Seismic Instrumentation Design

This book is a collection of three papers authored by Dr. Raman K Attri between 1999 to 2001. The book presents early-career scientific work by the author as a scientist at a research organization. The book provides a theoretical and conceptual understanding of concepts and principles for detection and measurements of the seismic signals. The earthquake phenomenon is one of the most unpredictable and often devastating natural events. Sophisticated and advanced technologies are being used for monitoring the seismic activities across the world and efforts are being put in place to develop prediction models. The theory behind the design of sensors, instrumentation and monitoring system is usually not known to electronics and software engineers upfront. The papers included in this book provide such basic guidance to electronics and software design engineers and equip them with the key computational and algorithmic principles based on the underlying theory of seismic activities. These design techniques are fundamental to designing sophisticated seismic instrumentation and earthquake monitoring systems. The first paper presents a simplified mathematical framework of the seismic events and backend computational software logic that will enable software engineers to develop a customized seismic analysis and computation software. The second paper presents a simplified description of various earthquake parameters of interest to a seismologist and how these complex parameters are computed using equations. In the third paper, a visionary concept is presented to integrate geo-scientific instrumentation equipment such as seismic measurement systems to information technology network that would create a centralized web-enabled database that would allow transmitting the data acquired by geographically distributed but networked observatories to better predict or alert about the phenomena like earthquakes.

This work provides an up-to-date overview of modern instruments used in earthquake seismology as well as a description of theoretical and practical aspects of seismic instrumentation. The main topics are: • Choosing and installing equipment for seismic stations • Designing and setting up seismic networks and arrays • Maintaining and calibrating seismic instruments It also provides detailed descriptions of the following: • Seismic sensors • Digitizers • Seismic recorders • Communication systems • Software used for seismic station and networks In this second edition, new seismic equipment is presented and more comprehensive sections on topics like MEMS accelerometers, sigma-delta AD converters, dynamic range discussion and virtual networks have been included. This book is primarily intended for seismologists, engineers and technicians working with seismological instruments. It combines practical “know-how” with sufficient theory to explain the basic principles, making it also suitable for teaching students the most important aspects of seismic instrumentation. The book also gives a current overview of the majority of instruments and instrument manufacturers on the market, making it easy to compare the capability of instruments from different sources. SEISAN software was used for several examples in the book. This widely extended seismic analysis software is freely available from the University of Bergen website. The content of this book draws on the authors’ (a seismologist and a physicist) combined experience of working in this field for more than 35 years.

This book features chapters based on selected presentations from the International Congress on Advanced Earthquake Resistance of Structures, AERS2016, held in Samsun, Turkey, from 24 to 28 October 2016. It covers the latest advances in three widely popular research areas in Earthquake Engineering: Performance-Based Seismic Design, Seismic Isolation Systems, and Structural Health Monitoring. The book shows the vulnerability of high-rise and seismically isolated buildings to long periods of strong ground motions, and proposes new passive and semi-active structural seismic isolation systems to protect against such effects. These systems are validated through real-time hybrid tests on shaking tables. Structural health monitoring systems provide rapid assessment of structural safety after an earthquake and allow preventive measures to be taken, such as shutting down the elevators and gas lines, before damage occurs. Using the vibration data from instrumented tall buildings, the book demonstrates that large, distant earthquakes and surface waves, which are not accounted for in most attenuation equations, can cause long-duration shaking and damage in tall buildings. The overview of the current performance-based design methodologies includes discussions on the design of tall buildings and the reasons common prescriptive code provisions are not sufficient to address the requirements of tall-building design. In addition, the book explains the modelling and acceptance criteria associated with various performance-based design guidelines, and discusses issues such as selection and scaling of ground motion records, soil-foundation-structure interaction, and seismic instrumentation and peer review needs. The book is of interest to a wide range of professionals in earthquake engineering, including designers, researchers, and graduate students.

Most of the existing strong motion instrumentation on civil engineering structures is installed and operated as federal, state, university, industry or private applications, in many cases operated as a closed system. This hampers co-operation and data exchange, hampering the acquisition of strong motion and structural data, sometimes even within a single country. There is a powerful need to inform engineers of existing strong motion data and to improve the accessibility of data worldwide. This book will play a role in fulfilling such a need by disseminating state-of-the art information, technology and developments in the strong motion instrumentation of civil engineering structures. The subject has direct implications for the earthquake response of structures, improvements in design for earthquake resistance, and hazard mitigation. Readership: Researchers in earthquake engineering, engineers designing earthquake resistant structures, and producers of strong motion recording equipment.

This Safety Guide provides recommendations on how to meet the applicable safety requirements in relation to the design aspects of new nuclear installations subjected to seismic hazard. These recommendations focus on the consistent application of methods and procedures, in accordance with best practice, for seismic analysis, design, testing and qualification of structures, systems and components. New recommendations include applications of seismic isolation systems, the seismic margin to be achieved by the design and application of the graded approach. This Safety Guide is intended for use by organizations involved in the seismic design of nuclear installations, in analysis, verification and review, and in the provision of technical support, as well as by regulatory bodies.

Solid design and craftsmanship are a necessity for structures and infrastructures that must stand up to natural disasters on a regular basis. Continuous research developments in the engineering field are imperative for sustaining buildings against the threat of earthquakes and other natural disasters. Performance-Based Seismic Design of Concrete Structures and Infrastructures is an informative reference source on all the latest trends and emerging data associated with structural design. Highlighting key topics such as seismic assessments, shear wall structures, and infrastructure resilience, this is an ideal resource for all academicians, students, professionals, and researchers that are seeking new knowledge on the best methods and techniques for designing solid structural designs.

Seismic instrumentation systems are important elements for plant safety. They provide crucial information for the assessment of safety required to restart a plant after a shutdown caused by an earthquake. This publication presents information and experience related to the development of seismic instrumentation systems and the utilization of data recorded by them, based on recent seismic events. The publication is intended to be a reference for developing effective post-earthquake actions/procedures. It describes the typologies of seismic instrumentation systems and their application for obtaining 'earthquake levels' and 'damage indicating parameters' that are used to predict the extent of seismic damage caused by the recorded earthquake motions. It complements IAEA Safety Standards Series No. NS-G-1.6, Seismic Design and Qualification for Nuclear Power Plants, and Safety Reports Series No. 66, Earthquake Preparedness and Response for Nuclear Power Plants, as a technical publication relevant to seismic safety for new and existing nuclear installations.