Hindawi

Mathematical Problems in Engineering

Volume 2018, Article ID 4371585, 12 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/4371585

Research Article
Rocking Response Analysis of Self-Centering Walls
under Ground Excitations

Xiaobin Hu , Qinwang Lu , and Yang Yang

School of Civil Engineering, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China

Correspondence should be addressed to Xiaobin Hu; [email protected]

Received 17 November 2017; Revised 30 January 2018; Accepted 18 February 2018; Published 20 March 2018

Academic Editor: Angelo Di Egidio

Copyright © 2018 Xiaobin Hu et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License,
which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

This paper presents a numerical procedure to simulate the rocking response of self-centering walls under ground excitations. To
this aim, the equations of motion that govern the dynamic response of self-centering walls are first formulated and then solved
numerically, in which three different self-centering wall structural systems are considered, that is, (i) including the self-weight
of the wall only, (ii) including posttensioned tendon, and (iii) including both posttensioned tendon and dampers. Following the
development of the numerical procedure, parametric studies are then carried out to investigate the influence of a variety of factors
on the dynamic response of the self-centering wall under seismic excitations. The investigation results show that within the cases
studied in this paper the installation of posttensioned tendon is capable of significantly enhancing the self-centering ability of the
self-centering wall. In addition, increasing either the initial force or the elastic stiffness of the posttensioned tendon can reduce
the dynamic response of the self-centering wall in terms of the rotation angle and angular velocity, whereas the former approach
is found to be more effective than the latter one. It is also revealed that the addition of the dampers is able to improve the energy
dissipation capacity of the self-centering wall. Furthermore, for the cases studied in this paper the yield strength of the dampers
appears to have a more significant effect on the dynamic response of the self-centering wall than the elastic stiffness of the dampers.

1. Introduction walls and established an analytical model using fiber beam-

column elements in DRAIN-2DX to investigate its seismic
In performance-based earthquake engineering, the residual performance. Subsequently, Perez [13] developed a trilinear
deformation of structures has been recognized as a com- idealized base shear-lateral drift response curve for SC
plementary parameter in the evaluation of structural (and precast concrete walls under monotonic lateral loading and
nonstructural) damage [1, 2]. As such, self-centering (SC) conducted experiments consisting of five SC precast concrete
seismic resisting systems have attracted considerable research walls under combined gravity and lateral loads. Furthermore,
interests within the earthquake engineering community [3– Toranzo et al. [14, 15] proposed a SC confined masonry wall
9]. As a typical SC structure, the SC wall is mainly com- and conducted shake-table experimental tests. The author
posed of three components: the wall, the posttensioned (PT) also constructed a numerical model for the SC confined
tendon, and the dampers. In contrast to conventional shear masonry wall, in which the wall is modeled by diagonal struts
wall structures, the SC wall is anticipated to rock about the and the rocking behavior at the base is simulated by a group of
foundation by taking advantage of the gap-opening behavior contact springs. In a different way, Belleri et al. [16] performed
of horizontal connections at the base or along the height of finite element modeling of rocking walls in order to high-
the wall. light the differences between different modeling techniques
In view of the significance of SC walls, a number of studies comprising 3D, 2D, and 1D elements using nonlinear static
on the static and dynamic performance of SC walls have and dynamic analysis approaches. The finite element models
been carried out mainly through numerical and experimental considered in their study adopt nonlinear brick and plane-
methodologies. For instance, Kurama et al. [10–12] put stress plate elements, fiber beam elements, compression only
forward a seismic design approach for SC precast concrete springs, and concentrated rotational springs. In addition to
2 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

2b

F）Ｎ F）Ｎ
2ℎ M） M）
mg mg mg
 r
<0 >0
O üＡ (t) O O üＡ (t) O O üＡ (t) O

(a) Original position (b) Rotating about 𝑂󸀠 (c) Rotating about 𝑂

Figure 1: Mechanical analysis of the SC wall considering only its self-weight.

