• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.117-134
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• 2007

The force (load) reduction factor, R, which is one of the most important parameters in earthquake load calculation, is independent of the dimensions of the structure but is defined on the basis of the load bearing system of the structure as defined in earthquake codes. Significant damages and failures were experienced on prefabricated reinforced concrete structures during the last three major earthquakes in Turkey (Adana 1998, Kocaeli 1999, Duzce 1999) and the experts are still discussing the main reasons of those failures. Most of them agreed that they resulted mainly from the earthquake force reduction factor, R that is incorrectly selected during design processes, in addition to all other detailing errors. Thus this wide spread damages caused by the earthquake to prefabricated structures aroused suspicion about the correctness of the R coefficient recommended in the current Turkish Earthquake Codes (TEC - 98). In this study, an attempt was made for an approximate determination of R coefficient for widely utilized prefabricated structure types (single-floor single-span) with variable dimensions. According to the selecting variable dimensions, 140 sample frames were computed using pushover analysis. The force reduction factor R was calculated by load-displacement curves obtained pushover analysis for each frame. Then, formulated artificial neural network method was trained by using 107 of the 140 sample frames. For the training various algorithms were used. The method was applied and used for the prediction of the R rest 33 frames with about 92% accuracy. The paper also aims at proposing the authorities to change the R coefficient values predicted in TEC - 98 for prefabricated concrete structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.327-346
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• 2016

The 2012 Emilia (Italy) earthquakes struck a highly industrialized area including several thousands of industrial prefabricated buildings. Due to the lack of specific design and detailing for earthquake resistance, precast reinforced concrete (RC) buildings suffered from severe damages and even partial or total collapses in many cases. The present study reports a data inventory of damages from field survey on prefabricated buildings. The damage database concerns more than 1400 buildings (about 30% of the total precast building stock in the struck region). Making use of the available shakemaps of the two mainshocks, damage distributions were related with distance from the nearest epicentre and corresponding Pseudo-Spectral Acceleration for a period of 1 second (PSA at 1 s) or Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA). It was found that about 90% of the severely damaged to collapsed buildings included into the database stay within 16 km from the epicentre and experienced a PSA larger than 0.12 g. Moreover, 90% of slightly to moderately damaged buildings are located at less than 25 km from the epicentre and were affected by a PSA larger than 0.06 g. Nevertheless, the undamaged buildings examined are almost uniformly distributed over the struck region and 10% of them suffered a PSA not lower than 0.19g. The damage distributions in terms of the maximum experienced PGA show a sudden increase for $PGA{\geq}0.28g$. In this PGA interval, 442 buildings were collected in the database; 55% of them suffered severe damages up to collapse, 32% reported slight to moderate damages, whereas the remaining 13% resulted undamaged.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.1-27
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• 2016

Final construction project cost is significantly determined by construction rate. The Industrialized Building System (IBS) was promoted to enhance the importance of prefabrication technology rather than conventional methods in construction. Ensuring the stability of a building constructed by using IBS is a challenging issue. Accordingly, the connections in a prefabricated building have a basic, natural, and essential role in providing the best continuity among the members of the building. Deficiencies of conventional precast connections were observed when precast buildings experience a large induced load, such as earthquakes and other disasters. Thus, researchers aim to determine the behavior of precast concrete structure with a specific type of connection. To clarify this problem, this study investigates the capacity behavior of precast concrete panel connections for industrial buildings with a new type of precast wall-to-wall connection (i.e., U-shaped steel channel connection). This capacity behavior is compared with the capacity behavior of precast concrete panel connections for industrial buildings that used a common approach (i.e., loop connection), which is subjected to monotonic loading as in-plane and out-of-plane loading by developing a finite element model. The principal stress distribution, deformation of concrete panels and welded wire mesh (BRC) reinforcements, plastic strain trend in the concrete panels and connections, and crack propagations are investigated for the aforementioned connection. Pushover analysis revealed that loop connections have significant defects in terms of strength for in-plane and out-of-plane loads at three translational degrees of freedom compared with the U-shaped steel channel connection.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.333-351
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• 2017

Objectives: This study examines the relationships between indoor radon concentrations and distribution from soil geological mapping in the Hwacheon and Jangsu areas. Methods: GIS and a pivot table were used for inquiries about indoor radon contents, soil characteristics, and geological differences. Results: The Hwacheon area was characterized by the presence of normal and reverse faults as a passage of runoff for radon, sufficient occurrences of minerals containing uranium within granite as a radon source, a high concentration of radon within the granite area and clear differences of radon concentrations between granitic and metamorphic areas. The Jangsu area was characterized by the presence of normal faults, wide distributions of alluvium, and ambiguities on radon concentrations indoors among areas of geological differences. Considering the granite area and alluvium surrounded with granite areas, the characteristics of radon concentrations within soils and indoors in the Jangsu area are similar to those of the Hwacheon area. High concentrations are found with entisol and inceptisol in the Hawcheon area, but with entisol, inceptisol, and ultisol in the Jangsu area. High radon concentrations are found in sandy loam and/or loam. High concentrations are found in recently constructed or brick buildings, but low concentrations in traditional or prefabricated houses showing a high possibility of outward flow. Conclusions: The overall results suggest that radon concentrations in the Hwacheon and Jangsu area are dominantly influenced by geological characteristics with additional artificial influences.