• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2009

Hong Kong is now recognized as an area of moderate seismic hazard, but most of the buildings have been designed with no seismic provision. It is of great significance to develop effective and practical measures to retrofit existing buildings against moderate seismic attacks. Researches show that beam-column joints are critical structural elements to be retrofitted for seismic resistance for reinforced concrete frame structures. This paper explores the possibility of using a Hydraulic Displacement Amplification Damping System (HDADS), which can be easily installed at the exterior of beam-column joints, to prevent structural damage against moderate seismic attacks. A series of shaking table tests were carried out with a 1/3 prototype steel frame have been carried out to assess the performance of the HDADS. A Numerical model representing the HDADS is developed. It is also used in numerical simulation of the shaking table tests. The numerical model of the HDADS and the numerical simulation of the shaking table tests are verified by experimental results.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2020

Lightly reinforced concrete (RC) moment frames may suffer significant damage during large earthquake events. Most buildings with RC moment frames were designed without considering seismic loads. The load-displacement response of gravity load designed frames could be altered by masonry infill walls. The objective of this study is to investigate the load-displacement response of gravity load designed frames with masonry infill walls. For this purpose, three-story gravity load designed frames with masonry infill walls were considered. The masonry infilled RC frames demonstrated larger lateral strength and stiffness than bare RC frames, whereas their drift capacity was less than that of bare frames. A specimen with a partial-height infill wall showed the least drift capacity and energy dissipation capacity. This specimen failed in shear, whereas other specimens experienced a relatively ductile failure mode (flexure-shear failure).

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.793-802
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• 2017

The damage of concrete due to the expansion of alkali-aggregate reaction (AAR) and thermal-chemical reactions affecting the strength of concrete is studied. The empirical equations for the variations of expansion of AAR, compressive strength and degradation of the modulus of elasticity with time, and compressive strength with degradation of the modulus of elasticity are proposed by analysing numerous experimental data. It is revealed that the expansion of AAR and compressive strength increase with time. The proposed combination of the time variations of chemical and mechanical parameters provides a satisfactory prediction of the concrete strength. Seismic analysis of the aged Koyna dam is conceded for two different long-term experimental data of concrete incorporating the proposed AAR based properties. The responses of aged Koyna dam reveal that the crest displacement of the Koyna dam significantly increases with time while the contour plots show that major principal stress at neck level reduces with time. As the modulus of elasticity decreases with ages the stress generated in the concrete structure get reduces. On the other hand with lesser value of modulus of elasticity the structure becomes more flexible and the crest displacement becomes very high that cause the seismic safety of the dam reduce.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.43-57
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• 2011

Force-deformation modelling of cracked reinforced concrete is essential for a displacement-based seismic assessment of structures and can be achieved by fibre-element analysis of the cross-section of the major lateral resisting elements. The non-linear moment curvature relationship obtained from fibre-element analysis takes into account the significant effects of axial pre-compression and contributions by the longitudinal reinforcement. Whilst some specialised analysis packages possess the capability of incorporating fibre-elements into the modelling (e.g., RESPONSE 2000), implementation of the analysis on EXCEL is illustrated in this paper. The outcome of the analysis is the moment-curvature relationship of the wall cross-section, curvature at yield and at damage control limit states specified by the user. Few software platforms can compete with EXCEL in terms of its transparencies, versatility and familiarity to the computer users. The program has the capability of handling arbitrary cross-sections that are without an axis of symmetry. Application of the program is illustrated with examples of typical cross-sections of structural walls. The calculated limiting curvature for the considered cross-sections were used to construct displacement profiles up the height of the wall for comparison with the seismically induced displacement demand.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.599-609
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• 2019

After an earthquake, a quick seismic assessment of a structure can facilitate the recovery of operations, and consequently, improve structural resilience. Especially for facilities that play a key role in rescue or refuge efforts (e.g., hospitals and power facilities), or even economically important facilities (e.g., high-tech factories and financial centers), immediately resuming operations after disruptions resulting from an earthquake is critical. Therefore, this study proposes a prompt post-earthquake seismic evaluation method that uses displacement and acceleration measurements taken from real structural responses that resulted during an earthquake. With a prepared pre-earthquake capacity curve of a structure, the residual seismic capacity can be estimated using the residual roof drift ratio and stiffness. The proposed method was verified using a 6-story steel frame structure on a shaking table. The structure was damaged during a moderate earthquake, after which it collapsed completely during a severe earthquake. According to the experimental results, a reasonable estimation of the residual seismic capacity of structures can be performed using the proposed post-earthquake seismic evaluation method.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.567-575
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• 2019

