• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.99-106
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• 1999

In this study a base-isolated liquid storage tank subjected to seismic ground motion is numerically simulated on frequency , domain considering three-dimensional liquid-structure-soil interaction. A hybrid formulation which combines the versatility of finite elements for tank structure and the efficiency of boundary elements for liquid and soil region is adopted for efficient modeling. The base-isolation system using the effective stiffness and damping ratio is also included in this formulation. in order to demonstrate the accuracy and validity of the developed solution the numerical results were compared with the reference solutions in each interaction problem. The effects of the liquid filling ratio and the stiffness of base-isolation system on the behavior of the liquid storage tanks are analyzed.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.231-252
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• 2010

Previous research on pounding between seismically isolated buildings during earthquakes has been focused on impacts at the bases of structures and the effect of simultaneous interactions at the bases and at the superstructures has not been studied in details. In this paper, the seismic responses of adjacent buildings supported on different or similar base systems considering impacts between bases and superstructures are numerically investigated. The study is carried out in three parts for the two types of adjacent buildings: (i) both structures have fixed bases; (ii) one structure has fixed base and the other is seismically isolated and (iii) both structures have base isolation systems. The results of the study indicate that the pounding-involved responses of the buildings depend mainly on the type of structural base systems and on the structural parameters of both buildings. For the base-isolated building, the variation of the peak accelerations and displacements of the storeys have been found to be relatively low. On the other hand, significant differences have been observed for the fixed base building. The results of the parametric study conducted for different values of the gap size between colliding structures show the reduction in the peak base displacements as the gap distance decreases.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.165-170
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• 2019

The structural damage caused by earthquake to the upper structure of seismic base-isolated system can be suppressed effectively because it is designed to concentrate the input energy on the seismic isolation floor. Further, the response acceleration of seismic base-isolated system can be greatly reduced compared to the seismic structure because of the long period, which means that the design shear force of the seismic base-isolated system can be reduced appropriately. However, when the design shear force is determined to be reduced, the design stiffness will decrease, and the response acceleration will increase oppositely. Therefore, for finding the extent to which the design shear force of the upper structure can be reduced, this paper considered the seismic base-isolated structure as the analytical model and proposed the design shear force reduction factor of the base-isolated structure through the dynamic response analysis, while considering the decrement effect of response acceleration. The research result shows that the response acceleration of the isolated the upper structure can be reduced by 50%~70% of the seismic structure under the same design conditions, and the design shear force can be reduced by up to 40%. By increasing the design stiffness over to 1.8 times of the original design value, the design shear force can be reduced to the same extent as the response acceleration can be reduced compared to the seismic structure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.53 no.1
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• pp.57-71
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• 2015

This study investigates the feasibility of retrofitting an existing building by connecting the existing building to a new building using connecting dampers. The new building is base-isolated and viscoelastic dampers are assigned as connecting dampers. Scaled models are tested under three different earthquake records using a shaking table. The existing building and the new building are 9 and 8 stories respectively. The existing building model shows more than 3% increase in damping ratio. The maximum dynamic responses and the root mean square responses of the existing building model to earthquakes are substantially reduced by at least 20% and 59% respectively. Further, numerical models are developed by conducting time-history analysis to predict the performance of the proposed seismic mitigation system. The predictions agree well with the test results. Numerical simulations are carried out to optimize the properties of connecting dampers and base isolators. It is demonstrated that more than 50% of the peak responses can be reduced by properly adjusting the properties of connecting dampers and base isolators.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.21-28
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• 2015

The nuclear accident due to the recent earthquake in Japan has triggered awareness of the importance of safety with regard to nuclear power plants (NPPs). An earthquake is one of the most important parameters which governs the safety of NPPs among external events. Application of a base isolation system for NPPs can reduce the risk for earthquakes. At present, a soil-structure interaction (SSI) analysis is essential in the seismic design of NPPs in consideration of the ground structure interaction. In the seismic analysis of the base-isolated NPP, it is restrictive to consider the nonlinear properties of seismic isolation devices due to the linear analysis of the SSI analysis programs, such as SASSI. Thus, in this study, SSI analyses are performed using an iterative approach considering the material nonlinearity of the isolators. By performing the SSI analysis using an iterative approach, the nonlinear properties of isolators can be considered. The difference between the SSI analysis results without iteration and SSI with iteration using SASSI is noticeable. The results of the SSI analysis using an effective linear (non-iterative) approach underestimate the spectral acceleration because the effective linear model cannot consider the nonlinear properties of isolators. The results of the SSI analysis show that the horizontal response of the base-isolated NPP is significantly reduced.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.503-529
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• 2015

