• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.586-595
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• 2002

The Seismic probabilistic risk assessment (SPRA) or seismic margin assessment (SMA) have been used for the seismic safety evaluation of nuclear power plant structures and equipments. For the SPRA or SMA, the reference response spectrum should be defined. The site-specific median spectrum has been generally used for the seismic fragility analysis of structures and equipments in a Korean nuclear power plant Since the site-specific spectrum has been developed based on the peak ground motion parameter, the site-specific response spectrum does not represent the same probability of exceedance over the entire frequency range of interest. The uniform hazard spectrum is more appropriate to be used in seismic probabilistic risk assessment than the site- specific spectrum. A method for modifying the seismic fragility parameters that are calculated based on the site-specific median spectrum is described. This simple method was developed to incorporate the effects of the uniform hazard spectrum. The seismic fragility parameters of typical NPP components are modified using the uniform hazard spectrum. The modification factor is used to modify the original fragility parameters. An example uniform hazard spectrum is developed using the available seismic hazard data for the Korean nuclear power plant (NPP) site. This uniform hazard spectrum is used for the modification of fragility parameters.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.201-213
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• 2015

Site effects resulting in the amplification of earthquake ground motion are strongly influenced not only by the subsurface soil conditions and structure, but also by the surface topography. Yet, over the last several decades, most studies of site-specific seismic responses in Korea have focused primarily on the seismic amplification associated with geologic and soil conditions. For example, the effects of local geology are now well established and have been incorporated into current Korean seismic design codes, whereas topographic effects have not been considered. To help address this shortcoming, two-dimensional (2D) seismic site response analyses, using finite element (FE) ground modeling with three different slope angles, were performed in order to assess the site effects of surface topography. We then compared our results, specifically peak ground acceleration (PGA) and acceleration response spectrum, to those of one-dimensional (1D) FE model analyses conducted alongside our study. Throughout much of the upper slope region, PGAs and spectral accelerations are larger in the 2D analyses than in the 1D analyses as a result of the topographic effect.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.17-35
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• 2016

Earthquake-induced disasters are often more severe in locations with soft soils than firm soils or rocks due to differences in ground motion amplification. On a regional scale, such differences can be estimated by spatially predicting subsurface soil thickness over the entire target area. In general, soil deposits are generally deeper in coastal or riverside areas than in inland regions. In this study, a coastal metropolitan area, Incheon, was selected to assess site effects and provide information on seismic hazards. Spatial prediction of geotechnical layers was performed for the entire study area within the GIS framework. Approximately 7,000 existing borehole drilling data in the Incheon area were gathered and archived into the GIS Database (DB). In addition, surface geotechnical data were acquired from a walkover survey. Based on the built geotechnical DB, spatial zoning maps of site-specific seismic response parameters were created and presented for use in a regional seismic strategy. Site response parameters were performed to determine site coefficients for seismic design over the entire target area and compared with each other. Site classifications and subsequent seismic zoning were assigned based on site coefficients. From this seismic zonation case study in Incheon, we verified that geotechnical GIS-DB can create spatial zoning maps of site-specific seismic response parameters that are useful for seismic hazard mitigation particularly in coastal metropolitan areas.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.15-23
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• 2009

The site effects relating to the amplification of ground motion under earthquake loading are strongly influenced by both the subsurface soil condition and geologic structure. In this study, the site effects at the Hongseong area in Korea were examined by both the site investigation including borehole drilling and in-situ seismic tests and the site visit for acquiring geologic information of ground surface. Subsurface of Hongseong area with a major instrumental earthquake event in 1978 is composed of weathered layers of a maximum of 45 m thickness overlying bedrock. A geotechnical information system based on GIS framework was implemented to effectively find out spatial geologic structure of study area and it indicated Hongseong is a shallow and wide shaped basin. Two-dimensional finite element (FE) analyses for a representative cross-section of the Hongseong area were performed to evaluate seismic site responses. From the results of seismic responses, it was observed that the ground motions were amplified during the propagation of shear waves through the soil layer overlying the bedrock and the duration of shaking near the basin edges was prolonged due to the surface waves generated by interactions of shear waves with basin geometry. Furthermore, one-dimensional FE seismic response analyses were additionally conducted for soil sites selected in the basin, and it gives similar results to the two-dimensional seismic responses at most locations in the basin with the exception of the locations near the basin edges, because the basin in this study is very shallow and wide.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.23-35
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• 2006

