• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.8 no.6
• /
• pp.1387-1406
• /
• 2015

Masonry bridges are the vital components of transportation systems. Although these bridges were constructed centuries ago, they have served a purpose from ancient times to the present day. However, the bridges have needed local renovation and therefore have been rebuilt over different periods in many places. This study focuses on Low Bridge, which is an example of renovated masonry bridges in Turkey. It essentially assesses the structural behavior of the masonry bridge and investigates the integrity of the renovated components. For this purpose, the mechanical properties of the bridge material have been primarily evaluated with experimental tests. Then the static, modal and nonlinear time history analyses have been carried out with the use of finite element methods in order to investigate the structural behavior of the current form of the bridge.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.399-412
• /
• 2011

This study compares the performance of two smart isolation systems that utilize superelastic shape memory alloys (SMAs) for seismic protection of bridges using energy balance concepts. The first isolation system is a SMA/rubber-based isolation system (SRB-IS) and consists of a laminated rubber bearing that decouples the superstructure from the bridge piers and a SMA device that provides additional energy dissipation and re-centering capacity. The second isolation system, named as superelastic-friction base isolator (S-FBI), combines the superelastic SMAs with a flat steel-Teflon bearing rather than a laminated rubber bearing. Seismic energy equations of a bridge structure with SMA-based isolation systems are established by absolute and relative energy balance formulations. Nonlinear time history analyses are performed in order to assess the effectiveness of the isolation systems and to compare their performance. The program RSPMatch 2005 is employed to generate spectrum compatible ground motions that are used in time history analyses of the isolated bridge. Results indicate that SRB-IS produces higher seismic input energy, recoverable energy and base shears as compared to the S-FBI system. Also, it is shown that combining superelastic SMAs with a sliding bearing rather than rubber bearing significantly reduce the amount of the required SMA material.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.185-204
• /
• 2015

This study investigates the impact of the earthquake incident angle on the structural demand and the influence of ground motion selection and scaling methods on seismic directionality effects. The structural demand produced by Non-Linear Time-History Analyses (NLTHA) varies with the seismic input incidence angle. The seismic directionality effects are evaluated by subjecting four three-dimensional reinforced concrete structures to different scaled and un-scaled records oriented along nine incidence angles, whose values range between 0 and 180 degrees, with an increment of 22.5 degrees. The results show that NLTHAs performed applying the ground motion records along the principal axes underestimate the structural demand prediction, especially when plan-irregular structures are analyzed. The ground motion records generate the highest demand when applied along the lowest strength structural direction and a high energy content of the records increases the structural demand corresponding to this direction. The seismic directionality impact on structural demand is particularly important for irregular buildings subjected to un-scaled accelerograms. However, the orientation effects are much lower if spectrum-compatible combinations of scaled records are used. In both cases, irregular structures should be analyzed first with pushover analyses in order to identify the weaker structural directions and then with NLTHAs for different incidence angles.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.433-447
• /
• 2024

During earthquakes, regular buildings perform better than irregular buildings. In general, seismic design codes define a regular building using estimates of Storey Stiffness and Storey Strength. At present, seismic design codes do not recommend a specific method to estimate these parameters. Consequently, any method described in the literature can be applied to estimate the aforementioned parameters. Nevertheless, research has demonstrated that storey stiffness and storey strength vary depending on the estimation method employed. As a result, the same building can be regular or irregular, depending on the method employed to estimate storey stiffness and storey strength. Hence, there is a need to identify the best method to estimate storey stiffness and storey strength. For this purpose, the study presents a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of nine approaches used to determine storey stiffness. Similarly, the study compares six approaches for estimating storey strength. Subsequently, the study identifies the best method to estimate storey stiffness and storey strength using results of 350 linear time history analyses and 245 nonlinear time history analyses, respectively. Based on the comparison, it is concluded that the Fundamental Lateral Translational Mode Shape Method and Isolated Storey Method - A Particular Case are the best methods to estimate storey stiffness and storey strength of low-to-mid rise buildings, respectively.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 1993.04a
• /
• pp.183-190
• /
• 1993

The seismic response of the reactor structures depends on the dynamic charact-eristics of the structures and the input earthquake loadings. The stuctural integ-rity of the reactor internal components can be verified by the dynamic response analyses to implement the effects of the design loadings like earthquakes. The sensitivity analyses of the dynamic characteristics for the analytical model of reactor structures considering the possible variations of the stiffnesses of the CSB upper flange and the snubber were performed to improve the dynamic characteri-stics of the structures against seismic loading. And to enhance the structural design margin of the reactor internal components the nonlinear time history analyses were attempted for the modified analytical model, and the results were compared between the reference model and the modified ones.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.14 no.5
• /
• pp.33-39
• /
• 2010

