• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.5
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• pp.221-230
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• 2023

This study proposes a methodology for assessing seismic liquefaction hazard by implementing high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) ground models with high-density/high-precision site investigation data acquired in an area of interest, which would be linked to geotechnical numerical analysis tools. It is possible to estimate the vulnerability of earthquake-induced geotechnical phenomena (ground motion amplification, liquefaction, landslide, etc.) and their triggering complex disasters across an area for urban development with several stages of high-density datasets. In this study, the spatial-ground models for city development were built with a 3D high-precision grid of 5 m × 5 m × 1 m by applying geostatistic methods. Finally, after comparing each prediction error, the geotechnical model from the Gaussian sequential simulation is selected to assess earthquake-induced geotechnical hazards. In particular, with seven independent input earthquake motions, liquefaction analysis with finite element analyses and hazard mappings with LPI and LSN are performed reliably based on the spatial geotechnical models in the study area. Furthermore, various phenomena and parameters, including settlement in the city planning area, are assessed in terms of geotechnical vulnerability also based on the high-resolution spatial-ground modeling. This case study on the high-precision 3D ground model-based zonations in the area of interest verifies the usefulness in assessing spatially earthquake-induced hazards and geotechnical vulnerability and their decision-making support.

• Economic and Environmental Geology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.297-304
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• 1986

Earthquake disaster is dependent upon both site intensity and strength of structures. The higher the strength, structures become more safe, which in turn increases the construction cost. Therefore, it is necessary to decide an optimum design intensity in which the safety is balanced with the cost. Such an optimum design intensity for major man-made structures in Korea is determined in the present study from a simulation model as follows. 1) Hypothetical earthquake time series are generated from the probability distribution to represent appropriately the seismicity of Korea. 2) The strength of structures constructed with a certain design intensity is assumed to exponentially decrease with the elapsed time. The construction cost is also expressed as a function of design intensity. 3) Comparing the seismic intensity generated from the earthquake time series with the strength of structures, the safety of structures is examined. Then the time until the structure is damaged by an earthquake is obtained within the designed life time. 4) The above simulation is iterated several hundred times and hence the mean life time of structures having a certain design intensity is obtained. 5) After all, the optimum design intensity to minimize the annual mean loss, the ratio of construction cost to mean life time, is estimated. The major conclusions obtained from the above simulation model are as follows. 1) Depending upon the designed life time ($T_p$), the optimum design intensities are appeared to be 0. 05-0. 10g for $T_p=50yr$ and 0. 08-0.13g for $T_p=100yr$. 2) According to the sensitivity analysis, the optimum design intensity increases with the rapid strength decrease of structure and decreases with the increase of initial construction cost.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.53-72
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• 2019

Safety measures for tower cranes are extremely important among the seismic countermeasures at high-rise building construction sites. In particular, the collapse of a tower crane from a high position is a very serious catastrophe. An example of such an accident due to an earthquake is the case of the Taipei 101 Building (the author was the project director), which occurred on March 31, 2002. Failure of the bolted joints of the tower-crane mast was the direct cause of the collapse. Therefore, it is necessary to design for this eventuality and to take the necessary measures on construction sites. This can only be done by understanding the precise dynamic behavior of mast joints during an earthquake. Consequently, we created a new hybrid-element model (using beam, shell, and solid elements) that not only expressed the detailed behavior of the site joints of a tower-crane mast during an earthquake but also suppressed any increase in the total calculation time and revealed its behavior through computer simulations. Using the proposed structural model and simulation method, effective information for designing safe joints during earthquakes can be provided by considering workability (control of the bolt pretension axial force and other factors) and less construction cost. Notably, this analysis showed that the joint behavior of the initial pretension axial force of a bolt is considerably reduced after the axial force of the bolt exceeds the yield strength. A maximum decrease of 50% in the initial pretension axial force under the El Centro N-S Wave ($v_{max}=100cm/s$) was observed. Furthermore, this method can be applied to analyze the seismic responses of general temporary structures in construction sites.

