• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.365-375
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• 2017

Seismic risk management has two main technical aspects: to recommend the construction of high-performance buildings and other structures using earthquake-resistant designs or evaluate existing ones, and to prepare emergency plans using realistic seismic scenarios. An overview of seismic risk assessment methodologies in Croatia is provided with details regarding the components of the assessment procedures: hazard, vulnerability and exposure. For Croatia, hazard is presented with two maps and it is expressed in terms of the peak horizontal ground acceleration during an earthquake, with the return period of 95 or 475 years. A standard building typology catalogue for Croatia has not been prepared yet, but a database for the fourth largest city in Croatia is currently in its initial stage. Two methods for earthquake vulnerability assessment are applied and compared. The first is a relatively simple and fast analysis of potential seismic vulnerability proposed by Croatian researchers using damage index (DI) as a numerical value indicating the level of structural damage, while the second is the Macroseismic method.

• Architectural research
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.75-84
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• 2022

Scads of earthquake-resistant systems are being invented around the globe to ensure structural resistance against the lateral forces induced by earthquake loadings considering structural safety, efficiency, and economic aspects. Shear wall and Bracing systems are proved to be two of the most viable solutions for seismic strengthening of structures. In the present study, three numerical models of a G+10 storied building are developed in commercial building analysis software considering shear wall and bracing systems for earthquake resistance. Material nonlinearity is introduced by using plastic hinges. Analyses are performed utilizing two dynamic methods: Response Spectrum analysis and nonlinear Time-history analysis using Kobe and Loma Prieta earthquake data and results are compared to observe the nonlinear behavior of structures. The outcomes exposed that a significant increase in the seismic responses occurs due to the nonlinearity in the building systems. It was also found that building with shear wall exhibits maximum resistance and minimum nonlinearity when subjected to dynamic loadings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.363-382
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• 2024

In India's north-eastern region, low-strength autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) blocks are widely used for constructing masonry structures, making them susceptible to lateral forces due to their low tensile and shear strengths and brittleness nature. The absence of earthquake-resistant attributes further compromises their resilience during seismic events. An economically viable solution to enhance the structural integrity of these masonry structures involves integrating steel wire mesh within the masonry mortar joints. This study investigates the in-plane shear behaviour of AAC masonry by employing two approaches: incorporating steel wire mesh within the masonry bed joint "BJ" and the masonry bed and head joint "BHJ". These approaches aim to augment strength and ductility, potentially serving as earthquake-resistant attributes in masonry structures. Three distinct variations of steel wire mesh and three reinforcing arrangements, i.e. (-), (L) and (Z) arrangement were employed to reinforce the two approaches. The test result reveals a significant enhancement in structural performance upon inclusion of steel wire mesh in both reinforcing approaches, with the "BHJ" approach outperforming the "BJ" approach and the unreinforced masonry, along with increase in capacity as the wire mesh size increases. Furthermore, the effectiveness of the reinforcing arrangement is ranked with the (Z) arrangement showing the largest performance, followed by the (L) and (-) arrangement.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.32-40
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• 1981

A lot of submerged tunnels which cross revers and channels have been constructed in the USA, European countries and Japan. It is very important to consider anti-seismicity of the tunnels when they are located in active seismic zone. Fortunately, the submerged tunnels have never been damaged by earthquakes, however a umber off surveys and experiments to examine the anti-seismicity of the submerged tunnels have been carried out from various points of view. the dynamic characteristics of the submerged tunnels which are buried in the ground and have long total length from that of the structures above ground. 'Specificitions of Earthquake Resistant Desion of Submerged Tunnels' was established by the Japan Society of Civil Engineers in 1975. These specifications greatly promote the construction of the submerged tunnels. In this technical paper, the outline of the construction and a few methods of earthquake resistant designs for the tunnels: earthquakes observations, indoor experiments by shaking table, and numerical analysis by computer are also mentioned.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.437-453
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• 2019

This study investigates a new optimal placement method for viscous dampers between structures in order to prevent pounding of adjacent structures with different dynamic characteristics under earthquake effects. A relative displacement spectrum is developed in two single degree of freedom system to reveal the critical period ratios for the most risky scenario of collision using El Centro earthquake record (NS). Three different types of viscous damper design, which are classical, stair and X-diagonal model, are considered to prevent pounding on two adjacent building models. The objective function is minimized under the upper and lower limits of the damping coefficient of the damper and a target modal damping ratio. A new algorithm including time history analyses and numerical optimization methods is proposed to find the optimal dampers placement. The proposed design method is tested on two 12-storey adjacent building models. The effects of the type of damper placement on structural models, the critical period ratios of adjacent structures, the permissible relative displacement limit, the mode behavior and the upper limit of damper are investigated in detail. The results of the analyzes show that the proposed method can be used as an effective means of finding the optimum amount and location of the dampers and eliminating the risk of pounding.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.141-158
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• 2005

