• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.575-592
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• 2011

For seismic resistant design of critical structures, a dynamic analysis, either response spectrum or time history is frequently required. Owing to the lack of recorded data and the randomness of earthquake ground motion that may be experienced by structure in the future, usually it is difficult to obtain recorded data which fit the requirements (site type, epicenteral distance, etc.) well. Therefore, the artificial seismic records are widely used in seismic designs, verification of seismic capacity and seismic assessment of structures. The purpose of this paper is to develop a numerical method using Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and wavelet packet transform in best basis method which is presented for the decomposition of artificial earthquake records consistent with any arbitrarily specified target response spectra requirements. The ground motion has been modeled as a non-stationary process using wavelet packet. This study shows that the procedure using ANN-based models and wavelet packets in best-basis method are applicable to generate artificial earthquakes compatible with any response spectra. Several numerical examples are given to verify the developed model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.563-577
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• 2022

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations of a new seismic enhancement method for existing reinforced concrete (RC) frames by using an external sub-structure, the hybrid seismic retrofit method (HSRM) system. This retrofit system is an H-shaped frame bolt-connected to an existing RC frame with an infilled-concrete layer between their gaps. Two RC frames were built, one with and one without HSRM, and tested under cyclic loading. The experimental findings showed that the retrofitted RC frame was superior to the non-retrofitted specimen in terms of initial stiffness, peak load, and energy dissipation capacity. A numerical simulation using a commercial program was employed for verification with the experiments. The results obtained from the simulations were consistent with those from the experiments, indicating the finite element (FE) models can simulate the seismic behaviors of bare RC frame and retrofitted RC frame using HSRM.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.162-171
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• 2023

In this study, The details for a seismic adapter designed to easily connect concrete structures and reinforcement materials for the in-plane reinforcement of aged structures were proposed. Proposed seismic adapter was tested for performance using a dynamic simulation on a 2-story column-beam structure, scaled to half of the real size. The experimental results showed that the reinforced test specimens using the seismic adapter improved their energy dissipation capacity by 3.5 times compared to the non-reinforced specimens. It was confirmed that the seismic adapter experienced no damage within its general usage range, thus proving its effectiveness. Subsequently, upon loading until the limit of deformation (a deformation angle of 3.3%), it was observed that one of the M10 bolts connecting the adapter and the reinforcement at the lower part of the first floor broke. Considering this finding, when applying seismic retrofitting in real situations, emphasis should be placed on the design of the bolts and anchors connecting the seismic adapter. This aspect warrants further research for validation.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.149-160
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• 2021

Buildings made using the locally available clay materials are amongst the least expensive forms of construction in many developing countries, and therefore, widely popular in remote areas. It is despite the fact that these low-strength masonry structures are vulnerable to seismic forces. Since transporting imported materials like cement and steel in areas inaccessible by motorable roads is challenging and financially unviable. This paper presents, and experimentally investigates, adobe masonry structures that utilize the abundantly available local clay materials with moderate use of imported materials like cement, aggregates, and steel. Shake-table tests were performed on two 1:3 reduce-scaled adobe masonry models for experimental seismic testing and verification. The model AM1 was confined with vertical lightly reinforced concrete columns provided at all corners and reinforced concrete horizontal bands (i.e., tie beams) provided at sill, lintel, and eave levels. The model AM2 was confined only with the horizontal bands provided at sill, lintel, and eave levels. The models were subjected to sinusoidal base motions for studying the damage evolution and response of the model under dynamic lateral loading. The lateral forcedeformation capacity curves for both models were developed and bi-linearized to compute the seismic response parameters: stiffness, strength, ductility, and response modification factor R. Seismic performance levels, story-drift, base shear coefficient, and the expected structural damages, were defined for both the models. Seismic performance assessment of the selected models was carried out using the lateral seismic force procedure to evaluate their safety in different seismic zones. The use of vertical columns in AM1 has shown a considerable increase in the lateral strength of the model in comparison to AM2. Although an R factor equal to 2.0 is recommended for both the models, AM1 has exhibited better seismic performance in all seismic zones due to its relatively high lateral strength in comparison to AM2.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.241-264
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• 2013

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the progressive and rapid spread of reinforced concrete (RC) has led to the adoption of mixed masonry-RC solutions, such as the confined masonry. However, together with structures conceived with a definite role for earthquake behaviour, the spreading of RC technology has caused the birth of mixed solutions inspired more by functional aspects than by structural ones, such as: internal masonry walls replaced by RC frames, RC walls inserted to build staircases or raising made from RC frames. Usually, since these interventions rise from a spontaneous build-up, any capacity design or ductility concepts are neglected being designed only to bear vertical loads: thus, the vulnerability assessment of this class becomes crucial. To investigate the non-linear seismic response of these structures, suitable models and effective numerical tools are needed. Among the various modelling approaches proposed in the literature and codes, the authors focus their attention on the equivalent frame model. After a brief description of the adopted model and its numerical validation, the authors aim to point out some specific peculiarities of the seismic response of mixed masonry-RC structures and their repercussions on safety verification procedures (referring in particular way to the non-linear static ones). In particular, the results of non-linear static analyses performed parametrically to various configurations representative of different interventions are discussed.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.99-112
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• 2016

