• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.435-445
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• 2013

Since design response spectrum does not reflect local soil characteristics, site specific response spectrum of observed ground motions appears relatively higher than design response spectrum at high frequency range. These problems have been pointed out from the domestic seismic design industry. Among various estimation methods, this study used the method H/V ratio of ground motion for estimating site amplification. This method has been extended to background noise, Coda waves and S waves recently for estimating site amplification. This study applied this method to the background noise and Coda wave energy. This study analysed more than 267 background noises from 15 macro earthquakes including main Fukuoka earthquake (2005/03/20, M=6.5) and then compared to results from S waves, at 8 main domestic seismic stations. The results showed that most of the domestic seismic stations gave similar results to those from S waves. Each station showed its own characteristics of site amplification property in low, high and specific resonance frequency ranges. Comparison of this study to other studies using different method can give us much information about dynamic amplification of domestic sites characteristics and site classification.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.87-95
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• 2011

To provide regulatory standards and technical guides that are likely to be required for the Fault Monitoring System (FMS), soon to be installed and operated at the Shin-Wolsong NPP #1, 2 site, technical trend analysis was performed for currently operating geodetic and/or earthquake monitoring systems and activities worldwide, resulting in the identification of several items of concern regarding the design, installation, and operation of FMS at Korean sites. The items are as follows: 1) characterization of site-specific properties (including local noise), 2) selection of measuring instruments/design of appropriate sensitivity for the tectonic behavior of the target, 3) data/electricity backup system, 4) cross-checking and/or cross-referencing system to enhance data quality and credibility, 5) transparent data operation and open-to-the-public policy, and 6) long-term operation in a stable environment.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.647-658
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• 2021

In this study, the change of temperature, chemical composition, and helium gas of thermal water in Pohang area was observed from January 2018 to June 2019 in order to interpret the relationship with earthquake events. During observation period earthquakes above M 2.0 within 100 km in a radius from a geothermal well occurred 58 including two earthquake events with a magnitude of 3.0~3.9 and two earthquake events with a magnitude of 4.0~4.9. We introduce a q-factor and earthquake effectiveness (ε) to express the influence of each earthquake as magnitude and distance factors. The geothermal well of 715 m deep was developed in the Bulguksa biotite granite, and the water temperature was observed in the variation from 51.8 to 56.3℃ during monitoring period. At M 4.1 and M 4.6 earthquake events, the increase of geothermal water temperature (𝜟T 2.6~4.5℃) was recorded, and slight change in specific ionic components such as SO₄ and Cl, and of chemical types on the Piper diagram were observed. In the ³He/⁴He vs ⁴He/²⁰Ne diagram, the original mixing ratio of helium isotope before and after the magnitude 4.1 earthquake was slightly changed from 83.0% to 83.2% of crust-origin ⁴He, and the from 16.3% to 16.7% of mantle-origin ³He. Hot-cold water mixing ratio before and after earthquakes by using the quartz and chalcedony solubility curves of the silica-enthalpy mixing model was calculated to interpret the temperature change of geothermal water. The model calculation shows the increase of 6.93~7.72% and 1.65~4.94% of hot water ratio at E1 and E2 earthquakes, respectively. Conclusively, the magnitude of earthquake for observable change in the temperature and helium isotope of thermal water is of 4.1 or higher and q-factor value of 30.0 or higher in the study site.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.2 s.54
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• pp.39-45
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• 2007

In this study the probability and the reliability-based seismic performance evaluation procedure proposed in the FEMA-355F was applied to a reinforced concrete moment frame building. For the FEMA procedure, which was originally developed for steel moment frame structures, to be applied to other structural systems, the capacity should be re-defined and the factors reflecting the uncertainties related to capacity and demand need to be determined. To perform the evaluation procedure a prototype building was designed per IBC 2003, and inelastic dynamic analyses were conducted applying site-specific ground motions to determine the parameters for performance evaluation. According to the analysis results, distribution of the determined capacities turned out to be relative]y smaller than that of the demands, which showed that the defined capacity was reasonable. It was also shown that the prototype building satisfied the target performance since the determined confidence levels exceeded the otjectives for both local and global collapses.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.97-115
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• 2024