A new design of distributed crack sensors based on the topological change of transmission line cables is presented for the condition assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) structures during and immediately after an earthquake event. This study is primarily focused on the performance of cable sensors under dynamic loading, particularly a feature that allows for some "memory" of the crack history of an RC member. This feature enables the post-earthquake condition assessment of structural members such as RC columns, in which the earthquake-induced cracks are closed immediately after an earthquake event due to gravity loads, and are visually undetectable. Factors affecting the onset of the feature were investigated experimentally with small-scale RC beams under cyclic loading. Test results indicated that both crack width and the number of loading cycles were instrumental in the onset of the memory feature of cable sensors. Practical issues related to dynamic acquisition with the sensors are discussed. The sensors were proven to be fatigue resistant from shake table tests of RC columns. The sensors continued to show useful performance after the columns can no longer support additional loads.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.43-56
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• 2023

Banda Aceh is one of the areas that sustains the most damage during a natural disaster because it contains so many houses, office buildings, public facilities, and schools. Public structures in coastal areas are highly susceptible to earthquakes, resulting in high casualties and property damage. Several public structures were reconstructed during the reconstruction and rehabilitation period. Because this building is located in an area with a high risk of earthquakes, its capacity must be analyzed initially. Additionally, history indicates that Aceh Province has been struck by numerous earthquakes, including the largest ever recorded in 1983 and the most recent earthquake with a magnitude of 9.3 SR on December 26, 2004. The city of Banda Aceh was devastated by this earthquake, which was followed by a tsunami. The possibility of a large earthquake in Banda Aceh City necessitates that the structures constructed there be resistant to seismic risk. This study's objective was to evaluate the seismic performance of the existing building by applying the method of strengthening the structure in the form of jacketing columns and the addition of steel bracing in order to estimate the performance of the structure using multiple ground motions. Therefore, several public buildings must be analyzed to determine the optimal seismic retrofitting technique.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.1091-1114
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• 2015

The adequacy of a number of advanced earthquake Intensity Measures (IMs) to predict the structural damage of earthquake resistant 3D R/C buildings is investigated in the present paper. To achieve this purpose three symmetric in plan and three asymmetric 5-storey R/C buildings are analyzed by nonlinear time history analysis using 74 bidirectional earthquake records. The two horizontal accelerograms of each ground motion are applied along the structural axes of the buildings and the structural damage is expressed in terms of the maximum and average interstorey drift as well as the overall structural damage index. For each individual pair of accelerograms the values of the aforementioned seismic damage measures are determined. Then, they are correlated with several strong motion scalar IMs that take into account both earthquake and structural characteristics. The research identified certain IMs which exhibit strong correlation with the seismic damage measures of the studied buildings. However, the degree of correlation between IMs and the seismic damage depends on the damage measure adopted. Furthermore, it is confirmed that the widely used spectral acceleration at the fundamental period of the structure is a relatively good IM for medium rise R/C buildings that possess small structural eccentricity.

• Journal of the Society of Disaster Information
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.36-46
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• 2012

After the east Japan earthquake last March 2011, social interests are intensified in the area of increasing the earthquake resistant ability and the necessity of design method that can minimize the damage from earthquake. If bridges are damaged or collapsed, the social and economic effects are so severe that the evaluation of earthquake resistant ability becomes very important. The reviewing methods for earthquake resistant ability are many, but majority of these methods are deterministic. Thus, for the safety assessment of structures for earthquake, the method for evaluating fragility according to the stage of damage is necessary. In this paper, the fragility curves for PSC Box Girder bridge using LRB and RFPB are constructed for PGA, PGV, SA, SV, SI and the two isolators are compared.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.433-439
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• 2020

Tunnels are one of the most important constructions in civil engineering. The damage to these structures caused enormous costs. Therefore, the safe and economic design of these structures has long been considered. However, both applied loads on the tunnels as well as the resistance of the structural members are naturally uncertain parameters, hence, the design of these structures requires considering the probabilistic approaches. This study aims to determine the load and resistant factors of lining tunnels concerning the earthquake extreme events limit state function. For this purpose, tunnels that have been designed according to the previous design codes (AASHTO Tunnel LRFD 2017) and using reliability analysis, the optimum reliability of these structures for different loading scenarios is determined. In this paper, the tunnel is considered circular. Finally, the proper load and resistance factors are calculated corresponding to the obtained target reliability. Based on the performed calibration earthquake extreme events limit state function, the result of this study can be recommended to AASHTO Tunnel LRFD 2017.