• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.17-30
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• 2024

Earthquakes can lead to substantial damage to buildings, with long-period ground motion being particularly destructive. The design of high-performance building structures has become a prominent focus of research. The double-story isolated structure is a novel type of isolated structure developed from base isolated structure. To delve deeper into the building performance of double-story isolated structures, the double-story isolated structure was constructed with the upper isolated layer located in different layers, alongside a base isolated structure for comparative analysis. Nonlinear elastoplastic analyses were conducted on these structures using different ground motion inputs, including ordinary ground motion, near-field impulsive ground motion, and far-field harmonic ground motion. The results demonstrate that the double-story isolated structure can extend the structural period further than the base isolated structure under three types of ground motions. The double-story isolated structure exhibits lower base shear, inter-story displacement, base isolated layer displacement, story shear, and maximum acceleration of the top layer, compared to the base isolated structure. In addition, the double-story isolated structure generates fewer plastic hinges in the frame, causes less damage to the core tube, and experiences smaller overturning moments, demonstrating excellent resistance to overturning and a shock-absorbing effect. As the upper isolated layer is positioned higher, the compressive stress on the isolated bearings of the upper isolated layer in the double-story isolated structure gradually decreases. Moreover, the compressive stress on the isolated bearings of the base isolated layer is lower compared to that of the base isolated structure. However, the shock-absorbing capacity of the double-story isolated structure is significantly increased when the upper isolated layer is located in the middle and lower section. Notably, in regions exposed to long-period ground motion, a double-story isolated structure can experience greater seismic response and reduced shock-absorbing capacity, which may be detrimental to the structure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.275-290
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• 2006

In this paper, the performance of a tuned liquid damper (TLD) in suppressing the seismic response of buildings is investigated with shake table testing of a four-story steel frame model that rests on pile foundation. The model tests were performed in three phases with the steel frame structure alone, the soil and pile foundation system, and the soil-foundation-structure system, respectively. The test results from different phases were compared to study the effect of soil-structure interaction on the efficiency of a TLD in reducing the peak response of the structure. The influence of a TLD on the dynamic response of the pile foundation was investigated as well. Three types of earthquake excitations were considered with different frequency characteristics. Test results indicated that TLD can suppress the peak response of the structure up to 20% regardless of the presence of soils. TLD is also effective in reducing the dynamic responses of pile foundation.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.119-124
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• 2004

The effect of soil-structure interaction becomes important in the design of civil structures such as long-span bridges, which are constructed in the site composed of soft soil. Many methodologies have been developed to account for the proper consideration of soil-structure interaction effect. However, it is difficult to estimate soil-structure interaction effect accurately becaused of many uncertainties. This paper presents the results of study on soil-structure interaction and dynamic response of a long-span bridge designed in the site composed of soft soil. The effect of the soft soil was evaluated by the use of computer program SASSI and a long-span bridge structure was modeled by finite elements. Dynamic response characteristics of a long-span bridge considering soil-structure interaction wereinvestigated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.199-215
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• 2013

During the service life of a structure, design complications and unexpected events may induce unforeseen vibrations. These vibrations can be generated by malfunctioning machinery or machines that are modified or placed without considering the original structural design because of a change in the intended use of the structure. Significant vibrations occurred at a natural gas plant cooling structure during its operation due to cavitation effect within the hydraulic system. This study presents findings obtained from the in-situ vibration measurements and following finite-element analyses of the cooling structure. Comments are made on the updated performance level and damage state of the structure using the results of these measurements and corresponding numerical analyses. An attempt was also made to assess the applicability of traditional displacement-based vulnerability estimation methods in the health monitoring of structures under vibrations with a character different from those due to seismic excitations.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.383-400
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• 2024

For a conventionally repaired frame-supported-transfer-slab (FSTS) reinforced concrete (RC) structure, both the transfer slab and the beam-to-column and transfer slab-to-column joints remain vulnerable to secondary earthquakes. Aimed at improving the seismic performance of a damaged FSTS RC structure, an innovative retrofitting scheme is proposed, which adopts the sector lead rubber dampers (SLRDs) at joints after the damaged FSTS RC structure is repaired by conventional approaches. In this paper, a series of quasi-static cyclic tests was conducted on a large-scale retrofitted FSTS RC structure. The seismic performance was evaluated and the key test results, including deformation characteristics, damage pattern, hysteretic behaviour, bearing capacity and strains on key components, were reported in detail. The test results indicated that the SLRDs started to dissipate energy under the service level earthquake, and thus prevented damages on the beam-to-column and transfer slab-to-column joints during the secondary earthquakes and shifted the plastic hinges away from the beam ends. The retrofitting scheme of using SLRDs also achieved the seismic design concept of 'strong joint, weak component'. The FSTS RC structure retrofitted by the SLRDs could recover more than 85% bearing capacity of its undamaged counterpart. The hysteresis curves were featured by the inverse "S" shape, indicating good bearing capacity and hysteresis performance. The deformation capacity of the damaged FSTS RC structure retrofitted by the SLRDs met the corresponding codified requirements for the case of the maximum considered earthquake, as set out in the Chinese seismic design code. The stability of the FSTS RC structure retrofitted by the SLRDs, which was revealed by the developed stains of the RC frame and transfer slab, was improved compared with the undamaged FSTS RC structure.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.265-275
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• 2020