Equivalent linear analysis is widely used in estimating local seismic site effects. The soil behavior in the analysis is often assumed to be rate-independent and is not influenced by the seismic loading frequency. Laboratory results, however, indicate that cohesive soil behavior is greatly influenced by the loading frequency. A new equivalent linear analysis method that accounts for the loading frequency dependent soil behavior is developed and used to perform a series of one dimensional site response analyses. Results indicate that while frequency dependent shear modulus has limited influence on computed site response, frequency dependent soil damping greatly filters out high frequency components of the ground motion and thus results in lower response.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1998.04a
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• pp.212-219
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• 1998

Dynamic analyses are performed for the wood structure modeled as a SDOF hysteretic system. The hysteresis model presented is a modified version of Takeda model. The comparison between the results of numerical simulation and the experimental results show good agreements in overall tendencies. The response of wood structure subjected to artificially generated earthquakes considering site effects is studied. It appears that the response is very strongly influenced by the intensity and the frequency contents of the ground motion.

• 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.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.307-319
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• 2023

Ground fissures have a huge effect on the integrity of surface structures. In high-intensity ground fissure regions, however, land resource would be wasted and city building and economic development would be limited if the area avoiding principle was used. In view of this challenge, to reveal the seismic response and seismic failure characteristics of ground fissure sites, a shaking table test on model soil based on a 1:15 scale experiment was carried out. In the test, the spatial distribution characteristics of acceleration response and Arias intensity were obtained for a site exposed to earthquakes with different characteristics. Furthermore, the failure characteristics and damage evolution of the model soil were analyzed. The test results indicated that, with the increase in the earthquake acceleration magnitude, the crack width of the ground fissure enlarged from 0 to 5 mm. The soil of the hanging wall was characterized by earlier cracking and a higher abundance of secondary fissures at 45°. Under strong earthquakes, the model soil, especially the soil near the ground fissure, was severely damaged and exhibited reduced stiffness. As a result, its natural frequency also decreased from 11.41 Hz to 8.05 Hz, whereas the damping ratio increased from 4.8% to 9.1%. Due to the existence of ground fissure, the acceleration was amplified to nearly 0.476 m/s², as high as 2.38 times of the input acceleration magnitude. The maximum of acceleration and Arias intensity appeared at the fissure zone, which decreased from the main fissure toward both sides, showing hanging wall effects. The seismic intensity, duration and frequency spectrum all had certain effects on the seismic response of the ground fissure site, but their influence degrees were different. The seismic response of the site induced by the seismic wave that had richer low-frequency components and longer duration was larger. The discrepancies of seismic response between the hanging wall and the footwall declined obviously when the magnitude of the earthquake acceleration increased. The research results will be propitious to enhancing the utilizing ratio of the limited landing resource, alleviation of property damages and casualties, and provide a good engineering application foreground.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.195-213
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• 2012

This paper presents the investigation of the stochastic responses of seismically isolated bridges subjected to spatially varying earthquake ground motions including incoherence, wave-passage and site-response effects. The incoherence effect is examined by considering Harichandran and Vanmarcke coherency model. The effect of the wave-passage is dealt with various wave velocities in the response analysis. Homogeneous firm, medium and soft soil conditions are selected for considering the site-response effect where the bridge supports are constructed. The ground motion is described by filtered white noise and applied to each support points. For seismic isolation of the bridge, single and double concave friction pendulum bearings are used. Due to presence of friction on the concave surfaces of the isolation systems, the equation of motion of is non-linear. The non-linear equation of motion is solved by using equivalent linearization technique of non-linear stochastic analyses. Solutions obtained from the stochastic analyses of non-isolated and isolated bridges to spatially varying earthquake ground motions compared with each other for the special cases of the ground motion model. It is concluded that friction pendulum systems having single and double concave surfaces have important effects on the stochastic responses of bridges to spatially varying earthquake ground motions.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.393-409
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• 2013

This paper uses ten years of on-site monitoring data for the Confederation Bridge to derive wind loads and investigate whether the bridge has experienced its design wind force effects since its completion in 1997. The load effects derived using loads from the on-site monitoring data are compared to the load effects derived using loads from the 1994 and 2009 wind tunnel aerodynamic model tests. The research shows, for the first time, that the aerodynamic model-based methodology originally developed in 1994 is a very accurate method for deriving wind loads for structural design. The research also confirms that the bridge has not experienced its specified (i.e., unfactored) wind force effects since it was opened to traffic in 1997, even during the most severe event that has occurred during this period.