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Group 1 – SHRA | Poster Abstracts
code designed buildings,allowing for comparison of the economic effects of the updated code for
the scenario event. In principle, by simulating multiple seismic events,consistent with the
probabilistic seismic hazard for a building site, the same basic approach could be used to quantify
the uncertain losses from future earthquakes.
1-041
THE CALTECH VIRTUAL SHAKER Krishnan S
The Caltech Virtual Shaker is a web interface http://virtualshaker.caltech.edu to facilitate the sharing
and exchange of end-to-end simulation research between various groups, and the transfer of endto-end
simulation technology to various stake-holders. The unique features of this interface are a
building model database, a ground-motion database, and a the facility to remotely analyze
structural models on the new Civil Engineering high-performance computing cluster (HPCC) at
Caltech, GARUDA, dedicated for research into end-to-end simulations. Facilitating end-to-end
simulations is a priority science objective for the Southern California Earthquake Center, and the
portal will be an effective tool to help achieve this objective.
The web interface will consist of the following modules:
1. Ground motion database: Simulated ground motion waveforms from various scenarios will be
archived in this database and will be available for remote analysis of structural models through the
E-Analysis facility for use by structural engineers in evaluating the seismic performance of new
construction.
2. Structural model database: One of the difficulties facing the structural engineering research
community is the lack of detailed design information on existing building models. This database
will collate and archive models of existing buildings as well as newly designed buildings accessible
to the entire community to conduct structural engineering studies. The E-Analysis facility
described below will provide the incentive for contributing structural models to this database.
Models of buildings that get submitted for remote analysis using the high-performance computing
cluster at Caltech will automatically be added to the database and will become publicly available
for researchers to access. The database will thus be populated without the need for extensive
solicitation.
3. E-analysis facility: This module will facilitate the remote analysis of structural models on the
dedicated high-performance computing cluster for end-to-end simulations at Caltech. Registered
users will be able to submit structural models for analysis under earthquake ground motion
submitted by them or taken from the ground motion database. The analyses will be queued and
carried out when enough processors become available. Upon completion, an email will be sent to
the user with information on how to download the results. This facility will be made available to
practicing engineers as well.
1-042
IS STRUCTURAL IRREGULARITY ALL THAT BAD? Bjornsson AB, and Krishnan S
In the computational simulation of a magnitude 7.9 San Andreas fault earthquake (similar to the
1857 Fort Tejon earthquake), two present-day 18-story steel moment-frame building models
collapse at many locations under severe long-period, long-duration ground shaking in the San
Fernando and Los Angeles basins. The collapse mechanisms at all these locations were quite
similar and localized in a few stories in the bottom-third of the structure. This observation suggests
the possibility of local retrofitting by the introduction of braces in a few selected stories, thus
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