• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.241-251
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• 2014

In this study, shaking table test was carried out to evaluate the seismic behavior and performance of low-rise reinforced concrete (RC) piloti structures with and without retrofit. The specimens were designed considering the characteristics of existing building with pilotis such as natural period, distribution factor of strength and stiffness between columns and core wall on the first soft story. The test for the non-retrofit specimen showed that damage was concentrated on the stiffer member on the same floor as the core wall failed by shear fracture whereas columns experienced slight flexural cracks. Considering the failure mode of the non-retrofit specimen, the retrofit method using steel rod damper was presented for improving the seismic performance of piloti structures. The results of the test for retrofit specimen revealed that the retrofit method was effective for controlling the damage as the main RC structural members were not destroyed and most of input energy was dissipated by hysteretic behavior of the damper.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.283-294
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• 2022

In this study, a new seismic retrofit scheme of building structures is developed by combining a steel moment frame and steel slit plates to be installed inside of an existing reinforced concrete frame. This device has the energy dissipation capability of slit dampers with slight loss of stiffness compared to the conventional steel frame reinforcement method. In order to investigate the seismic performance of the retrofit system, it was installed inside of a reinforced concrete frame and tested under cyclic loading. Finite element analysis was carried out for validation of the test results, and it was observed that the analysis and the test results match well. An analytical model was developed to apply the retrofit system to a commercial software to be used for seismic retrofit design of an example structure. The effectiveness of the retrofit scheme was investigated through nonlinear time-history response analysis (NLTHA). The cyclic loading test showed that the steel frame with slit dampers provides significant increase in strength and ductility to the bare structure. According to the analysis results of a case study building, the proposed system turned out to be effective in decreasing the seismic response of the model structure below the given target limit state.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.683-695
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• 2022

Conventional braces are often used to provide stiffness to structures; however due to buckling they cannot be used as seismic energy dissipating elements. In this study, a seismic energy dissipation device is proposed which is comprised of a bracing member and a steel hysteretic damper made of steel hexagonal plates. The hexagonal shaped designated fuse causes formation of plastic hinges under axial deformation of the brace. The main advantages of this damper compared to conventional metallic dampers and buckling-restrained braces are the stable and controlled energy dissipation capability with ease of manufacture. The mechanical behavior of the damper is formulated first and a design procedure is provided. Next, the theoretical formulation and the efficiency of the damper are verified using finite element (FE) analyses. An analytical model of the damper is established and its efficiency is further investigated by applying it to seismic retrofit of a case study structure. The seismic performance of the structure is evaluated before and after retrofit in terms of maximum interstory drift ratio, top story displacement, residual displacement, and energy dissipation of dampers. Overall, the median of maximum interstory drift ratios is reduced from 3.8% to 1.6% and the residual displacement decreased in the x-direction which corresponds to the predominant mode shape of the structure. The analysis results show that the developed damper can provide cost-effective seismic protection of structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.93-101
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• 2024

This paper presents an experimental and analytical study on a steel slit damper designed as an energy dissipative device for earthquake protection of structures considering soil-structure interaction. The steel slit damper is made of a steel plate with a number of slits cut out of it. The slit damper has an advantage as a seismic energy dissipation device in that the stiffness and the yield force of the damper can be easily controlled by changing the number and size of the vertical strips. Cyclic loading tests of the slit damper are carried out to verify its energy dissipation capability, and an analytical model is developed validated based on the test results. The seismic performance of a case study building is then assessed using nonlinear dynamic analysis with and without soil-structure interaction. The soil-structure system turns out to show larger seismic responses and thus seismic retrofit is required to satisfy a predefined performance limit state. The developed slit dampers are employed as a seismic energy dissipation device for retrofitting the case study structure taking into account the soil-structure interaction. The seismic performance evaluation of the model structure shows that the device works stably and dissipates significant amount of seismic energy during earthquake excitations, and is effective in lowering the seismic response of structures standing on soft soil.

• Land and Housing Review
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.29-37
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• 2024

This study investigates the thermal conductivity and density of expanded polystyrene insulation materials collected from buildings under going energy retrofit projects. Due to the absence of initial thermal conductivity data, determining precise long-term patterns was challenging. Analysis based on design documents revealed that expanded polystyrene insulation maintained consistent performance over ten years. Notably, the thermal conductivity measurements of insulation samples of the same grade and age varied significantly. Additionally, the insulation density was found to be substantially below the standard specified in the design documents. The results of the experiment indicate that performance management during both construction and operation phases is lacking. It is crucial to apply building commissioning, which involves performance verification throughout the building's life cycle, to properly evaluate building energy performance improvements, such as building energy retrofit projects.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.6
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• pp.677-689
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• 2022

