• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.355-362
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• 2016

In order to secure the stability against strong earthquakes, isolation devices on the existing nuclear power plant have been introduced. By applying the isolation device on structures, it is possible to isolate structures from the ground motion. Therefore, the natural frequencies of the structures become longer, and the responses of the structures due to the ground motion decrease. Especially, when designing the nuclear power plant, it is important to ensure the safety of internal devices as well as the nuclear power plant itself. The floor response spectrum is commonly used in designing the internal devices. In this research, floor response spectrum is evaluated and the effect of second hardening behavior is investigated by performing earthquake analysis.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.657-671
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• 2015

The level of ductility is determined by depending on the intended use of the building, the region's seismic characteristics and the type of structural system when buildings are planned by engineers. Major portion of seismic energy is intended to be consumed in the plastic zone in structural systems of high ductility, so the occurrence of damages in load bearing and non-load bearing structural elements is accepted in planning stage under severe earthquakes. However, these damages must be limited among specific values in order not to endanger buildings in terms of the bearing capacity. Isolators placed between the basement and upper structure make buildings behave elastically by reducing the effects of seismic loads and improving seismic performance of building significantly. Thus, damages can be limited among desired values. In this study, the effectiveness of seismic isolation is investigated on both fixed based and seismic isolated models of a hospital building with high ductility level with regard to lateral displacements, internal forces, structural periods and cost of the building. Layered rubber bearings are interposed between the base of the structure and foundation. Earthquake analysis of the building are performed using earthquake records in time domain (Kocaeli, Loma Prieta and Landers). Results obtained from three-dimensional finite element models are presented by graphs and tables in detail. That seismic isolation reduces significantly the destructive effects of earthquakes on structures is seen from the results obtained by seismic analysis.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Landscape Architecture
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.37-49
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• 2002

The objective of this research was an investigation of the important green spaces in Daegu and to present the basic frame of green network in Daegu. Present the condition of the significant green spaces is as follows: In the 3km radius of the city center, the isolation and discontinuation of the green spaces was extensive, caused by crowding of houses and funeral parlours. Consequently, the isolation relaxation which leads to the additional creation of the green spaces and a buffering plan were demanded. In the transfer area of a 3∼6km radius, which is located between the city center's congested area and the suburb green spaces, the significant green spaces had high connection and buffering characteristic, but in the northwest and the south, serious discontinuation appeared between the suburb green spaces and the city conte green spaces. In the 6∼9km radius, the suburb important green spaces accomplished the function which extended the back core green spaces to the city center area. But creation of buffering green spaces was necessary in part because of proximity to the resident area. The results suggest a connection between green spaces on the base of the distribution of the important green spaces, were as follows: In the 3km radius, irregular direction lines appeared while a schedule one direction line appeared in 3∼6km and 6∼9km radius. The discontinued parts of the green network were caused by industrial complexes, house crowding, and cultivation areas. Consequently, reservation and creation plans of green spaces in response to this were demanded. Through the additional creation of green spaces in the discontinued parts, the basic frame of green network in Daegu was the radiation annular form. And it was suitable to activate the parks and the general green spaces.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.385-403
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• 2007

The effectiveness of the newly developed smart passive control system employing a magnetorheological (MR) damper and an electromagnetic induction (EMI) part for seismic protection of base isolated structures is numerically investigated. An EMI part in the system consists of a permanent magnet and a coil, which changes the kinetic energy of the deformation of an MR damper into the electric energy (i.e. the induced current) according to the Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction. In the smart passive control system, the damping characteristics of an MR damper are varied with the current input generated from an EMI part. Hence, it does not need any control system consisting of sensors, a controller and an external power source. This makes the system much simpler as well as more economic. To verify the efficacy of the smart passive control system, a series of numerical simulations are carried out by considering the benchmark base isolated structure control problems. The numerical simulation results show that the smart passive control system has the comparable control performance to the conventional MR damper-based semiactive control system. Therefore, the smart passive control system could be considered as one of the promising control devices for seismic protection of seismically excited base isolated structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1259-1281
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• 2014

This research has been conducted in order to investigate the effects of peak ground velocity (PGV) of near-field earthquakes on base-isolated structures mounted on Single Friction Pendulum (SFP), Double Concave Friction Pendulum (DCFP) and Triple Concave Friction Pendulum (TCFP) bearings. Seismic responses of base-isolated structures subjected to simplified near field pulses including the forward directivity and the fling step pulses are considered in this study. Behaviour of a two dimensional single story structure mounting on SFP, DCFP and TCFP isolators investigated employing a variety range of isolators and the velocity (PGV) of the forward directivity and the fling step pulses as the main variables of the near field earthquakes. The maximum isolator displacement and base shear are selected as main seismic responses. Peak seismic responses of different isolator types are compared to emphasize the efficiency of each one under near field earthquakes. It is demonstrated that rising the PGVs increases the isolator displacement and base shear of structure. The effects of the forward directivity are greater than the fling step pulses. Furthermore, TCFP isolator is more effective to control the near field effects than the other friction pendulum isolators are. This efficiency is more significant in pulses with longer period and greater PGVs.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.173-190
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• 2011

