• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.19-28
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• 2022

In this study, three types of combined isolator consisting of High Damping Rubber Bearing (HDRB) and wire isolator were developed for Uninterruptible Power Supply system (UPS). The dynamic characteristics of the combined isolator were investigated through one-axis shaking table test. The input acceleration were generated in accordance with ICC-ES AC156 code. Scale factors of the input acceleration were designed to be 0.5-2 times the required response spectrum defined in ICC-ES AC156. Based on the test results, damage and dynamic characteristics of the UPS were investigated: including natural frequency, damping ratio, acceleration time history response, dynamic amplification factor and relative displacement. Based on that, it was found that the combined isolator developed in this study could improve the seismic behavior of the UPS, in particular, the response acceleration.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.523-532
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• 2019

Different types of gas reservoir such as Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) are among the strategic infrastructures, and have great importance for any government or their private owners. To keep the tank and its contents safe during earthquakes especially if the contents are of hazardous or flammable materials; using seismic protection systems such as base isolator can be considered as an effective solution. However, the major deficiency of this system can be the large deformation in the isolation level which may lead to the failure of bearing system. In this paper, as a solution, the efficacy of an optimally designed combined vibration control system, the combined laminated rubber isolator and rotational friction damper, is investigated to evaluate the enhancement of an existing metal tank response under both far- and near-field earthquakes. Responses like impulsive and convective accelerations, base shear, and sloshing height are studied herein. The probabilistic framework is used to consider the uncertainties in the structural modeling, as well as record-to-record variability. Due to the high calculation cost of probabilistic methods, a simplified structural model is used. By using the Mont-Carlo simulation approach, it is revealed that this combined isolation system is a highly reliable system which provides considerable enhancement in the performance of reservoir, not only leads to the reduction of probability of catastrophic failure of the tank but also decrease the reservoir damage during the earthquake. Moreover, the relative displacement of the isolation level is controlled very well by this combined system.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.29-38
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• 2022

In this study, the shaking table tests were carried out on six types of non-structural elements installed on a full-scale two-story steel structure. The shaking table tests were performed for non-structural elements with and without seismic isolators. In this study, the seismic performance of Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) specimens was tested and investigated. Non-seismic details were composed of conventional channel section steel beams, and the seismic isolators were composed of high damping rubber bearing (HDRB) and wire isolator. The input acceleration time histories were artificially generated to satisfy the requirements proposed by the ICC-ES AC156 code. Based on the test results, the damage and dynamic characteristics of the UPS with the seismic isolator were investigated in terms of the natural frequency, damping ratio, acceleration time history responses, dynamic amplification factors, and relative displacements. The results from the shaking table showed that the dynamic characteristics of the UPS including the acceleration response were significantly improved when using the seismic isolator.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.561-572
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• 2017

Seismic base isolation has been accepted as one of the most popular design procedures to protect important structures against earthquakes. However, due to lack of information and experimental data the application of base isolation is quite limited to nuclear power plant (NPP) industry. Moreover, the effects of inelastic behavior of soil beneath base-isolated NPP have raised questions to the effectiveness of isolation device. This study applies the wavelet analysis to investigate the effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) on the seismic response of a base-isolated NPP structure. To evaluate the SSI effects, the NPP structure is modelled as a lumped mass stick model and combined with a soil model using the concept of cone models. The lead rubber bearing (LRB) base isolator is used to adopt the base isolation system. The shear wave velocity of soil is varied to reflect the real rock site conditions of structure. The comparison between seismic performance of isolated structure and non-isolated structure has drawn. The results show that the wavelet analysis proves to be an efficient tool to evaluate the SSI effects on the seismic response of base-isolated structure and the seismic performance of base-isolated NPP is not sensitive to the effects in this case.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.513-528
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• 2018

A typical viable technique to decrease the seismic response of liquid storage tanks is to isolate them at the base. Base-isolation systems are an efficient and feasible solution to reduce the vulnerability of structures in high seismic risk zones. Nevertheless, when liquid storage tanks are under long-period shaking, the base-isolation systems could have different impacts. These kinds of earthquakes can damage the tanks readily. Hence, the seismic behaviour and vibration of cylindrical liquid storage tanks, subjected to earthquakes, is of paramount importance, and it is investigated in this paper. The Finite Element Method is used to evaluate seismic response in addition to the reduction of excessive liquid sloshing in the tank when subjected to the long-period ground motion. The non-linear stress-strain behaviour pertaining to polymers and rubbers is implemented while non-linear contact elements are employed to describe the 3-D surface-to-surface contact. Therefore, Nonlinear Procedures are used to investigate the fluid-structure interactions (FSI) between liquid and the tank wall while there is incompressible liquid. Part I, examines the effect of the flexibility of the isolation system and the tank aspect ratio (height to radius) on the tank wall radial displacements of the tank wall and the liquid sloshing heights. Maximum stress and base shear force for various aspect ratios and different base-isolators, which are subjected to three seismic conditions, will be discussed in Part II. It is shown that the composite-base isolator is much more effective than other isolators due to its high flexibility and strength combined. Moreover, the base isolators may decrease the maximum level pertaining to radial displacement.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.1237-1251
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• 2016

Although the horizontal component of an earthquake response can be significantly reduced through the use of conventional seismic isolators, the vertical component of excitation is still transmitted directly into the structure. Records from instrumented structures, and some recent tests and analyses have actually seen increases in vertical responses in base isolated structures under the combined effects of horizontal and vertical ground motions. This issue becomes a great concern to facilities such as a Nuclear Power Plants (NPP), with specialized equipment and machinery that is not only expensive, but critical to safe operation. As such, there is considerable interest worldwide in vertical and three-dimensional (3D) isolation systems. This paper examines several vertical and 3D isolation systems that have been proposed and their potential application to modern nuclear facilities. In particular, a series of case study analyses of a modern NPP model are performed to examine the benefits and challenges associated with 3D isolation compared with horizontal isolation. It was found that compared with the general horizontal isolators, isolators that have vertical frequencies of no more than 3 Hz can effectively reduce the vertical in-structure responses for the studied NPP model. Among the studied cases, the case that has a vertical isolation frequency of 3 Hz is the one that can keep the horizontal period of the isolators as the first period while having the most flexible vertical isolator properties. When the vertical frequency of isolators reduces to 1 Hz, the rocking effect is obvious and rocking restraining devices are necessary.