• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제20권4호
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• pp.457-471
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• 2021

This study aims at providing a simple and effective methodology to define a meaningful characteristic period for special class of earthquake records named "pulse-like ground motions". In the proposed method, continuous wavelet transform is employed to extract the large pulse of ground motions. Then, Fourier amplitude spectra obtained from the original ground motion and the residual motion is simply compared. This comparison permits to define a threshold pulse-period (Tp∗) as the threshold period above which the pulse component has negligible contributions to the Fourier amplitude spectrum. The effect of pulse on frequency content of motions was discussed on the light of this definition. The advantage and superior features of the new definition were related to the inelastic displacement ratio (IDR) for single-degree-of-freedom systems with period equal to one half of the threshold period. Analyses performed for the proposed period at three ductility levels u=2,4,6 were compared with the results obtained at half of pulse period derived from wavelet analysis, peak-point method and the peak of product of the velocity and the displacement response spectra (Sv x Sd). According to the results, pulse effects on inelastic displacement ratio seem to be more important when $\frac{T_p^*}{T}=2$ (T is the fundamental vibration period of system). The results showed that utilizing of the proposed definition could facilitate an enhanced understanding of pulse-like records features.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.375-388
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• 2022

Nibellen structural system is a novel resilient bracing system based on the application of Bellville disks and Nitinol rods. The cyclic behavior of Nibellen assembly was obtained, and the design equations were developed based on the available literature. Seismic performance of the system was then studied analytically. Two groups of buildings with different lateral force resisting systems were designed and studied: one group with the Nibellen system, and the other with the special concentrically braced frame system. Each building group consisted of 5-, 10-, and 15-story buildings. The Design-Base-Event (DBE) and Maximum Considered Event (MCE) were considered as the seismic hazard, and a suite of seven ground motions were scaled accordingly for response history analyses. Finally, the resiliency of the buildings was studied by obtaining the functionality curve of the buildings before and after the seismic event. The construction cost of the 5-story building with Nibellen bracing system increased but the post-earthquake cost decreased significantly. The application of Nibellen system in the 10- and 15-story buildings reduced both the construction and repair costs, considerably. Resiliency of all the buildings was improved when Nibellen system was used as the lateral force resisting system.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• 제12권5호
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• pp.429-444
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• 2023

The comprehension and structural modeling of masonry constructions is fundamental to safeguard the integrity of built cultural assets and intervene through adequate actions, especially in earthquake-prone regions. Despite the availability of several modeling strategies and modern computing power, modeling masonry remains a great challenge because of still demanding computational efforts, constraints in performing destructive or semi-destructive in-situ tests, and material uncertainties. This paper investigates the shear behavior of masonry walls by applying a plane-stress FE continuum model with the Modified Masonry-like Material (MMLM). Epistemic uncertainty affecting input parameters of the MMLM is considered in a probabilistic framework. After appointing a suitable probability density function to input quantities according to prior engineering knowledge, uncertainties are propagated to outputs relying on gPCE-based surrogate models to considerably speed up the forward problem-solving. The sensitivity of the response to input parameters is evaluated through the computation of Sobol' indices pointing out the parameters more worthy to be further investigated, when dealing with the seismic assessment of masonry buildings. Finally, masonry mechanical properties are calibrated in a probabilistic setting with the Bayesian approach to the inverse problem based on the available measurements obtained from the experimental load-displacement curves provided by shear compression in-situ tests.

• 국제초고층학회논문집
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• 제12권3호
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• pp.251-262
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• 2023

In response to China's "Regulations on the Management of Earthquake Resistance of Building Constructions" on the provision of eight types of important buildings to maintain functional after fortified earthquakes occur, "Guidelines for Seismic Design of post-quake functional buildings (Draft for Review)" distinguishes Class I and Class II buildings, and gives the performance objectives and seismic verification requirements for design earthquakes and severe earthquakes respectively. In this paper, a hospital and a school building are selected as examples to design according to the requirements of fortification of Intensity 8 and 7 respectively. Two design strategies, the seismic isolation scheme and energy dissipation scheme, are considered which are evaluated through elastic-plastic dynamic time-history analysis to meet the requirement of post-quake functional buildings. The results show that the seismic isolation design can meet the requirements in the above cases, and the energy dissipation scheme is difficult to meet the requirements of the "Guidelines" on floor acceleration in some cases, for which the scheme shall be made valid through the seismic resilience assessment. The research in this paper can provide a reference for designers to choose schemes for post-quake functional buildings.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.277-293
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• 2024

