• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.28 no.3
• /
• pp.149-158
• /
• 2024

Piloti-type structures with vertical irregularity are vulnerable to earthquakes due to the soft structure of the first story. Structural characteristics of buildings can significantly affect the seismic loss function, calculated based on seismic fragility, and therefore need to be considered. This study investigated the effects of the number of stories and core locations on the seismic loss function of piloti-type buildings in Korea. Twelve analytical models were developed considering two variations: three stories (4-story, 5-story, and 6-story) and four core locations (center core, x-eccentric core, y-eccentric core, and xy-eccentric core). The interstory drift ratio and peak floor acceleration were assessed through incremental dynamic analysis using 44 earthquake records, and seismic fragility was derived. Seismic loss functions were calculated and compared using the derived seismic fragility and repair cost ratio of each component. The results indicate that the seismic loss function increases with more stories and when the core is eccentrically located in the piloti-type structure model. Therefore, the uncertainty due to the number of stories and core location should be considered when deriving the seismic loss function of piloti-type structures.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.27 no.6
• /
• pp.517-524
• /
• 2014

The ultimate goal of seismic design is to reduce the probable losses or damages occurred during an expected earthquake event. To achieve this goal, this study represents a procedure that can estimate annual loss probability of a structure damaged by strong ground motion. First of all, probabilistic seismic performance assessment should be performed using seismic fragility analyses that are presented by a cumulative distribution function of the probability in each exceedance structural damage state. A seismic hazard curve is then derived from an annual frequency of exccedance per each ground motion intensity. An annual loss probability function is combined with seismic fragility analysis results and seismic hazard curves. In this paper, annual loss probabilities are estimated by the structural fragility curve of steel moment-resisting frames(SMRFs) in San Francisco Bay, USA, and are compared with loss estimation results obtained from the HAZUS methodology. It is investigated from the comparison that seismic losses of the SMRFs calculated from the HAZUS method are conservatively estimated. The procedure presented in this study could be effectively used for future studies related with structural seismic performance assessment and annual loss probability estimation.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.557-566
• /
• 2019

The evaluation of the seismic hazard for a given site is to estimate the seismic ground motion at the surface. This is the result of the combination of the action of the seismic source, which generates seismic waves, the propagation of these waves between the source and the site, and site local conditions. The aim of this work is to evaluate the sensitivity of dynamic response of extended structures to spatial variable ground motions (SVGM). All factors of spatial variability of ground motion are considered, especially local site effect. In this paper, a method is presented to simulate spatially varying earthquake ground motions. The scheme for generating spatially varying ground motions is established for spatial locations on the ground surface with varying site conditions. In this proposed method, two steps are necessary. Firstly, the base rock motions are assumed to have the same intensity and are modelled with a filtered Tajimi-Kanai power spectral density function. An empirical coherency loss model is used to define spatial variable seismic ground motions at the base rock. In the second step, power spectral density function of ground motion on surface is derived by considering site amplification effect based on the one dimensional seismic wave propagation theory. Several dynamics analysis of a curved viaduct to various cases of spatially varying seismic ground motions are performed. For comparison, responses to uniform ground motion, to spatial ground motions without considering local site effect, to spatial ground motions with considering coherency loss, phase delay and local site effects are also calculated. The results showed that the generated seismic signals are strongly conditioned by the local site effect. In the same sense, the dynamic response of the viaduct is very sensitive of the variation of local geological conditions of the site. The effect of neglecting local site effect in dynamic analysis gives rise to a significant underestimation of the seismic demand of the structure.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.37 no.6
• /
• pp.565-576
• /
• 2024

In this study, the earthquake risk assessment of single-story RC precast buildings in Turkey was carried out using loss curves. In this regard, Kocaeli, a seismically active city in the Marmara region, and this building class, which is preferred intensively, were considered. Quality and period parameters were defined based on structural and geometric properties. Depending on these parameters, nine main sub-classes were defined to represent the building stock in the region. First, considering the mean fragility curves and four different central damage ratio models, vulnerability curves for each sub-class were computed as a function of spectral acceleration. Then, probabilistic seismic hazard analyses were performed for stiff and soft soil conditions for different earthquake probabilities of exceedance in 50 years. In the last step, 90 loss curves were derived based on vulnerability and hazard results. Within the scope of the study, the comparative parametric evaluations for three different earthquake intensity levels showed that the structural damage ratio values for nine sub-classes changed significantly. In addition, the quality parameter was found to be more effective on a structure's damage state than the period parameter. It is evident that since loss curves allow direct loss ratio calculation for any hazard level without needing seismic hazard and damage analysis, they are considered essential tools in rapid earthquake risk estimation and mitigation initiatives.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.61 no.4
• /
• pp.527-538
• /
• 2017

