• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.39-50
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• 2021

Recently, as the occurrence of earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 or higher in Korea increases, many studies and interests in seismic design are increasing. A lot of damage was caused by the Pohang earthquake in 2017, and port facilities such as a breakwater were also damaged. This study analyzed the dynamic behavior of the upright breakwater, an external facility, based on a centrifugal model experiment. A series of centrifugal model test was conducted by three different seismic waves such as Pohang Earthquake Wave, Artificial Wave I, and II. As a result, the dynamic behavior of upright breakwater was analyzed. The review showed that acceleration amplification tends to be suppressed as breakwater foundation ground increases support and stiffness through DCM reinforcement and riprap replacement.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3361-3379
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• 2022

A nuclear power plant (NPP) piping is designed against low-frequency earthquakes. However, earthquakes that can occur at NPP sites in the eastern part of the United States, northern Europe, and Korea are high-frequency earthquakes. Therefore, this study conducts bi-directional shaking table tests on actual-scale NPP piping and studies the response characteristics of low- and high-frequency earthquake motions. Such response characteristics are analyzed by comparing several responses that occur in the piping. Also, based on the test results, a piping numerical analysis model is developed and validated. The piping seismic performance under high-frequency earthquakes is derived. Consequently, the high-frequency excitation caused a large amplification in the measured peak acceleration responses compared to the low-frequency excitation. Conversely, concerning relative displacements, strains, and normal stresses, low-frequency excitation responses were larger than high-frequency excitation responses. Main peak relative displacements and peak normal stresses were 60%-69% and 24%-49% smaller in the high-frequency earthquake response than the low-frequency earthquake response. This phenomenon was noticeable when the earthquake motion intensity was large. The piping numerical model simulated the main natural frequencies and relative displacement responses well. Finally, for the stress limit state, the seismic performance for high-frequency earthquakes was about 2.7 times greater than for low-frequency earthquakes.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2387-2395
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• 2021

Seismic qualifications of electrical equipment, such as cabinet systems, have been emerging as the key area of nuclear power plants in Korea since the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake, including the high-frequency domain. In addition, electrical equipment was sensitive to the high-frequency ground motions during the past earthquake. Therefore, this paper presents the rocking behavior of the electrical cabinet system subjected to Reg. 1.60 and UHS. The high fidelity finite element (FE) model of the cabinet related to the shaking table test data was developed. In particular, the first two global modes of the cabinet from the experimental test were 16 Hz and 24 Hz, respectively. In addition, 30.05 Hz and 37.5 Hz were determined to be the first two local modes in the cabinet. The high fidelity FE model of the cabinet using the ABAQUS platform was extremely reconciled with shaking table tests. As a result, the dynamic properties of the cabinet were sensitive to electrical instruments, such as relays and switchboards, during the shaking table test. In addition, the amplification with respect to the vibration transfer function of the cabinet was observed on the third floor in the cabinet due to localized impact corresponding to the rocking phenomenon of the cabinet under Reg.1.60 and UHS. Overall, the rocking of the cabinet system can be caused by the low-frequency oscillations and higher peak horizontal acceleration.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.233-247
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• 2024

The damage to structures during an earthquake can be varied depending on the frequency characteristics of seismic waves and the geological properties of the ground. Therefore, considering such attributes in the design ground motions is crucial. The Korean seismic design standard (KDS 17 10 00) provides design response spectra for various ground classifications. If required for time-domain analysis, ground motion time series can be either selected and adjusted from motions recorded at rock sites in intraplate regions or artificially synthesized. Ground motion time series at soil sites should be obtained from site response analysis. However, in practice, selecting suitable ground motion records is challenging due to the overall lack of large earthquakes in intraplate regions, and artificially synthesized time series often leads to unrealistic responses of structures. As an alternative approach, this study provides a case study of generating ground motion time series based on the hybrid broadband ground motion simulation of selected scenario earthquakes at sites in the Nakdonggang delta region. This research is significant as it provides a novel method for generating ground motion time series that can be used in seismic design and response analysis. For large-magnitude earthquake scenarios close to the epicenter, the simulated response spectra surpassed the 1000-year design response spectra in some specific frequency ranges. Subsequently, the acceleration time series at each location were used as input motions to perform nonlinear 1D site response analysis through the PySeismoSoil Package to account for the site response characteristics at each location. The results of the study revealed a tendency to amplify ground motion in the mid to long-period range in most places within the study area. Additionally, significant amplification in the short-period range was observed in some locations characterized by a thin soil layer and relatively high shear wave velocity soil near the upper bedrock.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.490-497
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• 2009

The horizontal and vertical response spectra using the observed ground motion from the recent 5 macro earthquakes were analysed and then were compared to both the seismic design response spectra(Reg Guide 1.60), applied to the domestic nuclear power plants, and the Korean Standard Design Response Spectrum for general structures and buildings(1997). 74 horizontal and 89 vertical observed ground motions, without considering soil types, were used for normalization with respect to the peak acceleration value of each ground motion. The results showed that the horizontal MPOSD(Mean Plus One Sigma Standard Deviation) response spectra revealed much higher values for the whole frequency bands above 1 Hz than Reg. Guide(1.60). For the vertical response spectra, the results showed slightly higher than just between 7 and 8 Hz frequency band. The results were also compared to the Korean Standard Response Spectrum for the 3 different soil types and showed that the horizontal MPOSD response spectra revealed much higher values for the whole periods below 2 second(0.5 Hz) than those of SE soil type. The vertical response spectra showed similar to the values of the Korean Standard Response Spectrum of SD soil type. These spectral values dependent on frequency could be related to characteristics of the domestic crustal attenuation and the effect of each site amplification. However, through the qualitative improvements and quantitative enhancement of the observed ground motions, the conservation of horizontal seismic design response spectrum should be considered more significantly for the whole frequency bands above the 1 Hz.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.71-83
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• 2014

