• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1567-1576
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• 2023

The reactor containment building (RCB) in nuclear power plants (NPPs) plays an important role in protecting the reactor systems from external loads as well as preventing radioactive leaking. As we witnessed the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi (Japan) in 2011, the earthquake is one of the major threats to NPPs. The purpose of this study is to evaluate effects of concrete material models and presstressing forces on the seismic performance evaluation of RCB in NPPs. A typical RCB designed in Korea is employed for a case study. Detailed three-dimensional nonlinear finite element models of RCB are developed in ANSYS. A series of pushover analyses are then performed to obtain the pushover curves of RCB. Different capacity curves are compared to recognize the influence of different material models on the nonlinear behavior of RCB. Additionally, the effects of prestressing forces on the seismic performances of the structure are also investigated. Moreover, a set of damage states corresponding to damage evolutions of the structures is proposed in this study.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.99-112
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• 2023

This paper investigates the influences of Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) on the seismic behavior of two-dimensional reinforced concrete moment-resisting frames subjected to Far-Field Ground Motion (FFGM) and Near-Field Ground Motion (NFGM). For this purpose, the nonlinear modeling of 7, 10, and 15-story reinforced concrete moment resisting frames were developed in Open Systems for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (OpenSees) software. Effects of SSI were studied by simulating Beam on Nonlinear Winkler Foundation (BNWF) and the soil type as homogenous medium-dense. Generally, the building resistance to seismic loads can be explained in terms of Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA); therefore, IDA curves are presented in this study. For comparison, the fragility evaluation is subjected to NFGM and FFGM as proposed by Quantification of Building Seismic Performance Factors (FEMA P-695). The seismic performance of Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings with fixed and flexible foundations was evaluated to assess the probability of collapse. The results of this paper demonstrate that SSI and NFGM have significantly influenced the probability of failure of the RC frames. In particular, the flexible-base RC buildings experience higher Spectral acceleration (Sa) compared to the fixed-base ones subjected to FFGM and NFGM.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.141-153
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• 2023

The presented paper considers infill masonry walls' influence on the seismic reliability of precast concrete frames. The recent Bojnord earthquake on May 13th, 2017 in Iran (MW 5.4) illustrated that the infill masonry walls play a crucial role in the damage extent and life safety issues of inhabitants in the precast concrete buildings. The incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) approach was used to determine the fragility curves of the represented damaged precast frame. Then, by integrating site hazard and structural fragilities, the seismic reliability of the represented precast frame was evaluated in different damage limit states. Additionally, the static pushover analysis (SPA) approach was used to assess the seismic performance assessment of the precast frame. Bare and infilled frames were modeled as 2D frames employing the OpenSees software platform. The multi-strut macro-model method was employed for infill masonry simulation. Also, a relatively efficient and straightforward nonlinear model was used to simulate the nonlinear behavior of the precast beam-column joint. The outputs show that consideration of the masonry infilled wall effect in all spans of the structural frame leads to a decrease in the possibility of exceedance of specified damage limit states in the structures. In addition, variation of hazard curves for buildings with and without consideration of infilled walls leads to a decrease in the reliability of the building's frames with masonry infilled walls. Furthermore, the lack of infill walls in the first story significantly affects the precast concrete frame's seismic reliability and performance.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.2A
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• pp.351-361
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• 2006

In this study, nonlinear finite element analysis procedures are presented for the seismic performance assessment of circular reinforced concrete bridge piers with confinement steel. This paper defines a damage index based on the predicted hysteretic behavior of a circular reinforced concrete bridge pier. Damage indices aim to provide a means of quantifying numerically the damage in circular reinforced concrete bridge piers sustained under earthquake loading. The proposed numerical method is applied to circular reinforced concrete bridge piers with confinement steel tested by the authors. The proposed numerical method gives a realistic prediction of seismic performance throughout the loading cycles for several test specimens investigated.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.1
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• pp.93-102
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• 2024

Using negative Poisson's ratio materials, an innovative metallic-yielding damper is introduced for the first time in this study. Through the use of ABAQUS commercial software, a nonlinear finite element analysis is conducted to determine the performance of the proposed system. Mild steel plates with elliptical holes are used for these types of dampers, which dissipate energy through an inelastic deformation of the constitutive material. To assess the capability of the proposed damper, nonlinear quasi-static finite element analyses have been conducted on the damper with a variety of geometric parameters. According to the results, the proposed system is ductile and has a high capacity to dissipate energy. The proposed auxetic damper has a specific energy absorption of 910.8 J/kg and a ductility of 33.6. Therefore, this damper can dissipate a large amount of earthquake input energy without buckling by increasing the buckling load of the brace with its ductile behavior. In addition, it was found that by incorporating auxetic dampers in the steel frame, the frame was made harder, stronger, and ductile and its energy absorption increased by 300%.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.349-365
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• 2020

