• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.16 no.3
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• pp.190-195
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• 2013

We estimated near-surface shear-wave velocity (${\nu}_s$) at the Hwacheon seismic station using a geologic log of a well, microtremors recorded during a period of 56 days, and records of three teleseismic events ($M_w{\geq}6.0$). The vs of the 10-m thick soil layer (${\nu}^s_s$= 296 m/s) was determined from horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios of microtremors recorded at the surface. The average ${\nu}_s$ ($\bar{\nu}_s$= 1,309 m/s) from the surface to the 96-m depth of a borehole sensor, was computed using spectral coherence analyses of data recorded by surface- and borehole-sensors for the three teleseismic events. Using these calculated values of ${\nu}^s_s$ and $\bar{\nu}_s$, the computed bedrock ${\nu}_s$ is 2,150 m/s and the time-averaged ${\nu}_s$ to a 30-m depth is 696 m/s. Accordingly the Hwacheon seismic station is regarded as a relatively good site. The deduced near-surface ${\nu}_s$ can be used for further quantitative evaluation of site amplification and earthquake hazard.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.594-610
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• 2023

The horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR) has been widely applied to evaluate ground characteristics such as site response and thickness of the soft sedimentary layer on top of the bedrock via dominant frequencies and amplification factors of microtremors. Eight seismic stations were selected to investigate the HVSR results at the surface and at varying depths, and their variations due to wind speeds. These stations are equipped with seismic sensors on the surface and downhole(s) at depths. The borehole data analysis reveals that the geological condition at burial depth influences the HVSR results. Their dominant frequencies indicate the entire thickness of the soft layer, not the thickness to the bottom or top of the soft sedimentary layer from the seismometer burial depth. Analysis of the background noise observed at the surface showed that the resonance frequency estimation varied with wind speed changes. In the studied cases, the background noise observed in the sedimentary layer at depths of 20 to 66 meters yielded stable and consistent resonance frequency estimation regardless of wind speed fluctuations. The results of the seismic sensors buried deeper than 100 meters are unstable. The result indicates that the background noise from the buried seismometer at shallow depths (~0.3 m) under light wind conditions (wind speeds less than 3 m/s) is sufficient to achieve the purpose of the HVSR analysis.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.541-554
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• 2010

Fifteen min-microtremor data sets were collected at 136 sites from a coastal area of Kunsan and 117 sites from an inland area of Jeonju located in SW Korea, and were analyzed for the HVSR (Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio) of the sites. The microtremor spectra of the coastal area have stronger energy in the lower frequency range from 1-6 Hz than those of the coastal area. This result can be attributed to the effect of the waves and tides in the Keum river and the Yellow sea. Twenty four hours of measurement of the microtremor indicated that the microtremor spectrum correlates with the human activities, but the microtremor HVSR peak was observed consistently at the characteristic frequency for the site. The HVSR peaks were grouped into 4 types -"single peak", "double peak", "broad peak" or "no peak"- based on their shapes. More than 90% of the data sets exhibit peak frequencies ($F_0$) which can be easily identified. The distribution of $F_0$ reveals a close relationship with the topography and local geology of the areas, exhibiting high F0s in the hillside areas and low $F_0s$ in the reclaimed land area. While the amplitudes of microtremor HVSR peak frequencies are less than 4 in the downstream of the inland area, those of the recently reclaimed land in the coastal area are extremely high (more than 10). The results of this study indicate that detailed HVSR studies are essential for the earthquake hazard reduction of reclaimed lands.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.53-61
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• 2008

Various components including wave scattering, wave passage, and site amplification effects cause the ground motion to vary spatially. The spatially varying ground motion can significantly influence the dynamic response of longitudinal structures such as bridges and tunnels. While its effect on bridges has been extensively studied, there is a lack of study on its effect on underground tunnels. This paper develops a new procedure for simulating the tunnel response under spatially varying ground motion. The procedure utilizes the longitudinal displacement profile, which is developed from spatially variable ground motion time histories. The longitudinal displacement profile is used to perform a series of pseudo-static three dimensional finite element analyses. Results of the analyses show that the spatially variable ground motion cause longitudinal bending of the tunnel and can induce substantial axial stress on the tunnel lining. The effect can be significant at boundaries at which the material properties of the ground change in the longitudinal direction.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.133-141
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• 2024

Considering fluid-structure-soil interactions, a finite-element model for a liquid-storage tank is presented and the nonlinear earthquake response analysis is formulated. The tank structure is modeled considering shell elements with geometric and material nonlinearities. The fluid is represented by acoustic elements and combined with the structure using interface elements. To consider the soil-structure interactions, the near- and far-field regions of soil are modeled with solid elements and perfectly matched discrete layers, respectively. This approach is applied to the seismic fragility analysis of a 200,000 kL liquid-storage tank. The fragility curve is observed to be influenced by the amplification and filtering of rock outcrop motions at the site when the soil-structure interactions are considered.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.27-37
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• 2009

