• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.235-248
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• 2018

An efficient method utilizing the multi-stage improved differential evolution algorithm (MSIDEA) as an optimization solver is presented here to detect the multiple-damage of structural systems. Natural frequency changes of a structure are considered as a criterion for damage occurrence. The structural damage detection problem is first transmuted into a standard optimization problem dealing with continuous variables, and then the MSIDEA is utilized to solve the optimization problem for finding the site and severity of structural damage. In order to assess the performance of the proposed method for damage identification, an experimental study and two numerical examples with considering measurement noise are considered. All the results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method for accurately determining the site and severity of multiple-damage. Also, the performance of the MSIDEA for damage detection compared to the standard differential evolution algorithm (DEA) is confirmed by test examples.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.303-315
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• 2024

This study proposes a comprehensive methodology for estimating accumulative damage of bridge structures under multiple seismic excitations, in the framework of site-specific probabilistic hazard analysis. Specifically, a typical earthquake-prone region in China is chosen to perform probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) to find the mean annual rate (MAR) of ground motion intensity at a specific level, based on which, a mass of ground motion observations is selected to construct random earthquake sequences with various number of shocks. Then, nonlinear time history analysis is implemented on the finite element (FE) model of a RC girder bridge at the site of interest, to investigate structural responses under different earthquake sequences, and to develop predictive model for cumulative damage computation, in which, a scalar seismic intensity measure (IM) is adopted and its performance in damage prediction is discussed by an experimental column. Furthermore, a mathematic model is established to calculate occurrence probability of earthquakes with various number of shocks, based on PSHA and homogenous Poisson random process, and a modified cumulative damage indicator is proposed, accounting for probabilistic occurrence of various earthquake scenarios. At end, the applicability of the proposed methodology to main shock and aftershock scenarios is validated, and characteristics of damage accumulation under different multiple earthquake scenarios are discussed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.443-457
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• 2011

The loss of strength in a structure as a result of cyclic loads over a period of life time is an important phenomenon for the life-cycle analysis. Service loads are accentuated at the areas of stress concentration, mainly at the connection of components. Structural components unavoidably are affected by defects such as surface scratches, surface roughness and weld defects of random sizes, which usually occur during the manufacturing and handling process. These defects are shown to have an important effect on the fatigue life of the structural components by promoting crack initiation sites. The value of equivalent initial flaw size (EIFS) is calculated by using the back extrapolation technique and the Paris law of fatigue crack growth from results of fatigue tests. We try to analyze the effect of EIFS distribution in a multiple site damage (MSD) specimen by using the extended finite element method (XFEM). For the analysis, fatigue tests were conducted on the centrally-cracked specimens and MSD specimens.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.449-461
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• 2017

One of the most recent methods of structural damage identification is using the difference between structures responses after and before damage occurrence. To do this one can formulate the damage detection problem as an inverse optimization problem where the extents of damage in each element are considered as the optimizations variables. To optimize the objective function, heuristic methods such as GA, PSO etc. are widely utilized. In this paper, inspired by animals such as bat, dolphin, oilbird, shrew etc. that use echolocation for finding food, a new and efficient method, called Echolocation Search Algorithm (ESA), is proposed to properly identify the site and extent of multiple damage cases in structural systems. Numerical results show that the proposed method can reliably determine the location and severity of multiple damage cases in structural systems.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.8
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• pp.1217-1233
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• 2018

Following a surge of interest in multi-unit risk in the last few years, many recent studies have suggested methods for multi-unit probabilistic safety assessment (MUPSA) and addressed several related aspects. Most of the existing studies though focused on two-unit nuclear power plant (NPP) sites or used rather simplified probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) models to demonstrate the proposed approaches. When considering an NPP site with three or more units, some approaches are inapplicable or yield very conservative results. Since the number of such sites is increasing, there is a strong need to develop and validate practical approaches to the related MUPSA. This article provides several detailed approaches that are applicable to multi-unit Level 1 PSA for sites with up to six or more reactor units. To validate the approaches, a multi-unit Level 1 PSA model is developed and the site core damage frequency is estimated for each of four representative multi-unit initiators, as well as for the case of a simultaneous occurrence of independent single-unit initiators in multiple units. For this purpose, an NPP site with six identical OPR-1000 units is considered, with full-scale Level 1 PSA models for a specific OPR-1000 plant used as the base single-unit models.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Aeronautical & Space Sciences
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• v.31 no.9
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• pp.26-31
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• 2003