the above-mentioned studies, a number of research works since this assumption was widely adopted in the aforemen-
have also been reported in [17–25], concerning a variety of tioned literatures [10, 13, 15]. In addition, the slab carried by
the experimental, numerical, or analytical investigations on the wall is ignored although its mass can be lumped to the SC
the mechanical or seismic performance of SC walls. wall in order to consider its inertia effect. The configuration
In general, the analytical and numerical models of SC of the wall at the initial position is shown in Figure 1(a), where
walls in the above-mentioned studies can be classified into 2ℎ, 2𝑏, and 𝑟 represent the height, the width, and half the
two categories. One category involves using structural ele- length of the diagonal, respectively, and 𝛼 is the angle between
ments such as beam, truss, and spring elements, which the height of the wall and the diagonal of the wall. In the
is normally exploited in research-based structural analysis meantime, 𝑚g indicates the self-weight of the wall, while 𝑢̈g
programs such as DRAIN-2DX and OpenSees. The other cat- denotes the acceleration of the ground motion, which has the
egory, which is commonly adopted in general-purpose finite positive direction shown in Figure 1(a). It is assumed that
element software packages such as ANSYS and ABAQUS, when subjected to ground excitations, the SC wall only rocks
utilizes 2D or 3D elements to model the wall and contact without sliding, as seen in Figures 1(b) and 1(c), where 𝜃 is the
elements to simulate the interaction between the wall and the rotation angle of the SC wall, which is supposed to be positive
foundation. It is however noted that although these two types for the wall rotating about point 𝑂 and negative in case of
of numerical models are able to realistically simulate the rotating about 𝑂󸀠 .
structural behavior of SC walls, it is difficult to determine the
parameters related to the springs or the contact elements. 2.2. Equation of Motion
Similar to SC walls, rigid structures such as electrical
equipment might also enter into rocking motion under strong 2.2.1. Rotating about 𝑂󸀠 . When the wall rotates about 𝑂󸀠 , as
ground shaking that occasionally results in overturning. seen in Figure 1(b), the tangential inertial force 𝐹It and the
Considerable studies pertaining to the rocking response of inertial moment 𝑀I are
the rigid blocks can be found in the literatures (e.g., among
others, [26–35]). In these studies, the rocking responses of 𝐹It = 𝑚 {−𝜃̈ (𝑡) 𝑟 − 𝑢̈g (𝑡) cos [𝛼 + 𝜃 (𝑡)]}
rigid blocks are investigated both theoretically and numer- (1)
ically considering different ground excitations. Motivated 𝑀I = −𝐼cg 𝜃̈ (𝑡) ,
by these works, this paper presents a numerical analysis
approach to investigate the dynamic behavior of SC walls where 𝐼cg = 𝑚𝑟2 /3 is the moment of inertia of the wall
subjected to ground excitations. To address the issue, the about its centroid. According to the D’Alembert principle, the
equations of motion that govern the rocking response of three following moment equilibrium equation can be established
different SC wall structural systems are first formulated and
𝐼0 𝜃̈ (𝑡) + 𝑚g𝑟 sin [−𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)]
then solved numerically, which include (i) considering the (2)
self-weight of the wall only, (ii) considering PT tendon, and = −𝑚𝑢̈g (𝑡) 𝑟 cos [−𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] ,
(iii) considering both PT tendon and dampers. After that,
parametric studies are then conducted to examine the influ- where 𝐼0 = 𝐼cg +𝑚𝑟2 is the moment of inertia of the wall about
ences of a variety of factors on the dynamic behavior of the point 𝑂󸀠 .
SC wall under seismic excitations.
2.2.2. Rotating about 𝑂. When the wall rotates about 𝑂, as
2. Rocking Response of the SC Wall under shown in Figure 1(c), 𝐹It and 𝑀I become
Self-Weight Only 𝐹It = 𝑚 {𝜃̈ (𝑡) 𝑟 + 𝑢̈g (𝑡) cos [𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)]}
2.1. General Description of the Problem. For the convenience (3)
of theoretical derivation, the wall is treated as a rigid body 𝑀I = 𝐼cg 𝜃̈ (𝑡) .
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 3

2b

F）Ｎ F）Ｎ
2ℎ M） M）
mg mg mg
 r
O O O <0 O O  > 0 O
fＪ fＪ
üＡ (t) üＡ (t) üＡ (t)

(a) Original position (b) Rotating about 𝑂󸀠 (c) Rotating about 𝑂

Figure 2: Mechanical analysis of the SC wall including the PT tendon.

Similarly, the following moment equilibrium equation where 𝜃0 and 𝜃0̇ are the initial rotation angle and angular
can be achieved velocity of the SC wall. Combining (7a), (7b), and (8) yields

𝐼0 𝜃̈ (𝑡) + 𝑚g𝑟 sin [𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] 1 2 𝑎g 𝑝 2

