• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.1237-1251
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• 2016

Although the horizontal component of an earthquake response can be significantly reduced through the use of conventional seismic isolators, the vertical component of excitation is still transmitted directly into the structure. Records from instrumented structures, and some recent tests and analyses have actually seen increases in vertical responses in base isolated structures under the combined effects of horizontal and vertical ground motions. This issue becomes a great concern to facilities such as a Nuclear Power Plants (NPP), with specialized equipment and machinery that is not only expensive, but critical to safe operation. As such, there is considerable interest worldwide in vertical and three-dimensional (3D) isolation systems. This paper examines several vertical and 3D isolation systems that have been proposed and their potential application to modern nuclear facilities. In particular, a series of case study analyses of a modern NPP model are performed to examine the benefits and challenges associated with 3D isolation compared with horizontal isolation. It was found that compared with the general horizontal isolators, isolators that have vertical frequencies of no more than 3 Hz can effectively reduce the vertical in-structure responses for the studied NPP model. Among the studied cases, the case that has a vertical isolation frequency of 3 Hz is the one that can keep the horizontal period of the isolators as the first period while having the most flexible vertical isolator properties. When the vertical frequency of isolators reduces to 1 Hz, the rocking effect is obvious and rocking restraining devices are necessary.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.374-385
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• 2022

In order to investigate the application of 3D base-seismic isolation system in nuclear power plants (NPPs), comprehensive analysis of constitution and design theory for 3-dimensional combined isolation bearing (3D-CIB) was presented and derived. Four different vertical stiffness of 3D-CIB was designed to isolate the nuclear island (NI) building. This paper aimed at investigating the isolation effectiveness of 3D-CIB through modal analysis and dynamic time-history analysis. Numerical results in terms of dynamic response of 3D-CIB, relative displacement response, acceleration and floor response spectra (FRS) of the superstructure were compared to validate the reliability of 3D-CIB in mitigating seismic response. The results showed that 3D-CIB can significantly attenuate the horizontal acceleration response, and a fair amount of the vertical acceleration response reduction of the upper structure was still observed. 3D-CIB plays a significant role in reducing the horizontal and vertical FRS, the vertical FRS basically do not vary with the floor height. The smaller the vertical stiffness of 3D-CIB is, the better the vertical isolation effectiveness is, whereas, it will increase the displacement and the rocking effect of superstructure. Although the advantage of 3D-CIB is that the vertical stiffness can be flexibly adjusted, it should be designed by properly accounting for the balance between the isolation effectiveness and displacement control including rocking effect. The results of this study can provide the technical basis and guidance for the application of 3D-CIB to engineering structure.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.195-211
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• 2020

Among anti-seismic technologies, base isolation is a very effective means of mitigating damage to structural and nonstructural components, such as equipment. However, most seismic isolation systems are designed for mitigating only horizontal seismic responses because the realization of a vertical isolation system (VIS) is difficult. The difficulty is primarily due to conflicting isolation stiffness demands in the static and dynamic states for a VIS, which requires sufficient rigidity to support the self-weight of the isolated object in the static state, but sufficient flexibility to lengthen the isolation period and uncouple the ground motion in the dynamic state. To overcome this problem, a semi-active VIS, called the piezoelectric inertia-type vertical isolation system (PIVIS), is proposed in this study. PIVIS is composed of a piezoelectric friction damper (PFD) and a leverage mechanism with a counterweight. The counterweight provides an uplifting force in the static state and an extra inertial force in the dynamic state; therefore, the effective vertical stiffness of PIVIS is higher in the static state and lower in the dynamic state. The PFD provides a controllable friction force for PIVIS to further prevent its excessive displacement. For experimental verification, a shaking table test was conducted on a prototype PIVIS controlled by a simple controller. The experimental results well agree with the theoretical results. To further investigate the isolation performance of PIVIS, the seismic responses of PIVIS were simulated numerically by considering 14 vertical ground motions with different characteristics. The responses of PIVIS were compared with those of a traditional VIS and a passive system (PIVIS without control). The numerical results demonstrate that compared with the traditional and passive systems, PIVIS can effectively suppress isolation displacement in all kinds of earthquake with various peak ground accelerations and frequency content while maintaining its isolation efficiency. The proposed system is particularly effective for near-fault earthquakes with long-period components, for which it prevents resonant-like motion.

