City Research Online

Abstract

The historical sites and monuments in Egypt are among the most important in the world and conserving this cultural heritage is crucial. The large damages observed in hundreds of monuments and in the Zoser Pyramid after the Cairo Earthquake in 1992 unveiled the fragility of the Egyptian heritage asset to seismic hazards. This paper aims to investigate the use of the innovative non-invasive vibration control device, the vibrating barrier (ViBa) as a potential strategy to mitigate the effects of the seismic action on the Zoser Pyramid. In this regard, a finite element model of the Zoser Pyramid and surrounding soil has been developed. A pertinent ground motion acceleration induced by the 1992 Cairo earthquake event has been simulated through spectral representation method with power spectral density function defined by seismological data available for Saqqara. Moreover, a reduced-order model is implemented to facilitate the design of the ViBa device. The efficiency of the ViBa is assessed by numerical simulation of the finite element model of the ViBa-Soil-Pyramid system. Results show an evident reduction of the acceleration and stresses on the Pyramid, especially in those areas where the damages have been observed.

Publication Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Publisher Keywords:	Vibrating Barriers, Zoser Pyramid, Soil-Structure Interaction
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D051 Ancient History G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GF Human ecology. Anthropogeography T Technology > TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General)
Departments:	School of Science & Technology > Engineering

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