• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.75-82
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• 2010

This study formed an estimation of the visual characteristics of urban bridges in Yanghwaro in the Gyeongui Railroad Area using a landscape simulation. Existing theses have formerly only suggested directions for design based on visual preference, but there is as yet no research on the practical process of landscape design. As a result, it is difficult to directly apply this to bridge design. This study found a potential bridge site and presented a direction for bridge design in order to improve the image of the surrounding urban landscape by surveying the visual effects and landscape preferences of different bridge types. An urban landscape was produced using a landscape simulation model and was made the background for the survey. Five bridge types--Girder, Arch, Truss, Cable and Suspension--were selected and presented. The shapes of the bridges were selected based on the floor plan. The results of this study are as follows. In a preference analysis, every bridge except Girder was evaluated as a positive influence. When rating the image, 'artificial' was rated significantly higher than other traits when assessing the background image. When the Girder Bridge was introduced, 'stable' and 'orderly' were both rated highly while 'stable', 'beautiful', 'orderly' and 'interesting' were high with the introduction of the Arch Bridge. 'Beautiful', 'stable', and 'orderly' were given a high value in the introduction of the Truss Bridge and every image except 'natural', 'harmony' and 'orderly' were highly rated in the introduction of the Cable Bridge. Further, every image but 'natural' was highly rated with the introduction of the Suspension Bridge. Based on the analysis of the landscape, there is a difference in preference before and after modeling a bridge type, while the bridge itself is an influence when it is the main object of the simulated scene. This study researched only the shape of the bridge as a part of the landscape but other elements such as stability, economics, and construction are also factors in the design of a bridge. Stability, economics, construction and other factors must be considered when selecting a bridge type in the future.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.273-279
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• 2007

Probabilistic Risk Assessment considering statistically random variables is performed for the preliminary design of an Arch Bridge. Component reliabilities of girders have been evaluated using the response surfaces of the design variables at the selected critical sections based on the maximum shear and negative moment locations. Response Surface Method (RSM) is successfully applied for reliability analyses lot this relatively small probability of failure of the complex structure, which is hard to be calculated by Monte-Carlo Simulations or by First Order Second Moment method that can not easily calculate the derivative terms in implicit limit state functions. For the analysis of system reliability, parallel resistance system composed of girders is modeled as a parallel series connection system. The upper and lower probabilities of failure for the structural system have been evaluated and compared with the suggested prediction method for the combination of failure modes. The suggested prediction method for the combination of failure modes reveals the unexpected combinations of element failures in significantly reduced time and efforts, compared with the previous permutation method or conventional system reliability analysis method.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.799-813
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• 2020

Fatigue cracks of rib-to-deck (RD) joints have been frequently observed in the orthotropic steel decks (OSD) using conventional U-ribs (CU). Thickened edge U-rib (TEU) is proposed to enhance the fatigue strength of RD joints, and its effectiveness has been proved through fatigue tests. In-depth full-scale tests are further carried out to investigate both the fatigue strength and fractography of RD joints. Based on the test result, the mean fatigue strength of TEU specimens is 21% and 17% higher than that of CU specimens in terms of nominal and hot spot stress, respectively. Meanwhile, the development of fatigue cracks has been measured using the strain gauges installed along the welded joint. It is found that such the crack remains almost in semi-elliptical shape during the initiation and propagation. For the further application of TEUs, the design curve under the specific survival rate is required for the RD joints using TEUs. Since the fatigue strength of welded joints is highly scattered, the design curves derived by using the limited test data only are not reliable enough to be used as the reference. On this ground, an experiment-numerical hybrid approach is employed. Basing on the fatigue test, a probabilistic assessment model has been established to predict the fatigue strength of RD joints. In the model, the randomness in material properties, initial flaws and local geometries has been taken into consideration. The multiple-site initiation and coalescence of fatigue cracks are also considered to improve the accuracy. Validation of the model has been rigorously conducted using the test data. By extending the validated model, large-scale databases of fatigue life could be generated in a short period. Through the regression analysis on the generated database, design curves of the RD joint have been derived under the 95% survival rate. As the result, FAT 85 and FAT 110 curves with the power index m of 2.89 are recommended in the fatigue evaluation on the RD joint using TEUs in terms of nominal stress and hot spot stress respectively. Meanwhile, FAT 70 and FAT 90 curves with m of 2.92 are suggested in the evaluation on the RD joint using CUs in terms of nominal stress and hot spot stress, respectively.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.77-84
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• 2020