(4) 𝜃 (𝑡) = sin 𝛼 (𝑝𝑡) + ( ) cos 𝛼 sin 𝑤g 𝑡 + 𝐶1 𝑡
= −𝑚𝑢̈g (𝑡) 𝑟 cos [𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] . 2 g 𝑤g (9a)
+ 𝐶2 , 𝜃 < 0
2.3. Linearization of the Equation of Motion. Eqs. (2) and
(4) form the governing equations of motion of the SC wall 1 2 𝑎g 𝑝 2
under seismic excitations. To derive the analytical solutions, 𝜃 (𝑡) = − sin 𝛼 (𝑝𝑡) + ( ) cos 𝛼 sin 𝑤g 𝑡
2 g 𝑤g (9b)
the equations need to be further linearized. Assuming that the
rotation of the wall is sufficiently small leads to the following + 𝐶3 𝑡 + 𝐶4 , 𝜃 > 0,
approximation
where
−𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡) ≈ −𝛼,
(5a) 𝑎g 𝑝2
𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡) ≈ 𝛼 𝐶1 = 𝐶3 = 𝜃0̇ − cos 𝛼 (10a)
g 𝑤g
𝜃 (𝑡) 𝐶2 = 𝐶4 = 𝜃0 .
cos ≈ 1, (10b)
2 (5b)
sin 𝜃 (𝑡) ≈ 𝜃 (𝑡) . 3. Rocking Response of the SC
Wall with PT Tendon
Furthermore, sine excitation is adopted in the present study,
that is, In order to study the influence of the PT tendon on the
dynamic response of the SC wall under earthquake excita-
𝑢̈g (𝑡) = 𝑎g sin 𝑤g 𝑡, (6) tions, a PT tendon is incorporated into the SC wall system and
placed along the vertical center line of the SC wall, as shown in
where 𝑎g and 𝑤g are the amplitude and exciting frequency of Figure 2(a). It is also assumed that the PT tendon behaves
the excitation, respectively. in a linear elastic manner during the entire loading process
Substituting (5a), (5b), and (6) into (2) and (4) yields which has been verified by a number of experimental studies
concerning SC walls [20, 23, 24]. For convenience, the wall is
𝑎g
𝜃̈ (𝑡) = − 𝑝2 cos 𝛼 sin 𝑤g 𝑡 + 𝑝2 sin 𝛼, 𝜃 < 0 (7a) still assumed to be a rigid body neglecting the deformation
g concentrating on the contact region between the wall and the
𝑎g PT tendon [21].
𝜃̈ (𝑡) = − 𝑝2 cos 𝛼 sin 𝑤g 𝑡 − 𝑝2 sin 𝛼, 𝜃 > 0, (7b)
g
3.1. Equation of Motion
where 𝑝 = √3g/(4𝑟).
3.1.1. Rotating about Point 𝑂󸀠 . When the wall rotates about
The following initial condition is assumed
point 𝑂󸀠 , as shown in Figure 2(b), the force 𝑓p in the PT
tendon is
𝜃 (0) = 𝜃0 ,
(8) 𝜃 (𝑡)
𝜃̇ (0) = 𝜃0̇ , 𝑓p = 𝑓p0 − 2𝑘p 𝑏 sin , (11)
2
4 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

2b

F）Ｎ f(x, x)̇

F）Ｎ kＭ
M） M） fy
2ℎ
mg mg mg kＭ
 r
O O  > 0 xy x
O O <0 O O

Damper 2 Damper 1 f(x2 , x2̇ ) fＪ f(x1 , x1̇ ) f(x2 , x2̇ ) fＪ f(x1 , x1̇ )
üＡ (t) üＡ (t) üＡ (t)

(a) Original position (b) Rotating about 𝑂󸀠 (c) Rotating about 𝑂 (d) Hysteresis model of the
damper

Figure 3: Mechanical analysis of the SC wall including both the PT tendon and dampers.

where 𝑓p0 and 𝑘p are the initial force and the elastic stiffness Considering the initial condition as in (8), the solution to
of the tendon, respectively. (15a) and (15b) can be derived as
According to the D’Alembert principle, the following
𝛾
moment equilibrium equation can be obtained 𝜃 (𝑡) = 𝐶1 cos (𝑝√𝛽𝑡) + 𝐶2 sin (𝑝√𝛽𝑡) +
𝛽
𝜃 (𝑡) (16a)
𝐼0 𝜃̈ (𝑡) + 𝑚g𝑟 sin [−𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] − 𝑓p0 𝑏 cos cos 𝛼 𝑎g
2 (12) − sin 𝑤g 𝑡, 𝜃<0
𝛽 − 𝑤g2 /𝑝2 g
+ 𝑘p 𝑏2 sin 𝜃 (𝑡) = −𝑚𝑢̈g (𝑡) 𝑟 cos [−𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] .
𝛾
𝜃 (𝑡) = 𝐶3 cos (𝑝√𝛽𝑡) + 𝐶4 sin (𝑝√𝛽𝑡) −
3.1.2. Rotating about Point 𝑂. When the wall rotates about 𝛽
point 𝑂, as shown in Figure 2(c), the force in the PT tendon (16b)
cos 𝛼 𝑎g
is − sin 𝑤g 𝑡, 𝜃 > 0,
𝛽 − 𝑤g2 /𝑝2 g
𝜃 (𝑡)
𝑓p = 𝑓p0 + 2𝑘p 𝑏 sin . (13) where
2
𝛾
𝐶1 = 𝜃0 − (17a)
Accordingly, the moment equilibrium equation becomes 𝛽
𝛾
𝜃 (𝑡) 𝐶3 = 𝜃0 +
𝐼0 𝜃̈ (𝑡) + 𝑚g𝑟 sin [𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] + 𝑓p0 𝑏 cos 𝛽
(17b)
2 (14)
+ 𝑘p 𝑏2 sin 𝜃 (𝑡) = −𝑚𝑢̈g (𝑡) 𝑟 cos [𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] . 𝜃0̇ cos 𝛼 (𝑤g /𝑝) 𝑎g
𝐶2 = 𝐶4 = + . (17c)
𝑝√𝛽 √𝛽 𝛽 − 𝑤g2 /𝑝2 g
3.2. Linearization of the Equation of Motion. Eqs. (12) and
(14) constitute the governing equations of motion of the SC
wall considering the PT tendon under ground excitations. 4. Rocking Response of the SC
For comparison purposes, the same sine excitation as in (6) Wall considering Both the PT
and the small rotation assumption are still applied here. As a Tendon and Dampers
result, (12) and (14) can be recast as
In this section, both the PT tendon and dampers are added to
𝑎g the SC wall, the objective of which is to study the influence of
𝜃̈ (𝑡) + 𝑝2 𝛽𝜃 (𝑡) = − 𝑝2 cos 𝛼 sin 𝑤g 𝑡 + 𝑝2 𝛾, the dampers on the dynamic response of the SC wall under
g (15a) ground excitations. It is supposed that dampers are installed
𝜃<0 near the two ends of the wall bottom, as shown in Figure 3(a).
The restoring forces of the two dampers are 𝑓1 (𝑥1 , 𝑥1̇ ) and
𝑎g 𝑓2 (𝑥2 , 𝑥2̇ ), respectively, as seen in Figure 3(b), where 𝑥1 and
𝜃̈ (𝑡) + 𝑝2 𝛽𝜃 (𝑡) = − 𝑝2 cos 𝛼 sin 𝑤g 𝑡 − 𝑝2 𝛾,
g (15b) 𝑥2 represent the displacements of the two dampers and 𝑥1̇
and 𝑥2̇ represent the velocities of the dampers. The bilinear
𝜃 > 0, elastoplastic model is adopted to describe the hysteresis
behavior of the dampers, as seen in Figure 3(d), where 𝑓y ,
where 𝛽 = 𝑘p 𝑏2 /𝑚g𝑟 and 𝛾 = sin 𝛼 + 𝑓p0 𝑏/𝑚g𝑟. 𝑥y , 𝑘s , and 𝜂 represent the yield force, the yield displacement,
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 5

