• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.581-598
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• 2020

This paper aims to investigate the seismic behavior and influence parameters of the large-scaled thin-walled reinforced concrete (RC) tubular columns in air-cooled supporting structures of thermal power plants (TPPs). Cyclic loading tests and finite element analysis were performed on 1/8-scaled specimens considering the influence of wall diameter ratio, axial compression ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, stirrup reinforcement ratio and adding steel diagonal braces (SDBs). The research results showed that the cracks mainly occurred on the lower half part of RC tubular columns during the cyclic loading test; the specimen with the minimum wall diameter ratio presented the earlier cracking and had the most cracks; the failure mode of RC tubular columns was large bias compression failure; increasing the axial compression ratio could increase the lateral bearing capacity and energy dissipation capacity, but also weaken the ductility and aggravate the lateral stiffness deterioration; increasing the longitudinal reinforcement ratio could efficiently enhance the seismic behavior; increasing the stirrup reinforcement ratio was favorable to the ductility; RC tubular columns with SDBs had a much higher bearing capacity and lateral stiffness than those without SDBs, and with the decrease of the angle between columns and SDBs, both bearing capacity and lateral stiffness increased significantly.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.3
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• pp.407-417
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• 2023

Precast assembled bridge piers with hybrid connection (PASP) use both tendons and socket connections. To study the seismic performance of PASP, a full-scale in-situ test was performed based on an actual bridge project. The elastic-plastic fiber model of PASP was established using finite element software, and numerical analyses were performed to study the influence of prestress degree and socket depth on the PASP seismic performance. The results show that the typical failure mode of PASP under horizontal load is bending failure dominated by concrete cracking at the joint between the column and cushion cap. The cracking of the pier concrete and opening of joints depend on the prestress degree and socket depth. The prestressing tendons and socket connection can provide enough ductility, strength, restoration capability, and bending strength under small horizontal displacements. Although the bearing capacity and post yield stiffness of the pier can be improved to some extent by increasing the prestressing force, ductility is reduced, and residual deformation is increased. Overall, there are reasonable minimum socket depths to ensure the reliability of the socket connection.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.165-176
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• 2024

In this study, a direct Lagrangian-based three-dimensional computational procedure is developed to evaluate the seismic performance of reinforced concrete liquid-containing circular tanks (RC-LCT). In this approach, fluid-structure interaction (FSI), material nonlinearity, and liquid-structure large deformations are formulated realistically. Liquid is modeled using Mie-Grüneisen equation of state (EOS) in compressible form considering the convective and impulsive motions of fluid. The developed numerical framework is validated based on a previous study. Further, nonlinear analyses are carried out to assess the seismic performance of RC-LCT with various diameter-to-liquid height ratios ranging from 2.5 to 4.0. Based on observations, semi-deep tanks (i.e., D/H_l=2.5) show low collapse ductility due to their shear failure mode while shallow tanks (i.e., D/H_l=4.0) behave in a more ductile manner due to their dominant wall membrane action. Furthermore, the semi-deep tanks provide the least over-strength and ductility due to their catastrophic failure with little energy dissipation. This study shows that LCTs can be categorized as between immediately operational and life safety levels and therefore a drift limiting criterion is necessary to prevent probable damages during earthquakes.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.375-384
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• 2009

The application of the diagrid structural system has increased of late, but cyclic loadings such as winds and earthquakes cannot be fully understood through only an analytical study due to the difficulty of considering its welding property. In this study, diagrid nodes that had been scaled down to 1/5 of their full sizes were tested to find out their structural behavior under seismic or wind loads. Four specimens were used with five parameters, including the welding method and the design details. Cyclic loading tests were carried out, where a tensile load was applied to one brace member and a compression load to the other. The major failure modes in the tests were only failure of bending with tensile stress and tension failure. The welding method and the design details had no effect on the initial stiffness and yielding stress but play a significant role in the failure mode and energy dissipation, respectively.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.5 s.51
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• pp.107-115
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• 2006

The power supply system is one of the most important infrafacilities which should maintain their inherent function during and after earthquakes. This study was performed to analyze dynamic characteristics and seismic performance of Korean typical 154kV transformer porcelain bushing. For the purpose of this study, actual 154kV porcelain bushings were selected and tested on the shaking table. The vibration tests consist of modal identification tests, seismic performance tests, and fragility tests. The sine sweep waves, artificial earthquake waves, and continuous resonant sine waves were used as shaking table motions. This paper describes the test specimens, shaking facilities, and test methods. Natural frequencies and damping ratios of the bushing have been evaluated from the experimental data. The failure mode and the performance level of the Korean transformer bushing have been first identified in this study.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.46 no.4
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• pp.497-512
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• 2023

