• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.381-396
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• 2023

The present paper evaluates seismic bearing capacity of rock masses subjected to loads of strip footings using the upper bound method. A general formula was proposed to evaluate the seismic bearing capacity considering both the horizontal and vertical accelerations of the earthquake and the effects of footing embedment depth simultaneously. Modified Hoek-Brown failure criterion was employed for the rock mass. Some comparisons were made with the available solutions and the finite element numerical models to show the accuracy of the developed upper bound formulations. The obtained results show significant improvement compared to the other available solutions. By increasing the horizontal earthquake acceleration from 0.1 to 0.3, the bearing capacity was reduced by up to 39%, while the effect of the vertical earthquake acceleration depends on its direction. An upward acceleration in the range of zero to 0.2 results in an increase in the bearing capacity by up to 24%, while the downward earthquake acceleration has an adverse effect. Also, by increasing the embedment depth of the footing from zero to 5 times the footing width, the value of seismic bearing capacity was raised about 86%. The obtained results were presented as design tables for use in practical applications.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.238-246
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• 2003

By using simulated ground motions, which is sum of earthquake signals and noise, we measured the distortion of response spectra due to noise. We found that the distortion is more closely related to the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio of root-mean-square (RMS) measurement than that of conventional peak measurement. Given a S/M ratio, the distortion of absolute acceleration response spectra is independent on the earthquake magnitude, while that of relative displacement response spectra has a strong dependence on the earthquake magnitude. This means that, when we calculate response spectra from time histories, we can efficiently predict the distortion of acceleration response spectra simply by measuring the RMS SJN ratios, or the distortion of displacement response spectra by combining the RMS S/N ratios and the earthquake magnitudes.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.637-651
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• 2022

The seismic design of embankment dams requires more comprehensive studies to understand the behaviour of dams. Deformations primarily control this behaviour occur during or after earthquake loading. Dam failures and incidents show that the impacts of deformations should be reviewed for existing and new embankment dams. Overtopping erosion failure can occur if crest deformations exceed the freeboard at the time of the deformations. Therefore, crest settlement is one of the most critical deformations. This study developed empirical formulas using Gene Expression Programming (GEP) based on 88 cases. In the analyses, dam height (H_d), alluvium thickness (H_a), the magnitude-acceleration-factor (MAF) values developed based on earthquake magnitude (Mw) and peak ground acceleration (PGA) within this study have been chosen as variables. Results show that GEP models developed in the paper are remarkably robust and accessible tools to predict earthquake-induced crest settlement of embankment dams and perform superior to the existing formulation. Also, dam engineering professionals can use them practically because the variables of prediction equations are easily accessible after the earthquake.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.339-348
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• 2010

As part of preparing for future earthquakes near three LNG receiving terminals located in coastal regions of Korea, acceleration monitoring systems were installed at four free field sites and on a pile foundation beneath a storage tank in a receiving terminal. Several equipments and accessories were devised to successfully install and operate the monitoring system at LNG receiving terminals. Synthetic earthquake-alarming software systems designed for decisionmaking, based on peak ground acceleration computed using the measured data, were developed for rapid response during earthquakes, not only in each local terminal area but also in the central control division. In addition, a framework software linking nationwide data on peak ground accelerations was included in the integrated earthquake alarming system in the central division, for various future applications. The earthquake alarming systems developed in this research for LNG receiving terminals, based on acceleration monitoring, represent a useful framework for industrial facilities located in coastal regions, where geotechnical conditions may show marked spatial variations.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.73-79
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• 2020

As the number of earthquakes gradually increases on the Korean Peninsula, much research has been actively conducted to detect earthquakes quickly and accurately. Because traditional seismic stations are expensive to install and operate, recent research is currently being conducted to detect earthquakes using low-cost MEMS sensors. In this article, we evaluate how a low-cost MEMS acceleration sensor installed in a smartphone can be used to detect earthquakes. To this end, we installed about 280 smartphones at various locations in Korea to collect acceleration data and then assessed the installed sensors' noise floor through PSD calculation. The noise floor computed from PSD determines the magnitude of the earthquake that the installed MEMS acceleration sensors can detect. For the last few months of real operation, we collected acceleration data from 200 smartphones among 280 installed smartphones and then computed their PSDs. Based on our experiments, the MEMS acceleration sensor installed in the smartphone is capable of observing and detecting earthquakes with a magnitude 3.5 or more occurring within 10km from an epic center. During the last several months of operation, the smartphone acceleration sensor recorded an earthquake of magnitude 3.5 in Miryang on December 30, 2019, and it was confirmed as an earthquake using STA/LTA which is a simple earthquake detection algorithm. The earthquake detection system using MEMS acceleration sensors is expected to be able to detect increasing earthquakes more quickly and accurately.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.1-8
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• 2020

