| Earthquakes and Structures Volume 10, Number 3, March 2016, pages 495-521 DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12989/eas.2016.10.3.495 | |
Two-dimensional numerical investigation of the effects of
multiple sequential earthquake excitations on ancient multidrum
columns | |
Loizos Papaloizou, Panayiotis Polycarpou, Petros Komodromos,
George D. Hatzigeorgiou and Dimitri E. Beskos
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| Abstract [Full Text] | |
| Ancient monuments of Greek and Roman classical architecture usually consist of multi-drum columns that are constructed of stone blocks placed on top of each other. Several research studies deal with the seismic behaviour of such structures, since earthquakes are common causes of destruction of such monuments. This paper investigates the effect of multiple earthquakes on the seismic performance of multidrum columns, through numerical simulations and parametric analyses. The Discrete Element Method and an appropriate contact model have been implemented in a specially developed software application that is able to efficiently perform the necessary simulations in two dimensions. Specifically, various strong ground excitations are used in series for the computation of the collective final deformation of multi-drum columns. In order to calculate this cumulative deformation for a series of ground motions, the individual deformation of the column for each excitation is computed and then used as initial conditions for the next earthquake excitation. Various multi-drum columns with different dimensions are also considered in the analyses in order to examine how the geometric characteristics of columns can affect their seismic sequence behaviour, in combination with the excitation frequency content. | |
| Key Words | |
| ancient columns; rigid bodies; earthquake sequence; aftershock; rocking; discrete element method | |
| Address | |
| Loizos Papaloizou,Petros Komodromos: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus, Nicosia, Cyprus Panayiotis Polycarpou: Department of Engineering, University of Nicosia, Nicosia, Cyprus George D. Hatzigeorgiou: School of Science and Technology, Hellenic Open University, Patras, Greece Dimitri E. Beskos: Department of Civil Engineering, University of Patras, Patras, Greece | |