In this paper, a database consisting of the dynamic shear modulus ratio and damping ratio test data of clay obtained from 406 groups of triaxial tests is constructed with the starting area of Xiong'an New Area as the research background. The aim is to study the nonlinear dynamic properties of clay in this area under cyclic loading. The study found that the effective confining pressure and plasticity index have certain influences on the dynamic shear modulus ratio and damping ratio of clay in this area. Through data analysis, it was found that there was a certain correlation between effective confining pressure and plasticity index and dynamic shear modulus ratio and damping ratio, with fitting degree values greater than 0.1263 for both. However, other physical indices such as the void ratio, natural density, water content and specific gravity have only a small effect on the dynamic shear modulus ratio and the damping ratio, with fitting degree values of less than 0.1 for all of them. This indicates that it is important to consider the influence of effective confining pressure and plasticity index when studying the nonlinear dynamic properties of clays in this area. Based on the above, prediction models for the dynamic shear modulus ratio and damping ratio in this area were constructed separately. The results showed that the model that considered the combined effect of effective confining pressure and plasticity index performed best. The predicted dynamic shear modulus ratio and damping ratio closely matched the actual curves, with approximately 88% of the data falling within ±1.3 times the measured dynamic shear modulus ratio and approximately 85.1% of the data falling within ±1.3 times the measured damping ratio. In contrast, the prediction models that considered only a single influence deviated from the actual values, particularly the model that considered only the plasticity index, which predicted the dynamic shear modulus ratio and the damping ratio within a small distribution range close to the average of the test values. When compared with existing prediction models, it was found that the predicted dynamic shear modulus ratio in this paper was slightly higher, which was due to the overall hardness of the clay in this area, leading to a slightly higher determination of the dynamic shear modulus ratio by the prediction model. Finally, for the dynamic shear modulus ratio and damping ratio of the engineering site in the starting area of Xiong'an New Area, we confirm that the prediction formulas established in this paper have high reliability and provide the applicable range of the prediction model.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.261-272
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• 2020

Recent severe earthquakes in and around the vital public places worldwide indicate the severe vulnerability of ground excitation to be assailed. Reducing the effect of seismic lateral load in structural design is an important conception. Essentially, seismic isolation is required to shield the superstructure in such a way that the building superstructure would not move when the ground is shaking. This study explores the effectiveness, design, and practical feasibility of base isolation systems to reduce seismic demands on buildings of varying elevations. Thus, static and dynamic analyses were conducted based on site-specific bi-directional earthquakes for base-isolated as well as fixed-based buildings. Remarkably, it was discovered that isolators used in low-rise to high-rise structures tend to significantly decrease the structural responses of seismic prone buildings. The higher allowable horizontal displacement induces structural flexibility and ensure good structural health of the building stories. Reinforcement from vertical and horizontal members can be reduced in significant amounts for BI buildings. Thus, although incorporating base isolators increases the initial outlay, it considerably diminishes the total structural cost.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.1 s.53
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• pp.89-97
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• 2007

Parameters including the seismic sources and the elastic wave propagation characteristics were analysed using the observed ground motions from 12 Fukuoka region earthquakes. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm was applied to invert all the variables non-linearly and simultaneously with S wave energy in fiequency domain. Average stress drop of 12 events and local attenuation parameter $\kappa$ under seismic stations were estimated to about 79.2-bar and 0.043 respectively. Regional attenuation parameter, Qo and ${\eta}$, were also estimated to be about 248.1 and 0.558 respectively. Low value of Qo seems to caused by inhomogeneous tectonic characteristics between Japan island and southern Korean peninsula. $\kappa$ values are much higher than that characterizing EUS (Eastern United States) region, and nearly similar to that of WUS (Western Waited States) region. If the informations on site specific amplification of all the seismic stations are known, $\kappa$ values can be estimated more precisely. All the values including the seismic sources and the site and crustal scale propagation characteristics can be used as seismic design parameters.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.517-538
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• 2016