Busan is located at the mouth of Nakdong River and if an earthquake occurs, it is very likely that the damage by the earthquake will be worse as liquefaction can happen in the sand layer, builtup soil, and landfill ground due to amplification in the lower sedimentary layer that is well developed in the river mouth. Therefore, this study first examined the possibility of liquefaction in the replaced sand layer under breakwater using 14 earthquakes in 5.6-7.9 scale and artificial earthquakes including the seismic wave suggested in the standard specifications for seismic design of ports and fishing port facilities to evaluate the stability of breakwater which is the primary protective structure for port facilities against earthquakes. Second, analysis on characteristics of the seismic energy and acceleration response spectrum by size of earthquake was performed to suggest the most appropriate size of seismic wave for the condition in Korea. Third, finite element analysis was performed using the suggested seismic wave to study the characteristics of earthquake by finding the dynamic lateral displacement of breakwater and verifying the stability of structure and the displacement and forces occurring at geotextile. Results of the study showed that the possibility of liquefaction in the landfill and replaced sand layer, the dynamic lateral displacement of breakwater, and changes of geotextile are greatly affected by the subsurface ground (replaced sand layer).

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.227-234
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• 2010

The vertical response spectra using the observed ground motions from the recent more than 30 macro earthquakes were analysed and then were compared both to the seismic design response spectra (Reg Guide 1.60), applied to the domestic nuclear power plants, and to the Korean Standard Design Response Spectrum for general structures and buildings (1997). 176 vertical ground motions, without considering soil types, were used for normalization with respect to the peak acceleration value of each ground motion. The results showed that response spectrum had strong dependency on epicentral distance. The results also showed that the vertical response spectra revealed much higher values for frequency bands above 5~7 Hz than Reg. Guide (1.60). The results were also compared to the Korean Standard Response Spectrum for the 3 different soil types and showed that the vertical response spectra revealed much higher values for the frequency bands below 0.2 second (5 Hz) than the Korean Standard Response Spectrum (SD soil condition). These frequency-dependent spectral values could be related to the characteristics of the domestic crustal attenuation and the effect of each site amplification. However, through the qualitative improvements and quantitative enhancement of the observed ground motions, the conservation of vertical seismic design response spectrum should be considered more significantly for the frequency bands above 5 Hz.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.4 s.44
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• pp.11-18
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• 2005

Inelastic seismic analysis is necessary for the seismic design due to the nonlinear behavior of a structure-soil system, and the importance of the performance based design considering the soil-structure interaction is recognized for the reasonable seismic design. In this study, elastic and inelastic seismic response analyses of a single degree of freedom system on the soft soil layer were peformed considering the nonlinearity of the soil for the 11 weak or moderate, and 5 strong earthquakes scaled to the nominal peak acceleration of 0.075g, 0.15g, 0.2g and 0.3g. Seismic response analyses for the structure-soil system were peformed in one step applying the earthquake motions to the bedrock In the frequency domain, using a pseudo 3-D dynamic analysis software. Study results indicate that it is necessary to consider the nonlinear soil-structure interaction effects and to perform the performance based seismic design for the various soil layers rather than to follow the routine procedures specified in the seismic design codes. Nonlinearity of the soft soil excited with the weak earthquakes also affected significantly to the elastic and inelastic responses due to the nonlinear soil amplification of the earthquake motions, and it was pronounced especially for the elastic ones.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.1 s.53
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• pp.67-77
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• 2007

Site coefficients in IBC and KBC codes have some limits to predict the rational seismic responses of a structure, because they take into account only the effect of the soil amplification without the effects of the structure-soil interaction. In this study, upper and lower limits of the site coefficients are estimated through the pseudo 3-D elastic seismic response analyses of structures built on the linear or nonlinear soil layers taking Into account the effects of the structure-soil interaction. Soil characteristics of site classes of A, B and C were assumed to be linear, and those of site classes of D and E were done to be nonlinear and the Ramberg-Osgood model was used to evaluate shear modulus and damping ratio of a soil layer depending on the shear wave velocity of the soil layer, Seismic analyses were performed with 12 weak or moderate earthquake records scaled the peak acceleration to 0.1g or 0.2g and deconvoluted as earthquake records at the bedrock located at 30m deep under the outcrop. With the study results of the elastic seismic response analyses of structures, new standard response spectrum and upper and lower limits of the site coefficients of $F_{a}\;and\;F_{v}$ at the short period range and the period of 1 second are suggested including the effects of the structure-soil interaction, and new site coefficients for the KBC code are also suggested.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.399-407
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• 2010

The horizontal response spectra using the observed ground motions from the recent more than 19 macro earthquakes were analysed and then were compared to both the seismic design response spectra (Reg Guide 1.60), applied to the domestic nuclear power plants, and the Korean Standard Design Response Spectrum for general structures and buildings (1997). 130 horizontal ground motions, without considering soil types, were used for normalization with respect to the peak acceleration value of each ground motion. The results showed that response spectrum have strong dependency on epicentral distance. The results also showed that the horizontal response spectra revealed much higher values for frequency bands above 5 Hz than Reg. Guide (1.60). The results were also compared to the Korean Standard Response Spectrum for the 3 different soil types and showed that the vertical response spectra revealed much higher values for the frequency bands below 0.3 second than the Korean Standard Response Spectrum (SD soil condition). These spectral values dependent on frequency could be related to characteristics of the domestic crustal attenuation and the effect of each site amplification. However, through the qualitative improvements and quantitative enhancement of the observed ground motions, the conservation of horizontal seismic design response spectrum should be considered more significantly for the frequency bands above 5 Hz.