• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2003

Due to the random nature of earthquake, the definition of the input excitation is one of the major uncertainties in the seismic response analysis. Furthermore, ground motions that correspond to a limited number of design parameters are not unique. Consequently, a brood range of response values can be obtained even with a set of motions, which match the same target parameters. The paper presents a practical probabilistic approach that can be used to systematically model the stochastic nature of seismic loading. The new approach is based on energy-based RMS hazard and takes account for the uncertainties of key ground motion parameters. The simulations indicate that the new RMS procedure is particularly useful for the rigorous probabilistic seismic response analysis, since the procedure is suitable for generation of large number of hazard-compatible motions, unlike the conventional procedure that aim to generate a small number of motions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.15-39
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• 2013

The sensitivities of a structural response due to variation of its design parameters are prerequisite in the majority of the algorithms used for fundamental problems in engineering as system uncertainties, identification and probabilistic assessments etc. The paper presents the concept of probabilistic sensitivity of suspension bridges with respect to near-fault ground motion. In near field earthquake ground motions, large amplitude spectral accelerations can occur at long periods where many suspension bridges have significant structural response modes. Two different types of suspension bridges, which are Bosporus and Humber bridges, are selected to investigate the near-fault ground motion effects on suspension bridges random response sensitivity analysis. The modulus of elasticity is selected as random design variable. Strong ground motion records of Kocaeli, Northridge and Erzincan earthquakes are selected for the analyses. The stochastic sensitivity displacements and internal forces are determined by using the stochastic sensitivity finite element method and Monte Carlo simulation method. The stochastic sensitivity displacements and responses obtained from the two different suspension bridges subjected to these near-fault strong-ground motions are compared with each other. It is seen from the results that near-fault ground motions have different impacts stochastic sensitivity responses of suspension bridges. The stochastic sensitivity information provides a deeper insight into the structural design and it can be used as a basis for decision-making.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.237-246
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• 2022

Based on the random-vibration-theory methodology, dynamic responses of nuclear facilities subjected to obliquely incidental and incoherent earthquake ground motions are calculated. The spectral power density functions of the 6-degree-of-freedom motions of a rigid foundation due to the incoherent ground motions are obtained with the local wave scattering and wave passage effects taken into consideration. The spectral power density function for the pseudo-acceleration of equipment installed on a structural floor is derived. The spectral acceleration of the equipment or the in-structure response spectrum is then estimated using the peak factors of random vibration. The approach is applied to nuclear power plant structures installed on half-spaces, and the reduction of high-frequency earthquake responses due to obliquely incident incoherent earthquake ground motions is examined. The influences of local wave scattering and wave passage effects are investigated for three half-spaces with different shear-wave velocities. When the shear-wave velocity is sufficiently large like hard rock, the local wave scattering significantly affects the reduction of the earthquake responses. In the cases of rock or soft rock, the earthquake responses of structures are further affected by the incident angles of seismic waves or the wave passage effects.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.09a
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• pp.395-402
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• 2003

Characteristics of base isolators including frictional and hysteretic types may be described by Bouc-Wen model. A probabilistic optimum design method of the base isolation system using Bouc-Wen model is presented in this paper. For optimum design, the objective function and constraints are derived based on the stochastic responses of the system. As a numerical example, the optimum design problem of a three-story base isolated shear type structure is formulated and solved by the sequential quadratic programming method.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.1-13
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• 2010

This paper proposes an optimal design method for the nonlinear seismic isolated bridge. The probabilities of failure at the pier and the seismic isolator are considered as objective functions for optimal design, and a multi-objective optimization technique is employed to efficiently explore a set of multiple solutions optimizing mutually-conflicting objective functions at the same time. In addition, a stochastic linearization method is incorporated into the multi-objective optimization framework in order to effectively estimate the stochastic responses of the bridge without performing numerous nonlinear time history analyses during the optimization process. As a numerical example to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method, the Nam-Han river bridge is taken into account, and the proposed method and the existing life-cycle-cost based design method are both applied for the purpose of comparing their seismic performances. The comparative results demonstrate that the proposed method not only shows better seismic performance but also is more economical than the existing cost-based design method. The proposed method is also proven to guarantee improved performance under variations in seismic intensity, in bandwidth and in the predominant frequency of the seismic event.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.233-240
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• 2000

