• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.5
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• pp.491-505
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• 2024

This study evaluates the seismic performance of a premodern six story reinforced concrete building typology designed during the communism period of Albania and build throughout the country. During the November 26, 2019 Earthquake in Albania, the most affected reinforced concrete buildings were among the old templates, lacking shear walls and inadequate reinforcement details which suffer from concrete aging. The mathematical model of the selected building is done in the environments of ZeusNL software, developed especially for earthquake engineering applications. The capacity curve of the structure is gained using the conventional static nonlinear analysis. On the other hand, the demand estimation is utilized using one of the recent methods known as Incremental Dynamic Analysis with a set of 18 ground motion records. The limit states in both curves are defined based on the modern guidelines. For the pushover, immediate occupancy (IO), life safety (LS) and collapse prevention (CP) are plotted in the same graph with capacity curve. Furthermore, on each IDA derived, the IO, CP and global instability (GI) are determined. Moreover, the IDA fractiles are generated as suggested by the literature, 16%, 50% (median) and 84%. In addition, the comparative assessment of the IDA median with capacity curve shows good correlation points. Lastly, this study shows the approach of determination of LS in IDA fractiles for further vulnerability assessment based on the local seismic hazard map with 95 and 475 return period.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.91-98
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• 2015

This paper has proposed a reinforcing method for damaged RC columns with SRF sheets and Aramid rods. In order to verify the effectiveness and performance, two original columns and two reinforced columns with SRF sheets and Aramid rods were developed and tested under lateral cyclic displacement and a constant axial load. The test showed that the improvement of energy dissipation capacity was increased in terms of strength and ductility. In addition, an analytical modeling of the standard specimens was proposed using Response-2000 and ZeusNL program. The results of analytical and experimental studies for two standard columns were compared in terms of loading-displacement curve and energy dissipation capacity based on the nonlinear static analysis.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.724-731
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• 2016

As the structural damage caused by earthquakes has been gradually increasing, estimating the seismic fragility of structures has become essential for earthquake preparation. Seismic fragility curves are widely used as a probabilistic indicator of structural safety against earthquakes, and many researchers have made efforts to develop them in a more accurate and effective manner. However, most of the previous research studies used simplified 2D analytical models when deriving fragility curves, mainly to reduce the numerical simulation time; however, in many cases 2D models are inadequate to accurately evaluate the seismic behavior of a structure and its seismic vulnerability. Thus, this study provides a way to derive more accurate, but still effective, seismic fragility curves by using 3D analytical models. In this method, the reliability analysis software, FERUM, is integrated with the structural analysis software, ZEUS-NL, enabling the automatic exchange of data between these two software packages, and the first order reliability method (FORM), which is not a sampling-based method, is utilized to calculate the structural failure probabilities. These tools make it possible to conduct structural reliability analyses effectively even with 3D models. By using the proposed method, this study conducted a seismic vulnerability assessment of RC frame structures with their 3D analytical models.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.847-867
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• 2014

There are continuous efforts to mitigate structural losses from earthquakes and manage risk through seismic risk assessment; seismic fragility curves are widely accepted as an essential tool of such efforts. Seismic fragility curves can be classified into four groups based on how they are derived: empirical, judgmental, analytical, and hybrid. Analytical fragility curves are the most widely used and can be further categorized into two subgroups, depending on whether an analytical function or simulation method is used. Although both methods have shown decent performances for many seismic fragility problems, they often oversimplify the given problems in reliability or structural analyses owing to their built-in assumptions. In this paper, a new method is proposed for the development of seismic fragility curves. Integration with sophisticated software packages for reliability analysis (FERUM) and structural analysis (ZEUS-NL) allows the new method to obtain more accurate seismic fragility curves for less computational cost. Because the proposed method performs reliability analysis using the first-order reliability method, it provides component probabilities as well as useful byproducts and allows further fragility analysis at the system level. The new method was applied to a numerical example of a 2D frame structure, and the results were compared with those by Monte Carlo simulation. The method was found to generate seismic fragility curves more accurately and efficiently. Also, the effect of system reliability analysis on the development of seismic fragility curves was investigated using the given numerical example and its necessity was discussed.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.1-10
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• 2019

The use of non-linear analysis of structures in a functional way for evaluating the structural seismic behavior has attracted the attention of the engineering community in recent years. The most commonly used functional method for analysis is a non-linear static method known as the "pushover method". In this study, for the first time, a cyclic pushover analysis with different loading protocols was used for seismic investigation of curved bridges. The finite element model of 8-span curved bridges in plan created by the ZEUS-NL software was used for evaluating different pushover methods. In order to identify the optimal loading protocol for use in astatic non-linear cyclic analysis of curved bridges, four loading protocols (suggested by valid references) were used. Along with cyclic analysis, conventional analysis as well as adaptive pushover analysis, with proven capabilities in seismic evaluation of buildings and bridges, have been studied. The non-linear incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method has been used to examine and compare the results of pushover analyses. To conduct IDA, the time history of 20 far-field earthquake records was used and the 50% fractile values of the demand given the ground motion intensity were computed. After analysis, the base shear vs displacement at the top of the piers were drawn. Obtained graphs represented the ability of a cyclic pushover analysis to estimate seismic capacity of the concrete piers of curved bridges. Based on results, the cyclic pushover method with ISO loading protocol provided better results for evaluating the seismic investigation of concrete piers of curved bridges in plan.