• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.20 no.3
• /
• pp.261-278
• /
• 2021

In the current work, a series of seismic analyses of one-storey asymmetrical reinforced concrete (R/C) framed buildings is accomplished while the effect of soil deformability on the structural response is investigated. A comparison is performed between the simplified elastic behavior of R/C elements according to the structural regulations' instructions to the possible non-linear behavior of R/C elements under actual circumstances. The target of the time history analyses is the elucidation of the Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) effect in the seismic behavior of common R/C structures by examining the possible elastic or elastoplastic behavior of R/C sections because of the redistribution of the internal forces by employing a realistic damage index. The conclusions acquired from the presented elastic and elastoplastic analyses supply practical guidelines towards the safer design of structures.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.55 no.11
• /
• pp.3956-3972
• /
• 2023

The floor response spectrum (FRS) is used to evaluate the seismic demand of equipment installed in nuclear power plants. In the conventional design practice of NPP structure, the FRS is simplified using the lumped-mass stick model (LMSM), assuming the floor slab as a rigid diaphragm. In the present study, to study the variation of seismic response in a floor, the FRSs at different locations were generated by 3-D finite element model, and the response was compared to that of the rigid diaphragm model. The result showed that the FRS significantly varied due to the large opening in a floor, which was not captured by the rigid diaphragm model. Based on the result, seismic fragility analysis was performed for the anchorage of a heat exchanger, to investigate the effect of location-dependent FRS disparity on the high confidence low probability of failure (HCLPF).

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.24 no.4
• /
• pp.275-288
• /
• 2023

Based on the crucial role of high-speed railway bridges (HSRBs) in the safety of high-speed railway operations, it is an important approach to mitigate earthquake hazards by proceeding with seismic risk assessments in their whole life. Bridge seismic risk assessment, which usually evaluates the seismic performance of bridges from a probabilistic perspective, provides technical support for bridge risk management. The seismic performance of bridges is greatly affected by the degradation of material properties, therefore, material damage plays a nonnegligible role in the seismic risk assessment of the bridge. The effect of material damage is not considered in most current studies on seismic risk analysis of bridges, nevertheless. To fill the gap in this area, in this paper, a nonlinear dynamic time-history analysis has been carried out by establishing OpenSees finite element model, and a seismic vulnerability analysis is carried out based on the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method. On this basis, combined with the site risk analysis, the time-dependent seismic risk analysis of an offshore three-span HSRB in the whole life cycle has been conducted. The results showed that the seismic risk probabilities of both components and system of the bridge increase with the service time, and their seismic risk probabilities increase significantly in the last service period due to the degradation of the material strength, which demonstrates that the impact of durability damage should be considered when evaluating the seismic performance of bridges in the design and service period.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.173-184
• /
• 2023

Presently, the general seismic fragility evaluation method for a bridge system composed of member elements with different nonlinear behaviors against strong earthquakes has been to evaluate at the element-level. This study aims to develop a system-level seismic fragility evaluation method that represents a structural system. Because the seismic behavior of bridges is generally divided into transverse and longitudinal directions, this study evaluated the system-level seismic fragility in both directions separately. The element-level seismic fragility evaluation in the longitudinal direction was performed for piers, bridge bearings, pounding, abutments, and unseating. Because pounding, abutment, and unseating do not affect the transverse directional damages, the element-level seismic fragility evaluation was limited to piers and bridge bearings. Seismic analysis using nonlinear models of various structural members was performed using the OpenSEES program. System-level seismic fragility was evaluated assuming that damage between element-levels was serially connected. Pier damage was identified to have a dominant effect on system-level seismic fragility than other element-level damages. In other words, the most vulnerable element-level seismic fragility has the most dominant effect on the system-level seismic fragility.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.87-94
• /
• 2020

The present study is aimed to calculate the optimal damping according to the seismic load on the structure with a non-seismic design to perform structure analysis considering the deformation of structural joint connection and panel zone; to develop design program equipped with structural stability of the steel frame structures reinforced with the panel zone and viscous dampers, using the results of the analysis, in order to systematically integrate the seismic reinforcement of the non-seismic structures and the analysis and design of steel frame structures. The study results are as follows: When considering the deformation of the panel zone, the deformation has been reduced up to thickness of the panel double plate below twice the flange thickness, which indicates the effect of the double plate thickness on the panel zone, but the deformation showed uniform convergence when the ration is more than twice. The SMRPF system that was applied to this study determines the damping force and displacement by considering the panel zone to the joint connection and calculating the shear each floor for the seismic load at the same time. The result indicates that the competence of the damper is predictable that can secure seismic performance for the structures with non-seismic design without changing the cross-section of the members.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.3 no.3
• /
• pp.5-13
• /
• 2002