As a flexible supporting structure, the anchoring frame structure is widely adopted to support multistage slopes in high earthquake-intensity area for its effectiveness and practicality. The previous study indicates that the anchor of anchoring frame structure is the most likely to be damaged during earthquakes. It is crucial to determine the pull-out capacity of anchor against seismic force for the seismic design of anchoring frame structure. In this study, an analytical model of a three-stage slope supported by anchoring frame structure is established, and the upper bound method of limit analysis is applied to deduce the seismic anchor force of anchoring frame structure. The pull-out capacity of anchor against seismic force of anchoring frame structure at each stage is obtained by computer programming. The proposed method is proved to be reasonable and effective compared with the existing published solution. Besides, the influence of main parameters on the pull-out capacity of anchor against seismic force is analyzed to provide some recommendations for the seismic design of anchoring frame structure.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.507-524
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• 2019

A Bayesian dynamic linear model (BDLM) is presented for a data-driven analysis for response prediction and load effect separation of a revolving auditorium structure, where the main loads are self-weight and dead loads, temperature load, and audience load. Analyses are carried out based on the long-term monitoring data for static strains on several key members of the structure. Three improvements are introduced to the ordinary regression BDLM, which are a classificatory regression term to address the temporary audience load effect, improved inference for the variance of observation noise to be updated continuously, and component discount factors for effective load effect separation. The effects of those improvements are evaluated regarding the root mean square errors, standard deviations, and 95% confidence intervals of the predictions. Bayes factors are used for evaluating the probability distributions of the predictions, which are essential to structural condition assessments, such as outlier identification and reliability analysis. The performance of the present BDLM has been successfully verified based on the simulated data and the real data obtained from the structural health monitoring system installed on the revolving structure.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.361-397
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• 2017

The unloading effect from excavations can cause the deformation of adjacent tunnels, which may seriously influence the operation and safety of those tunnels. However, systematic studies of the deformation characteristics of tunnels located along side excavations are limited, and simplified methods to predict the influence of excavations on tunnels are also rare. In this study, the simulation capability of a finite element method (FEM) considering the small-strain characteristics of soil was verified using a case study. Then, a large number of FEM simulations examining the influence of excavations on adjacent tunnels were conducted. Based on the simulation results, the deformation characteristics of tunnels at different positions and under four deformation modes of the retaining structure were analyzed. The results indicate that the deformation mode of the retaining structure has a significant influence on the deformation of certain tunnels. When the deformation magnitudes of the retaining structures are the same, the influence degree of the excavation on the tunnel increased in this order: from cantilever type to convex type to composite type to kick-in type. In practical projects, the deformation mode of the retaining structure should be optimized according to the tunnel position, and kick-in deformation should be avoided. Furthermore, two methods to predict the influence of excavations on adjacent tunnels are proposed. Design charts, in terms of normalized tunnel deformation contours, can be used to quantitatively estimate the tunnel deformation. The design table of the excavation influence zones can be applied to determine which influence zone the tunnel is located in.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.219-230
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• 2022

Knowing that the variability of soil properties is an important source of uncertainty in geotechnical analyses, we will study in this paper the effect of this variability on the seismic response of a structure within the framework of Soil Structure Interaction (SSI). We use the proposed and developed model (N2-ISS, Mekki et al., 2014). This approach is based on an extension of the N2 method by determining the capacity curve of the fixed base system oscillating mainly in the first mode, then modified to obtain the capacity curve of the system on a flexible basis using the concept of the equivalent nonlinear oscillator. The properties of the soil that we are interested in this paper will be the shear wave velocity and the soil damping. These parameters will be modeled at first, as independent random fields, then, the two parameters will be correlated. The results obtained showed the importance of the use of random field in the study of SSI systems. The variability of soil damping and shear wave velocity introduces significant uncertainty not only in the evaluation of the damping of the soil-structure system but also in the estimation of the displacement of the structure and the base-shear force.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.20 no.1 s.69
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• pp.101-106
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• 2005

When a underground structure is constructed at the site composed of soft soil, the behavior of a underground structure Is much affected by the motion of soft soil. Therefore, the effect of soil-structure interaction is an important consideration in the design of a underground structure such as tunnel at the site composed of soft soil. This paper presents the results of the study on dynamic response of tunnel structures and soil-structure interaction effects. The computer program SASSI was used in seismic analysis of tunnel structures because it is more capable of analyzing dynamic response or structures considering soil-structure interaction. As regards the results, the flexibility of surrounding soil affects dynamic response characteristics of tunnel structures and response of tunnel structures can be amplified.