• JSTS:Journal of Semiconductor Technology and Science
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.177-182
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• 2007

This paper presents the see-saw type RF MEMS switch based on a single crystalline silicon structure with narrow gap vertical comb. Low actuation voltage and high isolation are key features to be solved in electrostatic RF MEMS switch design. Since these parameters in conventional parallel plate RF MEMS switch designs are in trade-off relationship, both requirements cannot be met simultaneously. In the vertical comb design, however, the actuation voltage is independent of the vertical separation distance between the contact electrodes. Therefore, the large separation gap between contact electrodes is implemented to achieve high isolation. We have designed and fabricated RF MEMS switch which has 46dB isolation at 5GHz, 0.9dB insertion loss at 5GHz and 40V actuation voltage.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.105-116
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• 2018

The objective of this study is to investigate the response reducing effect of a seismic isolation system installed between 300m dome and supports under both horizontal and vertical seismic ground motion. The time history analysis is performed to investigate the dynamic behavior of single layer lattice domes with and without a lead rubber bearing seismic isolation system. In order to ensure the seismic performance of lattice domes against strong earthquakes, it is important to investigate the mechanical characteristics of dynamic response. Horizontal and vertical seismic ground motions cause a large asymmetric vertical response of large span domes. One of the most effective methods to reduce the dynamic response is to install a seismic isolation system for observing seismic ground motion at the base of the dome. This paper discusses the dynamic response characteristics of 300m single layer lattice domes supported on a lead rubber seismic isolation device under horizontal and vertical seismic ground motions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.103-118
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• 2017

In vertical seismic isolation (VSI), a building is partitioned intentionally by vertical layers into two dynamically different substructures for seismic response reduction. Initially, a 1-story frame was partitioned into two substructures, interconnected by viscous and visco-elastic links, and seismic responses of the original and the vertically isolated structures (VIS) were obtained, considering a large number of stiffness and mass ratios of substructures with respect to the original structure. Color contour graphs were defined for presentation and investigation of large amounts of output results. Dynamic characteristics of the isolated structures were studied by considering the non-classical damping of the system, and then the effects of viscous and visco-elastic link parameters on the modal damping ratios were discussed. On this basis, three states of mass isolation, interactional state, and control mass were differentiated. Response history analyses were performed by Runge-Kutta numerical method. In these analyses, interaction of isolation ratios and link parameters, on response control of VIS was studied and the appropriate ranges for link parameters as well as the optimal ranges for isolation ratios were suggested. Results show that by using the VSI technique, seismic response reduction up to 50% in flexible substructure and even more in stiff substructure is achievable.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.417-423
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• 2006

The seismic characteristics with 3-Dimensional isolation systems have been studied using a shaking table system. In this study, we made nuclear power plant main control room floor systems and several seismic shaking table tests with and without isolation systems were conducted to evaluate floor isolation effectiveness. Isolation systems have showed large reduction effectiveness in acceleration and response spectra with x and z direction respectively, but horizontal isolation is more effective than vertical one It is required to make isolation systems of which design frequency is below 1Hz when applied to main control room of NPP, but considering much difficulties in making such isolation systems, it is recommended that much consideration should be taken into account when applied to main control room of NPP.

• Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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• 2005.11a
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• pp.953-956
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• 2005

Low voltage actuation and high isolation characteristics are key features to be solved in electrostatic RF switch design. Since these parameters in the conventional parallel plate MEMS switch design are in trade-off relation, both requirements cannot be met simultaneously. In vertical comb design, however, the actuation voltage is independent to the vertical separation distance between the contact electrodes. Then, we can design the large separation distance between contact electrodes to get high isolation. We have designed an RF MEMS switch which has -40dB isolation at 5 GHz and 6 V operation voltages. The characteristics of the fabricated switch are being evaluate.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1141-1169
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• 2014

This study is aimed to investigate the seismic performance of low-rise precast wall system with base isolation. Three types of High Damping Rubber Bearing (HDRB) were designed to provide effective isolation period of 2.5 s for three different kinds of structure in terms of vertical loading. The real size HDRB was manufactured and tested to obtain the characteristic stiffness as well as damping ratio. In the vertical stiffness test, it was revealed that the HDRB was not an ideal selection to be used in isolating lightweight structure. Time history analysis using 33 real earthquake records classified with respective peak ground acceleration-to-velocity (a/v) ratio was performed for the remaining two types of HDRB with relatively higher vertical loading. HDRB was observed to show significant reduction in terms of base shear and floor acceleration demand in ground excitations having a/v ratio above $0.5g/ms^{-1}$, very much lower than the current classification of $0.8g/ms^{-1}$. In addition, this study also revealed that increasing the damping ratio of base isolation system did not guarantee better seismic performance particularly in isolation of lightweight structure or when the ground excitation was having lower a/v ratio.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.3
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• pp.263-271
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• 2023

Base isolation is a widely used technique for the seismic control of structures as it reduces the structural seismic demand. However, displacement of the isolation layer is not economically feasible in congested urban areas. To resolve the issue, an innovative system is proposed here to isolate both horizontally at the base and vertically in the upper portion of the structure. A simplified linear three degree-of-freedom (3DOF) model of the system that considers the mass and stiffness ratios of the substructure has been introduced and analyzed in MATLAB by spectrum analysis. The 3DOF model results revealed that, when the period of the soft substructure reaches 2.5 times that of the stiff substructure, the isolation and the lower substructure responses decrease by 65% and 51%, respectively. Time-history analysis of a MDOF system at three frequency ratios under a wide range of ground motions indicated that, at the expense of accepting a certain large drift by the soft substructure in the upper portion of the structure, base isolation displacement can be decreased by 10%.