• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.485-510
• /
• 2014

In performance-based seismic design procedures Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and pseudo-Spectral acceleration ($S_a$) are commonly used to predict the response of structures to earthquake. Recently, research has been carried out to evaluate the predictive capability of these standard Intensity Measures (IMs) with respect to different types of structures and Engineering Demand Parameter (EDP) commonly used to measure damage. Efforts have been also spent to propose alternative IMs that are able to improve the results of the response predictions. However, most of these IMs are not usually employed in probabilistic seismic demand analyses because of the lack of reliable Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs). In order to define seismic hazard and thus to calculate demand hazard curves it is essential, in fact, to establish a GMPE for the earthquake intensity. In the light of this need, new GMPEs are proposed here for the elastic input energy spectra, energy-based intensity measures that have been shown to be good predictors of both structural and non-structural damage for many types of structures. The proposed GMPEs are developed using mixed-effects models by empirical regressions on a large number of strong-motions selected from the NGA database. Parametric analyses are carried out to show the effect of some properties variation, such as fault mechanism, type of soil, earthquake magnitude and distance, on the considered IMs. Results of comparisons between the proposed GMPEs and other from the literature are finally shown.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.263-271
• /
• 2020

In this study, we performed a three-dimensional (3D) topology optimization of a fixed offshore structure to enhance its structural stiffness. The proposed topology optimization is based on the solid isotropic material with penalization (SIMP) method, where a volume constraint is applied to utilize an equivalent amount of material as that used for the rule-based scantling design. To investigate the effects of the main legs of the fixed offshore structure on its structural stiffness, the leg region is selectively considered in the design domain of the topology optimization problem. The obtained optimal designs and the rule-based scantling design of the structure are manufactured by 3D metal printing technology to experimentally validate the topology optimization. The behaviors under compressive loading of the obtained optimal designs are compared with those of the rule-based scantling design using a universal testing machine (UTM). Based on the structural experiments, we concluded that by employing the topology optimization method, the structural stiffness of the structure was enhanced compared to that of the rule-based scantling design for an equal amount of the fabrication material. Furthermore, by effectively combining the topology optimization and rule-based scantling methods, we succeeded in enhancing the structural stiffness and improving the breaking load of the fixed offshore structure.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.39-54
• /
• 2014

Node layout optimization of structural wireless systems is investigated as a means to prolong the network lifetime without, if possible, compromising information quality of the measurement data. The trade-off between these antagonistic objectives is studied within a multi-objective layout optimization framework. A Genetic Algorithm is adopted to obtain a set of Pareto-optimal solutions from which the end user can select the final layout. The information quality of the measurement data collected from a heterogeneous WSN is quantified from the placement quality indicators of strain and acceleration sensors. The network lifetime or equivalently the network energy consumption is estimated through WSN simulation that provides realistic results by capturing the dynamics of the wireless communication protocols. A layout optimization study of a monitoring system on the Great Belt Bridge is conducted to evaluate the proposed approach. The placement quality of strain gauges and accelerometers is obtained as a ratio of the Modal Clarity Index and Mode Shape Expansion values that are computed from a Finite Element model of the monitored bridge. To estimate the energy consumption of the WSN platform in a realistic scenario, we use a discrete-event simulator with stochastic communication models. Finally, we compare the optimization results with those obtained in a previous work where the network energy consumption is obtained via deterministic communication models.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.35 no.10
• /
• pp.1249-1255
• /
• 2011

A PHE (Process Heat Exchanger) is a key component required to transfer heat energy of $950^{\circ}C$ generated in a VHTR (Very High Temperature Reactor) to a chemical reaction that yields a large quantity of hydrogen. A small-scale PHE prototype made of Hastelloy-X was scheduled for testing in a small-scale gas loop at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute. In this study, as a part of the evaluation of the high-temperature structural integrity of the PHE prototype, high-temperature structural analysis modeling, and macroscopic thermal and elastic-plastic structural analysis of the PHE prototype were carried out under the gas-loop test conditions as a preliminary qwer123$study before carrying out the performance test in the gas loop. The results obtained in this study will be used to design the performance test setup for the modified PHE prototype.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
• /
• v.35 no.9
• /
• pp.1137-1143
• /
• 2011

The IHX (intermediate heat exchanger) of a VHTR (very high-temperature reactor) is a core component that transfers the high heat generated by the VHTR at $950^{\circ}C$ to a hydrogen production plant. Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute manufactured a small-scale prototype of a PCHE (printed circuit heat exchanger) that was being considered as a candidate for the IHX. In this study, as a part of high-temperature structural integrity evaluation of the small-scale PCHE prototype, we carried out high-temperature structural analysis modeling and macroscopic thermal and elastic structural analysis for the small-scale PCHE prototype under small-scale gas-loop test conditions. The modeling and analysis were performed as a precedent study prior to the performance test in the small-scale gas loop. The results obtained in this study will be compared with the test results for the small-scale PCHE. Moreover, these results will be used in the design of a medium-scale PCHE prototype.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.65 no.6
• /
• pp.751-760
• /
• 2018

