• Architectural research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.75-84
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• 2022

Scads of earthquake-resistant systems are being invented around the globe to ensure structural resistance against the lateral forces induced by earthquake loadings considering structural safety, efficiency, and economic aspects. Shear wall and Bracing systems are proved to be two of the most viable solutions for seismic strengthening of structures. In the present study, three numerical models of a G+10 storied building are developed in commercial building analysis software considering shear wall and bracing systems for earthquake resistance. Material nonlinearity is introduced by using plastic hinges. Analyses are performed utilizing two dynamic methods: Response Spectrum analysis and nonlinear Time-history analysis using Kobe and Loma Prieta earthquake data and results are compared to observe the nonlinear behavior of structures. The outcomes exposed that a significant increase in the seismic responses occurs due to the nonlinearity in the building systems. It was also found that building with shear wall exhibits maximum resistance and minimum nonlinearity when subjected to dynamic loadings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.477-487
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• 2019

Understanding the behavior of skew bridges under the action of earthquakes is quite challenging due to the combined transverse and longitudinal responses even under unidirectional hit. The main goal of this research is to assess the response of skew bridges when subjected to longitudinal and transversal earthquake loading. The effect of skew on the response considering two- and three- span bridges with skew angles varying from 0 to 60 degrees is illustrated. Various pier fixities (and hence stiffness) and cross-section shapes, as well as different abutment's bearing articulations, are also studied. Finite-element models are established for modal and seismic analyses. Around 900 models are analyzed under the action of the code design response spectrum. $Vis-{\grave{a}}-vis$ modal properties, the higher the skew angle, the less the fundamental period. In addition, it is found that bridges with skew angles less than 30 degrees can be treated as straight bridges for the purpose of calculating modal mass participation factors. Other monitored results are bearings' reactions at abutments, shear and torsion demand in piers, as well as deck longitudinal displacement. Unlike straight bridges, it has been typically noted that skew bridges experience non-negligible torsion and bi-directional pier base shears. In a complementary effort to assess the accuracy of the conducted response spectrum analysis, a series of time-history analyses are applied under seven actual earthquake records scaled to match the code design response spectrum and critical comparisons are performed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.67-81
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• 2013

Laterite blocks are used for construction of masonry walls since ages in the South-western coastal areas of India. The south-west coastal areas of India lie in zone III of seismic zonation map of Indian code IS 1893-2002. In spite of the fact that laterite is the most favored masonry material in these regions of India, the structural performance of laterite masonry has not been systematically investigated. Again there are no previous studies addressing, in detail, the seismic performance of laterite masonry buildings. Now that these areas are becoming more and more important from point of view of trade and commerce, there is a need for a detailed research on the seismic response of laterite masonry structures located in these areas. The present paper reports the results of such a study of the seismic response of box-type laterite masonry structures. Time history analysis of these structures under El-Centro acceleration has been performed using commercial finite element software ANSYS. Effect of 'containment reinforcement' on the seismic response of box type laterite masonry structures has been evaluated.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.237-244
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• 2023

This study analyzes the seismic response of traffic light poles, considering soil-foundation effects through nonlinear static and time history analyses. Two poles are investigated, uni-directional and bi-directional, each with 9 m mast arms. Finite element models incorporate the poles, soil, and concrete foundations for analysis. Results show that the initial stiffness of the traffic light poles decreases by approximately 38% due to soil effects, and the drift ratio at which their nonlinear behavior occurs is 77% of scenarios without considering soil effects. The maximum acceleration response increases by about 82% for uni-directional poles and 73% for bi-directional poles, while displacement response increases by approximately 10% for uni-directional and 16% for bi-directional poles when considering soil-foundation effects. Additionally, increasing ground motion intensity reduces soil restraints, making significant rotational displacement the dominant response mechanism over flexural displacement for the traffic light poles. These findings underscore the importance of considering soil-foundation interactions in analyzing the seismic behavior of traffic light poles and provide valuable insights to enhance their seismic resilience and safety.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.6
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• pp.837-846
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• 2017

An accurate calculation of the stochastic wind field is the foundation for analyzing wind-induced structure response and reliability. In this research, the spatial correlation of structural wind field was considered based on the time domain method. A method for calculating the stochastic wind field based on cross stochastic Fourier spectrum was proposed. A flowchart of the proposed methodology is also presented in this study to represent the algorithm and workflow. Along with the analysis of regional wind speed distribution, the wind speed time history sample was calculated, and the efficiency can therefore be verified. Results show that the proposed method and programs could provide an efficient simulation for the wind-induced structure response analysis, and help determine the related parameters easily.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.17-26
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• 2000