In order to investigate the dynamic impact resistance of steel fiber reinforced full light-weight concretes, we implemented drop weight impact test on a total of 6 reinforced beams with 0, 1 and 2%, steel fiber volume fraction. The purpose of this test was to determine the failure modes of beams under different impact energies. Then, we compared and analyzed the time-history curves of impact force, midspan displacement and reinforcement strain. The obtained results indicated that the deformations of samples and their steel fibers were proportional to impact energy, impact force, and impact time. Within reasonable ranges of parameter values, the effects of impact size and impact time were similar for all volumetric contents of steel fibers, but they significantly affected the crack propagation mechanism and damage characteristics of samples. Increase of the volumetric contents of steel fibers not only effectively reduced the midspan displacement and reinforcement strain of concrete samples, but also inhibited crack initiation and propagation such that cracks were concentrated in the midspan areas of beams and the frequency of cracks at supports was reduced. As a result, the tensile strength and impact resistance of full light-weight concrete beams were significantly improved.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.543-553
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• 2020

Past earthquakes experience shows that serious damage or collapse of buildings have dramatically accrued when sufficient separation distance has not been provided between two adjacent structures. The majority of past studies related to the pounding topic indicate that obtaining the gap size between two buildings is able to prevent collision and impact hazards during seismic excitations. Considering minimization of building collisions, some relationships have been suggested to determine the separation distance between adjacent buildings. Commonly, peak lateral displacement, fundamental period and natural damping as well as structural height of two adjacent buildings are numerically considered to determine the critical distance. Hence, the aim of present study is to focus on all mentioned parameters and also utilizing the main characteristic of earthquake record i.e. PGA to examine the lateral displacement of irregular structures close to each other and also estimate the sufficient separation distance between them. Increasing and decreasing the separation distance is inherently caused economical problems due to the land ownership from a legal perspective and pounding hazard as well. Therefore, a new equation is proposed to determine the optimum critical distance. The accuracy of the proposed formula is validated by different models and various earthquake records.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.399-406
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• 2018

The present study focuses on the performance of basalt fiber reinforced concrete (BFRC) lining in tunnel situated in sandstone rock when subjected to internal blast loading. The blast analysis of the lined tunnel is carried out using the three-dimensional (3-D) nonlinear finite element (FE) method. The stress-strain response of the sandstone rock is simulated using a crushable plasticity model which can simulate the brittle behavior of rock and that of BFRC lining is analyzed using a damaged plasticity model for concrete capturing damage response. The strain rate dependent material properties of BFRC are collected from the literature and that of rock are taken from the authors' previous work using split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB). The constitutive model performance is validated through the FE simulation of SHPB test and the comparison of simulation results with the experimental data. Further, blast loading in the tunnel is simulated for 10 kg and 50 kg Trinitrotoluene (TNT) charge weights using the equivalent pressure-time curves obtained through hydrocode simulations. The analysis results are studied for the stress and displacement response of rock and tunnel lining. Blast performance of BFRC lining is compared with that of plain concrete (PC) and steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) lining materials. It is observed that the BFRC lining exhibits almost 65% lesser displacement as compared to PC and 30% lesser displacement as compared to SFRC tunnel linings.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.95-104
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• 2021

As people's living standards and cultural standards have developed, interest in culture and art has increased, and the demand for large space structures where people can enjoy art, music, and sports has increased. As it accommodates a large number of personnel, it is most important to ensure safety of large spatial structures, and can be used as a space where people can evacuate in case of a disaster. Large spatial structures should be prepared for earthquake loads rather than wind loads. In addition to damage to the structure due to earthquakes, there are cases in which it was not utilized as a space for evacuation due to the fall of objects installed on top of the structure. Therefore, in this study, the dome-shaped large spatial structure is generalized and the displacement response according to the number of installations, position and mass is analyzed using a tuned mass damper(TMD) that is representative vibration control device.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.277-287
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• 2022

The ancient underground cities are a collection of self-supporting spaces that have been manually excavated in the soil or rock in the past. Because these structures have a very high cultural value due to their age, the study of their stability under the influence of natural hazards, such as earthquakes, is very important. In this research, while introducing the underground city of Ouyi Nushabad located in the center of Iran as one of the largest man-made underground cities of the old world, the analysis of dynamic stability is performed. For this purpose, the dynamic stress-displacement analysis has been performed through numerical modeling using the finite element software PLAXIS. At this stage, by simulating the Khorgo earthquake as one of the large-scale earthquakes that occurred in Iran, with a magnitude of 6.9 on the Richter scale, dynamic analysis by time history method has been performed on three selected sections of underground spaces. This study shows that the maximum amount of horizontal and vertical dynamic displacement is 12.9 cm and 17.7 cm, respectively, which was obtained in section 2. The comparison of the results shows that by increasing the cross-sectional area of the excavation, especially the distance between the roof and the floor, in addition to increasing the amount of horizontal and vertical dynamic displacement, the obtained maximum acceleration is intensified compared to the mapping acceleration applied to the model floor. Therefore, preventive actions should be taken to stabilize the excavations in order to prevent damage caused by a possible earthquake.