• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.120-129
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• 2009

Identification of the exact cause of a building fire is generally difficult, because the source and initially ignited objects are often severely damaged or even lost during the early stages of the fire. We made an experimental attempt to reasonably estimate the burning during the very early stages of a fire, and identify its source and causes. The case we studied was an apartment fire, which occurred in Tokyo, in July 2002. The fire was extinguished just after flashover, and the on-site investigations suggested the fire started from the TV and TV stand, which had been damaged so severely that it was difficult to conclude that the TV was the ultimate cause of the fire, simply from the on-site investigation. We conducted a series of burn tests using a TV and other products identical to those actually used in the apartment. Tests were set-up and procedures were carefully studied to recreate the conditions of the articles that remained, and of the room itself. The tests demonstrated that the conditions in the apartment could be recreated only when the fire started inside the TV and came into close contact with dresser.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.287-303
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• 2018

Applications of energy harvesting from mechanical vibrations is becoming popular but the full potential of such applications is yet to be explored. This paper addresses this issue by considering an application of energy harvesting for the dual objective of serving as an indicator of structural health monitoring (SHM) and extent of control. Variation of harvested energy from an undamaged baseline is employed for this purpose and the concept is illustrated by implementing it for active vibrations of a pipe structure. Theoretical and experimental analyses are carried out to determine the energy harvesting potential from undamaged and damaged conditions. The use of energy harvesting as indicator for control is subsequently investigated, considering the effect of the introduction of a tuned mass damper (TMD). It is found that energy harvesting can be used for the detection and monitoring of the location and magnitude of damage occurring within a pipe structure. Additionally, the harvested energy acts as an indicator of the extent of reduction of vibration of pipes when a TMD is attached. This paper extends the range of applications of energy harvesting devices for the monitoring of built infrastructure and illustrates the vast potential of energy harvesters as smart sensors.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.175-184
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• 2018

In this paper, comparative analysis of the 9.12 Gyeongju and 11.15 Pohang earthquakes was conducted in order to provide probable explanations and reasons for the damage observed in the 11.15 Pohang earthquake from both earthquake and structural engineering perspectives. The damage potentials like Arias intensity, effective peak ground acceleration, etc observed in the 11.15 Pohang earthquake were generally weaker than those of the 9.12 Gyeongju earthquake. However, in contrast to the high-frequency dominant nature of the 9.12 Gyeongju earthquake records, the spectral power of PHA2 record observed in the soft soil site was highly concentrated around 2Hz. The base shear around 2 Hz frequency was as high as 40% building weight. This frequency band is very close to the fundamental frequency of the piloti-type buildings severely damaged in the northern part of Pohang. Unfortunately, in addition to inherent vertical irregularity, most of the damaged piloti-type buildings had plan irregularity as well and were non-seismic. All these contributed to the fatal damage. Inelastic dynamic analysis indicated that PHA2 record demands system ductility capacity of 3.5 for a structure with a fundamental period of 0.5 sec and yield base shear strength of 10% building weight. The system ductility level of 3.5 seems very difficult to be achievable in non-seismic brittle piloti-type buildings. The soil profile of the PHA2 site was inversely estimated based on deconvolution technique and trial-error procedure with utilizing available records measured at several rock sites during the 11.15 Pohang earthquake. The soil profile estimated was very typical of soil class D, implying significant soil amplification in the 11.15 Pohang earthquake. The 11.15 Pohang earthquake gave us the expensive lesson that near-collapse damage to irregular and brittle buildings is highly possible when soil is soft and epicenter is close, although the earthquake magnitude is just minor to moderate (M 5+).

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Building Construction
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.157-165
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• 2019

The domestic earthquake-resistant regulation was legislated firstly in 1988. However, The magnitude and frequency of earthquakes has been risen in South Korea. Therefore, the mandatory target of earthquake-resistant has been expanded. The earthquake-resistant rates of public facilities have been increased by 58.3%. On the other hand, education facilities are low with 24.8%. For the reason, more than 50% of the educational facilities are expected to be damaged by the earthquake. Especially, the 45% of educational facilities were damaged at Po-Hang earthquake. As a result, the importance of the seismic retrofit for applying existing education facilities was ended up attracting people's interesting. In this respect, in order to develop a effective seismic retrofit method, many researchers have been conducted researches and it is expected to be actively carried out in the future. However, it is insufficient to consider that how far technology has been developed. Therefore, the purpose of this study is a comparative analysis of precedent guidelines in regard to seismic retrofit applying existing education facilities between domestic and other countries. Finally, the directions of future research are suggested.

• Journal of Environmental Impact Assessment
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.441-452
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• 2020

The assessment of the river environment is widely applied as a method to establish the purpose and direction of river rehabilitation projects. This includes surveying and assessing the current state of the river environment and determining whether a previous river project was properly executed. The city of Seoul executed ecological river rehabilitation activities for the tributaries of the Han River from the 2000s following a masterplan to recover the physical shape and ecological functionality of damaged rivers. After the rehabilitation activities, the river environment had been changed substantially. In this study, physical properties, water quality properties, and ecological properties were assessed for 28 tributaries underthe control of the city of Seoul, and then those 3 properties were synthetically reassessed. From the result of the study on the physical properties, it was found that mostrivers had II-III grades. As for water quality properties, rivers had III-IV grades. The damaged rivers showed low grades of D-E based on the Aquatic Ecosystem Health evaluation. Accordingly, we concluded that all rivers of Seoul City have an unhealthy environment in terms of water quality and Aquatic Ecosystem Health, therefore it is regarded that long-term and systematic improvements are required.

