown
in Fig. 2a. A two-story frame shown in Fig. 2b is used to model the reactor building. Note
the distribution of masses (m vs. 8m) that reflect the weight of the spent fuel pool. The
building has the following properties: m = 5 kip−sec2/in, k = 100 kips/in. The primary
containment is considered to be rigid at this preliminary stage of the analysis. There is a
gap sized ∆ between the primary containment and the spent fuel pool. A pseudo-
acceleration design spectrum given in Fig. 2c is derived from the 2011 Great Tohoku
earthquake records. It is required to conduct the following:
i. Determine natural frequencies and mode shapes of the building.

1
 ii. Using an appropriate modal combination (MC) rule, determine the smallest size of
the gap ∆req (rounded to nearest ¼ in.) to avoid pounding given the design spectrum.
iii. Briefly, justify your choice of the MC rule (no calculations needed)
b) A tsunami wave force idealized, as shown in Fig. 2d with two equivalent lateral forces,
P(t) at the spent fuel pool level and P(t)/2 at the roof level, where P(t) is modeled using
rectangular pulse function (duration td=1.0 sec., Fig. 2e). Conduct the following:
i. Determine the maximum lateral displacement of the reactor building at the spent
fuel pool level.[Hint: The dynamic response factor Rd=2.0 if td/Tn ≥ 0.5]
ii. Assuming the primary containment in unaffected by the tsunami wave, is the gap
size ∆req determined considering earthquake load in (a(ii)) sufficient to prevent
pounding due to tsunami wave load? State clearly Yes or No with justification.

(a) Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant

Spent Fuel Pool

Primary
Containment

Acceleration of gravity=g=386.4 in./sec2

(b) Idealized 2-story frame (c) pseudo-acceleration design spectrum

Spent Fuel Pool

Primary
Containment

(d) Idealized forces (e) Tsunami pulse

Fig. 2: Problem 2 details

2
 Name: ________________________
University of California at Berkeley Structural Engineering, Mechanics & Materials
Civil and Environmental Engineering Spring Semester 2016

Preliminary Examination in Dynamics

1. Consider a simple single degree-of-freedom system shown below. The rigid block with mass
m slides on the horizontal surface. The block is attached to a rigid support by a linear elastic
spring with stiffness k. Movement of the block is also resisted by friction between the block
and the sliding surface. The horizontal force needed to overcome the friction equals Ff = µW,
where µ is an unknown friction coefficient and W is the weight of the mass block. W equals
200 kips and k equals 133 kips/inch. The mass is moved to the right 4 inches and then
released. What friction coefficient is needed so that after one cycle of oscillation, the
amplitude of horizontal oscillation is reduced to 2 inches? (40 points)

2. Consider the two-degree of freedom system shown below. The structure is assumed to have
no inherent viscous or hysteretic damping. All of the springs shown have the same stiffness,
but the value of stiffness is not specified. However, the first mode period of the structure is
given as 2 seconds. The structure is subjected to a horizontal earthquake excitation
represented by a simplified response spectrum Dn=3T, were the spectral displacement Dn is
measured in inches, and period is specified in seconds. Modal contributions to response can
be estimated using SRSS methods. It may be assumed that peak responses in each mode can
be represented by the specified spectrum. (60 points)
a. What is the stiffness required of the springs (all equal)?
b. What is the expected maximum force in the spring located between the two masses?
c. If linear viscous dampers are placed in parallel with all of the springs shown, and they
each exhibit the relation Fd = Cv, where v represents the relative velocity acting across
the damper, what is the value of C (expressed in k-sec/in) to give an effective viscous
damping ratio of 15% in the first mode of vibration?
Name: ________________________
 Name: ________________________
University of California at Berkeley Structural Engineering, Mechanics & Materials
Civil and Environmental Engineering Fall Semester 2015

Preliminary Examination in Dynamics

1. Consider the seismically isolated structure to the right.
Using engineering fundamentals, estimate the maximum
lateral displacement of the isolators, if an aircraft strikes
the structure.

The structure above the isolators weighs 1,000,000 kips

and can be considered completely rigid, The isolators
have elastic-perfectly plastic properties in the lateral
direction as show to the right. Vertically, the isolators
are inextensible. The aircraft weighs 450 kips and is
traveling horizontally at 800 ft/sec at the time of impact.
The aircraft “sticks” to the structure during/following the impact. The duration of the impact
loading is 0.1 sec, which may be considered significantly shorter than the natural period of
the structure. Energy dissipation of the structure, other than in the isolators, should be
considered minimal (zero).

2. Consider the elastic two degree-of-freedom shear building shown below. Floor masses and
story stiffnesses are indicated in the figure below. You should ONLY consider the first mode
dynamic response to horizontal base seismic excitations. The structure may be assumed to
have zero inherent viscous damping. It is desired to increase the effective viscous damping
in the first mode to 10% by adding linear fluid viscous dampers between each floor as shown
below. The viscous dampers may be assumed to provide NO stiffness to the structure, and
can be assumed to provide a transverse velocity dependent force between each level of
Fd=Cv, where C is the damping coefficient, and v is the relative lateral velocity between
adjacent floors. Identical dampers are to be placed in each story. The braces used to hold the
dampers in place may be assumed to be inextensible. You may make any other common
simplifying assumptions in your analyses, but please indicate all such assumptions.

Determine the value of C necessary to achieve the 10% effective viscous damping ratio in the
first mode (note C is to be the same for both stories).
 Name: ________________________
University of California at Berkeley Structural Engineering, Mechanics & Materials
Civil and Environmental Engineering Spring Semester 2015

Preliminary Examination in Dynamics

1. Consider the simple single degree-of-freedom system
shown on the right. The box-like structure slides
sideways on the horizontal surface. The box is NOT
rigid, but deforms in simple shear. It is strong enough
that it will remain elastic during the seismic response,
but it may slide. The box’s height to width aspect
ratio is such that it will slide before it is able to uplift.
Sliding of the block is resisted by friction between the block and the sliding surface. The
horizontal force needed to overcome the friction equals Ff = µW, where µ is the friction
coefficient and W is the weight of the block. Here, µ = 0.5 and W equals 20 kips. The box
has a fundamental period of 1.2 seconds.
S
The structure will be subjected to horizontal ground a
shaking corresponding to the response spectrum SDs = 1.75g
shown. You will need to make some reasonable SD1 = 0.9g
simplifying assumptions. Be sure to describe them.
Period, sec.
Estimate the maximum displacement of what occurs
1
over the height of the structure, and the expected
amount of sliding of the structure.

2. Consider the two-degree of freedom system shown below. It is subjected to a horizontal

earthquake excitation represented by a simplified response spectrum Dn=4T, were the spectral
displacement Dn is measured in inches, and the period is specified in seconds. It is desired
that the structure be proportioned so that the expected peak horizontal response of the mass on
the right is 8 inches. Modal contributions to response can be estimated using SRSS methods.
It may be assumed that peak responses in each mode can be represented by the specified
spectrum.
a. What stiffness parameter K is required for the springs to achieve the stipulated peak
displacement?
b. What is the expected maximum
force in the spring located between
the two masses if the spring
stiffness K computed in part a is
used?