the elastic stiffness, and the postyield stiffness coefficient, re- Eqs. (22) and (23) can be combined into the following
spectively. compact form

4.1. Mathematic Description of the Hysteresis of the Damper. 𝜃̈ (𝑡) = −𝑝2 {sin [𝛼 sgn [𝜃 (𝑡)] − 𝜃 (𝑡)] + sgn [𝜃 (𝑡)]
For the damper with bilinear hysteresis, the restoring force
can be written as follows [36] 2
𝑓p0 𝑏 𝜃 (𝑡) 𝑘p 𝑏
⋅ cos + sin 𝜃 (𝑡)
𝑓 (𝑥, 𝑥)̇ = 𝜂𝑘s 𝑥 + (1 − 𝜂) 𝑘s 𝑧 (18a) 𝑚g𝑟 2 𝑚g𝑟

𝑧̇ = 𝑥̇ [1 − 𝜀 (𝑥)̇ 𝜀 (𝑧 − 𝑥y ) − 𝜀 (−𝑥)̇ 𝜀 (−𝑧 − 𝑥y )] , (18b) + {𝜀 [−𝜃 (𝑡)] 𝑓1 (𝑥, 𝑥)̇ + 𝜀 [𝜃 (𝑡)] 𝑓2 (𝑥, 𝑥)}
̇ (24)

2𝑏 𝜃 (𝑡) 𝑢̈g
where 𝑧 is the hysteresis displacement and 𝜀(⋅) is the unit step ⋅ sgn [𝜃 (𝑡)] cos +
𝑚g𝑟 2 g
function defined as follows

{0, 𝑥<0 ⋅ cos [𝛼 sgn [𝜃 (𝑡)] − 𝜃 (𝑡)]} ,

𝜀 (𝑥) = { (19)
1, 𝑥 ≥ 0.
{ where sgn(⋅) is the sign function.
When the rotation angle of the SC wall reverses (𝜃 = 0),
It is noted that the above equations are applicable for
an impact between the wall and the foundation will take
the two dampers. When the wall rotates about point 𝑂󸀠 , the
place. Supposing that the rotation varies smoothly during
displacements of the two dampers are
impact, the relationship between the angular velocity of
the SC wall before impact and that after impact can be deter-
𝜃 (𝑡)
𝑥1 = −4𝑏 sin . (20a) mined approximately through the conservation of momen-
2 tum as follows [30]
𝑥2 = 0 (20b)
𝐼0 𝜃1̇ − 𝑚𝜃1̇ 2𝑏𝑟 sin 𝛼 = 𝐼0 𝜃2̇ , (25)
When the wall rotates about point 𝑂, the displacements are where 𝜃1̇ and 𝜃2̇ are the angular velocity before and after
then changed to impact. Manipulating (25) then gives

