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

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

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.351-375
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• 2019

The present work investigates the use of a rigid rocking block as a tool to reduce vibrations in a frame structure. The study is based on a simplified model composed by a 2-DOF linear system, meant to represent a general M-DOF frame structure, coupled with a rocking rigid block through a linear visco-elastic device, which connects only the lower part of the 2-DOF system. The possibility to restrain the block directly to the ground, by means of a second visco-elastic device, is investigated as well. The dynamic response of the model under an harmonic base excitation is then analysed in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the coupling in reducing the displacements and the drift of the 2-DOF system. The nonlinear equations of motion of the coupled assemblage 2-DOF-block are obtained by a Lagrangian approach and then numerically integrated considering some reference mechanical and geometrical quantities as variable parameters. It follows an extensive parametric analysis, whose results are summarized through behaviour maps, which portray the ratio between the maximum displacements and drifts of the system, with and without the coupling with the rigid block, for several combinations of system's parameters. When the ratio of the displacements is less than unity, the coupling is considered effective. Results show that the presence of the rocking rigid block improves the dynamics of the system in large ranges of the characterizing parameters.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.1-9
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• 2020

In this study, a seismic reinforcement system was developed considering the rocking behavior of walls. The rocking behavior is to rotate left and right around the vertical axis of the wall, and the development system is a method of dissipating energy by installing a damper to a large displacement part. Developed steel rod damper was used, and steel rod diameter and length(aspect ratio) were selected as variables. As a result of the experiment, it was evaluated to have excellent seismic performance when the damper length was 260mm.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.491-500
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• 2015

Under seismic loading, underground station structures behave differently from above ground structures. Underground structures do not require designated energy dissipation system for seismic loads. These structures are traditionally designed with shear or racking deformation capacity to accommodate the movement of the soil caused by shear waves. The free-field shear deformation method may not be suitable for the design of shallowly buried station structures with complex structural configurations. Alternatively, a station structure can develop rocking mechanisms either as a whole rigid body or as a portion of the structure with plastic hinges. With a rocking mechanism, station structures can be tilted to accommodate lateral shear deformation from the soil. If required, plastic hinges can be implemented to develop rocking mechanism. Generally, rocking structures do not expect significant seismic loads from surrounding soils, although the mechanism may result in significant internal forces and localized soil bearing pressures. This method may produce a reliable and robust design of station structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.243-251
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• 2018

The dynamic responses of a rocking wall-moment frame (RWMF) with a post-tensioned cable are investigated. The nonlinear equations of motions are developed, which can be categorized as a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model. The model is validated through comparison of the rocking response of the rigid rocking wall (RRW) and displacement of the moment frame (MF) against that obtained from Finite Element analysis when subjected ground motion excitation. A comprehensive parametric analysis is carried out to determine the seismic performance factors of the RWMF systems under near-fault trigonometric pulse excitation. The horizontal displacement of the RWMF system is compared with that of MF structures without RRW, revealing the damping effect of the RRW. Frame displacement spectra excited by trigonometric pulses and recorded earthquake ground motions are constructed. The effects of pulse type, mass ratio, frame stiffness, and wall slenderness variations on the displacement spectra are presented. The paper shows that the coupling with a RRW has mixed results on suppressing the maximum displacement response of the frame.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.293-308
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• 2006

This paper presents a complete and consistent formulation to study the seismic response of a free-standing ship supported by an arrangement of n keel blocks which are all located in a dry dock. It is considered that the foundation of the system is subjected to both horizontal and vertical in plane excitation. The motion of the system is classified in eight different modes which are Rest (relative), Sliding of keel blocks, Rocking of keel blocks, Sliding of the ship, Sliding of both keel blocks and the ship, Sliding and rocking of keel blocks, Rocking of keel blocks with sliding of the ship, and finally Sliding and rocking of keel blocks accompanied with sliding of the ship. For each mode of motion the governing equations are derived, and transition conditions between different modes are also defined. This formulation is based on a number of fundamental assumptions which are 2D idealization for motion of the system, considering keel blocks as the rigid ones and the ship as a massive rigid block too, allowing the similar motion for all keel blocks, and supposing frictional nature for transmitted forces between contacted parts. Also, the rocking of the ship is not likely to take place, and the complete ship separation from keel blocks or separation of keel blocks from the base is considered as one of the failure mode in the system. The formulation presented in this paper can be used in its entirety or in part, and they are suitable for investigation of generalized response using suitable analytical, or conducting a time-history sensitivity analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.7
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• pp.2387-2395
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• 2021

Seismic qualifications of electrical equipment, such as cabinet systems, have been emerging as the key area of nuclear power plants in Korea since the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake, including the high-frequency domain. In addition, electrical equipment was sensitive to the high-frequency ground motions during the past earthquake. Therefore, this paper presents the rocking behavior of the electrical cabinet system subjected to Reg. 1.60 and UHS. The high fidelity finite element (FE) model of the cabinet related to the shaking table test data was developed. In particular, the first two global modes of the cabinet from the experimental test were 16 Hz and 24 Hz, respectively. In addition, 30.05 Hz and 37.5 Hz were determined to be the first two local modes in the cabinet. The high fidelity FE model of the cabinet using the ABAQUS platform was extremely reconciled with shaking table tests. As a result, the dynamic properties of the cabinet were sensitive to electrical instruments, such as relays and switchboards, during the shaking table test. In addition, the amplification with respect to the vibration transfer function of the cabinet was observed on the third floor in the cabinet due to localized impact corresponding to the rocking phenomenon of the cabinet under Reg.1.60 and UHS. Overall, the rocking of the cabinet system can be caused by the low-frequency oscillations and higher peak horizontal acceleration.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.27-34
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• 2019

This study proposes a technique to dissipate the energy of a rocking wall installed on a frame by using a metallic damper. The rocking behavior is to turn left and right about the wall vertical axis. The development system is a method of dissipating energy by installing a damper which is the like on a large displacement portion. Experimental results showed that in case of shorter strut make strength capacity increasement and in case of longer strut make deformation capacity increasement. The higher the strut height, the better the energy dissipation capacity. The proposed equation for estimating the steel damper strength applied to this study is a straight type strut damper. However, it is not suitable for calculation of the strength of clamped type strut damper where both flexural behavior and shear behavior are mixed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.5
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• pp.611-628
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• 2022

Energy-dissipative rocking (EDR) columns are a class of seismic mitigation device capable of dissipating seismic energy and preventing weak-story failure of moment resisting frames (MRFs). An EDR consists of two hinge-supported steel columns interconnected by steel dampers along its height. Under earthquakes, the input seismic energy can be dissipated by plastic energy of the steel dampers in the EDR column. However, the unrecoverable plastic deformation of steel dampers generally results in residual drifts in the structural system. This paper presents a proof-of-concept study on an innovative device, namely self-centring energy-dissipative rocking (SC-EDR) column, aiming at enabling self-centring capability of the EDR column by installing a set of shape memory alloy (SMA) tension braces. The working mechanism of the SC-EDR column is presented in detail, and the feasibility of the new device is carefully examined via experimental and numerical studies considering the parameters of the SMA bar diameter and the steel damper plate thickness. The seismic responses including load carrying capacities, stress distributions, base rocking behaviour, source of residual deformation, and energy dissipation are discussed in detail. A rational combination of the steel damper and the SMA tension braces can achieve excellent energy dissipation and self-centring performance.