• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.6
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• pp.811-824
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• 2022

Despite its disadvantages, soft story can reduce the damage to the upper floors by concentrating drift in that specific story provided that large drifts are avoided. Gapped-Inclined Brace (GIB) with reduced P-delta effects and the control of soft story stiffness makes it possible to take advantage of the soft story in buildings and increase their capacity for energy dissipation. OpenSees software is used in this study to validate and modify the GIB model's shortcomings. Also, the analysis method for this element is changed for design. The modified element is evaluated in 3D analysis. Finally, to retrofit an existing building, this element is used. Based on the Iranian seismic code, a six-story reinforced concrete building is modelled and studied with 3D analysis. In this building, the construction shortcomings and elimination of infills on the ground floor cause the formation of a soft story. Results of nonlinear static analysis, nonlinear dynamic, and incremental dynamic analysis using both components of seismic acceleration applied to the structure at different angles and the fragility curves indicate the improvement of the retrofitted structure's performance using the modified element to reach the required performance level following the retrofit code.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.249-261
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• 2022

This paper presents a numerical study to develop a guideline for estimating the plastic strength of elliptical steel slit damper with reasonable accuracy. The strut width increases from middle to end in elliptical steel slit damper and it is observed from the past studies that variation of the width is not considered for calculating the plastic strength of the damper. It is also noticed that the existing formulas for predicting plastic strength of this kind of damper may not be accurate and further refinement is warranted. Study is then carried on elliptical steel slit damper made of mild steel and having different geometry to find out equivalency of it with oblong steel slit damper having similar plastic strength. A few three-dimensional finite element models of seismic moment connection system with steel slit damper are developed and validated against past experiments for carrying the present study considering both the material nonlinearity as well as geometric nonlinearity. The results of the parametric studies have been compared with energy quantities and presented graphically to better understand the effects of different parameters on the system. Based on the pattern of parametric study results, closed-form semi-empirical algebraic expression of damper plastic strength is developed for elliptical steel slit damper which shows very good agreement with finite element analysis as well as experiments. This developed expression can now be used for elliptical steel slit damper in replacement with any type of damper in the design of moment connection.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.253-260
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• 2016

In this paper, the optimal seismic design method for inducing the beam-hinge collapse mechanism of steel moment frames is presented. This uses the non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm II(NSGA-II) as an optimal algorithm. The constraint condition for preventing the occurrence of plastic hinges at columns is used to induce the beam-hinge collapse mechanism. This method uses two objective functions to minimize the structural weight and maximize the dissipated energy. The proposed method is verified by the application to nine story steel moment frame example. The minimum column-to-beam strength ratio to induce the beam-hinge collapse mechanism are investigated based on the simulation results. To identify the influence of panel zone on the minimum column-to-beam strength ratio, three analytic modeling methods(nonlinear centerline model without rigid end offsets, nonlinear centerline model with rigid end offsets, nonlinear model with panel zones) are used.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.116-122
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• 2021

This study quantitatively evaluated the performance improvement of a circular reinforced concrete pier under dynamic load with strengthening using a steel plate. Various three-dimensional elements were applied using the finite element program ABAQUS. The analytical parameters included the ratios of the steel cover length to the pier's total height and the ratios of the steel cover thickness to the pier diameter for inelastic-nonlinear analysis. The lower part of the pier had fixed boundary conditions, and lateral repetitive loads were applied at the top of the pier. The pier was investigated to evaluate the dynamic performance based on the load-displacement curve, stress-strain curve, ductility, energy absorption capability, and energy ratio. The yield and ultimate loads of piers with steel covers increased by 3.76 times, and the energy absorption capability increased by 4 times due to the confinement effects caused by the steel plate. A plastic hinge part of the column with a steel plate improved the ductility, and the thicker the steel plate was, the greater the energy absorption capacity. This study shows that the reinforced pier should be improved in terms of the seismic performance.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.329-346
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• 2024

