• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.233-244
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• 2019

In this work, we have studied the effects of different soil thicknesses, haunch heights, reinforcement forms and construction technologies on the seismic performance of a composite precast fabricated utility tunnel by pseudo-static tests. Five concrete specimens were designed and fabricated for low-cycle reciprocating load tests. The hysteretic behavior of composite precast fabricated utility tunnel under simulated seismic waves and the strain law of steel bars were analyzed. Test results showed that composite precast fabricated utility tunnel met the requirements of current codes and had good anti-seismic performance. The use of a closed integral arrangement of steel bars inside utility tunnel structure as well as diagonal reinforcement bars at its haunches improved the integrity of the whole structure and increased the bearing capacity of the structure by about 1.5%. Increasing the thickness of covering soil within a certain range was beneficial to the earthquake resistance of the structure, and the energy consumption was increased by 10%. Increasing haunch height within a certain range increased the bearing capacity of the structure by up to about 19% and energy consumption by up to 30%. The specimen with the lowest haunch height showed strong structural deformation with ductility coefficient of 4.93. It was found that the interfaces of haunches, post-casting self-compacting concrete, and prefabricated parts were the weak points of utility tunnel structures. Combining the failure phenomena of test structures with their related codes, we proposed improvement measures for construction technology, which could provide a reference for the construction and design of practical projects.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.197-207
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• 2022

The seismic holding behaviors of plate anchor embedded into submerged coarse-grained soils were investigated considering different anchor inclinations. The limit equilibrium method and the Pseudo-Dynamic Approach (PDA) were employed to calculate the inertia force of the soils within the failure rupture. In addition, assuming the permeability of coarse-grained soils was sufficiently large, the coefficient of hydrodynamic force applied on the inclined plate anchor is obtained through adopting the exact potential flow theory. Therefore, the seismic holding resistance was calculated as the combination of the inertia force and the hydrodynamic force within the failure rupture. The failure rupture can be developed due to the uplift loads, which was assumed to be an arc of a circle perpendicular to the anchor and inclines at (π/4 - φ/2). Then, the derived analytical solutions were evaluated by comparing the static breakout factor N_γ to the published experimental and analytical results. The influences of soil and wave properties on the plate anchor holding behavior are reported. Finally, the dynamic anchor holding coefficients N_γd, were reported to illustrate the anchor holding behaviors. Results show that the soil accelerations in x and z directions were both nonlinear. The amplifications of soil accelerations were more severe at lower normalized frequencies (ωH/V) compared to higher normalized frequencies. The coefficient of hydrodynamic force, C, of the plate anchor was found to be almost constant with anchor inclinations. Finally, the seismic anchor holding coefficient oscillated with the oscillation of the inertia force on the plate anchor.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.239-249
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• 2024

A new layered shear continuum model box was developed to address the dynamic response issues of buried oil and gas pipelines under multi-point excitation. Vibration table tests were conducted to investigate the seismic response of buried pipelines and the surrounding soil under longitudinal multi-point excitation. A nonlinear model of the pipeline-soil interaction was established using ABAQUS finite element software for simulation and analysis. The seismic response characteristics of the pipeline and soil under longitudinal multi-point excitation were clarified through vibration table tests and simulation. The results showed good consistency between the simulation and tests. The acceleration of the soil and pipeline exhibited amplification effects at loading levels of 0.1 g and 0.2 g, which significantly reduced at loading levels of 0.4 g and 0.62 g. The peak acceleration increased with increasing loading levels, and the peak frequency was in the low-frequency range of 0 Hz to 10 Hz. The amplitude in the frequency range of 10 Hz to 50 Hz showed a significant decreasing trend. The displacement peak curve of the soil increased with the loading level, and the nonlinearity of the soil resulted in a slower growth rate of displacement. The strain curve of the pipeline exhibited a parabolic shape, with the strain in the middle of the pipeline about 3 to 3.5 times larger than that on both sides. This study provides an effective theoretical basis and test basis for improving the seismic resistance of buried oil and gas pipelines.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.355-362
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• 2009

Many of residential buildings, which have pilotis in lower stories to meet the architectural needs, are recently constructed in Korea. Usually, infill walls located in the upper stories of these buildings may cause a soft first story, which is very weak from the earthquake resistance. In the design of the buildings, the infill walls of upper stories are usually considered as non-structural elements and thus they are not included in the analytical model. However, the infill walls may affect the seismic behavior of the residential buildings. Therefore, the differences in seismic behaviors of RC buildings with and without masonry infill walls are required to be investigated. In this study, seismic fragility analyses were performed for masonry infilled low-rise RC moment-resisting frames. And seismic behaviors of RC moment-resisting frame with/without masonry infill walls were evaluated. Two types of structural system with the same frame and different allocation of infill walls are used to evaluate the influence of masonry infill walls on seismic behavior of RC moment-resisting frames. The infill walls were modeled as bi-equivalent diagonal struts. The fragility analyses show that the seismic performance of RC moment-resisting frames with soft story is below the desirable building seismic performance level recommended by current seismic codes, indicating high vulnerability of RC moment-resisting frames with soft story.