𝑥1 = 0 (21a) 𝜃2̇ 3
𝑘= = 1 − sin2 𝛼, (26)
𝜃1̇ 2
𝜃 (𝑡)
𝑥2 = 4𝑏 sin . (21b)
2 where 𝑘 is the ratio of the angular velocity of the SC wall after
impact to that before impact. It is noted that the value of 𝑘 is
4.2. Equation of Motion. When the wall rotates about point generally smaller than 1.0, indicating the energy dissipation
𝑂󸀠 , as shown in Figure 3(b), utilizing the D’Alembert prin- due to impact.
ciple, the following moment equilibrium equation can be
obtained 4.3. Numerical Simulation. Due to the highly nonlinear
nature inherent in the aforementioned differential equations,
𝜃 (𝑡)
𝐼0 𝜃̈ (𝑡) + 𝑚g𝑟 sin [−𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] − 𝑓p0 𝑏 cos the MATLAB/Simulink software [37] is employed to obtain
2 the numerical solutions to the differential equations. The
𝜃 (𝑡) Simulink model is schematically shown in Figure 4, which
+ 𝑘p 𝑏2 sin 𝜃 (𝑡) − 2𝑓1 (𝑥, 𝑥)̇ 𝑏 cos (22)
is mainly composed of seven modules or subsystems in total,
2 that is, the ground excitation module, the wall subsystem, the
= −𝑚𝑢̈g (𝑡) 𝑟 cos [−𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] . PT tendon subsystem, the damper subsystem, two integration
modules, and the output module. The ground excitation
On the other hand, in case of rotating about point 𝑂, as module can be used to input various types of excitations such
shown in Figure 3(c), the corresponding moment equilibrium as harmonic excitation, pulse excitation, and seismic excita-
equation is then expressed as tion. The parameters associated with the subsystems include
(i) 2𝑏, 2ℎ, and 𝑚 (the wall subsystem), (ii) 𝑓p0 and 𝑘p
𝜃 (𝑡) (the PT tendon subsystem), and (iii) 𝑓y and 𝑘s , and 𝜂 (the
𝐼0 𝜃̈ (𝑡) + 𝑚g𝑟 sin [𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] + 𝑓p0 𝑏 cos damper subsystem). The Integration 1 module is intended for
2
simulating the impact between the SC wall and the founda-
𝜃 (𝑡) (23) tion by modifying the angular velocity after impact through
+ 𝑘p 𝑏2 sin 𝜃 (𝑡) + 2𝑓2 (𝑥, 𝑥)̇ 𝑏 cos
2 the Gain module. It is worth noting that the Simulink model
can also be used to reproduce the dynamic responses of
= −𝑚𝑢̈g (𝑡) 𝑟 cos [𝛼 − 𝜃 (𝑡)] . the SC wall under various circumstances provided that the
6 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

Out 1 In 1

The PT tendon subsystem

Out 1 In 1

Out 2 In 2

− The damper subsystem

− Integration 1 Integration 2
−
Out 1 In 1 Out 1 − 1 1
In 2 Out 2 − s s
Ground excitation x0
The wall subsystem Output
Sum

k
Gain

Figure 4: Simulink model of the SC wall under the ground excitation.

1.0 Table 1: Summary of parameters utilized in the numerical example.

Parameters Value
0.5 ℎ (m) 1.5
Wall panel 𝑏 (m) 0.5
𝑚 (kg) 1176
üＡ /g

0.0 𝑓p0 (kN) 3.11

PT tendon
𝑘p (kN/mm) 2.43
𝑎g (g) 1.0
−0.5 Sine excitation
𝑤g (rad/s) 4.8

−1.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6
t (s) 5. Effect of the PT Tendon and Dampers on
Figure 5: The sine pulse ground excitation. the Rocking Response of the SC Wall
The above sections give the equations governing the rocking
responses of SC walls and the corresponding analytical and
numerical solutions under three different cases. In this sec-
corresponding subsystems are added or discarded. For exam- tion, two examples are designed to investigate the influence
ple, if the PT tendon and damper subsystems are both deleted, of the PT tendon and dampers on the rocking responses of
the model can thus be applied to simulate the dynamic the SC wall, respectively.
response of the SC wall considering only its self-weight.
To verify the validity and accuracy of the above model, 5.1. Influence of the PT Tendon. To illustrate the influence of
the dynamic responses of the free-standing block under sine the PT tendon on the dynamic response of the SC wall, a
pulse excitation displayed in Figure 5 are computed and numerical example is developed here, in which a sine excita-
compared to those reported by Zhang and Makris [30]. In tion as defined in (6) is used. The amplitude of sine excitation
the verification, 𝛼 = 0.25 and 𝑝 = 2.14 rad/s as well as 𝑎g is intentionally set to 1.0g, which is large enough to topple
other parameters are taken from their study. Figure 6 shows the SC wall solely considering its self-weight according to the
the computed time histories of rotation angle and angular results given by Zhang and Makris [30]. It is assumed that the
velocity for the block. It can be seen that the simulated results SC wall rotates about 𝑂󸀠 and has zero initial conditions, that
agree well with those by Zhang and Makris, indicating that is, 𝜃0 = 𝜃0̇ = 0. Other relevant parameters considered in the
the Simulink model developed in this paper does a pretty example are given in Table 1.
good job in reproducing the response behavior of the stand- Figure 7 displays time history curves of the rotation
ing block under ground excitations. angle of the SC wall under the sine excitation before and
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 7