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the vertical seismic performance of reinforced concrete (R/C) frame buildings in two different building stocks, one of which consists of those designed as per the previous Turkish Seismic Code (TSC-2007) that does not consider the vertical earthquake load, and the other of which consists of those designed as per the new Turkish Seismic Code (TSCB-2018) that considers the vertical earthquake load. For this aim, three R/C buildings with heights of 15 m, 24 m and 33 m are designed separately as per TSC-2007 and TSCB-2018 based on some limitations in terms of seismic zone, soil class and structural behavior factor (Rx/Ry) etc. The vertical earthquake motion effects are identified according to the linear time-history analyses (LTHA) that are performed separately for only horizontal (H) and combined horizontal+vertical (H+V) earthquake motions. LTHA is performed to predict how vertical earthquake motion affects the response of the designed buildings by comparing the linear response parameters of the base shear force, the base overturning, the base axial force, top-story vertical displacement. Nonlinear time-history analysis (NLTHA) is generally required for energy dissipative buildings, not required for design of buildings. In this study, the earthquake records are scaled to force the buildings in the linear range. Since nonlinear behavior is not expected from the buildings herein, the nonlinear time-history analysis (NLTHA) is not considered. Eleven earthquake acceleration records are considered by scaling them to the design spectrum given in TSCB-2018. The base shear force is obtained not to be affected from the combined H+V earthquake load for the buildings. The base overturning moment outcomes underline that the rigidity of the frame system in terms of the dimensions of the columns can be a critical parameter for the influence of the vertical earthquake motion on the buildings. In addition, the building stock from TSC-2007 is estimated to show better vertical earthquake performance than that of TSCB-2018. The vertical earthquake motion is found out to be highly effective on the base axial force of 33 m building rather than 15 m and 24 m buildings. Thus, the building height is a particularly important parameter for the base axial force. The percentage changes in the top-story vertical displacement of the buildings designed for both codes show an increase parallel to that in the base axial force results. To extrapolate more general results, it is clear to state that many buildings should be analyzed.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.117-133
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• 2014

Natural vibration of truss cable structures is analyzed based upon the general structural analysis software ANSYS, energy variational method and Rayleigh method, the calculated results of three methods are compared, from which the characteristics of free-vibration are obtained. Moreover, vertical seismic response analysis of truss cable structures is carried out via time-history method. Introducing three natural earthquake waves calculated the results including time-history curve of vertical maximal displacement, time-history curve of maximal internal force. Variation curve of maximal displacement of node along span, and variation curve of maximal internal force of member along span are presented. The results show the formulas of frequencies for truss cable structures obtained by energy variational method are of high accuracy. Furthermore, the maximal displacement and the maximal internal force occur near the 1/5 span point. These provide convenient and simple design method for practical engineering.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.49 no.7
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• pp.1414-1422
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• 2017

Remote response technology has advanced to the extent that a robot system, if properly designed and deployed, may greatly help respond to beyond-design-basis accidents at nuclear power plants. Particularly in the aftermath of the Fukushima accident, there is increasing interest in developing disaster robots that can be deployed in lieu of a human operator to the field to perform mitigating actions in the harsh environment caused by extreme natural hazards. The nuclear robotics team of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI) is also endeavoring to construct disaster robots and, first of all, is interested in finding out to what extent safety benefits can be achieved by such a disaster robotic system. This paper discusses a new approach based on the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) technique, which can be used to quantify safety benefits associated with disaster robots, along with a case study for seismic-induced station blackout condition. The results indicate that to avoid core damage in this special case a robot system with reliability > 0.65 is needed because otherwise core damage is inevitable. Therefore, considerable efforts are needed to improve the reliability of disaster robots, because without assurance of high reliability, remote response techniques will not be practically used.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.797-820
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• 2016