Shored Mechanically Stabilized Earth (SMSE) walls are types of soil retaining structures that increase soil stability under static and dynamic loads. The damage caused by an earthquake can be determined by evaluating the probabilistic seismic response of SMSE walls. This study aimed to assess the seismic performance of SMSE walls and provide fragility curves for evaluating failure levels. The generated fragility curves can help to improve the seismic performance of these walls through assessing and controlling variables like backfill surface settlement, lateral deformation of facing, and permanent relocation of the wall. A parametric study was performed based on a non-linear elastoplastic constitutive model known as the hardening soil model with small-strain stiffness, HSsmall. The analyses were conducted using PLAXIS 2D, a Finite Element Method (FEM) program, under plane-strain conditions to study the effect of the number of geogrid layers and the axial stiffness of geogrids on the performance of SMSE walls. In this study, three areas of damage (minor, moderate, and severe) were observed and, in all cases, the wall has not completely entered the stage of destruction. For the base model (Model A), at the highest ground acceleration coefficient (1 g), in the moderate damage state, the fragility probability was 76%. These values were 62%, and 54%, respectively, by increasing the number of geogrids (Model B) and increasing the geogrid stiffness (Model C). Meanwhile, the fragility values were 99%, 98%, and 97%, respectively in the case of minor damage. Notably, the probability of complete destruction was zero percent in all models.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제27권1호
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• pp.69-82
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• 2024

In the conventional seismic design approach for a bridge pier, the function of the stopper, and shear key are to serve as mechanisms for unseating prevention devices that retain and transmit the lateral load to the pier under strong earthquakes. This frequently inflicts immense shear forces and bending moments concentrated at the plastic hinge zone. In this study, a shear panel damper plus gap (SPDG) is proposed as a low-cost alternative with high energy dissipation capacity to improve the seismic performance of the pier. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the seismic performance of the pre-stressed concrete I girder (PCI-girder) bridge equipped with SPDG. The bridge structure was analyzed using nonlinear time history analysis with seven-scaled ground motion records using the guidelines of ASCE 7-10 standard. Consequently, the implementation of SPDG technology on the bridge system yielded a notable decrease in maximum displacement by 41.49% and a reduction in earthquake input energy by 51.05% in comparison to the traditional system. This indicates that the presence of SPDG was able to enhance the seismic performance of the existing conventional bridge structure, enabling an improvement from a collapse prevention (CP) level to an immediate occupancy (IO).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제91권1호
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• pp.103-121
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• 2024

The smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) method is a numerical technique used in dynamic analysis to simulate the fluid-like behavior of materials under extreme conditions, such as those encountered in explosions or high velocity impacts. In SPH, fluid or solid materials are discretized into particles. These particles interact with each other based on certain smoothing kernels, allowing the simulation of fluid flows and predict the response of solid materials to shock waves, like deformation, cracking or failure. One of the main advantages of SPH is its ability to simulate these phenomena without a fixed grid, making it particularly suitable for analyzing complex geometries. In this study, the structural damage to a masonry arch bridge subjected to blast loading was investigated. A high-fidelity micro-model was created and the explosives were modeled using the SPH approach. The Johnson-Holmquist II damage model and the Mohr-Coulomb material model were considered to evaluate the masonry and backfill properties. Consistent with the principles of the JH-II model, the authors developed a VUMAT code. The explosive charges (50 kg, 168 kg, 425 kg and 1000 kg) were placed in close proximity to the deck and pier of a bridge. The results showed that the 50 kg charges, which could have been placed near the pier by a terrorist, had only a limited effect on the piers. Instead, this charge caused a vertical displacement of the deck due to the confinement effect. Conversely, a 1000 kg TNT charge placed 100 cm above the deck caused significant damage to the bridge.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.35-57
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• 2022

