• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.153-164
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• 2015

The methods of design of mat foundation may be classified as the rigid method and the flexible method according to the assumptions used. In the rigid method, the mat is assumed to be infinitely rigid and the contact pressure is assumed planar distribution. However, the contact pressure is not planar but curved surface because the real mat is not rigid. Therefore, it is not precise to analyze the mat foundation using the rigid method, and so there is no choice but to accept an error. On the other hand, in the flexible method, the mat is considered as the plate on the elastic foundation. This elastic plate theory is for the infinite plate acting a concentrated load on the elastic foundation. However, the functions for the moment, shear, and the deflection by the flexible method are very complex, there are many difficulties for the designer to use them. Also, it is impossible to use the design aid figures as a substitute of the complex functions, because they do not cover the values at the critical sections for the moment and shear. Therefore, in this research, the simplified functions for the moment, shear, and the deflection are proposed by regression analysis for an designer to use easily the flexible method. The simplified functions are very accurate and very ease to use.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.221-231
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• 2021

A two dimensional model of linearly elastic soil spring used for the settlement analysis of the flexible mat foundation is suggested in this study. The spring constants of the soils underneath the foundation were modeled assuming uniformly vertical load applied onto the foundation. The soil spring constants were back calculated using the three-dimensional finite element analysis with Midas GTS NX program. Variation of the soil spring constants was modeled as a two-dimensional polynomial function in terms of the normalized spatial distances between the center of foundation and the analytical points. The Lysmer's analog spring for soils underneath the rigid foundation was adopted and calibrated for the flexible foundation. For validations, the newly proposed soil spring model was incorporated into a two dimensional finite difference analysis for a square mat foundation at the surface of an elastic half-space consisting of soft clays. Comparative study was made for elastic soils where the shear wave velocity is 120~180 m/s and the Poisson's ratio varies at 0.3~0.5. The resulting foundation settlements from the two dimensional finite difference analysis with the proposed soil springs were found in good agreement with those obtained directly from three dimensional finite element analyses. Details of the applications and limitations of the modified Lysmer's analog springs were discussed in this study.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.3_4
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• pp.495-506
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• 2012

An elasto-dynamic model for pile-soil-pile interaction together with a simple plate model is used in this study to assess the effect of flexible foundation slabs on the dynamic response of pile groups. To this end, different pile configurations with various slab thicknessesare considered in two soil media with low and high elastic moduli. The analyses include dynamic impedances and seismic responses of pile-group foundations. The presented results indicate that the stiffness and damping of pile foundations increase with thickness of the foundation slab; however, the results approach those for rigid slab as the slab thickness approaches twice the pile diameter for the cases considered in this study. The results also reveal that pile foundations with flexible slabs may amplify the earthquake motions by as much as 10 percent in the low to intermediate frequency ranges.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.757-774
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• 2017

The subgrade reaction modulus of a large mat foundation was investigated by using a numerical analysis and a field case study. The emphasis was on quantifying the appropriate method for determining the subgrade reaction modulus for the design of a flexible mat foundation. A series of 3D non-linear FE analyses are conducted with special attention given to the subgrade reaction modulus under various conditions, such as the mat width, mat shape, mat thickness, and soil condition. It is shown that the distribution of the subgrade reaction modulus is non-uniform and that the modulus of subgrade reaction at both the corners and edges should be stiffer than that at the center. Based on the results obtained, a simple modification factor for the subgrade reaction modulus is proposed depending on the relative positions within the foundation in weathered soil and rocks.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.25-32
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• 2002

In the seismic designing of bridges, the pile foundation of bridge piers generally have been modeled to have a fixed end for its convenience and conservative designing. The fixed-end assumption, however, produces very conservative results in terms of the pier forces. Therefore, many other design methods are evolved to consider the flexibility of the pile foundation. In this study, the response spectrum analysis was performed for a bridge pier having a pile foundation. The shear force, moment, and displacement, which occurred at the pier column under an earthquake loading, were compared to analyze the effects of the modeling method, soil condition and the input earthquake response spectrum. In most cases, the fixed-end model gives larger design forces than flexible foundation models. However, when a long period earthquake is applied to the bridge pier on a soft clay foundation, it is found that the flexible foundation models give larger design forces than the fixed-end model. In the end, the reliability of several flexible foundation models was verified by comparing their results with those of a numerical analysis that considers the soil-structure interaction phenomenon in a rigorous manner.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.41-54
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• 2023