1.5 0.4

1.0
0.2

0.5

/p
/

0.0

̇
0.0

−0.2
−0.5

−1.0 −0.4
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 0 1 2 3 4 5 6
t (s) t (s)

Results of Zhang and Makris (2001) Results of Zhang and Makris (2001)
Results obtained in this paper Results obtained in this paper
(a) Rotation angle (b) Angular velocity

Figure 6: Comparison of dynamic responses.

after adding the PT tendon obtained by (9a) and (16a) and 0.1
Simulink simulation, respectively. It can be seen that the
Simulink simulation results approach well with those from 0.0
the theoretical linearization solutions especially under small
rotation angle, verifying again the computational accuracy of
−0.1
the Simulink models. In addition, the rotation angle of the SC
 (rad)

wall without the PT tendon appears to be monotonically

increasing, indicating that the wall may topple over. On the −0.2
contrary, the rotation angle of the SC wall firstly rises and then
drops after the addition of the PT tendon, implying that in the −0.3
case studied the PT tendon can effectively control the rotation
and substantially improve the self-centering ability of the SC
wall. −0.4
0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6
t (s)
5.2. Influence of the Dampers. To investigate the influence
Without the PT tendon (by Equation (9a))
of damper on the rocking response of the SC wall, another Without the PT tendon (by Simulink)
example is devised here. The parameters of the dampers are Adding the PT tendon (by Equation (16a))
𝑓y = 1.78 kN, 𝑘s = 10.0 kN/mm, and 𝜂 = 0.01. Adding the PT tendon (by Simulink)
Other parameters are identical with those listed in Table 1,
except for that the 1940 El Centro N-S earthquake record is Figure 7: Effect of the PT tendon on the dynamic response of the
used alternatively. Figure 8 shows the accelerogram of the SC wall.
earthquake recording, in which the peak acceleration has
been scaled to the same amplitude value as in the sine pulse
excitation. including the PT tendon fluctuates around the zero axis and
Figures 9 and 10 present the time history graphs of the approaches virtually zero in the end. These observations are
rotation angle and angular velocity of the SC wall under consistent with those discussed in Section 5.1, which further
seismic excitation, respectively, in which three different demonstrates that the PT tendon is capable of significantly
scenarios are considered, that is, (i) considering only the self- improving the self-centering ability of the SC wall in the case
weight (without the PT tendon and dampers), (ii) adding studied.
only the PT tendon, and (iii) adding both the PT tendon and From Figures 9(b) and 10, it can also be noticed that after
dampers. Figure 11 shows the hysteresis curve of the dampers. the addition of the dampers, the rotation angle amplitude
It can be seen from Figure 9(a) that when considering of the SC wall gets reduced remarkably from 0.035 rad to
solely the self-weight, the rotation angle of the SC wall goes 0.015 rad, and the angular velocity amplitude drops from
up drastically and it overturns eventually at about 6 s since 0.56 rad/s to 0.37 rad/s. In addition, the time resetting the SC
the rotation angle reaches nearly 𝜋/2; that is, the wall has wall at the original position decreases significantly. This can
already lain down on the ground. On the contrary, as be explained by the fact that the dampers consume a large
shown in Figure 9(b), the rotation angle of the SC wall amount of energy, as displayed in Figure 11, and thus improve
8 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

Table 2: Earthquake records used for the parametric study.

Number Record Distance to epicenter (km) Duration (s) PGA (cm/s2 )

EQ01 Loma Prieta, 1989, Gilroy 12 39.98 950.93
EQ02 North Palm Springs, 1986 6.7 59.98 967.61
EQ03 North Palm Springs, 1986 6.7 59.98 999.43
EQ04 Northridge, 1994, Sylmar 6.4 59.98 801.44
EQ05 Northridge, 1994, Newhall 6.7 59.98 664.93

1.0 Figure 12 shows the maximum rotation angle and angular

velocity of the SC wall subjected to the selected earthquake
0.5 ground motions for various values of 𝑓p0 . For all the cases,
𝑘p is set to be 3.0 kN/mm. It can be found that for most of
the records, the response amplitudes of the SC wall deceases
üＡ /g

