Lucia Tirca

Concordia University · BCEE

Montréal is an ideal venue to host the next World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE) in 2028! Led by Sanda Koboevic, our CAEES - ACGPS team (https://lnkd.in/eWZ_q4SN) has just submitted a formal bid application - help us making this happen! Thanks to the Palais des congrès de Montréal for their support! #WCEE28_MTL

This study proposes a holistic approach to multihazard performance‐based assessment of a tall steel building, partially damaged by earthquake, and then subjected to wind. The case study is a 16‐storey LD‐CBF building in Montreal, designed in accordance with the Canadian code and steel standard. Advanced numerical models are developed in OpenSees; h...

According to the Canadian building code, wind design relies on prescriptive static methods, which lead to a conservative design. In consequence, in moderate seismic regions where both winds and earthquakes are critical, the size of ductile members resulting from seismic design, and especially those of bottom floors, may not accommodate the elastic...

Under earthquake loading, conventional braced frames are prone to storey mechanism. To mitigate this drawback, researchers have proposed to add an alternative vertical force path to redistribute member forces among floors. Likewise the dual system, the strongback acts as a vertical elastic spine and compensates for the loss of storey shear after br...

Pall friction dampers (PFD) installed in braced frames have been shown to exhibit large energy dissipation. Nevertheless, in high-risk seismic zones, the Friction-Sliding Braced Frame (FSBF) is prone to large residual interstorey drifts (RISD) and weak-storey mechanism formation. To solve this drawback, a backup moment resisting frame (MRF) was add...

In last few decades, vibration-based Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) has played a significant role to study different parameters of a structure. Frequency Domain Decomposition (FDD) plays important roles to identify system properties, such as: modal frequencies, mode shape and damping ratio. The focus of the present research is to identify modal...

Two alternative braced frame configurations are examined to improve the vertical distribution of seismic storey drifts and inelastic demands in multi-storey steel eccentrically braced frames (EBFs): the tied braced frame (TBF) system and a modular tied-braced frame (M-TBF) system. In TBFs, the concentration of inelastic deformation is prevented by...

A practical seismic design method is proposed for tall steel braced frames with segmental elastic trussed spines (SESBFs) used to achieve a uniform storey drift response. The method combines the forces arising from yielding of ductile elements along the braced frame height with the forces resulting from higher modes involving flexural dynamic respo...

This vibration-based method for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) utilizes the dynamic response of a structure measured using a set of sensors to identify the modal properties and potential structural damage. Signal processing tools are widely used for analyzing and diagnosing these response signals. Change in the dynamic characteristics of a stru...

Disaster resilience of a building consists of its capacity to restore almost its full functionality in the aftermath of a natural hazard. Controlling the building’s resilience is important for developing the hazard mitigation strategy. The main focus of this study is to present a framework for resilience-based design of steel buildings subjected to...

The Finite Element (FE) model correlation and damage detection are important elements of Structural Health Monitoring (SHM). The feasibility of FE model correlation and modal identification as a tool for signal processing is explored here for locating structural anomaly. Anomalies can exist in a structure in the form of damage due to loss of stiffn...

This article describes the application of the Friction Braced Frames (FBF) system for 4-and 10-storey buildings located in Vancouver, BC, in Canada. The FBF is coupled with a secondary moment resisting frame that provides back-up elastic stiffness and re-centring capacity that contribute to reduce storey drifts and more evenly distribute seismic en...

In this study, both Canadian and European code provisions for steel concentrically braced frames (CBF) are discussed and issues addressing ductility classes for brace cross-sections, q factor value and brace configurations as covered in Eurocode 8 are presented. From comparison with the Canadian provisions it is concluded that beams and columns of...

This paper discusses the shear and torsion induced in low-rise and medium-rise buildings, according to wind load specifications provided in NBCC 2015. Results from experimental studies, carried out in wind tunnels were compared with corresponding NBCC 2015 provisions under different upstream roughness conditions. These comparisons demonstrated nota...

The study described in this paper refers to seismic assessment and retrofit of an existing 10-storey reinforced concrete office building designed and built at the beginning of the 20 century. When this building with a height of 38.95 m was completed it was the highest in downtown Montreal. According to FEMA 547 classification, the typology of this...

Vibration based method for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) utilizes the dynamic response of a structure measured using a set of sensors to identify the modal properties and potential damage in the structure. Signal processing tools are widely used for analyzing these response signals. Change in the dynamic characteristics of a structure can prov...

In Structural Health Monitoring (SHM), various damage detection algorithms exist to study dynamic properties of the structure and estimate statistical features of the structural responses. Mode shape curvature, damage detection based on flexibility matrix, model updating methods, wavelet transform, Hilbert-Huang transform, neural network, machine l...

