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Bridging Numerical Simulation, Cost-effective Condition Monitoring and Experimental Testing for Post-earthquake Resilience

Description: 

The shift in seismic design from life safety toward functional recovery and rapid re-occupancy is increasingly moving from theory to practice. A clear example is the newly completed Grimes Engineering Center at the University of California, Berkeley, a critical academic facility located only a few hundred meters from Hayward Fault. Given its role in campus operations and emergency response, the building was designed with post-earthquake resilience objectives exceeding code-minimum requirements.

To meet these objectives, the structural system integrates Shape Memory Alloy (SMA)-augmented tension rods with conventional Buckling-Restrained Braces (BRBs), forming a hybrid lateral force-resisting system that combines energy dissipation with enhanced re-centering. Because SMA devices had not previously been implemented at this scale, an extensive experimental program informed the design. Reduced-scale shaking-table tests at the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Center, complemented by component- and frame-level experiments at UC Berkeley, demonstrated the superior re-centering and damage-mitigation performance of the hybrid SMA-BRB system.

Beyond design and construction, continuous condition monitoring supports performance validation and post-event decision-making. The building is instrumented using ambient and forced vibration measurements collected with PEER Cost-Effective Next Technology Sensors (PEER-CENTS) to identify modal properties, calibrate numerical models, and validate analytical predictions.

Post-construction seismic performance evaluation uses 50 realizations of a simulated magnitude 7.0 Hayward Fault earthquake from the PEER–LBNL Simulated Ground Motion Database (SGMD). Non-ergodic, site-specific near-fault ground motions enable assessment of response, damage, and loss through component-level fragility functions and expected recovery timelines.

This presentation shows how integrating experimental testing, numerical simulation, and scalable, cost-effective monitoring technologies supports resilient building design and enables extension from individual buildings to urban and regional scales.

Session: Earthquake Ground Motions and Structural Response: Emerging Tools and Applications - II

Type: Oral

Date: 4/16/2026

Presentation Time: 11:15 AM (local time)

Presenting Author: Khalid M. Mosalam

Student Presenter: No

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