Paper Title
SEISMIC MITIGATION OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURES THROUGH NOVEL VIBRATING BARRIERS (VIBA)

Abstract
Most techniques used to protect structures from the damaging effects of earthquakes are invasive and require altering the shape and image of the structure, which is not always possible for critical structures, such as historic monuments. However, recently developed technological advances allow for earthquake protection of buildings without ever touching the structure through new novel devices termed ‘Vibrating Barriers (ViBa)’. These devices exploit the beneficial effects of seismic Structure-Soil-Structure Interaction (SSSI) mechanism between neighboring structures to control the vibration of the critical structure. In this presentation, the use of the ViBa is explored for protection of two structures, a standard nuclear containment structure, and the historic stepped Saqqara Pyramid in Egypt. An extensive series of multi-scale numerical analyses have been carried out focusing on the effect of the nonlinear behavior of the structure and soil, and the efficiency of the (ViBa) in mitigating seismic damage. The numerical analyses have been conducted using a commercial three-dimensional finite element modeling software, and were performed under a large number of real earthquake records. Remarkably, the results pointed out that a significant reduction of the maximum structural acceleration and internal forces could be achieved by using the vibrating barrier (ViBa). Bio - Prof. Ashraf Ayoub is currently a Professor of Structural Engineering at City, University of London, UK. He was previously Associate Dean for Corporate Partnerships and the Royal Academy of Engineering Chair of Nuclear Infrastructure at the same institution. He obtained his MSc and PhD degrees from the University of California-Berkeley, was a Post-Doctoral Fellow at Stanford University, and a Faculty member at the University of Houston and the University of Missouri-Rolla, USA. He is a Fellow of the American Concrete Institute (ACI) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and was the past chair of ACI-ASCE Committee 447 (Finite Element Analysis of Reinforced Concrete Structures), and the ASCE committee on Emerging Computing Technologies. He authored over 200 publications in refereed journals and conference proceedings. He serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE and the Journal of Earthquake Engineering.