The evaluation of the loss-of-support conditions of frictional beam-to-column connections using simplified numerical models describing the transverse response of a portal-like structure is presented in this paper considering the effects of the seismic-hazard disaggregation. Real earthquake time histories selected from European Strong-motion Database (ESD) are used to show the effects of the seismic-hazard disaggregation on the beam loss-of-support conditions. Seismic events are classified according to different values of magnitudes, epicentral distances and soil conditions (stiff or soft soil) highlighting the importance of considering the characteristics of the seismic input in the assessment of the loss-of-support conditions of frictional beam-to-column connections. A rigid and an elastic model of a frame of a precast industrial building (2-DoF portal-like model) are presented and adopted to find the minimum required friction coefficient to avoid sliding. Then, the mean value of the minimum required friction coefficient with an epicentral distance bin of 10 km is calculated and fitted with a linear function depending on the logarithm of the epicentral distance. A complete parametric analysis varying the horizontal and vertical period of vibration of the structure is performed. Results show that the loss-of-support condition is strongly influenced by magnitude, epicentral distance and soil conditions determining the frequency content of the earthquake time histories and the correlation between the maxima of the horizontal and vertical components. Moreover, as expected, dynamic characteristics of the structure have also a strong influence. Finally, the effect of the column nonlinear behavior (i.e. formation of plastic hinges at the base) is analyzed showing that the connection and the column are a series system where the maximum force is limited by the element having the minimum strength. Two different longitudinal reinforcement ratios are analyzed demonstrating that the column strength variation changes the system response.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.87 no.2
• /
• pp.173-189
• /
• 2023

For a given structural geometry, the stiffness and damping parameters of the soil and the dynamic response of the structure may change in the face of an equivalent linear soil behavior caused by a strong earthquake. Therefore, the influence of equivalent linear soil behavior on the impedance functions form and the seismic response of the soil-structure system has been investigated. Through the substructure method, the seismic response of the selected structure was obtained by an analytical formulation based on the dynamic equilibrium of the soil-structure system modeled by an analog model with three degrees of freedom. Also, the dynamic response of the soil-structure system for a nonlinear soil behavior and for the two types of impedance function forms was also analyzed by 2D finite element modeling using ABAQUS software. The numerical results were compared with those of the analytical solution. After the investigation, the effect of soil nonlinearity clearly showed the critical role of soil stiffness loss under strong shaking, which is more complex than the linear elastic soil behavior, where the energy dissipation depends on the seismic motion amplitude and its frequency, the impedance function types, the shear modulus reduction and the damping increase. Excellent agreement between finite element analysis and analytical results has been obtained due to the reasonable representation of the model.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.135-156
• /
• 2014

In this research the effect of seismic design level as a practical approach for progressive collapse mitigation and reaching desired structural safety against it in seismically designed concentric braced frame buildings was investigated. It was achieved by performing preliminary and advanced progressive collapse analysis of several split-X braced frame buildings, designed for each seismic zone according to UBC 97 and by applying various Seismic Load Factors (SLFs). The outer frames of such structures were studied for collapse progression while losing one column and connected brace in the first story. Preliminary analysis results showed the necessity of performing advanced element loss analysis, consisting of Vertical Incremental Dynamic Analysis (VIDA) and Performance-Based Analysis (PBA), in order to compute the progressive collapse safety of the structures while increasing SLF for each seismic zone. In addition, by sensitivity analysis it became possible to introduce the equation of structural safety against progressive collapse for concentrically braced frames as a function of SLF for each seismic zone. Finally, the equation of progressive collapse safety as a function of bracing member capacity was presented.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.18 no.6
• /
• pp.661-668
• /
• 2019

Seismic vulnerability assessment is a useful tool for rational safety analysis and planning of large and complex structural systems; it can deal with the effects of uncertainties on the performance of significant structural systems. In this study, an efficient dynamic reliability approach, probability density evolution methodology (PDEM), is proposed for seismic vulnerability analysis of earth dams. The PDEM provides the failure probability of different limit states for various levels of ground motion intensity as well as the mean value, standard deviation and probability density function of the performance metric of the earth dam. Combining the seismic reliability with three different performance levels related to the displacement of the earth dam, the seismic fragility curves are constructed without them being limited to a specific functional form. Furthermore, considering the seismic fragility analysis is a significant procedure in the seismic probabilistic risk assessment of structures, the seismic vulnerability results obtained by the dynamic reliability approach are combined with the results of probabilistic seismic hazard and seismic loss analysis to present and address the PDEM-based seismic probabilistic risk assessment framework by a simulated case study of an earth dam.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.257-279
• /
• 2015

The primary objective of this study is to summarize results from previous experimental tests on laboratory specimens of RC/steel frames with masonry infills, in order to develop fragility functions that permit the estimation of damage in typical non-structural components of RC frame buildings, as a function of attained peak interstory drift. The secondary objective is to derive loss functions for such non-structural components, which provide information on the probability of experiencing a certain level of monetary loss when a given damage state is attained. Fragility curves and loss function developed in this study can be directly used within the FEMA P-58 framework for the seismic performance assessment of RC frame buildings with masonry infills.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2008

The seismic performance of a structure designed without consideration of seismic loading can be effectively enhanced through seismic rehabilitation. The appropriate level of rehabilitation should be determined based on the decision criteria that minimize the anticipated earthquake-related losses. To estimate the anticipated losses, seismic risk analysis should be performed considering the probabilistic characteristics of the hazard and the structural damage. This study presents the decision procedure in which the probabilistic seismic demand model is utilized for the effective estimation and minimization of the total seismic losses through seismic rehabilitation. The probability density function and the cumulative distribution function of the structural damage for a specified time period are established in a closed form, and are combined with the loss functions to derive the expected seismic loss. The procedure presented in this study could be effectively used for making decisions on the seismic rehabilitation of structural systems.