• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.511-539
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• 2015

The main objective of this study is to analytically investigate the effectiveness of different strengthening solutions in upgrading the seismic performance of existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in Nepal. For this, four building models with different structural configurations and detailing were considered. Three possible rehabilitation solutions were studied, namely: (a) RC shear wall, (b) steel bracing, and (c) RC jacketing for all of the studied buildings. A numerical analysis was conducted with adaptive pushover and dynamic time history analysis. Seismic performance enhancement of the studied buildings was evaluated in terms of demand capacity ratio of the RC elements, capacity curve, inter-storey drift, energy dissipation capacity and moment curvature demand of the structures. Finally, the seismic safety assessment was performed based on standard drift limits, showing that retrofitting solutions significantly improved the seismic performance of existing buildings in Nepal.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.249-259
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• 2019

To study the seismic resistance of the shear capacity of the RC beam-column joints of two-story and four-story RC buildings, sample buildings are designed with ordinary moment resisting frame. For the shear capacity of joints, the equations of FEMA 356 and NZ seismic assessment are selected and compared. For comparison, one group of buildings is designed only for gravity loads and the other group is designed for seismic and gravity loads. For 16 cases of the designed buildings, seismic performance point is evaluated through push-over analysis and the capacity of joint shear strength is checked. Not only for the gravity designed buildings but also for seismic designed buildings, the demand of joint shear is exceeding the capacity at exterior joints. However, for interior joint, the demand of joint shear exceeds the capacity only for one case. At exterior joints, the axial load stress ratio is lower than 0.21 for gravity designed buildings and 0.13 for seismic designed buildings.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.791-808
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• 2013

The main purpose of this paper is to develop seismic fragility curves for existing reinforced concrete, RC, buildings based on the post earthquake field survey and the seismic performance using capacity design. Existing RC buildings constitute approximately 65% of the total stock in Algiers. This type of buildings, RC, was widely used in the past and chosen as the structural type for the future construction program of more than 2 millions apartments all over Algeria. These buildings, suffered moderate to extensive damage after the 2003 Boumerdes earthquake, on May 21st. The determination of analytical seismic fragility curves for low-rise and mid-rise existing RC buildings was carried out based on the consistent and complete post earthquake survey after that event. The information on the damaged existing RC buildings was investigated and evaluated by experts. Thirty four (34) communes (districts) of fifty seven (57), the most populated and affected by earthquake damage were considered in this study. Utilizing the field observed damage data and the Japanese Seismic Index Methodology, based on the capacity design method. Seismic fragility curves were developed for those buildings with a large number data in order to get a statistically significant sample size. According to the construction period and the code design, four types of existing RC buildings were considered. Buildings designed with pre-code (very poor structural behavior before 1955), Buildings designed with low code (poor structural behavior, between 1955-1981), buildings designed with medium code (moderate structural behavior, between 1981-1999) and buildings designed with high code (good structural behavior, after 1999).

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.439-447
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• 2018

One of the important factors is the infill walls in the change of the structural rigidity, ductility, dynamic and static characteristics of the structures. The infill walls are not generally included in numerical analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) structural system due to lack of suitable theory and the difficulty of calculating the recommended models. In seismic regions worldwide, the residential structures are generally RC buildings with infill wall. Therefore, understanding the contribution of the infill walls to seismic performance of buildings may have a vital importance. This paper investigates the effects of infill walls on seismic performance of the existing RC residential buildings by considering requirements of the Turkish Earthquake Code (TEC). Seismic performance levels of residential RC buildings with and without walls in high-hazard zones were determined according to the nonlinear procedure given in the code. Pushover curves were obtained by considering the effect of masonry infill walls on seismic performance of RC buildings. The analysis results showed that the infill walls beneficially effected to the rigidity, roof displacements and seismic performance of the building.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.229-241
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• 2013

The objective of this study is to reveal the sufficiency of neural networks (NN) as a securer, quicker, more robust and reliable method to be used in seismic assessment of existing reinforced concrete buildings. The NN based approach is applied as an alternative method to determine the seismic performance of each existing RC buildings, in terms of damage level. In the application of the NN, a multilayer perceptron (MLP) with a back-propagation (BP) algorithm is employed using a scaled conjugate gradient. NN based model wasd eveloped, trained and tested through a based MATLAB program. The database of this model was developed by using a statistical procedure called P25 method. The NN based model was also proved by verification set constituting of real existing RC buildings exposed to 2003 Bingol earthquake. It is demonstrated that the NN based approach is highly successful and can be used as an alternative method to determine the seismic performance of each existing RC buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2023