In this paper, we developed a damage evaluation technique that can determine the damage location of a long-sized structure such as a cable-stayed bridge, and verified the performance of the developed technique through experiments. The damage assessment method aims to extract data that can evaluate the damage of the structure without the undamage data and can determine the damage location only by analyzing the response data of the structure. To complete this goal, we developed a damage assessment technique that considers variability based on the IMD theory, which is a statistical pattern recognition technique, to identify the damage location. To complete this goal, we developed a damage assessment technique that considers variability based on the IMD theory, which is a statistical pattern recognition technique, to identify the damage location. To evaluate the performance of the developed technique experimentally, cable damage experiments were conducted on model cable-stayed bridges. As a result, the damage assessment method considering variability automatically outputs the damageless data according to external force, and it is confirmed that the performance of extracting information that can determine the damage location of the cable through the analysis of the outputted damageless data and the measured damage data is shown.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.13-20
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• 2010

Seismic risk assessment of railway bridges is an important issue for a transportation network, because loss of functionality of railway bridges could result in severe disruption of the railway line, as no redundant routing systems generally exist. Although many studies have been conducted by numerous researchers regarding fragility analyses of bridge structure, little or no studies have been done for fragility analyses of a class of bridge structures considering their geometric variability. This study performs a fragility analysis for Track-on Steel-Plate-Girder (TOSPG) railway bridges in Korea considering their span variability. Seismic fragility curves are developed for a series of bridges with different spans varying from 2 to 15. At last, the fragility curves for the whole TOSPG bridges in Korea are also developed using the total probability theorem. This study is expected to effectively contribute to the seismic risk assessment of railway lines, where a number of bridges are present.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2009

More than 40% of railway bridges on the conventional lines in Korea consist of track-on-steel plate girder (TOSPG) bridges. This type of bridge is typically designed without considering seismic loadings, as most of them were built before 1970. The seismic performance of this particular type of bridge could be upgraded through various seismic retrofit schemes, and seismic risk assessment could play a key role in decision-making on the level of the seismic retrofit. This study performed a seismic risk assessment of TOSPG bridges in Korea. The seismic damage of several crucial components of TOSPG bridges--fixed bearings, free bearings, and piers--were probabilistically estimated, and their seismic fragility curves were developed. The probability that the components would exceed their predefined limit states was also calculated by combining the fragility curves and the seismic hazard function. The analysis showed that the piers of TOSPG bridges, which are made of plain concrete without rebars, have relatively low risk against seismic loadings in Korea. This is because the mass of the superstructures of TOSPG bridges is relatively small, and hence, the seismic loading being transferred to the piers is minimal. The line-type bearings typically used for TOSPG bridges, however, are exposed to a degree of seismic risk. Among the bearings, the probability of the free-end bearings and the fixed-end bearings exceeding the slight damage state in 50 years was found to be 12.78% and 4.23%, respectively. The gap between these probability values lessened towards more serious damage states. This study could effectively provide an engineering background for decision-making activities on the seismic retrofit of railway bridges.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.31-40
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• 2002