• Journal of architectural history
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.163-179
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• 2003

The records of about 60 travel essays of the Hall of Bhaisajyaguru(Healing) Budda which was built in Chung Yang Temple passed down since 1525. The chronological change of that Hall architecture according to each period was traced upon. The building structure of the Hall of Bhaisajyaguru Budda which has a roundabout way, and 6 pillars inside, sometimes each 6 pillars inside and outside is hexagonal, one story building in Japanese colonial period(picture 3-1) or the present(picture 3-3). The panaromic picture of Chung Yang Temple shows no alterations of the layout of buildings(picture 1-1), in which the Hall of $Praj{\tilde{n}}{\bar{a}}$(般若殿), the main building in the center and the Hall of Bhaisajyaguru(Healing) Budda, three story stone pagoda, stone lighthouse in front of it became the central axis. The Hall of Bhaisajyaguru(Healing) Budda remained as it was until Japanese invasions in 1592 and 1597. However, it was greatly damaged by the flood in 1717. It was newly built by Lee Ha Gon's leading in 1717-1732. At that time, the interior design was changed. With Bhaisajyaguru(Healing) Budda, 53 Buddhas and ${\acute{S}}arira$ of Stone stupa which show itself by the flood in 1717 was located in the image of the Mountain of Chunchuk or Cheontae like Yu Jeom Temple. The doors of this Hall are located in the front and back. In the four walls each, two realistic and cubic buddhism pictures were drawn, The color of those picture was partly taken off in 1671 and repainted in 1714. The new building in 1717-1732 regained its colorful appearance. However, the names written beside each Images of Buddha disappeared. The notable remark in these records is that some of these travel essays in 17th-18th centuries was calling this hexagonal hall as the octagonal one. It is very important records because it means that before 1525 the octagonal hall might have existed. Chung Yang Temple was rebuilt between 1976 and 1985 after the destruction in the Korean War. After the records are carefully read, the full scale excavation about this historic site was not done yet. The interesting issue of the existence of octagonal building will be resolved by the full scale excavation.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.12
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• pp.150-156
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• 2017

This study examined the stress recovery length due to the local damage of a 7-wire strand, which is applied widely to PSC (Post Tensioned Concrete) bridges and cable-stayed bridges. The 7-wire strand is a multiple stranded steel of PC prestressing strand. Owing to the nature of the material, it is damaged continuously after completion with corrosion being the main cause of damage. On the other hand, due to its structural characteristics, it is difficult to grasp the degree of damage inside the cable and the pattern of stress variation. In the case of cables applied to bridges, the parts that are susceptible to corrosion are generated depending on the water supply and installation shape, which may cause local damage. This study analyzed the tendency of performance degradation and stress recovery length according to local damage of a 7-wire strand, which is applied mainly to bridge post-tensioning or stay cables. This study developed a computer-based simulation model that was validated with experimental results. The model developed in this study can be used to evaluate the safety level and estimate the remaining life span of P SC bridges or cable-stayed bridges.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.137-146
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• 2018

On September 12, 2016, the Gyeongju District was strongly shaken with M=5.8, which was the largest one since measured by the actual seismometer in Korea, and some buildings were damaged. The field survey of reinforced concrete school buildings in the affected area was carried out, and their residual seismic capacities(R) were estimated based on the Japanese Standard for post-earthquake damage evaluation. In this study, the M school, which was greatly damaged by the 2016 Gyeongju Earthquake, was selected, and its damage level was evaluated on the basis of the Japanese Standard. The seismic capacity of the M school was also evaluated using the nonlinear dynamic analysis, and relationships between its damage level and seismic capacity was also conducted to investigate causes of earthquake damage. The damage level of M school was classified into light with R=88.2%. The result of the dynamic analysis agreed reasonably well with the damage of M school sustained by the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake. This will provide fundamental data for earthquake preparedness measures, such as the seismic rehabilitation of low-rise reinforced concrete buildings in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.35-41
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• 2014

Many infra suructure such as road, railway, building and utility foundations have been damaged by the repeated freezing and thawing of the soil during winter and spring every year in seasonal frost region. The frost penetration depth is most important factor in the design of structure such as road, railway and building in seasonal frost region. This paper presents the results of calculation of frost penetration depth and frost heaving in concrete track for railway construction. Model concrete track were installed near the railway track in Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Choongbuk province and frost penetration depth were measured using methylene blue frost penetration depth gauge. Model concrete track in Cheolwon, frost heaving of concrete track were also evaluated. The measure of maximum frost penetration depth and frost heaving can be applied to design railway track for cold region in Korea.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.629-648
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• 2016

This paper deals with 111 buildings built between 1962 and 1987, from various parts of the city of Osijek, for which, through the collection of documentation, a database is created. The aim of this paper is to provide the first steps in assessing seismic risk in Osijek applying method based on vulnerability index. This index uses collected information of parameters of the building: the structural system, the construction year, plan, the height, i.e., the number of stories, the type of foundation, the structural and non-structural elements, the type and the quality of main construction material, the position in the block and built-up area. According to this method defining five damage states, the action is expressed in terms of the macroseismic intensity and the seismic quality of the buildings by means of a vulnerability index. The value of the vulnerability index can be changed depending on the structural systems, quality of construction, etc., by introducing behavior and regional modifiers based on expert judgments. Since there is no available data of damaged buildings under earthquake loading in our country, we will propose behavior modifiers based on values suggested by earlier works and on judgment based on available project documentation of the considered buildings. Depending on the proposed modifiers, the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings in the city of Osijek will be assessed. The resulting vulnerability of the considered residential buildings provides necessary insight for emergency planning and for identification of critical objects vulnerable to seismic loading.