High-resolution multi-beam bathymetry, 3D and 2D seismic reflection profiles from the South China Sea are used to investigate the morphology, characteristics, origin and implications to petroleum systems of recurrent slope failure in the Qiongdongnan Basin, northern South China Sea. Seven Late Miocene-Holocene mass-transport deposits (MTDs) and numerous submarine canyons were identified on the ...

In this paper, an optimization framework is developed for performance-based seismic design of composite moment frames consisting of concrete filled steel box columns and I-shaped steel beams. Material cost of the structure and seismic damage under severe earthquake ground motions are minimized as objective functions. Two design examples are presented to demonstrate the applicability and efficie...

many old damaged and undamaged building structures do not meet the criteria of modern seismic design codes. such structures need to be seismically enhanced. the main objective of this paper is to propose and validate the effectiveness of an upgrade scheme for non-seismic buildings using steel plate shear walls (spsw). the upgrade is carried out considering a probability-based drift-based criter...

In this article optimal design of shear walls is performed under seismic loading. For practical aims, a database of special shear walls is created. Special shear walls are used for seismic design optimization employing the charged system search algorithm as an optimizer. Constraints consist of design and performance limitations. Nonlinear behavior of the shear wall is taken into account and per...

damage to essential facilities (e.g. lifelines and industrial facilities) due to extreme loads may cause remarkable indirect impact as well as direct physical loss. hence understanding seismic performance of essential facilities is very important in high seismic risk regions. on october 23, 2011 an earthquake of magnitude mw7.2 occurred in van province in eastern turkey. several damages occurre...

The seismic performance of hybrid braces composed of steel and shape memory alloy (SMA) was investigated in this paper. Six types of hybrid braces were used, constituted by SMA content of 0, 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%. A nonlinear dynamic analysis was performed under El Centro earthquake records, with the maximum acceleration of 0.6g and 0.9g. Our results showed that the seismic performance, i.e....

BACKGROUND The number of new world records has decreased substantially in most athletic events in recent years. There has been enormous growth in participation at Masters events, and older athletes have been competing at the highest levels with much younger athletes. However, the progression of athletic performance over time has not been well investigated in Masters athletes. OBJECTIVE AND ME...