Seismic Evaluation and Performance Enhancement of Industrial Storage Racks

The use of industrial storage racks in large warehouse stores and the public’s direct access to merchandise on these racks has significantly increased over the last twenty years. Such racks and their supported merchandise have in some cases performed poorly in past earthquakes as a result of rack failure or product shedding (palletized merchandise falling off shelves). While the warehouse buildings themselves may be adequately designed for seismic effect, the rack performance also significantly impacts the seismic risk to society both in terms of life-safety and economic losses. The seismic behavior of industrial storage racks is fundamentally different than typical civil engineering structures due to the high percentage of mass from the merchandise which is flexible and not fixed to the structural system, as opposed to buildings for example that have significant dead load from relatively rigid sources (floor slabs, members, fixed equipment, etc.). This research first explores the influence of merchandise dynamic characteristics on rack seismic performance. Behavior of the pallet merchandise varies significantly and is quite complex therefore bounding parametric analyses are performed for response assessment. A number of mechanical model increasing in complexity are considered for modeling of the merchandise which includes linear-viscous, and linear-viscous with sliding. Secondly, a simple highly compressed elastomeric damper is proposed to enhance the seismic performance of industrial storage racks by decreasing merchandise damage and probability of merchandise shedding. Finally, the impact of merchandise mass variability on the effectiveness of damped rack is evaluated through parametric seismic analyses.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Sciences

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Civil Engineering

Grantor dc:publisher

Case Western Reserve University School of Graduate Studies

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Gao, Yuan

Contributors dc:contributor

• Pollino, Michael

• Civil Engineering
• elastomer damper
• storage rack
• seismic
• merchandise

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1354905983

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:case1354905983