The purpose of this study is to investigate the seismic behavior of RC bridge piers and to provide the data for developing improved seismic design criteria. The accuracy and objectivity of the assessment process may be enhanced by the use of sophisticated nonlinear finite element analysis program. A computer program, named RCAHEST(reinforced concrete analysis in higher evaluation system technology), for the analysis of reinforced concrete structures was used. Material nonlinearity is taken into account by comprising tensile, compressive and shear models of cracked concrete and a model of reinforcing steel. The smeared crack approach is incorporated. n boundary plane at which each member with different thickness is connected, local discontinuity in deformation due to the abrupt change in their stiffness can be taken into account by introducing interface element. The effect of number of load reversals with the same displacement amplitude has been also taken into account to model the reinforcing steel and concrete. In the companion paper, the proposed numerical method for seismic damage evaluation of RC bridge piers is verified by comparison with the reliable experimental results.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.89-97
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• 1998

This study is intended to investigate the seismic responses of bridge structures considering site effects. The site effects in the seismic analysis of bridge structures were classified into two parts. At first, the seismic responses of the structures on each "soil profile types" of the code were evaluated in accordance with code-specified method and compared with results of time-history analysis method. And next, as a second stage of the study, the responses of the two different soil with considerably different soil properties, even though they are classified to the same "soil profile types" of the code, were evaluated and compared each other. The first part of study is purposed to evaluate the applicability of code-specified method, while the other part is purposed to find the variance of the seismic responses from the different soil sites in the same soil profile types of the code. For the analysis, two major methods of the code, single-mode spectral anaysis and multi-mode spectral analysis, were used and the time-history analysis method which is expected to give more accurate responses was also used for the comparison purposes. For the time-history analysis, time-domain analysis technique of the lumped-mass model with frequency-independent soil springs and dampers was adopted and artificially generated spectra of the code was used as input motion. As the results of the study, the code specified methods for the seismic responses considering the site effects were verified to give the results in conservative side for the most of the cases. However, for the structures on the site with considerable flexibility, the responses of the bridge girders or deckplates by the code methods both in section forces and horizontal movement responses, may have much smaller values than the actual responses. Therefore, more detailed analysis considering the flexibility of the base soil may be required to have more reasonable results in girder responses.in girder responses.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.7_spc
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• pp.435-441
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• 2016

The Korean peninsula has known as a minor-to-moderate seismic region. However, some recent studies had shown that the maximum possible earthquake magnitude in the region is approximately 6.3-6.5. Therefore, a seismic vulnerability assessment of the existing infrastructures considering ground motions in Korea is necessary. In this study, we developed seismic fragility curves for a continuous steel box girder bridge and two typical transmission towers, in which a set of seven artificial and natural ground motions recorded in South Korea is used. A finite element simulation framework, OpenSees, is utilized to perform nonlinear time history analyses of the bridge and a commercial software, SAP2000, is used to perform time history analyses of the transmission towers. The fragility curves based on Korean ground motions were then compared with the fragility curves generated using worldwide ground motions to evaluate the effect of the two ground motion groups on the seismic fragility curves of the structures. The results show that both non-isolated and base-isolated bridges are less vulnerable to the Korean ground motions than to worldwide earthquakes. Similarly to the bridge case, the transmission towers are safer during Korean motions than that under worldwide earthquakes in terms of fragility functions.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.769-780
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• 2017

Cable force monitoring is an essential and critical part of the safety evaluation of cable-supported bridges. A reasonable cable force monitoring scheme, particularly, sensor placement related to accurate safety assessment and budget cost-saving becomes a major concern of bridge administrative authorities. This paper presents optimal sensor placement for cable force monitoring by selecting representative sensor positions, which consider the spatial correlativeness existing in the cable group. The limited sensors would be utilized for maximizing useful information from the monitored bridges. The maximum information coefficient (MIC), mutual information (MI) based kernel density estimation, as well as Pearson coefficients, were all employed to detect potential spatial correlation in the cable group. Compared with the Pearson coefficient and MIC, the mutual information is more suitable for identifying the association existing in cable group and thus, is selected to describe the spatial relevance in this study. Then, the bond energy algorithm, which collects clusters based on the relationship of surrounding elements, is used for the optimal placement of cable sensors. Several optimal placement strategies are discussed with different correlation thresholds for the cable group of Nanjing No.3 Yangtze River Bridge, verifying the effectiveness of the proposed method.