A method of instrumentally estimating seismic intensity (MMI) based on the Fourier Acceleration Spectrum of earthquake ground-motion, the so-called 'FAS MMI method' of Sokolov and Wald (2002), was evaluated for its applicability to Korea based on the empirical models of mean (m) and standard deviation (${\sigma}$) for Korea according to individual seismic intensity for MMI ${\leq}$ IV (Yun et al., 2009). This evaluation showed that the error in estimating the seismic intensity using the FAS MMI method is ${\sigma}$ = 0.74 MMI, and was further reduced to ${\sigma}$ = 0.61 MMI if the dependency of the error on earthquake magnitude and distance is additionally corrected. It is also shown that FAS MMI based on the FAS semi-empirically evaluated from small earthquakes for damaging earthquakes in Korea with maximum MMI ${\geq}$ VI could predict the observed MMI with the maximum error of 0.63 by using the combined FAS m-${\sigma}$ models of Korea for MMI ${\leq}$ IV and global region for MMI ${\geq}$ V.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.137-147
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• 2008

Fault rupture directivity of the Odaesan earthquake, which was inferred to be the main cause of the high PGAvalue (> 0.1 g) unusually observed at the near-source region, was analyzed by using the data from the nearby (R < 100 km) dense seismic stations. The Boatwright's method (2007) was adopted for this purpose in which the azimuth and takeoff angle of the unilateral rupture directivity function could be estimated based on the relative peak ground-motions of seismic stations resulting from the nature of the rupture directivity. In this study, the approximate values of the relative peak ground-motions was derived from the difference between the log residuals of the point-source spectral model (Boore, 2003) for the main and secondary events based on the Random Vibration Theory. In this derivation, the spectral difference for a frequency range between the source corner frequencies of main and secondary events was considered to reflect only the effect of the fault directivity. The inversion result of the model parameters for the fault directivity function showed that the fault-plane of NWW-SEE direction dipping steeply to the North with high rupture velocity near upward in SE direction is responsible for the observed high level of ground-motion at the near-source region.

• Journal of Korean Society of Disaster and Security
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.45-56
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• 2019

In this study, the seismic risk has been evaluated by setting the bedrock acceleration to 0.154g which, was taking into consideration that the earthquake return period for the buried electric power tunnels in the metropolitan area to be 1,000 years. In this case, the risk assessment during the earthquake was carried out in three stages. In the first stage, the site classification was performed based on the site investigation data of the target area. Then, the LPI(Liquefaction Potential Index) was applied using the site amplification factor. After, candidates were selected using a hazard map. In the second stage, risk assessment analysis of seismic response are evaluated thoroughly after the recalculation of the LPI based on the site characteristics from the boring logs around the electric power area that are highly probable to be liquefied in the first stage. The third Stage visited the electric power tunnels that are highly probable of liquefaction in the second stage to compensate for the limitations based on the borehole data. At this time, the risk of liquefaction was finally evaluated based off of the reinforcement method used at the time of construction, the application of seismic design, and the condition of the site.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.41-53
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• 2022

In the excavation work like blasting/excavator work bordering on the urban railway, the dynamic safety of railway structures like tunnel, open-cut box structure and elevated bridge was investigated by numerical analysis in this study. The practically presented criteria on influential zones at the blasting work in the construction industry was numerically checked in cases of the precise vibration-controlled blasting (type II) and the small scale vibration-controlled blasting (type III) and it was shown that the criteria on blasting work methods needed to be supplemented through continuous field tests and numerical analyses. The influence of excavation vibration by mechanical excavators was especially investigated in case of earth auger and breaker. The numerical analysis of tunnel shows that the criteria on vibration velocities from the regression analysis of field test values was conservative. The amplification phenomenon of excavating vibration velocity was shown passing through the backfilling soil between the earth auger and the open-cut box structure. It was shown that the added-vibration on the superstructure of elevated bridge was occurred at the bottom of pile like earthquake when the excavator vibration was arriving at the pile toe. The systematic and continuous research on the vibration effect from excavating works was needed for the safety of urban railway structures and nearby facilities.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.87-97
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• 2009

The seismic site coefficients are often used with the seismic hazard maps to develop the design response spectrum at the surface. The site coefficients are most commonly developed deterministically, while the seismic hazarde maps are derived probabilistically. There is, hence, an inherent incompatibility between the two approaches. However, they are used together in the seismic design codes without a clear rational basis. To resolve the fundamental imcompatibility between the site coefficients and hazard maps, this study uses a novel probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) technique that simulates the results of a standard PSHA at a rock outcrop, but integrates the site response analysis function to capture the site amplification effects within the PSHA platform. Another important advantage of the method is its ability to model the uncertainty, variability, and randomness of the soil properties. The new PSHA was used to develop fully probabilistic site coefficients for site classes of the seismic design code and another sets of site classes proposed in Korea. Comparisons highlight the pronounced discrepancy between the site coefficients of the seismic design code and the proposed coefficients, while another set of site coefficients show differences only at selected site classes.