Blind Prediction Competition 2019

Blind Prediction Competition 2019

QuakeCoRE, in collaboration with the National Centre for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE), is excited to announce a competition to predict the response of reinforced concrete (RC) structures with torsional irregularities to earthquake shaking. Two half- scale RC structures with torsional irregularities are to be tested under uni-directional shaking at NCREE Tainan in 2019. The Participant with the best predictions (in two categories) shall be awarded NZ$3,000 in travel funding (details are below).

Update (5/12/2019)

Results of the Blind Prediction Competition 2019 can now be found here.

Update (30/9/2019)

• Testing of Specimen-2 was completed recently at the NCREE Tainan Laboratory. 
• The team is currently working on processing the data from the test. 
• We are aiming to announce the winners of the competition in December 2019. 

Description:

Past earthquakes have highlighted the vulnerability to damage and collapse of reinforced concrete buildings with torsional eccentricities/irregularities. The available evidence suggests that the primary issue in these buildings is related to large displacement demands resulting in localized damage or failure of structural elements on the flexible sides. Assessment of such existing structures is critical in seismically active regions and reliable methods to estimate torsional displacement demand could help prioritize retrofit efforts and prevent catastrophic failures in future events.

A series of tests are being conducted to improve and calibrate methods in existing guidelines to estimate drift demands and capture torsional demand. Two ½ scale 7-story RC structures with torsional irregularities are to be tested on the earthquake simulator in the Tainan Lab of NCREE. The specimens are designed to represent RC structures constructed in the past and to have different sources of eccentricities, to study inelastic torsional response.

Timelines:

25 March 2019: Announcement, dissemination of information including drawings, and input ground motion

DEADLINE EXTENDED: 15 May 2019: Deadline for expressions of interest by 5pm (New Zealand Standard time) 

15 May – 10 June 2019: Specimen-1 to be tested at NCREE Tainan Lab

15 June 2019: Distribution of table acceleration records, and material properties measured on test day

DEADLINE EXTENDED: 1 September 2019: Participants to submit results by 5pm (New Zealand Standard time)

1-20 September 2019: Specimen-2 to be tested at NCREE Tainan Lab 

Mid-December: Announcement of winners

Rules:

Participants are welcome to any analysis technique ranging from simple static methods to complex nonlinear dynamic methods. Participants are expected to provide a short description of the methods used, fill out a survey provided by the organizers related to the analysis and results, and provide a copy of their analysis model if they used generally available software packages. The results shall be judged in two categories:

1. non-linear dynamic analysis
2. all other methods

Travel Funding: For an international winner, the travel funding must be used to attend the 2020 QuakeCoRE Annual Meeting. For a domestic winner, they must attend the 2020 Annual Meeting however if they already have travel support to attend the annual meeting, then the travel funds will be available to support other conference travel until 1 Dec 2020. All travel funding will be done based on reimbursement and can only be used to support travel which meets QuakeCoRE’s travel policy.

Deliverables:

• Maximum displacement relative to the table in the X-direction (i.e. direction of shaking) and corresponding diaphragm rotation at first storey and roof
• Maximum absolute acceleration in X-direction at geometric centre of first storey and roof
• Maximum base shear force and overturning moment in X-direction
• Displacement and diaphragm rotation history at first-storey and roof (only for participants in Category-1)
• Copy of analysis model (only for participants in Category-1)

Supporting documentation

Supporting documentation is available to download here.

Please email Ash (qcbp2019@gmail.com) with any questions about the Blind Prediction Test Competition.