• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.561-580
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• 2014

After strong earthquakes conventional frames used worldwide in multi - story steel buildings (e.g. moment resisting frames) are not well positioned according to reparability. Two innovative systems for seismic resistant steel frames incorporated with dissipative fuses were developed within the European Research Program "FUSEIS" (Vayas et al. 2013). The first, FUSEIS1, resembles a vertical Vierendeel beam and is composed of two closely spaced strong columns rigidly connected to multiple beams. In the second system, FUSEIS2, a discontinuity is introduced in the composite beams of a moment resisting frame and the dissipative devices are steel plates connecting the two parts. The FUSEIS system is able to dissipate energy by means of inelastic deformations in the fuses and combines ductility and architectural transparency with stiffness. In case of strong earthquakes damage concentrates only in the fuses which behave as self-centering systems able to return the structure to its initial undeformed shape. Repair work after such an event is limited only to replacing the fuses. Experimental and numerical investigations were performed to study the response of the fuses system. Code relevant design rules for the seismic design of frames with dissipative FUSEIS and practical recommendations on the selection of the appropriate fuses as a function of the most important parameters and member verifications have been formulated and are included in a Design Guide. This article presents the design and performance of building frames with FUSEIS 1-1 based on models calibrated on the experimental results.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.141-150
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• 2022

Responding to the increasing demand for research on seismic resistance of structures triggered by a large-scale earthquake in Korea, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety revised the typical application of the existing seismic design standards with the national seismic performance target enhanced. Therefore, in this paper, the dam body of the aged Test-Bed and the penstock with fluid were modeled by the three-dimensional finite element method by introducing several variables. The current seismic design standard law confirmed the safety of the dam structure and penstock against seismic waves. As a result of the 3D finite element analysis, the stress change due to the water impact of the penstock was minimal, and it was confirmed that the effect of the hydraulic pressure was more significant than the water impact in the earthquake situation. When the hydrostatic pressure is in the form of SPH, it was analyzed that the motion of the fluid and the location of stress caused by the earthquake can be effectively represented, and it will be easier to analyze the weak part. As a result of the analysis, which considers penstock's corrosion, the degree of stress dispersion gets smaller because the penstock is embedded in the body. The stress result is minimal, less than 1% of the yield stress of the steel. In addition, although there is a possibility of micro-tensile cracks occurring in the inlet of the dam, it has not been shown to have a significant effect on the stress increa.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.261-268
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• 1999

The seismic performance of precast concrete panel structures tested previously has been evaluated in this paper. Hysteretic curves of test specimens are idealized to elasto-plastic curves to get reliable yielding and ultimate displacements. For the idealized curves, ductility and energy dissipation capacity of specimens have been evaluated using a few guide lines. In addition, the strength capacity of specimens is checked for the strength demand caused by the design earthquake load including overturning moment effects. The result shows while the strength of specimen with joint box for vertical continuity is little bit lower than that of specimen connected by welding, the ductility of the former is higher than that of the latter. The energy dissipation ratios of PC specimens are ranged from 83% to 96% of that of Re specimen and the average of those are shown 90%.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.73-78
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• 2009

Steel Braced frames are a commonly-used seismic resisting system, and chevron steel braced frames are a frequently used type of steel braced frame. Recent research has indicated that the seismic performance of braced frames can be improved by designing the braced frame gusset plate connections in a manner that direct reflects seismic deformation demands, and by permitting yielding in the gusset plate at select performance levels. A parametric study using Finite Element (FE) models was conducted to examine the influence of the gusset plate and framing elements on the seismic performance of chevron braced frames, and to calibrate and develop improved design models. The impact of the frame details, including frame sizes, clearance requirements, gusset plate thickness and tapered plate, was explored. The results suggested that proper detailing of the connection can result in a significant improvement in the frame performance. The results also show that the gusset plate thickness has a significant impact on frame performance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.56 no.5
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• pp.1638-1653
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• 2024

Given the unpredictability of the occurrence of the earthquake and other potential disasters into consideration, the nuclear power plant may be confronted with beyond design-basis earthquake load in the future. The containment structure may be severely damaged under such severe earthquake loading, increasing the risk of containment concrete cracking and potential radioactive materials leaking. Moreover, initial damage caused by the earthquake may significantly alter the pressure performance of the containment under follow-up internal pressure. To compromise the dangers of beyond design-basis earthquake to the containment, an alternative of replacing the conventional concrete with fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC) to upgrade the seismic resistance capacity of the containment is attempted and thoroughly researched. In this study, the influence of various fiber types such as rigid fiber and mixed fiber is regarded to constitute fiber-reinforced PCCVs. The physical properties of traditional and fiber-reinforced PCCVs under earthquake ground motions are scientifically compared and identified by using traditional and proposed evaluation indices. The results indicate that both the traditional evaluation index (i.e. top displacement, stress, strain) and the proposed damage index are greatly reduced by the practice of fiber strengthening under earthquake ground motions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.571-586
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• 2014