Damages in concrete structures due to aging and other factors could be a serious and immense matter. Making the best selection of the most viable and practical repairing and strengthening techniques are relatively difficult tasks using traditional methods of structural analyses. This is due to the fact that the traditional methods used for assessing aging structure are not fully capable when considering the randomness in strength, loads and cost. This paper presents a reliability-based methodology for assessing reinforced concrete members. The methodology of this study is based on probabilistic analysis, using statistics of the random variables in the performance function equations. Principles of reliability updating are used in the assessment process, as new information is taken into account and combined with prior probabilistic models. The methodology can result in a reliability index ${\beta}$ that can be used to assess the structural component by comparing its value with a standard value. In addition, these methods result in partial safety factor values that can be used for the purpose of strengthening the R/C elements of the existing structure. Calculations and computations of the reliability indices and the partial safety factors values are conducted using the First-order Reliability Method and Monte Carlo simulation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Manufacturing Technology Engineers
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.865-870
• /
• 2012

CFRP of the advanced composite materials as structure materials for vehicles has a widely application in lightweight structural materials of air planes, ships and automobiles because of high strength and stiffness compared with conventional materials. This study is to investigate the energy absorption characteristics and collapse mode of CFRP single and double hat shaped structural member under the axial static collapse test. The CFRP single and double hat shaped structural members stacked at different angles (${\pm}15^{\circ}$, ${\pm}45^{\circ}$, ${\pm}90^{\circ}$, $90^{\circ}/0^{\circ}$ and $0^{\circ}/90^{\circ}$ where the direction on $0^{\circ}$ coincides with the axis of the member). The axial static collapse tests were carried out for each member. Collapse mode and energy absorption characteristics of the each member were analyzed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.185-199
• /
• 2020

A computationally-efficient method for multi-criteria optimisation is developed for performance-based seismic design of friction energy dissipation dampers in RC structures. The proposed method is based on the concept of Uniform Distribution of Deformation (UDD), where the slip-load distribution along the height of the structure is gradually modified to satisfy multiple performance targets while minimising the additional loads imposed on existing structural elements and foundation. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated through optimisation of 3, 5, 10, 15 and 20-storey RC frames with friction wall dampers subjected to design representative earthquakes using single and multi-criteria optimisation scenarios. The optimum design solutions are obtained in only a few steps, while they are shown to be independent of the selected initial slip loads and convergence factor. Optimum frames satisfy all predefined design targets and exhibit up to 48% lower imposed loads compared to designs using a previously proposed slip-load distribution. It is also shown that dampers designed with optimum slip load patterns based on a set of spectrum-compatible synthetic earthquakes, on average, provide acceptable design solutions under multiple natural seismic excitations representing the design spectrum.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.66 no.2
• /
• pp.229-235
• /
• 2018

This study investigated the behaviour of the simply supported hollow steel tube (HST) beams, either concrete filled or unfilled when strengthened with carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. Eight specimens with varied tubes thickness (sections classification 1 and 3) were all tested experimentally under static flexural loading, four out of eight were filled with normal concrete (CFST beams). Particularly, the partial CFRP strengthening scheme was used, which wrapped the bottom-half of the beams cross-section (U-shaped wrapping), in order to use the efficiency of high tensile strength of CFRP sheets at the tension stress only of simply supported beams. In general, the results showed that the CFRP sheets significantly improved the ultimate strength and energy absorption capacities of the CFST beams with very limited improvement on the related HST beams. For example, the load and energy absorption capacities for the CFST beams (tube section class 1) were increased about 20% and 32.6%, respectively, when partially strengthened with two CFRP layers, and these improvements had increased more (62% and 38%) for the same CFST beams using tube class 3. However, these capacities recorded no much improvement on the related unfilled HST beams when the same CFRP strengthening scheme was adopted.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.12 no.3_4
• /
• pp.345-361
• /
• 2013

Locating and assessing the severity of damage in large or complex structures is one of the most challenging problems in the field of civil engineering. Considering that the wavelet packet transform (WPT) has the ability to clearly reflect the damage characteristics of structural response signals and the artificial neural network (ANN) is capable of learning in an unsupervised manner and of forming new classes when the structural exhibits change, this paper investigates a multi-stage structural damage diagnosis method by using the WPT and ANN based on "energy-damage" theory, in which, the wavelet packet component energies are first extracted to be damage sensitive feature and then adopted as input into an improved back propagation (BP) neural network model for damage diagnosis in a step by step mode. To validate the efficacy of the presented approach of the damage diagnosis, the benchmark structure of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is employed in the case study. The results of damage diagnosis indicate that the method herein is computationally efficient and is able to detect the existence of different damage patterns in the simulated experiment where minor, moderate and severe damages corresponds to involving in the loss of stiffness on braces or the removal bracing in various combinations.