Generally, the goal of seismic retrofit design of an existing structure using energy dissipation devices is to determine the optimum design parameters of a retrofit device to satisfy a specified limit state with minimum cost. However, the presence of multiple parameters to be optimized and the computational complexity of performing non-linear analysis make it difficult to find the optimal design parameters in the realistic 3D structure. In this study, genetic algorithm-based optimal seismic retrofit methods for determining the required number, yield strength, and location of steel slit dampers are proposed to retrofit an asymmetric soft first-story structure. These methods use a multi-objective and single-objective evolutionary algorithms, each of which varies in computational complexity and incorporates nonlinear time-history analysis to determine seismic performance. Pareto-optimal solutions of the multi-objective optimization are found using a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (NSGA-II). It is demonstrated that the developed multi-objective optimization methods can determine the optimum number, yield strength, and location of dampers that satisfy the given limit state of a three-dimensional asymmetric soft first-story structure. It is also shown that the single-objective distribution method based on minimizing plan-wise stiffness eccentricity turns out to produce similar number of dampers in optimum locations without time consuming nonlinear dynamic analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.61 no.4
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• pp.511-518
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• 2017

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the contribution of RCC strip in the in-filled RC frames. In this research, two frames were tested to study the behavior of retrofitted RC frame under cyclic loading. In the two frame, one was three bay four storey R.C frame with central bay brick infill with RCC strip in-between brick layers and the other was retrofitted frame with same stiffened brick work. Effective rehabilitation is required some times to strengthened the RC frames. Ferrocement concrete strengthening was used to retrofit the frame after the frame was partially collapsed. The main effects of the frames were investigated in terms of displacement, stiffness, ductility and energy dissipation capacity. Diagonal cracks in the infill bays were entirely eliminated by introducing two monolithic RCC strips. Thus more stability of the frame was obtained by providing RCC strips in the infill bays. Load carrying capacity of the frame was increased by enlarging the section in the retrofitted area.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.5-13
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• 2014

This paper introduces emergy(spelled with "m") that is a new environmental indicator in architecture, aiming to clarify conflicting claims of building design components in the process of energy-retrofit. Much of design practitioners' attention on low energy use in operational phases, may simply shift the lowered environmental impact within the building boundary to large consumption of energy in another area. Specifically, building energy reduction strategies without a holistic view starting from natural formation, may lead to the depletion of non-renewable geobiological sources (e.g. minerals, fossil fuels, etc.), which leaves a building with an isolated energy-efficient object. Therefore, to overcome the narrow outlook, this research discusses the total ecological impact of a building which embraces all process energy as well as environmental cost represented by emergy. A case study has been conducted to explore emergy-driven design work. In comparison with operational energy-driven scenarios, the results elucidate how energy and emergy-oriented decision-making bring about different design results, and quantify building components' emergy contribution in the end. An average-size ($101.9m^2$) single family house located in South Korea was sampled as a benchmark case, and the analysis of energy and material use was conducted for establishment of the baseline. Adoption of the small building is effective for the goal of study since this research intends to measure environmental impact according to variation of passive design elements (windows size, building orientation, wall materials) with new metric (emergy) regardless of mechanical systems. Performance simulations of operational energy were developed and analyzed separately from the calculation of emergy magnitudes in building construction, and then the total emergy demand of each proposed design was evaluated. Emergy synthesis results verify that the least operational energy scenario requires greater investment in indirect energy in construction, which clearly reveals that efficiency gains are likely to be overwhelmed by increment of material flows. This result places importance on consideration of indirect energy use underscoring necessity of emergy evaluation towards the environment-friendly building in broader sense.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.73-80
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• 2022

Unlike the CFT retrofit method, The EPFT retrofit method, which fills the steel tube with engineering plastic, does not require a separate concrete forming work and is a lightweight seismic Retrofit Method. In this study, an prototype model of the EPFT was proposed, and to analyze the seismic performance, an independent specimens and a reinforced concrete column were fabricated to conduct a seismic performance test. As a result of loading test of the independent specimens, the strength was increased compared to the steel tube column without internal filling, and the ductility ratio did not significantly increase due to the falling off of the weld. As a result of loading test of the concrete reinforcement specimen, the strength, ductility ratio, and energy dissipation were increased, and the number of cracks by loading step decreased compared to the non-reinforced specimen.

• KIEAE Journal
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.13-20
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• 2009

This study suggested practical application of decision aid tool on re-evaluation of current buildings with a focus on a energy and economics evaluation methodology. In Europe, over forty percent of all construction activities are for retrofit. For efficient construction, various tools for re-evaluating existing buildings have been developed and are in use. Legislations of relevant laws and studies are actively initiated. In particular, EPIQR (Energy Performance Indoor environment Quality Retrofit), which was developed through the EU's Third and Fourth Framework Programs laid a foundation on a new concept-based decision aid tool for re-evaluation of existing buildings. As for actual applications, based on this, EPIQR+ was developed to be in line with a building maintenance guideline (SIA 469) and is actively applied to public buildings. This tool quantifies the degree of damages of existing buildings and suggests alternatives to users in energy (SIA 380/1) and economical perspectives. This study examined these preceding tools and suggested some trenchant approaching for more comprehensive and efficient use of re-evaluation tools in building maintenance.