• Journal of the Korean Solar Energy Society
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.107-114
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• 2014

Modular systems are widely used in various building types including housing, dormitory, and barracks. Steel studs have many advantages over other materials as construction components of modular buildings in terms of seismic performance, durability and maintenance. However, steel stud modular systems also have weakness in condensation resistance due to high thermal conductivity of steel. The purpose of this study is to investigate the condensation resistance of steel stud wall corner details in modular buildings by thermal simulation. The condensation resistance was evaluated by temperature difference ratio according to ISO 13788. The result showed that there was little difference between the alternatives of adding cavity and insulation. Separation of interstitial steel studs showed outstanding effect on the improvement of temperature difference ratio.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.221-231
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• 2014

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the cyclic behavior of steel column-tree moment connections used in steel moment resisting frames. These connections are composed of shop-welded stub beam-to-column connection and field bolted beam-to-beam splice. In this study, the effects of beam splice length on the seismic performance of column-tree connections were experimentally investigated. The change of the beam splice location alters the bending moment and shear force at the splice, and this may affect the seismic performance of column-tree connections. Three full-scale test specimens of column-tree connections with the splice lengths of 900 mm, 1,100 mm, and 1,300 mm were fabricated and tested. The splice lengths were roughly 1/6, 1/7, 1/8 of the beam span length of 7,500 mm, respectively. The test results showed that all the specimens successfully developed ductile behavior without brittle fracture until 5% radians story drift angle. The maximum moment resisting capacity of the specimens showed little differences. The specimen with the splice length of 1,300 mm showed better bolt slip resistance than the other specimens due to the smallest bending moment at the beam splice.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.133-140
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• 2014

The friction damper can be used for improving the seismic resistance of existing buildings. The damper is often installed in bracing members. The energy dissipation capacity of the damping systems depends on the type of the structure, the configuration of the bracing members, and the property of dampers. In Korea, there are numerous low- to mid-rise reinforced concrete moment frames that were constructed considering only gravity loads. Those frames may be vulnerable for future earthquakes. To resolve the problem, this study developed a toggle bracing system with a high density friction damper. To investigate the improvement of reinforced concrete frames after retrofit using the developed damped system, experimental tests were conducted on frame specimens with and without the damped system. The results showed that the maximum strength, initial stiffness and energy dissipation capacity of the framed with the damped system were much larger than those of the frame without the damped system.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.335-344
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• 2018

More and more special-shaped structural systems have been widely used in various industrial and civil buildings in order to satisfy the new structural system and the increasing demand for architectural beauty. With the popularity of the special-shaped structure system, its seismic performance and damage form have also attracted extensive attention. In the current research, an experimental analysis of six groups of (2/3 scale) T-shaped column joints was conducted to investigate the seismic performance of T-shaped column joints. Effects of the beam cross section, transverse stirrup ratio and axial compression ratio on bearing capacity and energy dissipation capacity of column joints were obtained. The crack pattern of T-shaped column joints under low cyclic load was presented and showed a reversed "K" mode. According to the crack configurations, a tensile-shear failure model to determine the shear bearing capacity and crack propagation mechanisms is developed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.741-756
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• 2013

Distributed-Steel Bar Reinforced Concrete (DSBRC) columns, a new and innovative construction technique for composite steel and concrete material which can alleviate the difficulty in the arrangement of the stirrup in the column, were studied experimentally and analytically in this paper. In addition, an ordinary steel Reinforced Concrete (SRC) column was also tested for comparison purpose. The specimens were subjected to quasi-static load reversals to model the earthquake effect. The experimental results including the hysteresis curve, resistance recession, skeleton curves and ductility ratio of columns were obtained, which showed well resistant-seismic behavior for DSBRC column. Meanwhile a numerical three-dimensional nonlinear finite-element (FE) analysis on its mechanical behavior was also carried out. The numerically analyzed results were then compared to the experimental results for validation. The parametric studies and investigation about the effects of several critical factors on the seismic behavior of the DSBRC column were also conducted, which include axial compression ratios, steel ratio, concrete strength and yield strength of steel bar.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.315-329
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• 2020

Through bolt connections in Concrete Filled Steel Tubes (CFSTs) has been proved to be good in terms of seismic performance and constructability. Stiffened extended end plate connection with full through type bolt helps to avoid field weld altogether, and hence to improve the quality of joints. An experimental study was conducted on the hysteretic performance of square interior beam-column connections using flat extended end plates with through bolt. The study focuses on the effect of the bond between the tie rod and the core concrete on the cyclic performance of the joint. The study also quantifies how much the interior joint is getting strengthened due to the confinement effect induced by bi-directional bolting, which is widely used in 3D moment resisting frames. For a better understanding of the mechanism and for the prediction of shear capacity of the panel zone, a mathematical model was generated. The various parameters included in the model are the influence of axial load, amount of prestress induced by bolt tightening, anchorage, and the concrete strut action. The study investigates the strength, stiffness, ductility, and energy dissipation characteristics. The results indicate that the seismic resistance is at par with American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) seismic recommendations. The bidirectional bolting and bond effect have got remarkable influence on the performance of joints.