• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.12 no.3
• /
• pp.285-296
• /
• 2017

Base isolation is a quite practical control strategy for enhancing the response of structural systems induced by strong ground motions. Due to the dynamic effects of base isolation systems, reduction in the interstory drifts of the superstructure is often achieved at the expense of high base displacement level, which may lead to instability of the structure or non-practical designs for the base isolators. To reduce the base displacement, several hybrid structural control strategies have been studied over the past decades. This study investigates a particular strategy that employs Tuned Mass Dampers (TMDs) for improving the performance of base-isolated structures and unlike previous studies, specifically focuses on the effectiveness of this hybrid control strategy in structures that are equipped with nonlinear base isolation systems. To consider the nonlinearities of base isolation systems, a Bouc-Wen model is selected and nonlinear dynamic OpenSees models are used to perform several time-history simulations in time and frequency domains. Through these numerical simulations, the effects of several parameters such as the fundamental period of the structure, dynamic properties of the TMD and isolation systems and properties of the input ground motion on the behaviour of TMD-structure-base isolation systems are examined. The results of this study provide a better insight into the performance of linear shear-story structures with nonlinear base isolators and show that there are many scenarios in which TMDs can still improve the performance of these systems.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.971-983
• /
• 2015

To promote greater acceptance and use of composite RCS systems, a two-bay two-story frame specimen with improved composite RCS joint details was tested in the laboratory under reversed cyclic loading. The test revealed superior seismic performance with stable load versus story drift response and excellent deformation capacity for an inter-story drift ratio up to 1/25. It was found that the failure process of the frame meets the strong-column weak-beam criterion. Furthermore, cracking inter-story drift ratio and ultimate inter-story drift ratio both satisfy the limitation prescribed by the design code. Additionally, inter-story drift ratios at yielding and peak load stage provide reference data for Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD) approaches for composite RCS frames. An advantage over conventional reinforced concrete and steel moment frame systems is that the displacement ductility coefficient of the RCS frame system is much larger. To conclude, the test results prove that composite RCS frame systems perform satisfactorily under simulated earthquake action, which further validates the reliability of this innovative system. Based on the test result, some suggestions are presented for the design of composite RCS frame systems.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.463-482
• /
• 2016

Air Traffic Control (ATC) towers play significant role in the functionality of each airport. In spite of having complex dynamic behavior and major role in mitigating post-earthquake problems, less attention has been paid to the seismic performance of these structures. Herein, seismic response of an existing ATC tower with a wall-frame structural system that has been designed and detailed according to a local building code was evaluated through the framework of performance-based seismic design. Results of this study indicated that the linear static and dynamic analyses used for the design of this tower were incapable of providing a safety margin for the required seismic performance levels especially when the tower was subjected to strong ground motions. It was concluded that, for seismic design of ATC towers practice engineers should refer to a more sophisticated seismic design approach (e.g., performance-based seismic design) which accounts for inelastic behavior of structural components in order to comply with the higher seismic performance objectives of ATC towers.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.45-52
• /
• 2019

The purpose of the paper is to introduce a system that reduces the occurrence of weak-story in the event of earthquake. Weak-story concentrates deformation on the story and causes all member to collapse before the capacity of all member is reached. This paper introduces Strong-Back system (SB) to protect weak story. SB is a hybrid of zipper frame, tied eccentrically braced frame, and elastic truss system and it is divided into elastic and inelastic areas. Elastic areas prevent the generation of weak story by distributing energy, and inelastic areas dissipate energy through buckling or yielding. In this paper, the seismic performance is evaluated by comparing the four type braced frame with SB through push-over analysis. The four criteria are compared from the base shear, the ductility capacity, the column failure order, and the quantity of brace. As a result, SB proved to have sufficient performance to protect the weak-story.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2010.09a
• /
• pp.515-518
• /
• 2010

Horizontal forces may form a major part of the loading system for structures supported on pile groups. It is known that during a strong earthquake, the dynamic behavior of a group-pile foundation is related not only to the inertial force coming from the superstructures but also to the deformation of the surrounding ground. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the behaviors of the group-pile foundations and superstructures during major earthquakes. In this paper, numerical simulation of real-scale group-pile foundation subjected to horizontal cyclic loading is conducted by using a program named as DBLEAVES. In the analysis, nonlinear behaviors of ground and piles are described by cyclic mobility model and axial force dependent model (AFD model). The purpose of this paper is to prove availability of the analysis method by comparing numerical results and test results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.73-91
• /
• 2015