This study proposes a fiber-based hinge damage accumulation model that is able to replicate the nonlinear response of I-shaped beams of steel moment resisting frames. The model is developed in OpenSees and consists of a beam with hinges element with fiber cross-section discretization within the plastic hinge zone. Among various plastic hinge integr...

Purpose Differential settlement between foundations’ elements induces additional stresses in the structural elements. In general, the amount of settlement that a structure can undergo without distress is large, provided that the structure settles uniformly. However, based on the fact that the soil under the foundation may not be uniform in nature a...

This Vibration-based method for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) utilizes the dynamic response of a structure measured using a set of sensors to identify the modal properties and potential structural damage. Signal processing tools are widely used for analyzing and diagnosing these response signals. Change in the dynamic characteristics of a stru...

The study described in this paper investigated the effects of a mega-thrust subduction earthquake on the seismic performance of moderately ductile concentrically braced frame multi-storey office buildings (MD-CBF) located on Site Class C in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Using data from the 2011 Mw9 Tohoku subduction earthquake in Japan and worldwide crus...

The concept of seismic resilience is defined as the capability of a system to maintain a level of functionality or performance in the aftermath of an earthquake event. In the research reported in this paper, a methodology for the seismic resilience assessment of existing braced-frame office buildings was developed. In this context, damage levels we...

Concentrically braced frames (CBFs) with a tension-compression bracing system dissipate hysteretic energy when braces yield in tension and buckle in compression, whereas the hysteretic response of hallow structural section (HSS) braces varies with brace slenderness, width-to-thickness ratio, and yield strength. Modelling the nonlinear response of b...

In this paper, the behaviour of dissipative brace-column connection devices is emphasized. The computation is carried out for a single- and double-pin connection device, where the pins are displaced in two configurations: in-parallel and in-line. The study is conducted by using the theoretical and the OpenSees beam model under monotonic and cyclic...

The tied braced frame (TBF) system was developed to achieve uniform seismic inelastic demand along the height of multistorey eccentrically braced steel frames. A modular tied braced frame (M-TBF) configuration has been recently proposed to reach the same objective while reducing the large axial force demand imposed on the vertical tie members conne...

The aim of this paper is to assess the accuracy of brace models formulated in Drain 2DX and OpenSees by comparing the simulated results with those obtained from experimental tests. Both, Drain 2DX and OpenSees rely on the physical theory brace model. In this study, experimental tests conducted on the behaviour of structural hollow section braces su...

Concentrically braced frames (CBF) are among the most popular structural systems used in Eastern Canada for low-and middle-rise buildings. Across southern Quebec, in the area of St. Lawrence and Ottawa River valleys, existing vulnerable buildings, designed and built prior to the development of modern seismic design codes are at risk due to an incre...

The aim of this paper is a study on the seismic behaviour of a 4-storey moderately ductile Concentrically Braced Frame (CBF) building located on firm soil in Victoria, BC. The nonlinear analysis of the CBF building was carried out using the OpenSees framework and the investigated parameters were: interstorey drift, residual interstorey drift, and t...

There are many existing deteriorated steel bridges that need to be retrofitted. This paper investigates the effectiveness of using carbon fiber-reinforced (CFRP) composite systems in retrofitting deteriorated steel beams. A total of 13 medium-scale steel I-beams with a span of 1.6 m was tested in a four-point bending setup. The tested beams were di...

A numerical model is developed to reproduce the inelastic seismic response of steel bracing members made of back-to-back angles. The model is built up using forced-based beam-column elements with distributed plasticity and fiber discretization of the cross-section in the OpenSees finite element structural analysis framework. The Giuffré-Menegotto-P...

This paper presents the concept of elastic response of braced frame members equipped with dissipative brace-to-column connections. In this study the single-pin connection was chosen to transfer the axial force of the brace to the column. The computer simulation of this single-pin connection, incorporated in a one-storey X-braced frame, was carried...

This study analyses the response of middle-rise (6-stories) steel moment-resisting frame (MRF) with rigid joints subjected to near-field ground motions and also to artificial motions based on equivalent pulses. The near-field ground motions, recorded during the earthquakes in Northridge (1994), in Kobe (1995), and in Chi-Chi Taiwan (1999), show vel...

The eccentrically braced flames with long links, LL-EBFs, is used in practice to safety the architectural demands to obtain free spaces in facades and to reduce lateral displacements. The paper shows that this solution must be used with the precaution, because, in some cases, the braced frames may behave badly than the unbraced frames.