• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.335-350
• /
• 2020

In coastal residential communities, especially along the coastline, flooding is a frequent natural hazard that impacts the area. To reduce the adverse effects of flooding, it is recommended to elevate coastal buildings to a certain safe level. However, post storm damage assessment has revealed severe damages sustained by elevated buildings' components such as roofs, walls, and floors. By elevating a structure and creating air gap underneath the floor, the wind velocity increases and the aerodynamics change. This results in varying wind loading and pressure distribution that are different from their slab on grade counterparts. To fill the current knowledge gap, a large-scale aerodynamic wind testing was conducted at the Wall of Wind experimental facility to evaluate the wind pressure distribution over the surfaces of a low-rise gable roof single-story elevated house. The study considered three different stilt heights. This paper presents the observed changes in local and area averaged peak pressure coefficients for the building surfaces of the studied cases. The aerodynamics of the elevated structures are explained. Comparisons are done with ASCE 7-16 and AS/NZS 1170.2 wind loading standards. For the floor surface, the study suggests a wind pressure zoning and pressure coefficients for each stilt height.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.46 no.5
• /
• pp.605-618
• /
• 2014

The effects of variability of the mechanical properties of lead rubber bearings on the response of a seismic isolation system are investigated. Material variability in manufacturing, aging, and operation temperature is assumed, and two variation models of an isolation system are considered. To evaluate the effect of ground motion characteristics on the response, 27 earthquake record sets with different peak A/V ratios were selected, and three components of ground motions were used for a seismic response analysis. The response in an isolation system and a superstructure increases significantly for ground motions with low A/V ratios. The variation in the mechanical properties of isolators results in a significant influence on the shear strains of the isolators and the acceleration response of the superstructure. The variation provisions in the ASCE-4 are reasonable, but more strict variation limits should be given to isolation systems subjected to ground motions having low A/V ratios. For application of seismic isolation systems to safety-related nuclear structures, the variation in the material and mechanical properties of the isolation system should be properly controlled during the manufacturing and aging processes. In addition, special consideration should be given to minimize the accidental torsion caused by the dissimilarity in the stiffness variations of the isolators.

• Computational Structural Engineering : An International Journal
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.61-68
• /
• 2003

A recently developed semi-active control system employing magneto-rheological (MR) fluid dampers is applied to vibration control of a wind excited tall building. The semi-active control system with MR fluid dampers appears to have the reliability of passive control devices and the adaptability of fully active control systems. The system requires only small power source, which is critical during severe events, when the main power source may fail. Numerical simulation studies are performed to demonstrate the efficiency of the MR dampers on the third ASCE benchmark problem. Multiple MR dampers are assumed to be installed in the 76-story building. Genetic algorithm is applied to determine the optimal locations and capacities of the MR dampers. Clipped optimal controller is designed to control the MR dampers based on the acceleration feedback. To verify the robustness with respect to the variation of the external wind force, several cases with different wind forces are considered in the numerical simulation. Simulation results show that the semi-actively controlled MR dampers can effectively reduce both the peak and RMS responses the tall building under various wind force conditions. The control performance of the MR dampers for wind is found to be fairly similar to the performance of an active tuned mass damper.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 2007.04a
• /
• pp.745-750
• /
• 2007

This paper presents investigation of topographic effects over isolated 3-dimensional hills through wind tunnel experiments in a boundary layer wind tunnel. Topographic models having five different slopes of $5.71^{\circ},\;11.31^{\circ},\;16.70^{\circ},\;21.80^{\circ}$, and $26.57^{\circ}$, which were based on KBC(2005), were taken into account in the study. The maximum topographic factor and the range of topographic effect from the experiment were compared with those from worldwide major codes and standards, such as ASCE-7-02, AS/NZS-1170.2:2002, ISO4354(1997), and KBC(2005). From the comparison of major codes and standards, in the vertical region of topographic effect, the gentler the slope was. the more different the topographic factors and ranges of topographic effect were, but the steeper the slope was, the more similar they were. It was found from the experimental study that the region of topographic effect in the slope in the across wind direction was greater than the regions of major codes and standard. Also, the gentler the slope was. the larger the topographic factor from the experiment was than the factors of major codes and standards.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.23-32
• /
• 2018

In this study, we conducted a shake table test to verify the seismic performance of the paneling system with steel truss composed of bolt connections. The control group was set to the traditional paneling system with steel truss connected by spot welding method. Test results showed that the bolted connection type paneling system has excellent deformation capacity without cracking or brittle fracture of the steel truss connection parts compared to the welding type paneling system. Furthermore, in the bolted connection type, slight damage occurred at the time of occurrence of the same story drift angle as compared with the existing method, it is considered that it has excellent seismic performance. In compliance with the performance-based design recommended for the current code (ASCE 41-13) on non-structural components, it is judged that in the case of the bolted connection type paneling system, it can be applied to all risk category structures without restriction. However, in the case of traditional paneling system with spot welding method, it is considered that it can be applied limitedly.

