RocNews Spring 2015
New
DYNAMIC FEATURES2
The latest update of RS2 (Phase2), version 9.005,
released earlier this month, has incorporated new
dynamic analysis capabilities which have been
demonstrated through four short tutorials.
The tutorials outline the procedure for modeling
seismic loading with RS2. This procedure can be
summarized with the following steps:
1
Deconvolute the given
acceleration history data
of the earthquake.
Design earthquake ground motions are usually
provided as outcrop motions. However, for an RS2
earthquake analysis, seismic input must be applied at
the base of the model rather than the ground surface.
Therefore, we must deconvolute the given data,
such that once it is applied at the base of the model,
it correctly simulates the design motion. The steps
required to deconvolute the given acceleration-time
history for a compliant base model are:
1. Integrate the given acceleration-time history
to obtain velocity. This is done by applying the
acceleration-time history to the top of the model,
and measuring the resulting velocity data.
2. Divide the velocity data by 2. We do this in
Excel.
3. Apply the halved velocity to the base of the
model, using the Compliant base option. This
option converts the inputted velocity data to
stress.
in RS
It is also suggested that the user filter the input
velocity to remove the high-frequency components
- this way a coarser mesh may be used without
significantly affecting the results.
2
Calculate the equilibrium
state and apply the
dynamic conditions.
The next step is running the model undamped
(i.e. the damping coefficients are zero). Compute the
velocity-time history data at the top of the model,
and paste the data in the Power Spectrum dialog of
the modeler, in order to determine the range of the
important frequencies.
Using the Compute Natural Frequencies dialog,
compute the natural frequencies using the range
determined above. We can then manually adjust
the alpha and beta values until we reach the desired
damping ratio.
3
Run the model with the
determined damping
Rayleigh parameters.
Using the apply alpha/beta to the Project Setting
button in the Natural Frequencies dialog, we can now
run the model with the correct parameters.
For a more detailed outline of the procedure for
modeling seismic loading in RS2, stay tuned for the
upcoming tutorials in the RS2 Online Help.