• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.3 s.49
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• pp.85-100
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• 2006

This paper proposes an optimal design method of linear viscous dampers for the seismic performance of two adjacent structures with different heights. Accordingly, connection method using diagonal bracing between two floors and connection method between two structures are considered, and the effectiveness of the latter method is confirmed through the comparison of the frequency response functions with respect to damping capacity. Moreover, optimal damping to minimize the response of the adjacent structures in the frequency domain is found. The sensitivity of natural frequency and modal damping according to the damper capacity at each floor is obtained for the optimally designed system. From the sensitivity analysis, the modal damping is evaluated to be very sensitive to the damper installed at higher floor. Therefore, sensitivity-based damping distribution method is proposed. Diagonal bracing connection method, uniform distribution method and sensitivity-based distribution method are compared to each other in terms of seismic performance. The comparative results demonstrate that the proposed method is an effective seismic design method for the adjacent structures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.49-63
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• 2020

Studying the critical response characteristics of box culverts with diverse geometrical configurations under seismic excitations is a necessary step to develop a reasonable design method. In this work, a numerical parametric study is conducted on various soil-culvert systems, aiming to highlight the critical difference in the seismic performances between three- and four-sided culverts. Two-dimensional numerical models consider a variety of burial depths, flexibility ratios and foundation widths, assuming a visco-elastic soil condition, which permits to compare with the analytical solutions and previous studies. The results show that flexible three-sided culverts at a shallow depth considerably amplify the spectral acceleration and Arias intensity. Larger racking deformation and rocking rotation are also predicted for the three-sided culverts, but the bottom slab influence decreases with increasing burial depth and foundation width. The bottom slab combined with the burial depth and structural stiffness also significantly influences the magnitude and distribution of the dynamic earth pressure. The findings of this work shed light on the critical role of the bottom slab in the seismic responses of box culverts and may have a certain reference value for the preliminary seismic design using R-F relation.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.46 no.5
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• pp.699-706
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• 2014

The probabilistic seismic performance of a standard Korean nuclear power plant (NPP) with an idealized isolation is investigated in the present work. A probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) of the Wolsong site on the Korean peninsula is performed by considering peak ground acceleration (PGA) as an earthquake intensity measure. A procedure is reported on the categorization and selection of two sets of ground motions of the Tohoku earthquake, i.e. long-period and common as Set A and Set B respectively, for the nonlinear time history response analysis of the base-isolated NPP. Limit state values as multiples of the displacement responses of the NPP base isolation are considered for the fragility estimation. The seismic risk of the NPP is further assessed by incorporation of the rate of frequency exceedance and conditional failure probability curves. Furthermore, this framework attempts to show the unacceptable performance of the isolated NPP in terms of the probabilistic distribution and annual probability of limit states. The comparative results for long and common ground motions are discussed to contribute to the future safety of nuclear facilities against drastic events like Tohoku.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.57-82
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• 2014

The heritage value of the mixed wood-masonry 18th century Pombalino buildings of downtown Lisbon is recognized both nationally and internationally. The present paper focuses on the seismic assessment of global response and retrofitting of a typical Pombalino building by nonlinear static analyses, performed by the research software Tremuri, which is able to model 3D configurations. The structure is modelled using nonlinear beams for masonry panels, while in case of the internal walls (frontal walls) an original formulation has been developed in order to take into account their specific seismic behaviour. Floors are modelled as orthotropic membrane finite elements: this feature allows to simulate the presence of both flexible and rigid diaphragms, being the first ones more representative of the original state while the second ones of retrofitted configurations. Seismic assessment has been evaluated by applying nonlinear static procedure and comparing the performance of different configurations (by considering various retrofitting strategies). Finally, assuming a lognormal cumulative distribution, fragility curves are obtained to be representative of Pombalino buildings: the most important application of such curves is for seismic risk and loss estimation analyses.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.141-168
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• 2012

The Retrofit Yield Spectrum (RYS) is a new spectrum-based device that relates seismic demand of a retrofitted structure with the fundamental design parameters of the retrofit. This is obtained from superposition of Yield Point Spectra with design charts that summarize in pertinent spectrum-compatible coordinates the attributes of a number of alternative retrofit scenarios. Therefore, once the requirements for upgrading a given structure have been determined, the RYS enable direct insight of the sensitivity of the seismic response of the upgraded structure to the preliminary design decisions made while establishing the retrofit plan. By virtue of their spectrum-based origin, RYS are derived with reference to a single mode of structural vibration; a primary objective is to control the contribution of this mode in the retrofit design so as to produce a desirable distribution of damage at the ultimate limit state by removing soft storey formations and engaging the maximum number of structural members in deformation, in response to the input motion. Calculations are performed with reference to the yield-point, where secant stiffness is proportional to the flexural strength of reinforced concrete members. Derivation and use of the Retrofit Yield Spectra (RYS) refers to the seismic demand expressed either in terms of spectral acceleration, spectral displacement or interstory drift, at yield of the first storey. A reinforced concrete building that has been tested in full scale to a sequence of simulated earthquake excitations is used in the paper as a demonstration case study to examine the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.333-347
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• 2017

