Assessment of the Damage to Critical Industrial Facilities in the 1999 Kocaeli (Izmit) Earthquake in Turkey

Washington University, Saint Louis MO

Investigators

Abstract

CMS-0084737 Gould The object of this research is to explore the failures of two types of critical industrial facilities during the 1999 Kocaeli(Izmit) Earthquake in Turkey. The general tasks are: to study the nonlinear time history response of cooling towers and stacks which failed during the earthquake; to compare the predicted response with the field observations; and to evaluate the adequacy of current design procedures. The research will be conducted in phases, initially considering similar structures in the U.S. for which data is obtainable. Then, the research will focus on the actual structures in Turkey, for which one type will be selected for a more detailed evaluation. The failures of the stacks are thought to have initiated in the vicinity of large holes in the shell wall while the cooling towers suffered column failures. In the initial studies using relatively simple models, the dynamic characteristics of the representative structures will be determined so that a response spectrum analysis can be performed, followed by a local stress analysis. For the structure selected for further evaluation, the dynamic analysis will be carried out considering the nonlinear characteristic of the system.