• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.285-296
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• 2020

Dams are important structures for management of water supply for irrigation or drinking, flood control, and electricity generation. In seismic regions, the structural safety of concrete gravity dams is important due to the high potential of life and economic loss if they fail. Therefore, the seismic analysis of existing dams in seismically active regions is crucial for predicting responses of dams to ground motions. In this paper, earthquake response of concrete gravity dams is investigated using the finite element (FE) method. The FE model accounts for dam-water-foundation rock interaction by considering compressible water, flexible foundation effects, and absorptive reservoir bottom materials. Several uncertainties regarding structural attributes of the dam and external actions are considered to obtain the fragility curves of the dam-water-foundation rock system. The structural uncertainties are sampled using the Latin Hypercube Sampling method. The Pine Flat Dam in the Central Valley of Fresno County, California, is selected to demonstrate the methodology for several limit states. The fragility curves for base sliding, and excessive deformation limit states are obtained by performing non-linear time history analyses. Tensile cracking including the complex state of stress that occurs in dams was also considered. Normal, Log-Normal and Weibull distribution types are considered as possible fits for fragility curves. It was found that the effect of the minimum principal stress on tensile strength is insignificant. It is also found that the probability of failure of tensile cracking is higher than that for base sliding of the dam. Furthermore, the loss of reservoir control is unlikely for a moderate earthquake.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.1A
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• pp.59-67
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• 2008

Acceleration time history used in the seismic analysis of nuclear power plant structures should envelop a target power spectral density (PSD) function in addition to the design response spectrum in order to have sufficient energy at each frequency for the purpose of ensuring adequate load. The safety for complex long-span highway bridges cannot be over-emphasize. An alternative method to improve the seismic capacity is to ensure the minimum PSD function of the applied seismic load. This study proposes a technical scheme to obtain the reference power spectral density function by using artificial earthquakes which are compatible with the highway bridge design spectrum.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.257-266
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• 1999

This paper presents a method of seismic analysis for a cylindrical liquid storage structure on/in horizontally layered half.space considering the effects of the interior fluid and exterior soil medium in the frequency domain. To capture the essence of fluid-structure-soil interaction effects effectively, a mixed finite element with two-field (u, p) approximation is employed to model the compressive inviscid fluid, while the structure and soil medium are presented by the 3-D axisymmetric finite elements and dynamic infinite elements. The present FE-based method can be applied to the system with complex geometry of fluid region as well as with inhomogeneous near-field soil medium, since it can directly model both the fluid and the soil. For the purpose of verification, dominant peak frequencies in transfer functions for horizontal motions of cylindrical fluid storage tanks with rigid massless foundation on a homogeneous viscoelastic half.space are compared with those by two different added mass approaches for the fluid motion. The comparison indicates that the Present FE-based methodology gives accurate solution for the fluid-structure-soil interaction problem. Finally, as a demonstration of versatility of the present study, a seismic analysis for a real-scale LNG storage tank embedded in layered half.space is carried out, and its member forces along the height of the structure are compared with those by an added mass approach developed by the present writers.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.265-279
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• 2019

The self-centering capacity and energy dissipation performance have been recognized critically for increasing the seismic performance of structures. This paper presents an innovative steel moment frame with self-centering steel reinforced concrete (SRC) wall panel incorporating replaceable energy dissipation devices (SF-SCWD). The self-centering mechanism and energy dissipation mechanism of the structure were validated by cyclic tests. The earthquake resilience of wall panel has the ability to limit structural damage and residual drift, while the energy dissipation devices located at wall toes are used to dissipate energy and reduce the seismic response. The oriented post-tensioned strands provide additional overturning force resistance and help to reduce residual drift. The main parameters were studied by numerical analysis to understand the complex structural behavior of this new system, such as initial stress of post-tensioning strands, yield strength of damper plates and height-width ratio of the wall panel. The static push-over analysis was conducted to investigate the failure process of the SF-SCWD. Moreover, nonlinear time history analysis of the 6-story frame was carried out, which confirmed the availability of the proposed structures in permanent drift mitigation.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.97-112
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• 2023

The Finite Element (FE) modeling of Reinforced Concrete (RC) under seismic loading has a sensitive impact in terms of getting good contribution compared to experimental results. Several idealized model types for simulating the nonlinear response have been developed based on the plasticity distribution alone the model. The Continuum Models are the most used category of modeling, to understand the seismic behavior of structural elements in terms of their components, cracking patterns, hysteretic response, and failure mechanisms. However, the material modeling, contact and nonlinear analysis strategy are highly complex due to the joint operation of concrete and steel. This paper presents a numerical simulation of a chosen RC column under monotonic and cyclic loading using the FE Abaqus, to assessthe hysteretic response and failure mechanisms in the RC columns, where the perfect bonding option is used for the contact between concrete and steel. While results of the numerical study under cyclic loading compared to experimental tests might be unsuccessful due to the lack of bond-slip modeling. The monotonic loading shows a good estimation of the envelope response and deformation components. In addition, this work further demonstrates the advantage and efficiency of the damage distributions since the obtained damage distributions fit the expected results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.1089-1109
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• 2016