0.0
remarkably with the increase of 𝑓p0 . For example, when
−0.5
subjected to the EQ02 ground motion, the peak values of
the rotation angle and angular velocity of the SC wall for 𝑓p0
of 6.0 kN drop by 67 percent and 53 percent, respectively,
−1.0
as compared to those for 𝑓p0 of 1.0 kN. On the average, the
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
values of the maximum rotation angle and angular velocity
t (s) of the SC wall subjected to the selected records decrease by
Figure 8: El Centro record. 69% and 50%, respectively, when the value of 𝑓p0 increases
from 1.0 kN to 6.0 kN. On the basis of the above observations,
it is concluded that increasing the initial force of the PT
tendon considerably lessens the dynamic response of the SC
the energy dissipation capacity of the SC wall. In addition, the wall in terms of rotation angle and angular velocity and thus
computed hysteresis curve of the dampers is of bilinear shape, enhances the self-centering ability of the SC wall.
showing that the Simulink model developed in the paper can Figure 13 shows the peak rotation angle and angular
properly capture the hysteresis behavior of the dampers. velocity of the SC wall subjected to the selected earthquake
ground motions for various values of 𝑘p considered in this
6. Parametric Study study. For all the cases, 𝑓p0 is set to be 3.0 kN. Similar to
the observations made earlier, the peak values of the rotation
6.1. Ground Motion Records. A parametric study is carried angle and angular velocity of the SC wall generally go down
out in this section to further investigate the influence of as 𝑘p increases. On the average, the maximum values of the
a variety of parameters pertaining to the PT tendon and rotation angle and angular velocity of the SC wall decrease
dampers on the dynamic response of self-centering walls by 46 percent and 24 percent, respectively as 𝑘p increases
under earthquake excitations. The geometry (ℎ and 𝑏) and from 1.0 kN/mm to 8.0 kN/mm. Therefore, increasing the
mass (𝑚) of the SC wall are identical to those in Table 1. A elastic stiffness of the PT tendon also seems to be effective
suite of five real earthquake records, which were used by in reducing dynamic response of the SC wall in terms of
Somerville [38], are utilized for the parametric studies. The rotation angle and angular velocity, although it appears to be
ground motion parameters for the utilized earthquake less effective than increasing the initial force.
recordings are summarized in Table 2.
6.2.2. Effect of Parameter concerning the Dampers. The pa-
6.2. Effect of Parameters on the Dynamic Responses of rameters concerning the dampers involve the yield strength
the SC Wall 𝑓y and the elastic stiffness 𝑘s , which, similar to the parameters
in Section 6.2.1, will be taken as the variables during the
6.2.1. Effect of Parameters Pertaining to the PT Tendon. The parametric study. For all the cases, 𝜂 = 0.01 and the
parameters concerning the PT tendon include the initial force parameters for the PT tendon are kept unchanged as 𝑓po =
𝑓p0 and the elastic stiffness 𝑘p . In the parametric study, the 3.0 kN and 𝑘p = 3.0 kN/mm.
two parameters are made variable while other parameters are Figure 14 presents the maximum rotation angle and angu-
set as constant throughout the study. For all the cases, the lar velocity of the SC wall subjected to the selected earthquake
parameters concerning the dampers are kept unchanged as ground motions for various values of 𝑓y considered in this
𝑓y = 4.0 kN, 𝑘s = 20 kN/mm, and 𝜂 = 0.01. It is noted that study. For all the cases, 𝑘s is set to be 20 kN/mm. Different
these parameter values are determined based on the given from the observations made in Figures 12 and 13, the peak
mechanical properties and geometry dimensions of the PT values of the rotation angle and angular velocity of the SC
tendon and dampers. wall for all the selected records plummet drastically as 𝑓y
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 9

1.5 0.04

1.0
0.02
0.5

 (rad)
 (rad)

0.0 0.00

−0.5
−0.02
−1.0

−1.5 −0.04
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
t (s) t (s)

Only considering the self-weight Only installing the PT tendon

Installing both the PT tendon and dampers
(a) Only considering self-weight (b) Installing both the PT tendon and dampers

Figure 9: Rotation history curves of the SC wall under the ground excitation.

0.8 increases. Generally, the peak values of the rotation angle and
angular velocity of the SC wall descend by 76 percent and
0.4 67 percent, respectively, as 𝑓y ascends from 2.0 kN to 6.0 kN.
This can be attributed to the fact that the dampers with a
 ̇ (rad/s)

larger value of 𝑓y consume more energy than those with a

0.0
smaller 𝑓y . These observations indicate that, instead of adjust-
ing the parameters regarding the PT tendon, increasing the
−0.4 yield strength of the dampers appears to be a more reasonable
and effective approach to lower the dynamic response of the
−0.8 SC wall.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Figure 15 shows the maximum rotation angle and angular
t (s) velocity of the SC wall subjected to the selected earthquake
ground motions for various values of 𝑘s considered in this
Only installing the PT tendon
Installing both the PT tendon and dampers study. For all the cases, 𝑓y is set to be 4.0 kN. It can be seen
that, except for EQ02, the amplitudes of the rotation angle and
Figure 10: Angular velocity history curve of the SC wall after angular velocity of the SC wall exhibit only slight variation
installing both PT tendon and dampers. with the increase of 𝑘s . On the whole, the maximum values of
the rotation angle and angular velocity of the SC wall decrease
by 25 percent and 19 percent, respectively, as 𝑘s increases from
10 kN/mm to 30 kN/mm. Based on the above observations, it
4 can be inferred that the elastic stiffness of the dampers has a
3 relatively insignificant effect on the dynamic response of the
SC wall.
2