In 2016, an earthquake occurred at Gyeongju, Korea. At the Wolsong site, the observed peak ground acceleration was lower than the operating basis earthquake (OBE) level of Wolsong nuclear power plant. However, the measured spectral acceleration value exceeded the spectral acceleration of the operating-basis earthquake (OBE) level in some sections of the response spectrum, resulting in a manual shutdown of the nuclear power plant. Analysis of the response spectra shape of the Gyeongju earthquake motion showed that the high-frequency components are stronger than the response spectra shape used in nuclear power plant design. Therefore, the seismic performance evaluation of structures and equipment of nuclear power plants should be made to reflect the characteristics of site-specific earthquakes. In general, the floor response spectrum shape at the installation site or the generalized response spectrum shape is used for the seismic performance evaluation of structures and equipment. In this study, a generalized response spectrum shape is proposed for seismic performance evaluation of structures and equipment for nuclear power plants. The proposed response spectrum shape reflects the characteristics of earthquake motion in Korea through earthquake hazard analysis, and it can be applied to structures and equipment at various locations.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.599-609
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• 2019

After an earthquake, a quick seismic assessment of a structure can facilitate the recovery of operations, and consequently, improve structural resilience. Especially for facilities that play a key role in rescue or refuge efforts (e.g., hospitals and power facilities), or even economically important facilities (e.g., high-tech factories and financial centers), immediately resuming operations after disruptions resulting from an earthquake is critical. Therefore, this study proposes a prompt post-earthquake seismic evaluation method that uses displacement and acceleration measurements taken from real structural responses that resulted during an earthquake. With a prepared pre-earthquake capacity curve of a structure, the residual seismic capacity can be estimated using the residual roof drift ratio and stiffness. The proposed method was verified using a 6-story steel frame structure on a shaking table. The structure was damaged during a moderate earthquake, after which it collapsed completely during a severe earthquake. According to the experimental results, a reasonable estimation of the residual seismic capacity of structures can be performed using the proposed post-earthquake seismic evaluation method.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2002.09a
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• pp.83-90
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• 2002

There are few earthquake records in Korea and the Japanese or American representative earthquake records have been generally used in the seismic design. In this study, some earthquake records which the range of earthquake magnitudes varies from 5.3 to 7.9 were collected and analyzed to assess which record can rationally reflect Korean seismic characteristics. In this assessment, each seismic energy and acceleration spectrum were analyzed with the unified maximum ground acceleration. Several numerical analyses on Korean representative caisson structures were also carried out to compare each dynamic displacement. In these numerical analyses, soil conditions and the dimension of structure such as height and width were changed. Through this assessment, it is found that the compatible earthquake magnitude in Korea is lower than 7. From the result of numerical analyses, it is shown that horizontal dynamic displacements corresponding to earthquake magnitudes over than 7 are quite larger than those below earthquake magnitude 7. Based on this study, it is necessary that Korean seismic design guideline will refer earthquake magnitude criteria for the construction of the economical aseismic structure.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.7_spc
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• pp.425-434
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• 2016

This study investigates important parameters used to determine an effective peak ground acceleration (EPGA) based on the characteristics of response spectra of historical earthquakes occurred at Korean peninsula. EPGAs are very important since they are implemented in the Korean Building Code for the seismic design of new structures. Recently, the Gyeongju earthquakes with the largest magnitude in earthquakes measured at Korea took place and resulted in non-structural and structural damage, which their EPGAs should need to be evaluated. This paper first describes the basic concepts on EPGAs and the EPGAs of the Gyeongju earthquakes are then evaluated and compared according to epicentral distances, site classes and directions of seismic waves. The EPGAs are dependant on normalizing factors and ranges of period on response spectrum constructed with the Gyeongju earthquake records. Using the normalizing factors and the ranges of period determined based on the characteristics of domestic response spectra, this paper draw a conclusion that the EPGAs are estimated to be about 30 % of the measured peak ground accelerations (PGA).

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.67-79
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• 2021

The influence of ground motions on the seismic response of utility tunnels was investigated. A series of small-scale shaking table model tests were carried out under uniform excitation in the transverse direction. Different peak accelerations of EL-Centro and Taft earthquake waves were applied. The acceleration responses, earth pressure, seismic strain, bending moment and structure deformations were measured and discussed. The results showed that the types of earthquake waves had significant influences on the soil-structure acceleration responses. However, the amplitude of the soil acceleration along the depth showed consistent variation regardless of the types of earthquake waves and tunnels. The horizontal soil pressure near the top and bottom slabs showed obviously larger values than those at other depths. In general, the strain response in the outer surface was more significant than that on the inner surface, and the peak strain in the end section of the model was larger than that in the middle section. Moreover, the bending moment at the corner points was much larger than that at middle point, and the bending moment was greatly affected by both input accelerations and seismic wave types. The opposite direction of shear deformation on the top and bottom slabs presented a rotation trend of the model structure.