• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.73 no.4
• /
• pp.447-454
• /
• 2020

Seismic isolation technology has a wide application to protect bridges from earthquake damage, a new designed bridge pier with seismic isolation are provided for railways in seismic regions of China. The pier with rocking isolation is a self-centering system under small and moderate earthquakes, and the unbonded prestressed tendons are used to prevent overturning under strong earthquakes. A numerical model based on pseudo-static testing results is presented to evaluate the seismic performance of isolation bridge piers, and is validated by the shaking table test. It is found that the rocking response and the loss of prestressing for the bridge pier increase with the increase of earthquake intensity. Besides, the intensity and spectral characteristics of input ground motion have great influence on displacement of the top and bottom of the bridge pier, while have less influence on the bending moment of the pier bottom. Experimental and numerical results show that the rocking-isolated piers presented in this study have good seismic performance, and it provides an alternative way for the railway bridge in the regions with high occurrence of earthquakes. Therefore, we provide the detailed procedures for seismic design of the rocking-isolated bridge pier, and a case study of the seismic isolation design with rocking piers is carried out to popularize the seismic isolation methods.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.125-135
• /
• 2017

Various seismic isolation methods are being applied to bridges and buildings to improve their seismic performance. Most seismic isolation systems are the structural seismic isolation systems. In this study, the seismic performance of geotechnical seismic isolation system capable of isolating the lower foundation of the bridge structure from ground was evaluated. The geotechnical seismic isolation system was built with teflon, and the model structure was made by adopting the similitude law. The response acceleration for sinusoidal waves of various amplitudes and frequencies and seismic waves were analyzed by performing 1-G shaking table experiments. Fixed foundation, Sliding foundation, and Rocking foundation were evaluated. The results of this study indicated that the Teflon-type seismic foundation isolation system is effective in reducing the acceleration transmitted to the superstructure subject to large input ground motion. Response spectrum of the Rocking and Sliding foundation structures moves to the long period, while that of Fixed foundation moves to short period.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.25 no.4
• /
• pp.269-282
• /
• 2023

This study investigates a rocking seismic isolation (RSI) system as a seismic protection measure against narrow-band ground-motions generated by earthquakes. Structures supported over RSIs are considered capable of reducing the lateral demands and damage of the main structural system through lifting and rocking. This lifting and rocking during earthquake activity is provided by free-standing columns. A single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) system supported on a RSI system is subjected to narrow-band seismic motions and its response is compared to an analog system without RSI. The comparison is then extended to reinforced concrete linear frames with and without RSI; three-bay frames with 11 and 17 storeys are considered. It is found that the RSI systems significantly reduce acceleration and displacement demands in the main structural frames, more noticeably if the first structural mode dominates the response and for ratios of the predominant frequency of the ground motion to the predominant frequency of the main frame near one. It is also found that the RSI system is more effective in reducing lateral accelerations and displacements of the main structure when the aspect ratio, b/h, and size, R, of the free-standing columns decrease, although the rocking stability of the RSI system is also reduced.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.383-397
• /
• 2018

Traditional base isolation systems focus on isolating the seismic response of a structure in the horizontal direction. However, in regions where the vertical earthquake excitation is significant (such as near-fault region), a traditional base-isolated building exhibits a significant vertical vibration. To eliminate this shortcoming, a rocking-isolated system named Telescopic Column (TC) is proposed in this paper. Detailed rocking and isolation mechanism of the TC system is presented. The seismic performance of the TC is compared with the traditional elastomeric bearing (EB) and friction pendulum (FP) base-isolated systems. A 4-storey reinforced concrete moment-resisting frame (RC-MRF) is selected as the reference superstructure. The seismic response of the reference superstructure in terms of column axial forces, base shears, floor accelerations, inter-storey drift ratios (IDR) and collapse margin ratios (CMRs) are evaluated using OpenSees. The results of the nonlinear dynamic analysis subjected to multi-directional earthquake excitations show that the superstructure equipped with the newly proposed TC is more resilient and exhibits a superior response with higher margin of safety against collapse when compared with the same superstructure with the traditional base-isolation (BI) system.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.293-302
• /
• 2015

ASCE 4 requires that a hard stop be built around the seismic isolation system in nuclear power plants. In order to maintain the function of the isolation system, this hard stop is required to have clearance-to-stop, which should be no less than the 90th-percentile displacements for 150% Design Basis Earthquake (DBE) shaking. Huang et al. calculated clearance-to-stop by using a Latin Hypercube Sampling technique, without considering the rocking behavior of the isolated structure. This paper investigates the effects on estimation of clearance-to-stop due to 1) rocking behavior of the isolated structure and 2) sampling technique for considering the uncertainties of isolation system. This paper explains the simplified analysis model to consider the rocking behavior of the isolated structure, and the input earthquakes recorded at Diablo Canyon in the western United States. In order to more accurately approximate the distribution tail of the horizontal displacement in the isolated structure, a modified Latin Hypercube Sampling technique is proposed, and then this technique was applied to consider the uncertainty of the isolation system. Through the use of this technique, it was found that rocking behavior has no significant effect on horizontal displacement (and thus clearance-to-stop) of the isolated structure, and the modified Latin Hypercube Sampling technique more accurately approximates the distribution tail of the horizontal displacement than the existing Latin Hypercube Sampling technique.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.374-385
• /
• 2022