• 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.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.31-40
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• 2009

In this paper, a trial-error based method is presented to calibrate added mass models through numerical iterations minimizing the difference between the measured frequency data and its numerical simulation result for a dam floodgate. Earthquake analysis of the real floodgate for which the on-site hammering vibration test is performed show that the classical Westergaard added mass model gives relatively larger values in the maximum earthquake force and the maximum total displacement than the present added mass model, based on the calibration of on-site measurement data.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.09a
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• pp.36-43
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• 2001

In Korea, we are absolutely short of earthquake data in good quality from moderate and large earthquakes, which are needed fur the study of strong ground motion characteristics. This means that the best use of the available data is needed far the time being. In this respect, several methods are suggested in this paper, which can be applied in the process of data selection and analysis. First, it is shown that the calibration status of seismic stations can be easily checked by comparing the spectra from accelerometer and velocity sensor both of which are located at the same location. Secondly, it is recommended that S/N ratio in the frequency domain should be checked before discarding the data by only look of the data in time domain. Thirdly, the saturated earthquake data caused by ground motion level exceeding the detection limit of a seismograph are considered to see if such data can be used for spectrum analysis by performing numerical simulation. The result reveals that the saturated data can still be used within the dominant frequency range according to the levels of saturation. Finally, a technique to minimize the window effect that distorts the low frequency spectrum is suggested. This technique involves detrending in displacement domain once the displacement data are obtained by integration of low frequency components of the original data in time domain. Especially, the low frequency component can be separated by using discrete wavelet transform among many alternatives. All of these methods mentioned above may increase the available earthquake data and frequency range.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.38 no.6
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• pp.621-631
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• 2024

In designing earthquake-resistant structures, we traditionally select dynamic loads based on the recurrence period of earthquakes, using individual seismic records or aligning them with the design spectrum. However, these records often represent isolated waveforms lacking continuity, underscoring the need for a deeper understanding of natural seismic phenomena. The Earth's crustal movement, both before and after a significant earthquake, can trigger a series of both minor and major seismic events. These minor earthquakes, which often occur in short time before or after the major seismic events, prompt a critical reassessment of their potential impact on structural design. In this study, we conducted a detailed tunnel response analysis to assess the impact of both single mainshock and multiple earthquake scenarios (including foreshock-mainshock and mainshock-aftershock sequences). Utilizing numerical analysis, we explored how multiple earthquakes affect tunnel deformation. Our findings reveal that sequential seismic events, even those of moderate magnitude, can exert considerable stress on tunnel lining, resulting in heightened bending stress and permanent displacement. This research highlights a significant insight: current seismic design methodologies, which predominantly focus on the largest seismic intensity, may fail to account for the cumulative impact of smaller, yet frequent, seismic events like foreshocks and aftershocks. Our results demonstrate that dynamic analyses considering only a single mainshock are likely to underestimate the potential damage (i.e., ovaling deformation, failure lining, permanent displacement etc.) when compared to analyses that incorporate multiple earthquake scenarios.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.613-621
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• 2015

The most urgent measure to be taken for a rapid rescue when a building collapse happens is to designate or predict a possible location where human beings are alive. It is, however, very difficult to find and correctly designate such cavities by conventional geophysical survey due to a pile of debris of building members. In this study, the simulation of building collapse induced by an earthquake was conducted to predict forming pattern of a existing cavities. The simulation cases included the influence of structure wall existence and height of building. Three types of building structure: five-story, ten-story and fifteen-story were prepared as a simulation case. In the case of high building, a collapse range on the inside of the building increased consequently lowering the possibility of lifeguard cavern forming. In addition, when a wall exists in the basement floor, the possibility that existing cavities could be formed increased compared to the cases without wall.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.279-295
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• 2011

This paper develops a probabilistic methodology for the seismic reliability analysis of structures with random properties. The earthquake loading is assumed to be described in terms of response spectra. The proposed methodology takes advantage of the response spectra and thus does not require explicit dynamic analysis of the actual structure. Uncertainties in the structural properties (e.g. member cross-sections, modulus of elasticity, member strengths, mass and damping) as well as in the seismic load (due to uncertainty associated with the earthquake load specification) are considered. The structural reliability is estimated by determining the failure probability or the reliability index associated with a performance function that defines safe and unsafe domains. The structural failure is estimated using a performance function that evaluates whether the maximum displacement has been exceeded. Numerical illustrations of reliability analysis of elastic and elastic-plastic single-story frame structures are presented first. The extension of the proposed method to elastic multi-degree-of-freedom uncertain structures is also studied and a solved example is provided.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2005.03a
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• pp.169-176
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• 2005

Many RC building structures of multiple uses constructed in Korea have the irregularities of torsion and soft story at bottom stories. A typical irregular building was selected as prototype and shaking table tests were performed to investigate the seismic performance of this building. The objective of this study is to evaluate the correlation between the experimental and analytical responses of this irregular building structure subjected to the earthquake excitation by using OpenSees(Open System for Earthquake Engineering Simulation). The results of analyses simulate well the effect of axial forces on the shear force of column and axial deformation. However, some discrepancy between analytical and experimental results in the distribution of shear forces and overturning deformation were observed.