Buffalo - Single Joint Seismic Testing with Rinaldi and Joshua-Tree Ground Motions

The objective of this test series is to evaluate the seismic behaviors of the push-on joint after retrofit with Starline® 2000 liner under different type of ground motions and investigate the different behavior of the liner under dynamic loadings in comparison to static loadings.

Two sets of dynamic tests were performed on the East Joint and the West Joint of pipeline specimen SP3 using two different input ground motions, the Rinaldi record from the 1994 Northridge earthquakes and the Joshua-Tree (J-T) record from the 1992 Landers earthquake. These two ground motions were specifically selected because of their representative seismic characteristics. The Rinaldi ground motion is a typical near-field directivity ground motion with strong impulsive displacement, while the J-T ground motion has more uniformly displacement amplitudes over time and represents typical near-field reverse directivity or far-field ground motions.

The East Joint was subjected to three magnitudes of Rinaldi ground motions: 100%, 160%, and 200%. The West Joint was subjected to eight different magnitudes of Joshua-Tree ground motions: 300%, 400%, 500%, 520%, 550%, 570%, 600%, and 900%.