This article presents a computationally efficient framework for multi-objective seismic design optimization of steel moment-resisting frame (MRF) structures based on the nonlinear dynamic analysis procedure. This framework employs the uniform damage distribution philosophy to minimize the weight (initial cost) of the structure at different levels of damage. The preliminary framework was recently proposed by the authors based on the single excitation and the nonlinear static (pushover) analysis procedure, in which the effects of record-to-record variability as well as higher-order vibration modes were neglected. The present study investigates the reliability of the previous framework by extending the proposed algorithm using the nonlinear dynamic design procedure (optimization under multiple ground motions). Three benchmark structures, including 4-, 8-, and 12-story steel MRFs, representing the behavior of low-, mid-, and high-rise buildings, are utilized to evaluate the proposed framework. The total weight of the structure and the maximum inter-story drift ratio (IDRmax) resulting from the average response of the structure to a set of seven ground motion records are considered as two conflicting objectives for the optimization problem and are simultaneously minimized. The results of this study indicate that the optimization under several ground motions leads to almost similar outcomes in terms of optimization objectives to those are obtained from optimization under pushover analysis. However, investigation of optimal designs under a suite of 22 earthquake records reveals that the damage distribution in buildings designed by the nonlinear dynamic-based procedure is closer to the uniform distribution (desired target during the optimization process) compared to those designed according to the pushover procedure.

• 한국안전학회지
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• 제18권2호
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• pp.132-138
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• 2003

고속철도교량에서 장대레일의 사용은 연결부 근처에서 레일과 교량상판사이의 비선형 거동으로 인하여 부가적인 응력을 유발한다. 고속철도 교량의 지진응답해석에서, 구조물응답은 지반운동특성에 매우 영향을 많이 받으므로, 지반운동의 위치에 따른 변화가 구조물의 응답에 영향을 미치게 되고, 그 결과는 레일에 응력을 유발하게 된다. 또한 고속철도에서 사용지진 수준의 지진발생 시에 열차의 긴 제동거리가 필요하므로 열차의 안전한 정지를 확보하는 것이 요구된다. 이러한 관점에서 장대레일에 의해 부가적으로 발생하는 응력, 지반운동의 공간변화에 대한 구조물 응답의 영향, 그리고 안전하게 정지하기 위해 필요한 열차의 제동거리 등의 사항이 레일의 응력해석에 고려될 필요가 있다. 본 논문에서는 지진하중을 받는 고속철도교량의 장대레일 응력해석을 위하여 제동하중, 지반운동의 공간적 변화, 그리고 레일의 재료 비선형을 고려한 시간영역에서의 비선형 동적해석방법을 개발하고 적용하였다. 제시된 방법을 한국고속철도의 특정부지에 적용하여 지반운동의 공간변화에 따른 응답의 타당성을 보였다.

• 한국전산구조공학회논문집
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• 제13권3호
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• pp.373-384
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• 2000

단기 동 하중(특히 지진하중)을 받는 비선형 강 프레임 구조물의 안전성을 평가하기 위하여 추계론적 유한요소 개념에 근거한 비선형 시간영역 신뢰성 해석 기법을 제안하였다. 제안된 알고리즘에서는 유한요소 공식화가 응답 표면법, 1차 신뢰성 방법, 그리고 반복 선형보간 기법의 개념들과 결합되어 지는데, 이것이 추계론적 유한요소 개념으로 귀결된다. 실제 지진하중의 시간이력이 구조물의 진동을 위해 사용되므로 사실적인 하중조건의 재현이 가능하다. 가상 응력에 기초한 유한요소 기법이 본 알고리즘의 효율성을 증대하기 위해 사용된다. 본 알고리즘은 지진하중 또는 임의의 단기 동적하중을 받는 유한요소 기법으로 표현되는 어떠한 선형 및 비선형 구조물과 관련된 위험도를 평가할 수 있는 잠재성을 가지고 있다. 수치예제를 통하여 알고리즘을 설명하였으며, 몬테카를로 시뮬레이션 기법을 사용하여 본 알고리즘을 검증하였다.