Using light weight concrete as infill material in conventional cold-formed steel (CFS) shear wall systems can considerably increase their load bearing capacity, ductility, integrity and fire resistance. The compressive strength of the filler concrete is a key factor affecting the structural behaviour of the composite wall systems, and therefore, achieving maximum compressive strength in lightweight concrete while maintaining its lightweight properties is of significant importance. In this study a new type of optimum polystyrene lightweight concrete (OPLC) with high compressive strength is developed for infill material in composite CFS shear wall systems. To study the seismic behaviour of the OPLC-filled CFS shear wall systems, two full scale wall specimens are tested under cyclic loading condition. The effects of OPLC on load-bearing capacity, failure mode, ductility, energy dissipation capacity, and stiffness degradation of the walls are investigated. It is shown that the use of OPLC as infill in CFS shear walls can considerably improve their seismic performance by: (i) preventing the premature buckling of the stud members, and (ii) changing the dominant failure mode from brittle to ductile thanks to the bond-slip behaviour between OPLC and CFS studs. It is also shown that the design equations proposed by EC8 and ACI 318-14 standards overestimate the shear force capacity of OPLC-filled CFS shear wall systems by up to 80%. This shows it is necessary to propose methods with higher efficiency to predict the capacity of these systems for practical applications.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.3
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• pp.345-360
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• 2022

In this paper, the impact on seismic performance of an economical effective technique for retrofitting reinforced concrete (RC) columns using high-strength steel strips under high axial compression ratios was presented. The experimental program included a series of cyclic loading tests on one nonretrofitted control specimen and three retrofitted specimens. The effects of the axial compression ratio and spacing of the steel strips on the cyclic behavior of the specimens were studied. Based on the test results, the failure modes, hysteretic characteristics, strength and stiffness degradation, displacement ductility, and energy dissipation capacity of the specimens were analyzed in-depth. The analysis showed that the transverse confinement provided by the high-strength steel strips could effectively delay and restrain diagonal crack development and improve the failure mode, which was flexural-shear failure controlled by flexural failure with better ductility. The specimens retrofitted using high-strength steel strips showed more satisfactory seismic performance than the control specimen. The seismic performance and deformation capacity of the retrofitted RC columns increased with decreasing axial compression ratio and steel strip spacing. Based on the test results, a hysteretic model for RC columns that considers the transverse confinement of high-strength steel strips was then established. The hysteretic model showed good agreement with the experimental results, which verified the effectiveness of the proposed hysteretic model. Therefore, the aforementioned analysis can be used for the design of retrofitted RC columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.2
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• pp.139-152
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• 2022

Steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) L-shaped column is the vertical load-bearing member with high spatial adaptability. The seismic behavior of SRC L-shaped column is complex because of their irregular cross sections. In this study, the hysteretic performance of six steel truss reinforced concrete L-shaped columns specimens under the combined loading of compression, bending, shear, and torsion was tested. There were two parameters, i.e., the moment ratio of torsion to bending (γ) and the aspect ratio (column length-to-depth ratio (φ)). The failure process, torsion-displacement hysteresis curves, and bending-displacement hysteresis curves of specimens were obtained, and the failure patterns, hysteresis curves, rigidity degradation, ductility, and energy dissipation were analyzed. The experimental research indicates that the failure mode of the specimen changes from bending failure to bending-shear failure and finally bending-torsion failure with the increase of γ. The torsion-displacement hysteresis curves were pinched in the middle, formed a slip platform, and the phenomenon of "load drop" occurred after the peak load. The bending-displacement hysteresis curves were plump, which shows that the bending capacity of the specimen is better than torsion capacity. The results show that the steel truss reinforced concrete L-shaped columns have good collapse resistance, and the ultimate interstory drift ratio more than that of the Chinese Code of Seismic Design of Building (GB50011-2014), which is sufficient. The average value of displacement ductility coefficient is larger than rotation angle ductility coefficient, indicating that the specimen has a better bending deformation resistance. The specimen that has a more regular section with a small φ has better potential to bear bending moment and torsion evenly and consume more energy under a combined action.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.527-539
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• 2018

The use of reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall with concrete filled steel tube (CFST) columns and steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) shear wall has aroused widespread attention in recent years. A new shear wall, named SFRC shear wall with CFST columns, is proposed in this paper, which makes use of CFST column and SFRC shear wall. Six SFRC shear wall with CFST columns specimens were tested under cyclic loading. The effects of test parameters including steel fiber volume fraction and concrete strength on the failure mode, strength, ductility, rigidity and dissipated energy of shear wall specimens were investigated. The results showed that all tested shear wall specimens exhibited a distinct shear failure mode. Steel fibers could effectively control the crack width and improve the distribution of cracks. The load carrying and energy dissipation capacities of specimens increased with the increase of steel fiber volume fraction and concrete strength, whilst the ductility of specimens increased with the increase of steel fiber volume fraction and the decrease of concrete strength.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.639-650
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• 2019

Time-domain commercial codes are widely used to evaluate the seismic behavior of tunnels. Those tools offer a good insight into the performance and the failure mechanism of tunnels under earthquake loading. Viscous damping is generally employed in the dynamic analysis to consider damping at very small strains in some cases, and the Rayleigh damping is commonly used one. Many procedures to obtain the damping parameters have been proposed but they are seldom discussed. This paper illustrates the influence of the Rayleigh damping formulation on the tunnel visco-elastic behavior under earthquake. Four Rayleigh damping determination procedures and three soil shear velocity profiles are accounted for. The results show significant differences in the free-field and in the tunnel response caused by different procedures. The difference is somewhat decreased when the soil site fundamental frequency is increased. The conventional method which consists of using solely the first soil natural mode to determine the viscous damping parameters may lead to an unsafe seismic design of the tunnel. In general, using five times site fundamental frequency to obtain the damping formulation can provide relatively conservative results.