This study develops an approximate procedure for incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) using modal pushover analysis (MPA) with empirical equations of the inelastic displacement ratio ($C_R$) and the collapse strength ratio ($R_C$). By using this procedure, it is not required to conduct linear or nonlinear response history analyses of multi- or single- degree of freedom (MDF) systems. Thus, IDA curves can be effortlessly obtained. For verification of the proposed procedure, the 6-, 9- and 20-story steel moment frames are tested under an ensemble of 44 ground motions. The results show that the MPA-based IDA with empirical equations of $C_R$ and $R_C$ produced accurate IDA curves of the MDF systems. The computing time is almost negligible compared to the exact IDA using repeated nonlinear response history analysis (RHA) of a structure and the original MPA-based IDA using repeated nonlinear RHA of modal SDF systems.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.301-310
• /
• 2016

There are differences in seismic behavior between non-skewed bridges and skewed bridges due to in-plane rotations caused by pounding between the skewed deck and its abutments during strong earthquake. Many advances have been made in developing design codes and guidelines for dynamic analyses of non-skewed bridges. However, there remain significant uncertainties with regard to the structural response of skewed bridges caused by unusual seismic response characteristics. The purpose of this study is performing non-linear time history analysis of the bridges using abutment-soil interaction model considering pounding between the skewed deck and its abutments, and analyzing global seismic behavior characteristics of the skewed bridges to assess the possibility of unseating. Refined bridge model with abutment back fill, shear key and elastomeric bearing was developed using non-linear spring element. In order to evaluate the amplification of longitudinal and transverse displacement response, non-linear time history analysis was performed for single span bridges. Far-fault and near-fault ground motions were used as input ground motions. According to each parameter, seismic behavior of skewed bridges was evaluated.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.1695-1705
• /
• 2014

In the present study, a total of 275 tested specimens (149 of non-seismically designed and 126 of seismically designed) for reinforced concrete bridge piers with circular section have been investigated in order to suggest drift limits probabilistically according to damage states in seismic fragility analysis. Thus, quantitative damage states of the piers have been evaluated depending on details of the piers. Nonlinear time-history analyses have been conducted for a damaged bridge in terms of using the suggested drift limits. Then, seismic fragility analysis for a reinforced concrete bridge structure has been conducted using both suggested and existing drift limits. Comparative analyses have revealed that median values by the suggested limits is smaller than those by the existing limits. This implies that seismic performance of the structure can be overestimated when the existing limits are used.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.639-654
• /
• 2018

Rocking motion have been used for achieving the 'resilient buildings' against earthquakes in recent studies. Low-rise buildings, unlike the tall ones, because of their small aspect ratio tend to slide rather than move in rocking mode. However, since rocking is more effective in seismic response reduction than sliding, it is desired to create rocking motion in low-rise buildings too. One way for this purpose is making the building's structure rock on its internal bay(s) by reducing the number of bays at the lower part of the building's skeleton, giving it a mushroom form. In this study 'mushroom skeleton' has been used for creating multi-story rocking regular steel buildings with square plan to rock on its one-by-one bay central lowest story. To show if this idea is effective, a set of mushroom buildings have been considered, and their seismic responses have been compared with those of their conventional counterparts, designed based on a conventional code. Also, a set of similar buildings with skeleton stronger than code requirement, to have immediate occupancy (IO) performance level, have been considered for comparison. Seismic responses, obtained by nonlinear time history analyses, using scaled three-dimensional accelerograms of selected earthquakes, show that by using appropriate 'mushroom skeleton' the seismic performance of buildings is upgraded to mostly IO level, while all of the conventional buildings experience collapse prevention (CP) level or beyond. The strong-skeleton buildings mostly present IO performance level as well, however, their base shear and absolute acceleration responses are much higher than the mushroom buildings.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.36 no.2
• /
• pp.105-112
• /
• 2023

In this study, structural analyses were conducted to analyze the performance of a bridge to which friction pendulum systems (FPSs) were applied using different friction models. A Coulomb friction model and a rate dependent friction model were constructed using the friction coefficient of a PVDF/MgO friction material to analyze the effect of different friction analysis models. The Coulomb friction model uses a single friction coefficient regardless of friction velocity, while the rate dependent friction model can reflect the change in the friction coefficient with friction velocity. Nonlinear time history and seismic fragility analyses were conducted to confirm responses of the bridge. The seismic responses of a deck and a column were used to evaluate the performance of the base isolated bridge, and a friction model that can effectively evaluate the performance of isolated bridges was analyzed.