Chengyu Yang

In the absence of experimental investigations on column members of underground structures, full‐scale column specimens were tested to explore the seismic behavior of shallow‐buried subway stations at various depths. The axial compression ratios of internal column specimens were set as 0.16, 0.33, and 0.40. Both hybrid simulations and quasi‐static tests were performed on the station columns. The hybrid simulations illustrated the drift demands of internal columns, while the load‐carrying capacity and deformation capacity were obtained from the quasi‐static tests. Hybrid simulations at low, moderate, and high‐intensity levels were conducted to study the seismic responses of shallow‐buried rectangular stations. The hybrid simulations suggest that the most severe damage occurred in the station when the axial compression ratio of the tested column reached 0.40. Central columns suffered severe stiffness deterioration under high‐level earthquake excitation, especially in stations at greater depths. Meanwhile, the quasi‐static test results indicate that the ultimate load of the central columns increases with increasing axial compression, but this leads to a significant decrease in the ductility of columns. Besides, the sectional analysis results show that the central columns are prone to tension‐controlled failure, and the safety margin for flexural response deteriorates with an increasing axial compression ratio. The test results indicate that shallow‐buried rectangular stations are susceptible to flexure‐controlled structural failure when their central columns possess a relatively low axial compression ratio and a high shear span‐to‐depth ratio. The failure mechanism of station columns is revealed by both the hybrid simulations and quasi‐static tests, and the findings from the full‐scale tests are beneficial for the practical design of shallow‐buried rectangular stations.

During the 1995 Kobe earthquake, damages were observed in the Daikai subway station and adjacent tunnels. It was the first large-scale underground structure that failed under the earthquake excitation. Numerical and experimental analyses have been conducted to study the failure process of the Daikai station. However, the issue of the scale ratio still exists in the shaking table tests of underground structures. In order to tackle this issue, a hybrid simulation technique is developed here to study the seismic performance of a typical subway station. Based on the previous research, it is found that the central column is the critical component of the structure. Therefore, a reinforced concrete central column is physically tested in the hybrid simulation process. On the other hand, the remaining parts of the structure and soil domain are numerically modeled at the same time. Four hybrid simulation cases are conducted with peak ground accelerations of 0.01 g, 0.1 g, 0.22 g, and 0.58 g. The test results of displacement and shear force are compared with the analytical results. Moreover, the good agreement between the test results and numerical results validate the accuracy of the proposed hybrid test method. After the hybrid simulation process, a quasi-static test is conducted to illustrate the mechanical properties of the central column after the earthquake excitation.

Soil station system seismic issues have been highly valued in recent years. In order to investigate the dynamic seismic behaviors of the intermediate column in soil station systems, a hybrid test of a soil station system was conducted. The soil station model was performed with OpenSees. Virtual hybrid simulation was fulfilled with adapter elements. A hybrid model, composed of the steel column specimen and the remainder numerical model, was assembled using the OpenFresco framework. An intermediate column was treated as the physical substructure, while the rest of the soil station system was treated as the numerical substructure in a hybrid simulation. The hybrid test results are compared with the analytical results. The data obtained from such tests show that the system can accurately reflect the mechanical properties of intermediate columns in soil station systems. A hybrid simulation would be a proper way to assess the seismic performance of a soil station system.