This paper simulates the hysteretic behavior of steel reinforced recycled concrete (SRRC) columns under cyclic loads using OpenSees software. The effective fiber model and displacement-based beam-column element in OpenSees is applied to each SRRC columns. The Concrete01 material model for recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) and Steel02 material model is proposed to perform the numerical simulation of columns. The constitutive models of RAC, profile steel and rebars in columns were assigned to each fiber element. Based on the modelling method, the analytical models of SRRC columns are established. It shows that the calculated hysteresis loops of most SRRC columns agree well with the test curves. In addition, the parameter studies (i.e., strength grade of RAC, stirrups strength, steel strength and steel ratio) on seismic performance of SRRC columns were also investigated in detail by OpenSees. The calculation results of parameter analysis show that SRRC columns suffered from flexural failure has good seismic performance through the reasonable design. The ductility and bearing capacity of columns increases as the increasing magnitude of steel strength, steel ratio and stirrups strength. Although the bearing capacity of columns increases as the strength grade of RAC increases, the ductility and energy dissipation capacity decreases gradually. Based on the test and numerical results, the flexural failure mechanism of SRRC columns were analysed in detail. The computing theories of the normal section of bearing capacity for the eccentrically loaded columns were adopted to calculate the nominal bending strength of SRRC columns subjected to vertical axial force under lateral cyclic loads. The calculation formulas of horizontal bearing capacity for SRRC columns were proposed based on their nominal bending strength.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.143-154
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• 2024

Friction pendulums typically suffer from poor uplift-restraining. To improve the uplift-restraining and enhance the energy dissipation capacity, this article proposed a composite isolation device based on electromagnetic forces. The device was constructed based on a remote control system to achieve semi-active control of the composite isolation device. This article introduces the theory and design of an electromagnetic chuck-friction pendulum system (ECFPS) and derives the theoretical equation for the ECFPS based on Maxwell's electromagnetic attraction equation to construct the proposed model. By conducting 1:3 scale tests on the electromagnetic device, the gaps between the practical, theoretical, and simulation results were analyzed, and the accuracy and effectiveness of the theoretical equation for the ECFPS were investigated. The hysteresis and uplift-restraining performance of ECFPS were analyzed by adjusting the displacement amplitude, vertical load, and input current of the simulation model. The data obtained from the scale test were consistent with the theoretical and simulated data. Notably, the hysteresis area of the ECFPS was 35.11% larger than that of a conventional friction pendulum. Lastly, a six-story planar frame structure was established through SAP2000 for a time history analysis. The isolation performances of ECFPS and FPS were compared. The results revealed that, under horizontal seismic action, the horizontal seismic response of the bottom layer of the ECFPS isolation structure is greater than that of the FPS, the horizontal vibration response of the top layer of the ECFPS isolation structure is smaller than that of the FPS, and the axial force at the bottom of the columns of the ECFPS isolation structure is smaller than that of the FPS isolation structure. Therefore, the reliable uplift-restraining performance is facilitated by the electromagnetic force generated by the device.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2010

According to the capacity design concept which forms the basis of the current steel seismic codes, the braces in concentrically braced frames (CBFs) should dissipate seismic energy through cyclic tension yielding and cyclic compression buckling while the beams and the columns should remain elastic. Brace buckling in inverted V-braced frames induces unbalanced vertical forces which, in turn, impose the additional beam moments and column axial forces. However, due to difficulty in predicting the location of buckling stories, the most conservative approach implied in the design code is to estimate the column axial forces by adding all the unbalanced vertical forces in the upper stories. One alternative approach, less conservative and recommended by the current code, is to estimate the column axial forces based on the amplified seismic load expected at the mechanism-level response. Both are either too conservative or lacking technical foundation. In this paper, three combination rules for a rational estimation of the column axial forces were proposed. The idea central to the three methods is to detect the stories of high buckling potential based on pushover analysis and dynamic behavior. The unbalanced vertical forces in the stories detected as high buckling potential are summed in a linear manner while those in other stories are combined by following the SRSS(square root of sum of squares) rule. The accuracy and design advantage of the three methods were validated by comparing extensive inelastic dynamic analysis results. The mode-shape based method(MSBM), which is both simple and accurate, is recommended as the method of choice for practicing engineers among the three.