Reinforced concrete (RC) moment frames are used as lateral seismic load resisting systems in mid- and high-rise buildings in different regions of the world. Based on the seismic design provisions and construction details presented in design codes, RC frames with different levels of ductility (ordinary, intermediate, and special) can be designed and constructed. In Iran, there are RC buildings with various uses which have been constructed based on different editions of design codes. The seismic performance of RC structures (particularly moment frames) in real seismic events is of great importance. In this paper, the observations made on damaged RC moment frames after the destructive Sarpol-e Zahab earthquake with a moment magnitude of 7.3 are reported. Different levels of damage from the development of cracks in the structural and non-structural elements to the total collapse of buildings were observed. Furthermore, undesirable failure modes which are not expected in ductile seismic-resistant buildings were frequently observed in the damaged buildings. The RC moment frames built based on the previous editions of the design codes showed partial or total collapse in this seismic event. The extensive destruction of RC moment frames compared with the other structural systems (such as braced steel frames and confined masonry buildings) was attributed not only to the deficiencies in the construction practice of these buildings but also to the design procedure. In addition, the failure and collapse of masonry infills in RC moment frames were frequent modes of failure in this seismic event. In this paper, the main reasons related to design practice which led to extensive damage in the RC moment frames and their collapse are addressed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.483-503
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• 2016

This study aims to evaluate seismic performance of existing low and mid-rise reinforced concrete buildings by comparing their displacement capacities and displacement demands under selected ground motions experienced in Turkey as well as demand spectrum provided in 2007 Turkish Earthquake Code for design earthquake with 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years for soil class Z3. It should be noted that typical residential buildings are designed according to demand spectrum of 10% probability of exceedance in 50 years. Three RC building sets as 2-, 4- and 7-story, are selected to represent reference low-and mid-rise buildings located in the high seismicity region of Turkey. The selected buildings are typical beam-column RC frame buildings with no shear walls. The outcomes of detailed field and archive investigation including approximately 500 real residential RC buildings established building models to reflect existing building stock. Total of 72 3-D building models are constructed from the reference buildings to include the effects of some properties such as structural irregularities, concrete strength, seismic codes, structural deficiencies, transverse reinforcement detailing, and number of story on seismic performance of low and mid-rise RC buildings. Capacity curves of building sets are obtained by nonlinear static analyses conducted in two principal directions, resulting in 144 models. The inelastic dynamic characteristics are represented by "equivalent" Single-Degree-of- Freedom (ESDOF) systems using obtained capacity curves of buildings. Nonlinear time history analysis is used to estimate displacement demands of representative building models idealized with (ESDOF) systems subjected to the selected ground motion records from past earthquakes in Turkey. The results show that the significant number of pre-modern code 4- and 7-story buildings exceeds LS performance level while the modern code 4- and 7-story buildings have better performances. The findings obviously indicate the existence of destructive earthquakes especially for 4- and 7-story buildings. Significant improvements in the performance of the buildings per modern code are also obvious in the study. Almost one third of pre-modern code buildings is exceeding LS level during records in the past earthquakes. This observation also supports the building damages experienced in the past earthquake events in Turkey.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.141-161
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• 2015

A significant portion of residential areas of Turkey is located in active earthquake zones. In Turkey occurred major earthquakes in last twenty years, such as Erzincan (1992), Kocaeli and $D{\ddot{u}}zce$ (1999), $Bing{\ddot{o}}l$ (2003), Van (2011). These earthquakes have demonstrated that reinforced concrete (RC) buildings having horizontal and vertical irregularities are significantly damaged, which in turn most of them are collapsed. Architectural design and arrangement of load-bearing system have important effect on RC building since architectural design criteria in design process provide opportunity to make this type of buildings safer and economical under earthquake loads. This study aims to investigate comparatively the effects of weak story irregularity on earthquake behavior and rough construction costs of RC buildings by considering different soil-conditions given in the Turkish Earthquake Code. With this aim, Sta4-CAD program based on matrix displacement method is utilized. Considering that different story height and compressive strength of concrete, and infill walls or their locations are the variables, a set of structural models are developed to determine the effect of them on earthquake behavior and rough construction costs of RC buildings. In conclusion, some recommendations and results related to making RC buildings safer and more economical are presented by comparing results obtained from structural analyses.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.293-303
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• 2013

This paper deals with steel braced frame as increasing the lateral strength and ductility in order to seismic retrofit of existing buildings and discusses the designing criteria and calculation method of retrofitted buildings. The addition of steel braced frame can be effective for increasing the lateral strength and ductility of existing buildings. However, There is a problem in utilizing this method. It is the approach to provide an adequate connection between the existing RC frame and the installed steel braced frame, because global strength by failure mode(three type) depends on detail of connection and strength of existing RC frame. So, the designer must be confirmed if it satisfies the required performance or not. Failure mode of type I is the most appropriate for increasing the lateral strength and ductility. Seismic performance evaluation and strength calculation of seismic retrofit are performed by guideline by KISTEC(Korea Infrastructure Safety & Technology)'s "seismic performance evaluation and rehabilitation of existing buildings" and Japan Building Disaster Prevention Association. Buildings are modeled and non-linear pushover analysis are performed using MIDAS program.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2000.04b
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• pp.413-420
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• 2000

This paper is study for database development for integrated structural system of RC buildings based on STEP In order to develope database, CIS/2 product model and INDECON application were used. CIS/2 will be accepted STEP(The STandard for the Exchange of Product model data) AP230 and INDECON(INtelligent structural DEsign system) is a Integrated structural system of RC buildings. The paper focuses on application from CIS/2 to INDECON database.