Nuclear power plant structures may be exposed to aggressive environmental effects than may cause their strength and stiffness to decrease over their service lives, Although the physics of these damage mechanisms are reasonably well understood and quantitative evaluation of their effects on time-dependent structural behavior is possible in some instances such evaluations are generally very difficult and remain novel. The assessment of existing RC containment in nuclear power plants for continued service must provide quantitative evidence that they are able to withstand future extreme loads during a service period with an acceptable level of reliability. Rational methodologies to perform the reliability assessment can be developed from mechanistic models of structural deterioration using time-dependent structural reliability analysis to take earthquake loading uncertainties into account. The final goal of this study is to develop the reliability analysis of RC containment structures. The cause of the degrading is first clarified and the reliability assessment has been conducted. By introducing stochastic analysis based on random vibration theory the reliability analysis which can determine the failure probabilities has been established.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.395-416
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• 2013

The magneto-rheological (MR) damper contributes to the new technology of structural vibration control. Its developments and applications have been paid significant attentions in earthquake engineering in recent years. Due to the shortages, however, inherent in deterministic control schemes where only several observed seismic accelerations are used as the trivial input and in classical stochastic optimal control theory with assumption of white noise process, the derived control policy cannot effectively accommodate the performance of randomly base-excited engineering structures. In this paper, the experimental and analytical studies on stochastic seismic response control of structures with specifically designed MR dampers are carried out. The random ground motion, as the base excitation posing upon the shaking table and the design load used for structural control system, is represented by the physically based stochastic ground motion model. Stochastic response analysis and reliability assessment of the tested structure are performed using the probability density evolution method and the theory of extreme value distribution. It is shown that the seismic response of the controlled structure with MR dampers gain a significant reduction compared with that of the uncontrolled structure, and the structural reliability is obviously strengthened as well.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.179-191
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• 2009

A stochastic response spectrum method is proposed for simple evaluation of the structural response of an actively controlled aseismic structure. The response spectrum is constructed assuming a linear structure with an active mass damper (AMD) system, and an earthquake wave model given by the product of a non-stationary envelope function and a stationary Gaussian random process with Kanai-Tajimi power spectral density. The control design is executed using a linear quadratic Gaussian control strategy for an enlarged state space system, and the response amplification factor is given by the combination of the obtained statistical response values and extreme value theory. The response spectrum thus produced can be used for simple dynamical analyses. The response factors obtained by this method for a multi-degree-of-freedom structure are shown to be comparable with those determined by numerical simulations, demonstrating the validity and utility of the proposed technique as a simple design tool. This method is expected to be useful for engineers in the initial design stage for structures with active aseismic control.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.147-165
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• 2009

This study proposes a certain measure or investment strategy for decision making associated with seismic retrofitting. This strategy reduces the risk of a large-scale malfunction such as water supply loss under seismic risks. The authors developed a stochastic value index that will be used in the overall evaluation of social benefit, income gain, life cycle costs and failure compensation associated with existing lifeline systems damaged by an earthquake during the remaining service period. Optimal seismic disaster prevention investment of deteriorated lifeline systems is discussed. Finally, the present study provides a performance-based design method for seismic retrofitting strategies of existing lifelines which are carried out using the target probabilities of value loss and structural failure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.377-394
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• 1998

Slit shear walls an reinforced concrete shear wall structures with purposely built-in vertical slits. If the slits are inserted with visco-elastic damping materials, the shear walls will become viscoelastic sandwich beams. When adequately designed, this kind of structures can be quite effective in resisting earthquake loads. Herein, a simple analysis method is developed for the evaluation of the stochastic responses of visco-elastic slit shear walls. In the proposed method, the stiffness and mass matrices are derived by using Rayleigh-Ritz method, and the responses of the structures are calculated by means of complex modal analysis. Apart from slit shear walls, this analysis method is also applicable to coupled shear walls and cantilevered sandwich beams. Numerical examples are presented and the results clearly show that the seismic responses of shear wall structures can be substantially reduced by incorporating vertical slits into the walls and inserting visco-elastic damping materials into the slits.