This paper presents experimental and numerical study on seismic performance of a super tall steel tower structure. The steel tower, with a height of 388 meters, employs a steel space truss with spiral steel columns to serve as its main lateral load resisting system. Moreover, this space truss was surrounded by the spiral steel columns to form a steel mega system in order to support a 12-story platform building which is located from the height of 230 meters to 263 meters. A 1/40 scaled model for this tower structure was made and tested on shake table under a series of one- and two-dimensional earthquake excitations with gradually increasing acceleration amplitudes. The test model performed elastically up to the seismic excitations representing the earthquakes with a return period of 475 years, and the test model also survived with limited damages under the seismic excitations representing the earthquakes with a return period 2475 years. A finite element model for the prototype structure was further developed and verified. It was noted that the model predictions on dynamic properties and displacement responses agreed reasonably well with test results. The maximum inter-story drift of the tower structure was obtained, and the stress in the steel members was investigated. Results indicated that larger displacement responses were observed for the section from the height of 50 meters to 100 meters in the tower structure. For structural design, applicable measures should be adopted to increase the stiffness and ductility for this section in order to avoid excessive deformations, and to improve the serviceability of the prototype structure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.383-400
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• 2024

For a conventionally repaired frame-supported-transfer-slab (FSTS) reinforced concrete (RC) structure, both the transfer slab and the beam-to-column and transfer slab-to-column joints remain vulnerable to secondary earthquakes. Aimed at improving the seismic performance of a damaged FSTS RC structure, an innovative retrofitting scheme is proposed, which adopts the sector lead rubber dampers (SLRDs) at joints after the damaged FSTS RC structure is repaired by conventional approaches. In this paper, a series of quasi-static cyclic tests was conducted on a large-scale retrofitted FSTS RC structure. The seismic performance was evaluated and the key test results, including deformation characteristics, damage pattern, hysteretic behaviour, bearing capacity and strains on key components, were reported in detail. The test results indicated that the SLRDs started to dissipate energy under the service level earthquake, and thus prevented damages on the beam-to-column and transfer slab-to-column joints during the secondary earthquakes and shifted the plastic hinges away from the beam ends. The retrofitting scheme of using SLRDs also achieved the seismic design concept of 'strong joint, weak component'. The FSTS RC structure retrofitted by the SLRDs could recover more than 85% bearing capacity of its undamaged counterpart. The hysteresis curves were featured by the inverse "S" shape, indicating good bearing capacity and hysteresis performance. The deformation capacity of the damaged FSTS RC structure retrofitted by the SLRDs met the corresponding codified requirements for the case of the maximum considered earthquake, as set out in the Chinese seismic design code. The stability of the FSTS RC structure retrofitted by the SLRDs, which was revealed by the developed stains of the RC frame and transfer slab, was improved compared with the undamaged FSTS RC structure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.1147-1170
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• 2015

In this paper, the behavior of underground strutted retaining structure under seismic condition in non-liquefiable dry cohesionless soil is analyzed numerically. The numerical model is validated against the published results obtained from a study on embedded cantilever retaining wall under seismic condition. The validated model is used to investigate the difference between the static and seismic response of the structure in terms of four design parameters, e.g., support member or strut force, wall moment, lateral wall deflection and ground surface displacement. It is found that among the different design parameters, the one which is mostly affected by the earthquake force is wall deflection and the least affected is the strut force. To get the best possible results under seismic condition, the embedment depth of the wall and thickness of the wall can be chosen as around 100% and 6% of the depth of final excavation level, respectively. The stiffness of the strut may also be chosen as $5{\times}105kN/m/m$ to achieve best possible performance under seismic condition.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.937-956
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• 2015

Seismic isolation systems decouple structures from ground motions to protect them from seismic events. Seismic isolation devices have been implemented in many full-scale buildings and bridges because of their simplicity, economic effectiveness, inherent stability, and reliability. It is well known that the most uncertain aspect for obtaining the accurate responses of an isolated structure from seismic events is the seismic loading itself. It is needed to know the seismic response distributions of the isolated structure resulting from the randomness of earthquakes when probabilistic designing or probabilistic evaluating an isolated structure. Earthquake time histories are useful and often an essential element for designing or evaluating isolated structures. However, it is very challenging to gather the design and evaluation information for an isolated structure from many seismic analyses. In order to evaluate the seismic performance of an isolated structure, numerous nonlinear dynamic analyses need to be performed, but this is impractical. In this paper, the concept of the stochastic response database (SRD) is defined to obtain the seismic response distributions of an isolated structure instantaneously, thereby significantly reducing the computational efforts. An equivalent model of the isolated structure is also developed to improve the applicability and practicality of the SRD. The effectiveness of the proposed methodology is numerically verified.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.591-601
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• 2017

To prevent or limit the damage caused by earthquakes on existing buildings, several retrofitting techniques are possible. In this work, an ultra high performance concrete based on sand dune has been formulated for use in the reinforcement of a multifunctional tower in the city of Skikda in Algeria. Tests on the formulated ultra high performance concrete are performed to determine its characteristics. A nonlinear dynamic analysis, based on the "Pushover" method was conducted. The analysis allowed an optimization of the width of reinforced concrete walls used in seismic strengthening. Two types of concrete are studied, the ordinary concrete and the ultra high performance concrete. Both alternatives are compared with the reinforcement with carbon fibers and by base isolation retrofit design.