This paper presents a probabilistic fragility analysis for two groups of bridges: simply supported and integral bridges. Comparisons are based on the seismic fragility of the bridges subjected to accelerograms of two seismic sources. Three-dimensional finite-element models of the bridges were created for each set of bridge samples, considering the nonlinear behaviour of critical bridge components. When the seismic hazard in the site is controlled by a few seismic sources, it is important to quantify separately the contribution of each fault to the structure vulnerability. In this study, seismic records come from earthquakes that originated in strike-slip and reverse faulting mechanisms. The influence of the earthquake mechanism on the seismic vulnerability of the bridges was analysed by considering the displacement ductility of the piers. An in-depth parametric study was conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of the bridges' seismic responses to variations of structural parameters. The analysis showed that uncertainties related to the presence of lap splices in columns and superstructure type in terms of integral or simply supported spans should be considered in the fragility analysis of the bridge system. Finally, the fragility curves determine the conditional probabilities that a specific structural demand will reach or exceed the structural capacity by considering peak ground acceleration (PGA) and acceleration spectrum intensity (ASI). The results also show that the simply supported bridges perform consistently better from a seismic perspective than integral bridges and focal mechanism of the earthquakes plays an important role in the seismic fragility analysis of highway bridges.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.603-623
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• 2015

The scale and nature of the recent earthquakes in the world and the related earthquake disaster index coerce the concerned community to become anxious about it. Therefore, it is crucial that seismic lateral load effect will be appropriately considered in structural design. Application of seismic isolation system stands as a consistent alternative against this hazard. The objective of the study is to evaluate the structural and economic feasibility of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with base isolation located in medium risk seismic region. Linear and nonlinear dynamic analyses as well as linear static analysis under site-specific bi-directional seismic excitation have been carried out for both fixed based (FB) and base isolated (BI) buildings in the present study. The superstructure and base of buildings are modeled in a 3D finite element model by consistent mass approach having six degrees of freedom at each node. The floor slabs are simulated as rigid diaphragms. Lead rubber bearing (LRB) and High damping rubber bearing (HDRB) are used as isolation device. Change of structural behaviors and savings in construction costing are evaluated. The study shows that for low to medium rise buildings, isolators can reduce muscular amount of base shears, base moments and floor accelerations for building at soft to medium stiff soil. Allowable higher horizontal displacement induces structural flexibility. Though incorporating isolator increases the outlay, overall structural cost may be reduced. The application of base isolation system confirms a potential to be used as a viable solution in economic building design.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.71 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

This study investigates optimum designs of steel space truss towers under seismic loading by using Jaya optimization algorithm. Turkish Earthquake Code (2007) specifications are applied on optimum designs of steel space truss towers under the seismic loading for different local site classes depending on different soil groups. The proposed novel algorithm does not have any algorithm-specific control parameters and depends only a simple revision equation. Therefore, it provides a practical solution for structural optimization problems. Optimum solutions of the different steel truss examples are carried out by selecting suitable W sections taken from American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). In order to obtain optimum solutions, a computer program is coded in MATLAB in corporated with SAP2000-OAPI (Open Application Programming Interface). The stress and displacement constraints are applied on the design problems according to AISC-ASD (Allowable Stress Design) specifications. Firstly, a benchmark truss problem is examined to see the efficiency of Jaya optimization algorithm. Then, two different multi-element truss towers previously solved with other methods without seismic loading in literature are designed by the proposed algorithm. The first space tower is a 582-member space truss with the height of 80 m and the second space tower is a 942-member space truss of about 95 m height. The minimum optimum designs obtained with this novel algorithm for the case without seismic loading are lighter than the ones previously attained in the literature studies. The results obtained in the study show that Jaya algorithm is a practical and robust optimization method for structural optimization problems. Moreover, incorporation of the seismic loading causes significant increase in the minimum design weight.