Traditionally, multi-story buildings are designed to provide stiffer structural support to withstand lateral earthquake loading. Introducing flexible elements at the base of a structure and providing sufficient damping is an alternative way to mitigate seismic hazards. These features can be achieved with a device known as an isolator. This paper covers the design of base isolators for multi-story buildings in medium-risk seismicity regions and evaluates the structural responses of such isolators. The well-known tower building for police personnel built in Dhaka, Bangladesh by the Public Works Department (PWD) has been used as a case study to justify the viability of incorporating base isolators. The objective of this research was to establish a simplified model of the building that can be effectively used for dynamic analysis, to evaluate the structural status, and to suggest an alternative option to handle the lateral seismic load. A finite element model was incorporated to understand the structural responses. Rubber-steel bearing (RSB) isolators such as Lead rubber bearing (LRB) and high damping rubber bearing (HDRB) were used in the model to insert an isolator link element in the structural base. The nonlinearities of rubber-steel bearings were considered in detail. Linear static, linear dynamic, and nonlinear dynamic analyses were performed for both fixed-based (FB) and base isolated (BI) buildings considering the earthquake accelerograms, histories, and response spectra of the geological sites. Both the time-domain and frequency-domain approaches were used for dynamic solutions. The results indicated that for existing multi-story buildings, RSB diminishes the muscular amount of structural response compared to conventional non-isolated structures. The device also allows for higher horizontal displacement and greater structural flexibility. The suggested isolation technique is able to mitigate the structural hazard under even strong earthquake vulnerability.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.5-13
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• 2008

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.557-572
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• 2018

The academic research works about liquid storage tanks are reviewed for the purpose of providing valuable reference to the engineering practice on their aseismic design. A summary of the performance of tanks during past earthquakes is described in this paper. Next, the seismic response of tanks under unidirectional earthquake is reported, supplemented with the dynamic response under multidirectional motions. Then, researches on the influence of soil-structure interaction are brought out to help modify the seismic design approach of tanks in different areas with variable properties of soils. Afterwards, base isolation systems are reported to demonstrate their effectiveness for the earthquake-resistant design of liquid storage tanks. Further, researches about the liquid-structure interaction are reviewed with description of simplified models and numerical analytical methods, some of which consider the elastic effect of tank walls. Moreover, the liquid sloshing phenomenon on the hydrodynamic behaviors of tanks is presented by various algorithms including grid-based and meshfree method. And then the impact of baffles in changing the dynamic characteristics of the liquid-structure system is raised, which shows the energy dissipation by the vortex motion of liquid. In addition, uplifting effect is given to enhance the understanding on the capacity of unanchored tanks and some assessment of their development. At last, the concluding remarks and the aspects of extended research in the field of liquid storage tanks under seismic loads are provided, emphasizing the thermal stress analysis, the replaceable system for base isolation, the liquid-solid interaction and dynamic responses with stochastic excitations.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.169-188
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• 2015

This study presents the effects of the spatial variation of ground motions in a hard rock site on the seismic responses of a base-isolated nuclear power plant (BI-NPP). Three structural models were studied for the BI-NPP supported by different number of lead rubber bearing (LRB) base isolators with different base mat dimensions. The seismic responses of the BI-NPP were analyzed and investigated under the uniform and spatial varying excitation of El Centro ground motion. In addition, the rotational degrees of freedom (DOFs) of the base mat nodes were taken to consider the flexural behavior of the base mat on the seismic responses under both uniform and spatial varying excitation. Finally, the seismic response results for all the analysis cases of the BI-NPP were investigated in terms of the vibration periods and mode shapes, lateral displacements, and base shear forces. The analysis results indicate that: (1) considering the flexural behavior of the base mat has a negligible effect on the lateral displacements of base isolators regardless of the number of the isolators or the type of excitation used; (2) considering the spatial variation of ground motions has a substantial influence on the lateral displacements of base isolators and the NPP stick model; (3) the ground motion spatial variation effect is more prominent on lateral displacements than base shear forces, particularly with increasing numbers of base isolators and neglecting flexural behavior of the base mat.

• 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.