Earthquake Engineering

Question 1

It is the space between two adjacent floors

Answer 1

Story

Question 2

Are rigid horizontal planes used to transfer lateral forces to vertical resisting elements

Answer 2

Diaphragms

Question 3

Refers to a wall designed to resist lateral forces acting in its own plane, typically wind and seismic loads; Stiffened walls are capable of transferring lateral forces from floors and roofs to the foundation.

Answer 3

Shear Wall

Question 4

Refers to the point where the object “suffers” no torque by the effect of the gravitational force acted upon it.

Answer 4

Center of gravity

Question 5

Refers to the center of resistance of a floor or diaphragm against lateral forces; It is the point through which the resultant of the resistance to the applied lateral force acts.

Answer 5

Center of rigidity

Question 6

Refers to the point through which the resultant of the masses of a system acts. It is the point through which the applied lateral force acts.

Answer 6

Eccentricity

Question 7

Refers to the total design lateral force at the base of a structure.

Answer 7

Design seismic base shear

Question 8

Refers to the lateral displacement of one level relative to the level above or below.

Answer 8

Story drift

Question 9

refers to the lateral displacement of the story relative to the base

Answer 9

Story displacement

Question 10

Refers to the discontinuities in a lateral force path

Answer 10

Out-of-plane offsets

Question 11

Refers to the shear stress that occurs when the structure’s center of mass does not coincide with its center of rigidity

Answer 11

Torsional shear stress

Question 12

Refers to the phenomenon that occurs when a building period coincides with the earthquake period.

Answer 12

Resonance

Question 13

Refers to the time period of undamped free vibration of a structure.

Answer 13

Natural period

Question 14

Refers to the rate at which natural vibration is absorbed.; The effect of internal friction, imperfect elasticity of material, slipping, sliding, etc in reducing the amplitude of vibration

Answer 14

Damping

Question 15

Refers to the geographical point on the surface of earth vertically above the focus of the earthquake

Answer 15

Epicenter

Question 16

Refers to the origin/source of the elastic waves inside the earth which cause shaking of ground due to earthquake.

Answer 16

Focus

Question 17

Refers to the capacity to undergo large inelastic deformations without significant loss of strength or stiffness.

Answer 17

Ductility

Question 18

Refers to the state in saturated cohesionless soil wherein the effective shear strength is reduced to negligible value; condition when soil tends to behave like a fluid mass.

Answer 18

Liquefaction

Question 19

Refers to the measure of the strength of shaking during the earthquake

Answer 19

Intensity

Question 20

Refers to the measure of energy released in an earthquake.

Answer 20

Magnitude

Question 21

Refers to the instrument used to record the motion of the ground during an earthquake.

Answer 21

Seismograph

Question 22

Refers to the condition in which the lateral stiffness is less than 70 percent of that in the storey above or less than 80 percent of the average lateral stiffness of the three storeys above.

Answer 22

Soft Storey Irregularity

Question 23

Rrefers to the condition is one in which the storey lateral strength is less than 80 percent of that in the storey above.

Answer 23

Weak Storey Irregularity