During earthquake, reinforced concrete walls show complicated post-yield behavior varying with shear span-to-depth ratio, re-bar detail, and loading condition. In the present study, a macro-model for the nonlinear analysis of multi-story wall structures was developed. To conveniently describe the coupled flexure-compression and shear responses, a reinforced concrete wall was idealized with longitudinal and diagonal uniaxial elements. Simplified cyclic material models were used to describe the cyclic behavior of concrete and re-bars. For verification, the proposed method was applied to various existing test specimens of isolated and coupled walls. The results showed that the predictions agreed well with the test results including the load-carrying capacity, deformation capacity, and failure mode. Further the proposed model was applied to an existing wall structure tested on a shaking table. Three-dimensional nonlinear time history analyses using the proposed model were performed for the test specimen. The time history responses of the proposed method agreed with the test results including the lateral displacements and base shear.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.19-31
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• 2021

Micropiles are cast-in-place piles with small diameters. The advantage of micropile is low construction expense and simple procedures, so it is widely applied to existing buildings and structures for the reinforcement of foundation and seismic performances. The base expansion structure has been developed following the original mechanism of horizontal expansion steps under compressive loading. This kind of structure can be installed at the pile end to improve the bearing capacity by tip area enlargement and horizontal force increment to the pile surface area. However, 'Micropile with base expansion structure' cannot be put into practical use, because detailed verification for the developed technique has not been conducted so far. In this research, 3-D numerical analysis was conducted to figure out the bearing mechanism of base expansion micropile and to verify the bearing capacity improvement compared to the general micropiles. 3-D modelling of micropile with base expansion structure was carried out and input parameter was determined. Bearing mechanism induced by base expansion structure was analyzed by lab-scale modelling, and bearing capacity improvement was verified by field-scale analysis.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.413-420
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• 2023

Among the seismic structures for reducing earthquake damage, the seismic control structure is a technology that can efficiently improve seismic performance and secure economic feasibility by simply applying a damper. However, existing dampers have limitations in terms of durability due to required seismic performance and material plasticity. In this study, we proposed a polyurethane damper with enhanced recovery characteristics by applying precompression to polyurethane, which basically shows elastic characteristics, and applying superelastic shape memory alloy (SSMA). To verify the characteristics of the polyurethane damper, the concept was first established, and the design details were completed by selecting SSMA and steel, and selecting the precompression size as design variables. In addition, structural tests were conducted to derive response behavior and analyze force resistance performance, residual displacement, recovery rate, and energy dissipation capacity. As a result of the analysis, the polyurethane damper showed that various performances improved when the SSMA wire was applied and the precompression increased.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.157-174
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• 2020

The in-situ pushover test differs from the shake-table test because it is performed outdoors and thus its size is not restricted by space, which allows us to test a full-size building. However, to build a new full-size building for the test is not economical, consequently scholars around the world usually make scale structures or full-scale component units to be tested in the laboratory. However, if in-situ pushover tests can be performed on full-size structures, then the seismic behaviors of buildings during earthquakes can be grasped. In view of this, this study conducts two in-situ pushover tests of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings. One is a masonry-infilled RC building with openings (the openings ratio of masonry infill wall is between 24% and 51%) and the other is an RC building without masonry infill. These two in-situ pushover tests adopt obsolescent RC buildings, which will be demolished, to conduct experiment and successfully obtain seismic capacity curves of the buildings. The test results are available for the development or verification of a seismic evaluation model. This paper uses ASCE 41-17 as the main evaluation model and is accompanied by a simplified pushover analysis, which can predict the seismic capacity curves of low-rise buildings in Taiwan. The predicted maximum base shear values for masonry-infilled RC buildings with openings and for RC buildings without masonry infill are, respectively, 69.69% and 87.33% of the test values. The predicted initial stiffness values are 41.04% and 100.49% of the test values, respectively. It can be seen that the ASCE 41-17 evaluation model is reasonable for the RC building without masonry infill walls. In contrast, the analysis result for the masonry infilled RC building with openings is more conservative than the test value because the ASCE 41-17 evaluation model is limited to masonry infill walls with an openings ratio not exceeding 40%. This study suggests using ASCE 41-17's unreinforced masonry wall evaluation model to simulate a masonry infill wall with an openings ratio greater than 40%. After correction, the predicted maximum base shear values of the masonry infilled RC building with openings is 82.60% of the test values and the predicted initial stiffness value is 67.13% of the test value. Therefore, the proposed method in this study can predict the seismic behavior of a masonry infilled RC frame with large openings.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.205-228
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• 2015

The results of a numerical investigation pertaining to the hysteretic behaviour of concrete filled steel tubular (CFT) column to I-beam connections are discussed in detail. Following the verification of the numerical results against the available experimental tests, the nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis was implemented to evaluate the effects of different parameters including the column axial load, beam lateral support, shape and arrangement of stiffeners, stiffness of T-stiffeners, and the number of shear stiffeners. Pursuing this objective, an external CFT column to beam connection, tested previously, was selected as the case-study. The lateral forces on the structure were simulated, albeit approximately, using an incremental cyclic loading reversal applied at the beam tip. The results were compared in terms of hysteretic load-displacement curves, stress distributions in connection, strength, rotation, and energy dissipation capacity. It was shown that external T-stiffeners combined with internal shear stiffeners play an important role in the hysteretic performance of CFT columns to I-beam connections.