Since the peak seismic response of a base-isolated building strongly depends on the characteristics of the imposed seismic ground motion, the behavior of a base-isolated building under different seismic ground motions is studied, in order to better assess their effects on its peak seismic response. Specifically, the behavior of a typical steel building is examined as base-isolated with elastomeric bearings, while the effect of near-fault ground motions is studied by imposing 7 pairs of near- and 7 pairs of far-fault seismic records, from the same 7 earthquake events, to the building, under 3 different loading combinations, through three-dimensional (3D) nonlinear dynamic analyses, conducted with SAP2000. The results indicate that near-fault seismic components are more likely to increase the building's peak seismic response than the corresponding far-fault components. Furthermore, the direction of the imposed earthquake excitations is also varied by rotating the imposed pairs of seismic records from 0◦ to 360◦, with respect to the major construction axes. It is observed that the peak seismic responses along the critical incident angles, which in general differ from the major horizontal construction axes of the building, are significantly higher. Moreover, the influence of 5% and 10% accidental mass eccentricities is also studied, revealing that when considering accidental mass eccentricities the peak relative displacements of the base isolated building at the isolation level are substantially increased, while the peak floor accelerations and interstory drifts of its superstructure are only slightly affected.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.79-88
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• 1991

The procedure of the elastic response spectrum method which is used in the codes of many countries involves the computation of a static horizontal substitute loading resulting from the earthquake. The substitute loading is divided by a behavioral factor in order to take energy dissipation due to the real nonlinear structural behavior and damping effects ect. into account. The behavioral factors widely used in many countries are based not on the exact calculation but only on the empirical data. In order to determine the behavioral factors analytically, it is necessary to define the limit state of structures as a first step. In this work, the methods of the determination of limit state for the steel structures are discussed in the geometric, serviceabile and material apsects, and the behavioral factors for the three types of structures are calculated.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.499-526
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• 2013

Seismic isolation is an effective method for the protection of buildings and their contents during strong earthquakes. This research work aims to assess the appropriateness of the linear and nonlinear models that can be used in the analysis of typical low-rise base isolated steel buildings, taking into account the inherent nonlinearities of the isolation system as well as the potential nonlinearities of the superstructure in case of strong ground motions. The accuracy of the linearization of the isolator properties according to Eurocode 8 is evaluated comparatively with the corresponding response that can be obtained through the nonlinear hysteretic Bouc-Wen constitutive model. The suitability of the linearized model in the determination of the size of the required seismic gap is assessed, under various earthquake intensities, considering relevant methods that are provided by building codes. Furthermore, the validity of the common assumption of elastic behavior for the superstructure is explored and the alteration of the structural response due to the inelastic deformations of the superstructure as a consequence of potential collision to the restraining moat wall is studied. The usage of a nonlinear model for the isolation system is found to be necessary in order to achieve a sufficiently accurate assessment of the structural response and a reliable estimation of the required width of the provided seismic gap. Moreover, the simulations reveal that the superstructure's inelasticity should be taken into account, especially if the response of the structure under high magnitude earthquakes is investigated. The consideration of the inelasticity of the superstructure is also recommended in studies of structural collision of seismically isolated structures to the surrounding moat wall, since it affects the response.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.1 s.41
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• pp.9-16
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• 2005

The purpose of this paper is to present a design procedure of a friction damper for controlling elastic and inelastic responses of building structures under earthquake excitation. The equivalent damping and period increased by the friction damper are estimated using ATC-40 and ATC-55 procedures which provide equivalent linear system for bilinear one, and then a design formula to achieve target performance response level by the friction damper is presented. It is identified that there exists error between the responses obtained by this formula and by performing nonlinear analysis and the features of the error vary according to the hardening ratio, yield strength ratio, and structural period. Equations for compensating the error are proposed based on the least square method, and the results from numerical analysis indicate that the error is significantly reduced. The proposed formula can be used without much error for designing a friction damper for retrofitting a structure showing elastic or inelastic behavior.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.23-29
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• 2008

This study investigates the dynamic instability of strength-limited bilinear single degree of freedom (SDF) systems under seismic excitation. The strength-limited bilinear hysteretic model best replicates the hysteretic behavior of the steel moment resisting frames. To estimate the dynamic instability of SDF systems, the collapse strength ratio is used, which is the yield-strength reduction factor when collapse occurs. Statistical studies are carried out to estimate median collapse strength ratios and those dispersions of strength-limited bilinear SDF systems with given natural periods, hardening stiffness ratios, post-capping stiffness ratios, ductility and damping ratios ranging from 2 to 20% subjected to 240 earthquake ground motions recorded on stiff soil sites. Equations to calculate median and standard deviation of collapse strength ratios in strength-limited bilinear SDF systems are obtained through nonlinear regression analysis. By using the proposed equations, this study estimated the probabilistic distribution of collapse strength ratios, and compared this with the exact values from which the accuracy of the proposed equations was verified.