2.1.
Ilagay sa isang diagram ang dalawang accelerogram ng building braced, and unbraced
The graph given in the Fig 3.1 shows on how to differentiate the braced and
unbraced structures on how they will react to an extreme ground motion. The
x-axis represents time (T) in seconds while the y-axis shows the acceleration
of the ground in meters per second squared (m/s²). In the illustrated graph,
the black line which corresponds to the braced structure, seems to show
higher peak acceleration, which are the tall spikes that rise and fall rapidly
indicating that the structure undergoes higher forces but remained controlled
because of bracing. In contrast, the unbraced structure is shown by the red
line, which has smaller spikes. Although the unbraced structure has a lower
peak acceleration, it has the potential to be damaged more easily since there
is no bracing system.
This vulnerability is further analyzed in a PSD graph showing that the
unbraced structure has lower peak frequency than the braced structure at
3.11523 Hz and more closely approaches the ground motion frequency of
3.02734 Hz, thus increasing its possibility to resonate, which in turn will cause
greater oscillations. Also, the braced structure attains a peak frequency of
3.98438 Hz; consequently, it evolves mismatching of frequency with the
ground motion, thereby reducing resonance and enhancing the resistance of
the structure to seismic forces. Such results show the significance of bracing
in improving performance in a structure as well as minimizing the risks of
damage that may be caused by extreme seismic events.
2.2 Ilagay sa isang diagram and dalawang accelerogram ng building at ground motion(braced
and moderate; unbraced and moderate)
a.
b.
The two figures (figures 3a and 3b) show how different types of structures (braced and
unbraced) react during extreme ground motion. In figure 3a, it compares how the ground and
braced structure move during extreme ground motion. The black line shows how the ground
moves, while the red line shows how the braced structure moves. The red line here is much
smoother and doesn’t shake as much as the black line. It means that the braced structure’s
movement is smaller and less shaky than the ground. This shows that braces help the
structure stay steady and safe during strong shaking. While figure 3b compares the ground
with an unbraced structure during the same kind of extreme ground motion. Here, the
unbraced structure, shown in red, moves more wildly, almost similar to the ground’s black
line. In some cases, especially in the period between 20 and 40 seconds, the unbraced
structure even shakes more than the ground, based on their peak. This means that without
braces, the structure shakes a lot more and isn’t as stable as the structure that has braces.
Therefore, braced structures stay calmer during shaking, while the unbraced structures move
almost as much as the ground. This shows braces help protect structures in extreme ground
motion.
2.3. Ilagay sa isang diagram and tatlong power spectral density, braced, unbraced and
ground motion, showing their frequency at peak power spectral density
The Figure 3.3 shows the Power Spectral Density (PSD) graph of Braced and
Unbraced structure under extreme ground motion, revealing each peak frequencies. Based
on the graph represented, the peak frequency of the braced structure is 3.98438 Hz, whereas
the peak frequency of the unbraced structure is 3.11523 Hz. While the frequency of the
extreme ground motion is 3.02734 Hz.
The frequency of braced and unbraced structures comparing to the frequency of
extreme ground motion shows that the unbraced structure, with its lower stiffness, exhibits a
corresponding lower peak frequency. This also the same to ground motion movement like
seismic waves which generally have lower frequencies. According to Al Mahmood, R.,
Barman, A. C., Hossain, M. H., & Khusru, S. (2020), structures whose natural frequencies are
similar to the frequency of ground motion are more likely to experience resonance, which
increases the likelihood of larger oscillations. Due to oscillation, vulnerable structure
specifically the unbraced are more likely to be damaged, due to its reduced stiffness and lack
of additional damping (Nassani, Hussein & Mohammed 2017).
On the other hand, the braced structure with a peak frequency of 3.98439 Hz, which
has a higher frequency than the ground motion. This indicates that the addition of bracing has
increased the stiffness of the structure. With the higher frequency of the braced structure, it
creates a mismatch with the frequency of extreme ground motion (which has a frequency of
3.02734 Hz). This leads to less possibility of resonance of the braced structure with ground
motion, resulting minimizing the risk of damage compared to the unbraced structure.
References:
Nassani, D. E., Hussein, A. K., & Mohammed, A. H. (2017). Comparative response
assessment of steel frames with different bracing systems under seismic effect.
Structures, 11, 229-242. [Link]
Al Mahmood, R., Barman, A. C., Hossain, M. H., & Khusru, S. (2020). Modal analysis of
braced and unbraced steel frames. American Journal of Engineering Research. Vol. 9(8),
pp-194-204