Modified two-surface model (M2SM) is one of the steel elasto-plastic hysteretic constitutive models that consider both analysis accuracy and efficiency. However, when M2SM is used for complex strain history, sometimes the results are irrational due to the limitation of stress-strain path judgment. In this paper, the defect of M2SM was re-modified by improving the judgment of stress-strain paths. The accuracy and applicability of the improved method were verified on both material and structural level. Based on this improvement, the nonlinear time-history analysis was carried out for a deck-through steel arch bridge with a 200 m-long span under the ground motions of Chi-Chi earthquake and Niigata earthquake. In the analysis, we compared the results obtained by hysteretic constitutive models of improved two-surface model (I2SM) presented in this paper, M2SM and the bilinear kinematic hardening model (BKHM). Results show that, although the analysis precision of displacement response of different steel hysteretic models differs little from each other, the stress-strain responses of the structure are affected by steel hysteretic models apparently. The difference between the stress-strain responses obtained by I2SM and M2SM cannot be neglected. In significantly damaged areas, BKHM gives smaller stress result and obviously different strain response compared with I2SM and M2SM, and tends to overestimate the effect of hysteretic energy dissipation. Moreover, at some position with severe damage, BKHM may underestimate the size of seismic damaged areas. Different steel hysteretic models also have influences on structural damage evaluation results based on deformation behavior and low cycle fatigue, and may lead to completely different judgment of failure, especially in severely damaged areas.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2017

In Chinese Design Codes, for super high-rise buildings with complex structural distribution, which are regarded as code-exceeding buildings, elasto-plastic time history analysis is needed to validate the requirement of "no collapse under rare earthquake". In this paper, a 117-story super high-rise building is discussed. It has a height of 597 m and a height-width ratio of 9.5, which have both exceeded the limitations stipulated by the Chinese Design Codes. Mega columns adopted in this structure have cross section area of about $45m^2$ at the bottom, which is infrequent in practical projects. NosaCAD and Perform-3D, both widely used in nonlinear analyses, were chosen in this study, with which two model were established and analyzed, respectively. Elasto-plastic time history analysis was conducted to look into its seismic behavior, emphasizing on the stress state and deformation abilities under intensive seismic excitation.From the comparisons on the results under rare earthquake obtained from NosaCAD and Perform-3D, the overall responses such as roof displacement, inter story drift, base shear and damage pattern of the whole structure from each software show agreement to an extent. Besides, the deformation of the structure is below the limitation of the Chinese Codes, the time sequence and distribution of damages on core tubes are reasonable, and can dissipate certain inputted energy, which indicates that the structure can meet the requirement of "no collapse under rare earthquake".

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.659-665
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• 2010

The finite element method(FEM) is proven to be an effective approximate method of structural analysis if proper element types and meshes are chosen, and recently, the method is often applied to solve complex dynamic and nonlinear problems. A properly chosen element type and mesh yields reliable results for dynamic finite element structural analysis. However, dynamic behavior of a structure may include unpredictably large strains in some parts of the structure, and using the initial mesh throughout the duration of a dynamic analysis may include some elements to go through strains beyond the elements' reliable limits. Thus, the finite element mesh for a dynamic analysis must be dynamically adaptive, and considering the rapid process of analysis in real time, the dynamically adaptive finite element mesh generating schemes must be computationally efficient. In this paper, a computationally efficient dynamically adaptive finite element mesh generation scheme for dynamic analyses of structures is described. The concept of representative strain value is used for error estimates and the refinements of meshes use combinations of the h-method(node movement) and the r-method(element division). The shape coefficient for element mesh is used to correct overly distorted elements. The validity of the scheme is shown through a cantilever beam example under a concentrated load with varying values. The example shows reasonable accuracy and efficient computing time. Furthermore, the study shows the potential for the scheme's effective use in complex structural dynamic problems such as those under seismic or erratic wind loads.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2007

The MH21 Research Consortium has conducted a high-resolution 3D seismic survey and a seafloor geochemical survey, to explore methane hydrate reservoirs in the eastern Nankai Trough, offshore Japan. Excellent geological information about shallow formations was obtained from the high-resolution 3D seismic survey, which was designed to image the shallow formations where methane hydrates exist. The information is useful in constructing a geological and geochemical model, and especially to understand the complex geology of seafloor, including geochemical manifestations and the structure of migration conduits for methane gas or methane-bearing fluid. By comparing methane seep sites observed by submersibles with seismic sections, some significant relationships between methane hydrate reservoirs, free gas accumulations below the seafloor, and seafloor manifestations are recognised. Bathymetric charts and seafloor reflection amplitude maps, constructed from seismic reflections from the seafloor, are also useful in understanding the relationships over a vast area. A new geochemical seafloor survey targeted by these maps is required. The relationships between methane hydrate reservoirs and seafloor manifestations are becoming clearer from interpretation of high-resolution 3D seismic data. The MH21 Research Consortium will continue to conduct seafloor geochemical surveys based on the geological and geochemical model constructed from high-resolution 3D seismic data analysis. In this paper, we introduce a basis for exploration of methane hydrate reservoirs in Japan by fusion of 3D seismic exploration and seafloor geochemical surveys.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.747-754
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• 2021

Purpose: Seismic safety evaluation of a curved bridge must be performed since the curved bridges exhibit the complex behavior rather than the straight bridges, due to geometrical characteristics. In order to conduct the probabilistic seismic assessment of the curved bridge, Seismic fragility evaluation was performed using the uncertainty of the steel material properties of a curved bridge girde, in this study. Method: The finite element (FE) model using ABAQUS platform of the curved bridge girder was constructed, and the statistical parameters of steel materials presented in previous studies were used. 100 steel material models were sampled using the Latin Hypercube Sampling method. As an input ground motion in this study, seismic fragility evaluation was performed by the normalized scale of the Gyeongju earthquake to 0.2g, 0.5g, 0.8g, 1.2g, and 1.5g. Result: As a result of the seismic fragility evaluation of the curved girder, it was found that there was no failure up to 0.03g corresponding to the limit state of allowable stress design, but the failure was started from 0.11g associated with using limit state design. Conclusion: In this study, seismic fragility evaluation was performed considering steel materials uncertainties. Further it must be considered the seismic fragility of the curved bridge using both the uncertainties of input motions and material properties.