• Wind and Structures
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.133-160
• /
• 2016

Hurricanes are among the most costly natural hazards to impact buildings in coastal regions. Building roofs are designed using the wind load provisions of building codes and standards and, in the case of large buildings, wind tunnel tests. Wind permeable roof claddings like roof pavers are not well dealt with in many existing building codes and standards. The objective of this paper is to develop simple guidance in code format for design of loose-laid roof pavers. Large-scale experiments were performed to investigate the wind loading on concrete roof pavers on the flat roof of a low-rise building in Wall of Wind, a large-scale hurricane testing facility at Florida International University. They included wind blow-off tests and pressure measurements on the top and bottom surfaces of pavers. Based on the experimental results simplified guidelines are developed for design of loose-laid roof pavers against wind uplift. The guidelines are formatted so that use can be made of the existing information in codes and standards such as American Society of Civil Engineering (ASCE) 7-10 standard's pressure coefficients for components and cladding. The effects of the pavers' edge-gap to spacer height ratio and parapet height to building height ratio are included in the guidelines as adjustment factors.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.55 no.5
• /
• pp.1037-1053
• /
• 2015

This paper presents finite element (FE) based pushover analysis of a reinforced concrete structure with a two-leaf cavity wall (TLCW) to estimate the performance level of this structure. In addition to this, an unreinforced masonry (URM) model was selected for comparison. Simulations and analyses of these structures were performed using the DIANA FE program. The mentioned structures were selected as two storeys and two bays. The dimensions of the structures were scaled 1:1.5 according to the Cauchy Froude similitude law. A shake table experiment was implemented on the reinforced concrete structure with the two-leaf cavity wall (TLCW) at the National Civil Engineering Laboratory (LNEC) in Lisbon, Portugal. The model that simulates URM was not experimentally studied. This structure was modelled in the same manner as the TLCW. The purpose of this virtual model is to compare the respective performances. Two nonlinear analyses were performed and compared with the experimental test results. These analyses were carried out in two phases. The research addresses first the analysis of a structure with only reinforced concrete elements, and secondly the analysis of the same structure with reinforced concrete elements and infill walls. Both researches consider static loading and pushover analysis. The experimental pushover curve was plotted by the envelope of the experimental curve obtained on the basis of the shake table records. Crack patterns, failure modes and performance curves were plotted for both models. Finally, results were evaluated on the basis of the current regulation ASCE/SEI 41-06.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2006.11a
• /
• pp.281-284
• /
• 2006

ASCE-ACI Committee 426 and 445, on Shear and Torsion, well noted in their report that recent research work regarding shear and torsion had been devoted primarily to members. But it was not logical approach of PSC members applied by axial force based on the shear deformation in web element. And it was not included that the effect of axial is to shift the shear strain(or crack width) in the web element versus the applied shear curve up or down by the amount by which the biaxial tension-compression state varies. The shear strength also increases or decreases, so that the change in shear strain at service load due to the presence of axial load is to some extent changed. Generally, in corresponding beams the shear strain at service load is less in the beam subject to axial compression and greater in the beam subject to axial tension, than in the beam without axial load. In particular, however, no research were available on the shear deformation in shear of PSC members with web reinforcement, subject to axial force in addition to shear and bending. Therefore, this study was basically performed to develop the program for the calculation of the shear deformation based on the shear effect of axial force in prestressed concrete members.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.12 no.3_4
• /
• pp.345-361
• /
• 2013

Locating and assessing the severity of damage in large or complex structures is one of the most challenging problems in the field of civil engineering. Considering that the wavelet packet transform (WPT) has the ability to clearly reflect the damage characteristics of structural response signals and the artificial neural network (ANN) is capable of learning in an unsupervised manner and of forming new classes when the structural exhibits change, this paper investigates a multi-stage structural damage diagnosis method by using the WPT and ANN based on "energy-damage" theory, in which, the wavelet packet component energies are first extracted to be damage sensitive feature and then adopted as input into an improved back propagation (BP) neural network model for damage diagnosis in a step by step mode. To validate the efficacy of the presented approach of the damage diagnosis, the benchmark structure of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is employed in the case study. The results of damage diagnosis indicate that the method herein is computationally efficient and is able to detect the existence of different damage patterns in the simulated experiment where minor, moderate and severe damages corresponds to involving in the loss of stiffness on braces or the removal bracing in various combinations.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.173-181
• /
• 2015

In this study, material tests were performed on the masonry specimens constructed with bricks and mortar used in Korea. The specimens included two types of thickness(0.5B and 1.0B) and physical conditions (good and poor). It was shown that 1.0B specimens have 3.2~1.8 times larger shear strength than 0.5B specimens and shear strength of specimens in poor condition was 66%~38% of those in good condition. Average shear stress of masonry-infills was calculated from previous experimental studies, and relationships with failure mode, material strength of masonry, aspect ratio, and frame-to-infill strength ratio were investigated. In addition, the effects of masonry strength on the seismic performance of a masonry-infilled frame was studied using a simple example building. It can be seen that the obtained average shear stress were considerably higher than the default masonry shear strength recommended by the ASCE 41, and low values the strength of masonry does not guarantee conservative evaluation results due to the early shear failure of frame members.