In order to investigate the application of 3D base-seismic isolation system in nuclear power plants (NPPs), comprehensive analysis of constitution and design theory for 3-dimensional combined isolation bearing (3D-CIB) was presented and derived. Four different vertical stiffness of 3D-CIB was designed to isolate the nuclear island (NI) building. This paper aimed at investigating the isolation effectiveness of 3D-CIB through modal analysis and dynamic time-history analysis. Numerical results in terms of dynamic response of 3D-CIB, relative displacement response, acceleration and floor response spectra (FRS) of the superstructure were compared to validate the reliability of 3D-CIB in mitigating seismic response. The results showed that 3D-CIB can significantly attenuate the horizontal acceleration response, and a fair amount of the vertical acceleration response reduction of the upper structure was still observed. 3D-CIB plays a significant role in reducing the horizontal and vertical FRS, the vertical FRS basically do not vary with the floor height. The smaller the vertical stiffness of 3D-CIB is, the better the vertical isolation effectiveness is, whereas, it will increase the displacement and the rocking effect of superstructure. Although the advantage of 3D-CIB is that the vertical stiffness can be flexibly adjusted, it should be designed by properly accounting for the balance between the isolation effectiveness and displacement control including rocking effect. The results of this study can provide the technical basis and guidance for the application of 3D-CIB to engineering structure.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2000.10a
• /
• pp.448-454
• /
• 2000

Piled multi-block system has been frequently adopted in the historic structures or monuments of cultural heritage. It is well known that such a structural system is very vulnerable to the earthquake shaking. If the structure is of slender type, then it may experience overturning at very low level intensity of ground shaking. One of the methods used to protect such structures from earthquake is seismic isolation system. But the behavior of multi-block systems mounted on the isolated basis is not well understood yet. In this paper we investigate the dynamic behavior of single slender rigid block mounted on the three different isolation systems, i.e., P-F system, FPS and LRB system. Sliding at the isolation interface of P-F system and FPS is formulated based on Coulomb friction. The mounted single block is assumed undergoing rocking or sticking only. Impacting of a single block is described using distinct element method (DEM). Free vibrations due to a prescribed initial conditions are studied. Responses to the harmonic excitation and earthquake motions are calculated

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.5-16
• /
• 2018

In this study, seismic performance of geotechnical seismic isolation system capable of primary seismic isolation in the ground was evaluated. 1-G shaking table test was used to assess the performance of Teflon or steel slag as geotechnical seismic isolation systems installed beneath superstructure foundation. Response acceleration and response spectra were analyzed considering different input motions. The results were compared with those of fixed foundation structure without seismic isolation system. The steel slag-type seismic isolation system showed significant reduction in acceleration. The teflon-type seismic isolation system did not show significant effects on acceleration reduction in low-to-moderate seismicity condition, but it did show better effects in case of strong seismic condition. As input motion was transferred to the upper mass, the response spectrum of the fixed foundation structure was amplified in the short period range. In contrast, the response spectrum of the structure with seismic isolation using teflon or steel slag amplified in the long period range. It is found that the change of periodicity and the friction characteristics between isolation materials and foundations affected acceleration reduction.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.93-104
• /
• 2000

적충되어 있는 다중 블록 시스템은 역사적 건물이나 문화재등에 자주 사용되고 있다. 이러한 구조시스템은 지진에 매우 취약하고, 특히 세장한 구조물인 경우에는 낮은 수준의 지반가속도에 대해서도 전도가 일어날 수 있다. 지진으로부터 이러한 구조물을 보호할 수 있는 방법중의 하나로써 지진격기받침의 사용을 들 수 있으나, 아직 격리받침이 설치되어 있는 다중블록의 거동에 대해서는 잘 알려지지 않는 실정이다. 이 논문에서는 각각 P-F 시스템, FPS, LRB 시스템이 설치되어 있을때의 세장한 강체 블록의 동적거동에 대해 살펴보았다. P-F 시스템과 FPS에서의 마찰모델은 Coulomb의 마찰법칙을 이용하였도, 상부구조물은 붙음(stick)모드와 록킹(rocking) 모드만이 존재하도록 가정하였다. 충격은 개별요소법(distinct element method, DEM)을 이용해 기술하였고, 조화입력운동에 대한 응답을 조사하였다.