Masonry infill walls are unavoidable parts of any building to create a separation between internal space and external environment. In general, there are some prevalent openings in the infill wall due to functional needs, architectural considerations or aesthetic concerns. In current design practice, the strength and stiffness contribution of infill walls is not considered. However, the presence of infill walls may decisively influence the seismic response of structures subjected to earthquake loads and cause a different behavior from that predicted for a bare frame. Furthermore, partial openings in the masonry infill wall are significant parameter affecting the seismic behavior of infilled frames thereby decreasing the lateral stiffness and strength. The possible effects of openings in the infill wall on seismic behavior of RC frames is analytically studied by means of pushover analysis of several bare, partially and fully infilled frames having different bay and story numbers. The stiffness loss due to partial opening is introduced by the stiffness reduction factors which are developed from finite element analysis of frames considering frame-infill interaction. Pushover curves of frames are plotted and the maximum base shear forces, the yield displacement, the yield base shear force coefficient, the displacement demand, interstory drift ratios and the distribution of story shear forces are determined. The comparison of parameters both in terms of seismic demand and capacity indicates that partial openings decisively influences the nonlinear behavior of RC frames and cause a different behavior from that predicted for a bare frame or fully infilled frame.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.439-451
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• 2015

This study analyzed the isolation effect for a 15-story reinforced concrete (RC) building with regard to changes in the beam-column stiffness ratio and the difference in the vibration period between the superstructure and an isolation layer in order to provide basic data that are needed to devise a framework for the design of isolated RC buildings. First, this analytical study proposes to design RC building frames by securing an isolation period that is at least 2.5 times longer than the natural vibration period of a superstructure and configuring a target isolation period that is 3.0 s or longer. To verify the proposed plan, shaking table tests were conducted on a scaled-down model of 15-story RC building installed with laminated rubber bearings. The experimental results indicate that the tested isolated structure, which complied with the proposed conditions, exhibited an almost constant response distribution, verifying that the behavior of the structure improved in terms of usability. The RC building's response to inter-story drift (which causes structural damage) was reduced by about one-third that of a non-isolated structure, thereby confirming that the safety of such a superstructure can be achieved through the building's improved seismic performance.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.19-35
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• 2018

The necessity of predicting the spatial information of the site-specific seismic response, which is essential information for the comprehensive earthquake disaster countermeasures, is increasing for the mid-west urban areas where the earthquake-induced damages can be increased due to frequent occurrence of mid-scale earthquake such as 2016 Gyeongju Earthquake and 2017 Pohang Earthquake. Especially, researches on strategic securing of site survey datasets and understanding the site-specific site response characteristics were conducted for Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. In this study, a GIS-based framework for site-specific assessment of site response and induced vulnerable area in Gyeonggi-do, South Korea was proposed. Geo-Data based on GIS platform was constructed for regional estimation of geotechnical characteristics by collecting borehole and land coverage datasets. And the geo-spatial grid information was developed for deriving spatial distribution of geotechnical layer and site response parameters based on the optimization of the geostatistical interpolation method. Accordingly, base information for Improving earthquake preparedness measures was derived as seismic zonation map with administrative sub-units considering the quantitative site effect of Gyeonggi-do.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.245-256
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• 2016

In the companion paper (I - Database and Site Response Analyses), site-specific response analyses were performed at more than 300 domestic sites. In this study, a new site classification system and design response spectra are proposed using results of the site-specific response analyses. Depth to bedrock (H) and average shear wave velocity of soil above the bedrock ($V_{S,Soil}$) were adopted as parameters to classify the sites into sub-categories because these two factors mostly affect site amplification, especially for shallow bedrock region. The 20 m of depth to bedrock was selected as the initial parameter for site classification based on the trend of site coefficients obtained from the site-specific response analyses. The sites having less than 20 m of depth to bedrock (H1 sites) are sub-divided into two site classes using 260 m/s of $V_{S,Soil}$ while the sites having greater than 20 m of depth to bedrock (H2 sites) are sub-divided into two site classes at $V_{S,Soil}$ equal to 180 m/s. The integration interval of 0.4 ~ 1.5 sec period range was adopted to calculate the long-period site coefficients ($F_v$) for reflecting the amplification characteristics of Korean geological condition. In addition, the frequency distribution of depth to bedrock reported for Korean sites was also considered in calculating the site coefficients for H2 sites to incorporate sites having greater than 30 m of depth to bedrock. The relationships between the site coefficients and rock shaking intensity were proposed and then subsequently compared with the site coefficients of similar site classes suggested in other codes.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.205-213
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• 2017

The WUF-W moment connection is a pre-qualified connection that can be used for special moment frames specified in current seismic design specifications. Since the stress distribution near the connection varies according to access hole configuration, the cyclic performance of WUF-W connections is strongly affected by the access hole configurations. To evaluate the connection performance according to various access hole configurations, it is expensive to conduct experiments with many connection specimens. Instead, finite element analyses (FEA) can be performed. Throughout the FEA, stress and strain distribution in the connection can be monitored at each loading step. The purpose of this study is to construct nonlinear 3-dimensional FE models for accurately predicting the cyclic behavior of WUF-W connections. For predicting connection fracture using FEA, an appropriate response index detecting the incidence of connection rupture is proposed.