In tunnel design, geotechnical survey of over 200m tunnel depth is required because of its characteristical topography. For this reason, there are difficulties in collecting information of basic data in tunnel design because of large-scale costs in borehole tests, of limits to a geotechnical analysis by the existing refraction seismic survey and of analytical errors in steep mountainous area. Seismic tomography has many advantages as follows; 1) seismic velocity as absolute value is more reliable than electrical resistivity, 2) geotechnical analysis in deep tunnel depth is available by seismic velocity, 3) analytical errors is reduced in steep mountainous area. In this paper, it was found out a correlation of seismic velocity and Q in tunnel design in the neighborhood of the National Capital region and the reduction effect of tunnel construction cost using reliable rock quality by seismic tomography compared with by borehole data and electricity resistivity data.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.74 no.4
• /
• pp.481-494
• /
• 2020

In this paper, a probability-based procedure to evaluate the performance of existing RC structures exposed to seismic and fire actions is presented. The procedure is demonstrated with reference to an existing old school building, located in Italy. The vulnerability assessment of the building highlights deficiencies under both static and seismic loads. Retrofit operations are designed to achieve the seismic safety. The idea of the work consists in assessing the performance of the existing and retrofitted building in terms of both the seismic and fire resistance. The seismic retrofit and fire resistance upgrading follow different paths, depending on the specific configuration of the building. A good seismic retrofit does not entail an improving of the fire resistance and vice versa. The goal of the current work is to study the variation of response due to the uncertainties considered in records/fire curves selection and to carry out the assessment of the studied RC structure by obtaining fragility curves under the effect of different records/temperature. The results show the fragility curves before and after retrofit operations and both in terms of seismic performance and fire resistance performance, measuring the percent improving for the different limit states.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.6
• /
• pp.1187-1221
• /
• 2014

The uplifting and rocking of slender, free-standing structures when subjected to ground shaking may limit appreciably the seismic moments and shears that develop at their base. This high-performance seismic behavior is inherent in the design of ancient temples with emblematic peristyles that consist of slender, free-standing columns which support freely heavy epistyles together with the even heavier frieze atop. While the ample seismic performance of rocking isolation has been documented with the through-the-centuries survival of several free-standing ancient temples; and careful post-earthquake observations in Japan during the 1940's suggested that the increasing size of slender free-standing tombstones enhances their seismic stability; it was George Housner who 50 years ago elucidated a size-frequency scale effect that explained the "counter intuitive" seismic stability of tall, slender rocking structures. Housner's 1963 seminal paper marks the beginning of a series of systematic studies on the dynamic response and stability of rocking structures which gradually led to the development of rocking isolation-an attractive practical alternative for the seismic protection of tall, slender structures. This paper builds upon selected contributions published during this last half-century in an effort to bring forward the major advances together with the unique advantages of rocking isolation. The paper concludes that the concept of rocking isolation by intentionally designing a hinging mechanism that its seismic resistance originates primarily from the mobilization of the rotational inertia of its members is a unique seismic protection strategy for large, slender structures not just at the limit-state but also at the operational state.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.69 no.3
• /
• pp.293-306
• /
• 2019

In current seismic design codes, various elastic design acceleration spectra are defined considering different seismological and soil characteristics and are widely used tool for calculation of seismic loads acting on structures. Response spectrum analyses directly use the elastic design acceleration spectra whereas time history analyses use acceleration records of earthquakes whose acceleration spectra fit the design spectra of seismic codes. Due to the fact that obtaining coherent structural response quantities with the seismic design code considerations is a desired circumstance in dynamic analyses, the response spectra of earthquake records used in time history analyses had better fit to the design acceleration spectra of seismic codes. This paper evaluates structural response distributions of multi-story reinforced concrete frames obtained from nonlinear time history analyses which are performed by using the scaled earthquake records compatible with various elastic design spectra. Time domain scaling procedure is used while processing the response spectrum of real accelerograms to fit the design acceleration spectra. The elastic acceleration design spectra of Turkish Seismic Design Code 2007, Uniform Building Code 1997 and Eurocode 8 are considered as target spectra in the scaling procedure. Soil classes in different seismic codes are appropriately matched up with each other according to $V_{S30}$ values. The maximum roof displacements and the total base shears of considered frame structures are determined from nonlinear time history analyses using the scaled earthquake records and the results are presented by graphs and tables. Coherent structural response quantities reflecting the influence of elastic design spectra of various seismic codes are obtained.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.15 no.6
• /
• pp.701-713
• /
• 2018

Many bridges in Algeria were constructed without taking into account the seismic effect in the design. The implantation of a new regulation code RPOA-2008 requires a higher reinforcement ratio than with the seismic coefficient method, which is a common feature of the existing bridges. For better perception of the performance bridge piers and evaluation of the risk assessment of existing bridges, fragility analysis is an interesting tool to assess the vulnerability study of these structures. This paper presents a comparative performance of bridge piers designed with the seismic coefficient method and the new RPOA-2008. The performances of the designed bridge piers are assessed using thirty ground motion records and incremental dynamic analysis. Fragility curves for the bridge piers are plotted using probabilistic seismic demand model to perform the seismic vulnerability analysis. The impact of changing the reinforcement strength on the seismic behavior of the designed bridge piers is checked by fragility analysis. The fragility results reveal that the probability of damage with the RPOA-2008 is less and perform well comparing to the conventional design pier.