This paper presents a case study with a multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) system where the Floor Response Spectra (FRS) have been derived from a large ensemble of ground motion accelerograms. The FRS are evaluated by the frequency response function which is calculated numerically. The advantage of this scheme over a repetitive time-history analysis of the entire structure for each accelerogram of the set has been highlighted. The present procedure permits generation of FRS with a specified probability of exceedence.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.1 no.4
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• pp.1-9
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• 1997

This paper examined various aspects of a linear and a nonlinear response spectrum method in seismic response analysis of multi-story building structures. The response spectrum method that has been widely used in the analysis of linear structures was proposed different mode superposition method by several ivestigators, and the differences between combinations with an elastic modal analysis reviwed closely. It seems, however, that this method is not used to nonlinear seismic analysis. It is the purpose of this paper to propose an alternative method by means of which a nonlinear MDOF structure with long period may be analysed by an extention of response spectrum method. For nonlinear seismic analysis of high-rise building structures using technique proposed in this study, it is intended to serve primarily as a tool in preliminary designs instead of time history analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.5
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• pp.699-709
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• 2020

Torsional irregularity is one of the most probable types of horizontal irregularity and existence of this irregularity in most of the structural loading codes is determined by calculating the ratio of the maximum to the average story drift. No specific method has been previously recommended by the codes to calculate the mentioned ratio in the response spectrum analyses. In the current investigation, nine steel building structures with different plan layouts and number of stories have been analyzed and designed in order to evaluate the efficiency of three methods for calculating the ratio of the maximum to the average story drift in the response spectrum analyses. It should be noted that one of these methods is the approach used by current version of ETABS software andother ones are proposed in this paper. The obtained results using the proposed methods are compared with the time history analysis results. The comparisons show that one of these methods underestimates the mentioned ratio in all studied models, however, the other two methods have shown similar results. It is also found that the plan layouts and irregularities can affect how these methods estimate the ratios compared to those obtained by the time history analysis. Generally, it can be concluded that all of these methods can properly predict the ratio with acceptable errors.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.8
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• pp.2696-2707
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to investigate the efficiency of various structural modeling schemes for evaluating seismic performances and fragility of the reactor containment building (RCB) structure in the advanced power reactor 1400 (APR1400) nuclear power plant (NPP). Four structural modeling schemes, i.e. lumped-mass stick model (LMSM), solid-based finite element model (Solid FEM), multi-layer shell model (MLSM), and beam-truss model (BTM), are developed to simulate the seismic behaviors of the containment structure. A full three-dimensional finite element model (full 3D FEM) is additionally constructed to verify the previous numerical models. A set of input ground motions with response spectra matching to the US NRC 1.60 design spectrum is generated to perform linear and nonlinear time-history analyses. Floor response spectra (FRS) and floor displacements are obtained at the different elevations of the structure since they are critical outputs for evaluating the seismic vulnerability of RCB and secondary components. The results show that the difference in seismic responses between linear and nonlinear analyses gets larger as an earthquake intensity increases. It is observed that the linear analysis underestimates floor displacements while it overestimates floor accelerations. Moreover, a systematic assessment of the capability and efficiency of each structural model is presented thoroughly. MLSM can be an alternative approach to a full 3D FEM, which is complicated in modeling and extremely time-consuming in dynamic analyses. Specifically, BTM is recommended as the optimal model for evaluating the nonlinear seismic performance of NPP structures. Thereafter, linear and nonlinear BTM are employed in a series of time-history analyses to develop fragility curves of RCB for different damage states. It is shown that the linear analysis underestimates the probability of damage of RCB at a given earthquake intensity when compared to the nonlinear analysis. The nonlinear analysis approach is highly suggested for assessing the vulnerability of NPP structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.809-827
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• 2015

In this paper, seismic energy response of inelastic steel structures under earthquake excitations is investigated. For this purpose, a numerical procedure based on nonlinear dynamic analysis is developed by considering material, geometric and connection nonlinearities. Material nonlinearity is modeled by the inversion of Ramberg-Osgood equation. Nonlinearity caused by the interaction between the axial force and bending moment is also defined considering stability functions, while the geometric nonlinearity caused by axial forces is described using geometric stiffness matrix. Cyclic behaviour of steel connections is taken into account by employing independent hardening model. Dynamic equation of motion is solved by Newmark's constant acceleration method in the time history domain. Energy response analysis of space frames is performed by using this proposed numerical method. Finally, for the first time, the distribution of the different energy types versus time at the duration of the earthquake ground motion is obtained where in addition error analysis for the numerical solutions is carried out and plotted depending on the relative error calculated as a function of energy balance versus time.