Aging aircraft accumulates widespread fatigue damage commonly referred to as multiple site damage(MSO). For ductile material such as 2024-T3 aluminum, MSO may lower the service life below that which is predicted by conventional fracture mechanics. The present paper is concerned with the fatigue life extension by pre-indentation technique for thin 2024-T3 aluminum plate to decelerate the crack propagation rate in the panels with MSO. The panel with fastener holes can be simply modelled by Hole/Slot type Middle-Tension specimen. Results of fatigue testing show significantly improving failure cycles from 10 to 40 times. This retardation effect is decreased by increasing the loading level in the constant amplitude loading. In the sense of retardation mechanism, the crack propagation rate is gradually attenuated by entering the indentation mark and maintains at the lowest value for a long period after the edge of crack passes the center of indentation area.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.10
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• pp.4296-4306
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• 2024

The Fukushima accident showed that the safety of multiple nuclear power plants (NPPs) at the same site could be jeopardized simultaneously. Since then, many studies have focused on developing strategies to prevent the spread of multi-unit accidents, with numerous countries establishing strategies to use mobile equipment. However, mobile equipment strategies are inherently accompanied by a high degree of uncertainty regarding operation success and duration because multiple organizations and personnel interact in various ways during multi-unit accident situations. Furthermore, supplementing current fixed equipment with additional mobile equipment requires extra resources. Therefore, cross-tie strategies that use currently installed fixed equipment can provide additional means to manage site risk with relatively few additional costs. This study proposes a multi-unit probabilistic safety assessment-based risk evaluation framework for utilizing cross-tie systems in NPPs and a modeling methodology to quantify the effectiveness of the cross-tie strategies. A case study was conducted to evaluate the risk reduction from using cross-tie strategies for emergency diesel generators and alternate AC diesel generators, which are power systems utilized in multi-unit loss of offsite power initiating events. It is expected that the developed framework and methodology can be utilized for other types of cross-tie strategies as well.

• Journal of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology(JNFCWT)
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.533-546
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• 2021

Large earthquakes with (M_W > ~ 6) result in ground shaking, surface ruptures, and permanent deformation with displacement. The earthquakes would damage important facilities and infrastructure such as large industrial establishments, nuclear power plants, and waste disposal sites. In particular, earthquake ruptures associated with large earthquakes can affect geological and engineered barriers such as deep geological repositories that are used for storing hazardous radioactive wastes. Earthquake-driven faults and surface ruptures exhibit various fault zone structural characteristics such as direction of earthquake propagation and rupture and asymmetric displacement patterns. Therefore, estimating the respect distances and hazardous areas has been challenging. We propose that considering multiple parameters, such as fault types, distribution, scale, activity, linkage patterns, damage zones, and respect distances, enable accurate identification of the sites for deep geological repositories and important facilities. This information would enable earthquake hazard assessment and lower earthquake-resulted hazards in potential earthquake-prone areas.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.395-418
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• 2024

The epicentral region of earthquakes is typically where liquefaction-related damage takes place. To determine the maximum distance, such as maximum epicentral distance (R_e), maximum fault distance (R_f), or maximum hypocentral distance (R_h), at which an earthquake can inflict damage, given its magnitude, this study, using a recently updated global liquefaction database, multiple ML models are built to predict the limiting distances (R_e, R_f, or R_h) required for an earthquake of a given magnitude to cause damage. Four machine learning models LSTM (Long Short-Term Memory), BiLSTM (Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory), CNN (Convolutional Neural Network), and XGB (Extreme Gradient Boosting) are developed using the Python programming language. All four proposed ML models performed better than empirical models for limiting distance assessment. Among these models, the XGB model outperformed all the models. In order to determine how well the suggested models can predict limiting distances, a number of statistical parameters have been studied. To compare the accuracy of the proposed models, rank analysis, error matrix, and Taylor diagram have been developed. The ML models proposed in this paper are more robust than other current models and may be used to assess the minimal energy of a liquefaction disaster caused by an earthquake or to estimate the maximum distance of a liquefied site provided an earthquake in rapid disaster mapping.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.171-180
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• 2016

Earthquake event keeps increasing every year, and the recent cases of earthquake hazards invoke the necessity of seismic study in Korea, as geotechnical earthquake hazards, such as strong ground motion, liquefaction and landslides, are a significant threat to structures in industrial hub areas including coastal facilities. In this study, systemized framework of integrated assessment of earthquake-induced geotechnical hazard was established using advanced geospatial database. And a visible simulation of the framework was specifically conducted at two coastal facility areas in Incheon. First, the geospatial-grid information in the 3D domain were constructed with geostatistical interpolation method composed of multiple geospatial coverage mapping and 3D integration of geo-layer construction considering spatial outliers and geotechnical uncertainty. Second, the behavior of site-specific seismic responses were assessed by incorporating the depth to bedrock, mean shear wave velocity of the upper 30 m, and characteristic site period based on the geospatial-grid. Third, the normalized correlations between rock-outcrop accelerations and the maximum accelerations of each grid were determined considering the site-specific seismic response characteristics. Fourth, the potential damage due to liquefaction was estimated by combining the geospatial-grid and accelerations correlation grid based on the simplified liquefaction potential index evaluation method.