1
f (kN)

0 7. Conclusions
−1 In this paper, assuming the SC wall as a rigid standing block,
the equations of motion for different SC wall structural sys-
−2
tems subjected to ground excitations are derived. After that,
−3 numerical simulations are then performed to examine the
−4 rocking response of SC walls under dynamic loading. In addi-
0.000 0.004 0.008 0.012 0.016 tion, parametric studies are also carried out to investigate the
x (m) influence of a variety of factors on the dynamic response of
SC walls. Within the cases studied in this paper, the following
f1
f2
conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The PT tendon can considerably improve the self-
Figure 11: Hysteresis curves of dampers. centering ability of the SC wall. After equipping with the
10 Mathematical Problems in Engineering

0.016 0.4

0.012 0.3

 ̇ (rad/s)
 (rad)

0.008 0.2

0.004 0.1

0.000 0.0
EQ01 EQ02 EQ03 EQ04 EQ05 EQ01 EQ02 EQ03 EQ04 EQ05

fＪ0 = 1.0 kN fＪ0 = 1.0 kN

fＪ0 = 3.0 kN fＪ0 = 3.0 kN
fＪ0 = 6.0 kN fＪ0 = 6.0 kN

(a) Rotation angle (b) Angular velocity

Figure 12: Effect of 𝑓p0 on the dynamic responses of the SC wall.

0.016 0.4

0.012 0.3
 ̇ (rad/s)
 (rad)

0.008 0.2

0.004 0.1

0.000 0.0
EQ01 EQ02 EQ03 EQ04 EQ05 EQ01 EQ02 EQ03 EQ04 EQ05

kＪ = 1.0 kN/mm kＪ = 1.0 kN/mm

kＪ = 3.0 kN/mm kＪ = 3.0 kN/mm
kＪ = 8.0 kN/mm kＪ = 8.0 kN/mm

(a) Rotation angle (b) Angular velocity

Figure 13: Effect of 𝑘p on the dynamic responses of the SC wall.

dampers, the energy dissipation capacity of the SC wall is rotation angle and angular velocity. On the other hand, the
substantially enhanced. elastic stiffness of the dampers is observed to have a lesser
(2) Intensifying either the initial force or the elastic impact on the dynamic response of the SC wall.
stiffness of the PT tendon is able to lower the dynamic
response of the SC wall in terms of rotation angle and angular
velocity, whereas the former approach is found to be more
Disclosure
effective. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations
(3) It is shown that increasing the yield strength of the expressed in this study are those of the authors and do not
dampers appears to be a reliable and effective way of reducing necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Founda-
the dynamic response of the SC wall, particularly in terms of tion of China.
Mathematical Problems in Engineering 11

0.020 0.4

0.016
0.3

0.012

 ̇ (rad/s)
 (rad)

0.2
0.008

0.1
0.004

0.000 0.0
EQ01 EQ02 EQ03 EQ04 EQ05 EQ01 EQ02 EQ03 EQ04 EQ05

fＳ = 2.0 kN fＳ = 2.0 kN
fＳ = 4.0 kN fＳ = 4.0 kN
fＳ = 6.0 kN fＳ = 6.0 kN

(a) Rotation angle (b) Angular velocity

Figure 14: Effect of 𝑓y on the dynamic responses of the SC wall.

0.016 0.4

0.012 0.3
 ̇ (rad/s)
 (rad)

0.008 0.2

0.004 0.1

0.000 0.0
EQ01 EQ02 EQ03 EQ04 EQ05 EQ01 EQ02 EQ03 EQ04 EQ05

kＭ = 10 kN/mm kＭ = 10 kN/mm
kＭ = 20 kN/mm kＭ = 20 kN/mm
kＭ = 30 kN/mm kＭ = 30 kN/mm
(a) Rotation angle (b) Angular velocity

Figure 15: Effect of 𝑘s on the dynamic responses of the SC wall.

Conflicts of Interest residual deformations. Part II: multi-degree of freedom sys-

tems,” Journal of Earthquake Engineering, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 119–
The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest 147, 2003.
regarding the publication of this paper. [2] C. Christopoulos and S. Pampanin, “Towards performance-
based seismic design of MDOF structures with explicit consid-
eration of residual deformations,” ISET Journal of Earthquake
Acknowledgments Technology, vol. 41, no. 1, pp. 53–73, 2004.
[3] M. T. El-Sheikh, R. Sause, S. Pessiki, and L.-W. Lu, “Seismic
This research work was supported by the National Natural
behavior and design of unbonded post-tensioned precast con-
Science Foundation of China under Grant no. 51578429. The crete frames,” PCI journal, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 54–71, 1999.
financial support is gratefully acknowledged.
[4] C. Christopoulos, A. Filiatrault, and B. Folz, “Seismic response
of self-centring hysteretic SDOF systems,” Earthquake Engineer-
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