The effectiveness of tuned mass dampers (TMDs) in reducing the seismic response of civil structures is still a debated issue. The few studies regarding TMDs on inelastic structures indicate that they would perform well under moderate earthquake loading, when the structure remains linear or weakly nonlinear, while tending to fail under severe ground shaking, when the structure experiences strong nonlinearities. TMD seismic efficiency should be therefore rationally assessed by considering to which extent moderate and severe earthquakes respectively contribute to the expected cost of damages and losses over the lifespan of the structure. In this paper, a method for evaluating, in a life-cycle cost (LCC) perspective, the seismic effectiveness of TMDs on inelastic building structures is presented and exemplified on the SAC LA 9-storey steel moment-resisting frame benchmark building. Results show that the LCC concept may provide an appropriate alternative to traditional performance criteria for the evaluation of the effectiveness of TMDs and that TMD installation on typical existing middle-rise buildings in high seismic hazard regions may significantly reduce building lifetime cost despite the poor control performance observed under the most severe seismic events.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.197-217
• /
• 2012

Detailed analysis of internal forces of exterior beam-column joints of RC frames under seismic action is reported in this paper. A formula is derived for calculating the average joint shear from the column shears, and a formula is proposed to estimate torque in eccentric joints induced by seismic action. Average joint shear stress and strain are defined consistently for exterior joints, which can be used to establish joint shear constitutive relationship. Numerical results of shear, bending moment and torque in joints induced by seismic action are presented for a pair of concentric and eccentric exterior connections extracted from a seismically designed RC frame, and two sections located at the levels of beam bottom and top reinforcement, respectively, are identified as the critical joint sections for evaluating seismic joint behavior. A simplified analysis of the effects of joint shear and torque on the flexural strengths of the critical joint sections is made for the two connections extracted from the frame, and the results indicate that joint shear and torque induced by a strong earthquake may lead to "joint-hinging" mechanism of seismically designed RC frames.

• Coupled systems mechanics
• /
• v.1 no.4
• /
• pp.311-324
• /
• 2012

Previous investigations have demonstrated that strong earthquakes can cause severe damage or collapse to storage tanks. Theoretical studies by other researchers have shown that allowing the tank to uplift generally reduces the base shear and the base moment. This paper provides the necessary experimental confirmation of some of the numerical finding by other researchers. This paper reports on a series of experiments of a model tank containing water using a shake table. A comparison of the seismic behaviour of a fixed base system (tank with anchorage) and a system free to uplift (tank without anchorage) is considered. The six ground motions are scaled to the design spectrum provided by New Zealand Standard 1170.5 (2004) and a range of aspect ratios (height/radius) is considered. Measurements were made of the impulsive acceleration, the horizontal displacement of the top of the tank and uplift of the base plate. A preliminary comparison between the experimental results and the recommendations provided by the liquid storage tank design recommendations of the New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering is included. The measurement of anchorage forces required to avoid uplift under varying conditions will be discussed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.8 no.5
• /
• pp.1127-1146
• /
• 2015

The excitation angle or angle of incidence is the angle in which the horizontal seismic components are applied with respect to the principal structural axes during a time history analysis. In this study, numerical simulations and parametric studies are performed for the investigation of the effect of the angle of seismic incidence on the response of adjacent buildings, which may experience structural pounding during strong earthquakes due to insufficient or no separation distance between them. A specially developed software application has been used that implements a simple and efficient methodology, according to which buildings are modelled in three dimensions and potential impacts are simulated using a novel impact model that takes into account the arbitrary location of impacts and the geometry at the point of impact. Two typical multi-storey buildings and a set of earthquake records have been used in the performed analyses. The results of the conducted parametric studies reveal that it is very important to consider the arbitrary direction of the ground motion with respect to the structural axes of the simulated buildings, especially during pounding, since, in many cases, the detrimental effects of pounding become more pronounced for an excitation angle different from the commonly examined 0 or 90 degrees.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.5 no.5
• /
• pp.565-585
• /
• 2009

Superelastic Shape Memory Alloys (SMAs) are gaining acceptance for use as reinforcing bars in concrete structures. The seismic behaviour of concrete frames reinforced with SMAs is being assessed in this study. Two eight-storey concrete frames, one of which is reinforced with regular steel and the other with SMAs at the plastic hinge regions of beams and regular steel elsewhere, are designed and analyzed using 10 different ground motion records. Both frames are located in the highly seismic region of Western Canada and are designed and detailed according to current seismic design standards. The validation of a finite element (FE) program that was conducted previously at the element level is extended to the structure level in this paper using the results of a shake table test of a three-storey moment resisting steel RC frame. The ten accelerograms that are chosen for analyzing the designed RC frames are scaled based on the spectral ordinate at the fundamental periods of the frames. The behaviour of both frames under scaled seismic excitations is compared in terms of maximum inter-storey drift, top-storey drift, inter-storey residual drift, and residual top-storey drift. The results show that SMA-RC frames are able to recover most of its post-yield deformation, even after a strong earthquake.