As a practical and effective seismic resisting technology, the base isolation system has seen extensive applications in buildings and bridges. However, a few problems associated with conventional lead-rubber bearings have been identified after historical strong earthquakes, e.g., excessive permanent deformations of bearings and potential unseating of bridge decks. Recently the applications of shape memory alloys (SMA) have received growing interest in the area of seismic response mitigation. As a result, a variety of SMA-based base isolators have been developed. These novel isolators often lead to minimal permanent deformations due to the self-centering feature of SMA materials. However, a rational design approach is still missing because of the fact that conventional design method cannot be directly applied to these novel devices. In light of this limitation, a displacement-based design approach for highway bridges with SMA isolators is proposed in this paper. Nonlinear response spectra, derived from typical hysteretic models for SMA, are employed in the design procedure. SMA isolators and bridge piers are designed according to the prescribed performance objectives. A prototype reinforced concrete (RC) highway bridge is designed using the proposed design approach. Nonlinear dynamic analyses for different seismic intensity levels are carried out using a computer program called "OpenSees". The efficacy of the displacement-based design approach is validated by numerical simulations. Results indicate that a properly designed RC highway bridge with novel SMA isolators may achieve minor damage and minimal residual deformations under frequent and rare earthquakes. Nonlinear static analysis is also carried out to investigate the failure mechanism and the self-centering ability of the designed highway bridge.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.7 no.1 s.23
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• pp.45-53
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• 2007

Recently, high-rise base isolated building structures with shear keys are often constructed in Japan which frequently occurs earthquakes. High-rise buildings are less damaged because those buildings have longer natural period than md or low rise buildings. The shear key is device that prevents the base isolators operating by the wind loads not by the earthquake loads. In case of big base shear force acts on the shear keys by earthquake, this device is broken and base isolator is operated. Therefore, seismic intensities play a role in acting on the shear keys. If wind loads are hither than the earthquake loads, the shear keys designed by wind loads are not operated in earthquakes. So, the requirements of shear keys in high-rise base isolated building structures must be examined in Korea with moderate seismic legions. In this study shear keys are applied with 5 and 15 stories base isolated building structures and investigated their dynamic responses to original and 1/2 scale downed El Centre NS(1940) ground motions. The results show that the yield shear forces of the shear keys affect significantly the dynamic behavior of base isolated building structures

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.227-248
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• 2015

A CFPBS (Cone-type Friction Pendulum Bearing System) was developed to control the acceleration delivered to a structure to prevent the damage and degradation of critical communication equipment during earthquakes. This study evaluated the isolation performance of the CFPBS by numerical analysis. The CFPBS was manufactured in the shape of a cone differenced with the existing FPS (Friction Pendulum System), and a pattern was engraved on the friction surface. The natural frequencies of the CFPBS were evaluated from a free-vibration test with a seismic isolator system consisting of 4 CFPBS. To confirm the earthquake-resistant performance, a numerical analysis program was prepared using the equation of the CFPBS induced from the equations of motion. The equation reported by Tsai for the rolling-type seismic isolation bearings was proposed to design the equation of the CFPBS. Artificial seismic waves that satisfy the maximum earthquake scale of the Korean Building Code-Structural (KBC-2005) were created and verified to review the earthquake-resistant performance of the CFPBS by numerical analysis. The superstructural mass of the CFPBS and the skew angle of friction surface were considered for numerical analysis with El Centro NS, Kobe NS and artificial seismic waves. The CFPBS isolation performance evaluation was based on the numerical analysis results, and comparative analysis was performed between the results from numerical analysis and simplified theoretical equation under the same conditions. The validity of numerical analysis was verified from the shaking table test.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.761-783
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• 2006

The enlargement of interest in base isolators as an earthquake-proof design strategy has dramatically accelerated experimental studies of elastomeric bearings worldwide. In this paper, a new base isolator concept that is a hybrid system of rubber bearings is proposed. Uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial shaking table tests are also performed to study the seismic behavior of a 0.4-scale three-story isolated steel structure in the National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering in Taiwan. Experimental results demonstrate that structures with a hybrid system of rubber bearings composed of stirruped rubber bearings and laminated rubber bearings can actually decrease the seismic responses of the superstructure. It has been proved through the shaking table tests that the proposed hybrid system of rubber bearings is a very promising tool to enhance the seismic resistance of structures. Moreover, it is demonstrated that the proposed analytical model in this paper can predict the mechanical behavior of the hybrid system of rubber bearings and seismic responses of the base-isolated structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.461-475
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• 2021

Strategic structures are a potential target of the growing terrorist attacks, so their performance under explosion hazard has been paid attention by researchers in the last years. In this regard, the aim of this study is to evaluate the blast-resistance performance of lead-rubber bearing (LRB) base isolation system based on a probabilistic framework while uncertainties related to the charge weight and standoff distance have been taken into account. A sensitivity analysis is first performed to show the effect of explosion uncertainty on the response of base-isolated buildings. The blast fragility curve is then developed for three base-isolated steel moment-resisting buildings with different heights of 4, 8 and 12 stories. The results of sensitivity analysis show that although LRB has the capability of reducing the peak response of buildings under explosion hazard, this control system may lead to increase in the peak response of buildings under some explosion scenarios. This shows the high importance of probabilistic-based assessment of isolated structures under explosion hazard. The blast fragility analysis shows effective performance of LRB in mitigating the probability of failure of buildings. Therefore, LRB can be introduced as effective control system for the protection of buildings from explosion hazard regarding uncertainty effect.