The use of a skirt, a vertical projection attached to the footing, is a recently developed method to increase the bearing capacity of soils and reduce foundation settlements. Most of the studies were focused on vertical skirted circular footings resting on clay while neglecting the rigidity and inclination of skirts. This study employs finite element limit analysis to investigate the bearing capacity enhancement of flexible and rigid inclined skirts in cohesionless soils. The results indicate that the bearing capacity initially improves with an increase in the skirt inclination but subsequently decreases for both flexible and rigid skirts. However, the rigid skirt exhibits more apparent optimum skirt inclination and bearing capacity enhancement than the flexible one, owing to differences in their failure mechanisms. Furthermore, the bearing capacity of the inclined skirted foundation increases with the skirt length, footing depth, and internal friction angle of the soil. In the case of rigid skirts, the bearing capacity increases linearly with skirt length, while for flexible skirts, it reaches a stable value at a certain skirt length. The efficiency of the flexible footing reduces as the footing depth and soil internal friction angle increase. Conversely, the efficiency of the rigid skirt decreases only with an increase in the depth of the footing. The paper also presents a detailed analysis of various failure patterns, highlighting the behaviour of inclined skirted footings. Additionally, nonlinear regression equations are provided to quantify and predict the bearing capacity enhancement with the inclined skirts.

• The Journal of the Acoustical Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.2E
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• pp.51-58
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• 2001

Equations of motion of an engine mount system including foundation flexibility are derived. Forced vibration analysis is carried out for the given engine mount system excited with the unbalanced force and moment. A new optimal design method for the engine mount system is proposed, in which vibration characteristics of the chassis frame structure are considered as design parameters.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2011.10a
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• pp.513-518
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• 2011

In cruise ships, it is inevitable to arrange the cabins near by the noisy areas, such as ventilation fan, HVAC machinery and funnel casing etc. The noise is propagated to the cabins by way of mount, foundation and deck. The transmitted noise to cabin is affected by mount and foundation structure. It is well-known that most of the structure-borne noise can be reduced by the flexible mount. However, when the foundation of machinery is designed inappropriately, it can make noise problems in cabins. In this paper, the effect of foundation on noise reduction is studied through the numerical analysis and mock up test. The dynamic performance of foundation is investigated from the viewpoint of the impedance and noise reduction in cabin.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.285-304
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• 2016

The effects of large rotations and p-delta on the dynamic response of a structure subjected to seismic loading and local uplift of its foundation were analyzed in this work. The structure was modeled by an equivalent flexible mat mounted on a rigid foundation that is supported either by a Winkler soil type or a rigid soil. The equations of motion of the system were derived by taking into account the equilibrium of the coupled foundation-mat system where the structure was idealized as a single-degree-of-freedom. The obtained nonlinear coupled system of ordinary differential equations was integrated by using an adequate numerical scheme. A parametric study was performed then in order to evaluate the maximum response of the system as function of the intensity of the earthquake, the slenderness of the structure, the ratio of the mass of the foundation to the mass of the structure. Three cases were considered: (i) local uplift of foundation under large rotation with the p-delta effect, (ii) local uplift of foundation under large rotation without including the p-delta effect, (iii) local uplift of foundation under small rotation. It was found that, in the considered ranges of parameters and for moderate earthquakes, assuming small rotation of foundation under seismic loading can yield more adverse structural response, while the p-delta effect has almost no effect.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.427-444
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• 2008

A mathematical model for the nonlinear dynamics of a rotating beam with flexible root attached to a rotating hub with elastic foundation is developed. The model is developed based on the large planar and flexural deformation theory and the potential energy method to account for axial shortening due to bending deformation. In addition the exact nonlinear curvature is used in the system potential energy. The Lagrangian dynamics and the assumed mode method is used to derive the nonlinear coupled equations of motion hub rotation, beam tip deflection and hub horizontal and vertical displacements. The derived nonlinear model is simulated numerically and the results are presented and discussed for the effect of root flexibility, hub stiffness, torque type, torque period and excitation frequency and amplitude on the dynamic behavior of the rotating beam-hub and on its stability.