Design, Construction and Operation of Eccentric Mass Vibrator

Abstract

During last century, there have been more than Ten Thousand earthquakes around the globe, killing millions of humans and causing destruction of worth billions of dollars to infrastructure. A professor from University College of London, Bill McGuire predicted that the changing climate can affect seismicity and could shake up the earth with more amplitude. Increase in Global Temperature results in increase of sea level which ultimately causes higher stresses on earth crust. So, it is time to identify and incorporate major seismic parameters in basic structural design process. Vibrations in structure due to ground accelerations has a major impact on seismic performance of structures. Higher seismic activities are expected with changing environmental conditions. Pakistan is located seismically active region. Proximity of Pakistan to the continental thrust makes the country vulnerable to higher seismic activity. Past has seen effects of 2005 Kashmir earthquake. There is dire need to understand the seismic response of structures in order to safe both the infra structure and human life from disaster. Seismic response of structure is complex. Extensive experimental program can help in understanding the performance of structure under application of seismic loads. Shaking table is one such equipment which allows application of recorded strong motion data. The equipment is too costly; therefore, it is difficult for universities to install such equipment to give now how to the students regarding cyclic response. Understanding the seismic vulnerability of Pakistan and importance for civil Engineers to understand the response of structure to the cyclic response an effort has been made in this project to develop a small-scale Eccentric Mass Vibrator. The developed equipment is capable of stimulating ground motion, within a specified range of accelerations, at the base of multi storey building model. The effect of introduced vibration, at the base of the model, can be studied on the mounted structure with help of different sensitive & precise sensors and micro-controllers. The data can be monitored in real time using a customized programmable software known as Telemetry Viewer and can be saved for later comparison and design process. The developed equipment will be helpful for the faculty and students of MCE in developing better understanding of the seismic