• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.629-647
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• 2012

Multiple acceleration sequences of earthquake ground motions have been observed in many regions of the world. Such ground motions can cause large damage to the structures due to accumulation of inelastic deformation from the repeated sequences. The dynamic analysis of inelastic structures under repeated acceleration sequences generated from simulated and recorded accelerograms without sequences has been recently studied. However, the characteristics of recorded earthquake ground motions of multiple sequences have not been studied yet. This paper investigates the gross characteristics of earthquake records of multiple sequences from an engineering perspective. The definition of the effective number of acceleration sequences of the ground shaking is introduced. The implication of the acceleration sequences on the structural response and damage of inelastic structures is also studied. A set of sixty accelerograms is used to demonstrate the general properties of repeated acceleration sequences and to investigate the associated structural inelastic response.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.6
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• pp.591-600
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• 2024

This study investigated the acceleration response and shape change characteristics of a gravity quay wall according to the magnitude of the applied acceleration. The quay wall was defined as a port facility damaged by the Kobe earthquake. Four experimental scenarios were established based on the inclination condition grades, considered to be a significant defect factor in the quay wall. Then, the shaking table test was conducted using scaled-down quay wall models constructed per each scenario. The ground acceleration was gradually increased from the peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.1 g to 0.7 g. After each ground acceleration test, acceleration installed on the wall and backfill ground and inclination on the top of the wall were measured to assess the amplification of peak response acceleration and maximum response amplitude and the change in the inclination of the quay wall. This study also analyzed the separation of the quay wall from the backfill and the crack pattern of the backfill ground according to PGA values and inclination condition grades. The result of this study shows that response acceleration could provide a reasonable prediction for the changes in the inclination of the quay wall and the crack generation and propagation on the backfill from a current inclination condition grade.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.293-305
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• 2023

Three ground models are analyzed using a 1g shaking table and laminar shear box (LSB) to investigate the impact of the ground structure on seismic wave amplification during earthquakes. Multi-layer horizontal, embankment, and basin ground models are selected for this investigation, with each model being divided into dense and loose ground layers, Accelerometers are installed during the construction of each ground model to capture any seismic wave amplification owing th the propagation of an artificial seismic wave, sine wave sweep, and 10-Hz sine wave through a given ground model. The amplification of the tested seismic waves is analyzed using the observed peak ground acceleration and spectrum acceleration. The observed acceleration amplification in the multi-layer horizontal ground model is significantly higher the seismic waves that propagated across the dense ground-loose ground boundary compared with those that only propagated through the dense ground. Furthermore, the observed acceleration amplification gradually increases in the central part of the multi-layer embankment and basin models for the seismic waves that propagated across the dense ground-loose ground boundary.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.157-166
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• 2024

Generally, the rubble mound installed on the slope embankment of the open-type wharf is designed based on the impact of wave force, with no consideration for the impact of seismic force. Therefore, in this study, dynamic centrifuge model test results were analyzed to examine the acceleration amplification of embankment reinforced with rubble mound under seismic conditions. The experimental results show that when rubble mounds were installed on the ground surface of the embankment, acceleration response of embankment decreased by approximately 22%, and imbalance in ground settlement decreased significantly from eight to two times. Furthermore, based on the experimental results, one-dimensional site response (1DSR) analyses were conducted. The analysis results indicated that reinforcing the embankment with rubble mound can decrease the peak ground acceleration (PGA) and short period response (below 0.6 seconds) of the ground surface by approximately 28%. However, no significant impact on the long period response (above 0.6 seconds) was observed. Additionally, in ground with lower relative density, a significant decrease in response and wide range of reduced periods were observed. Considering that the reduced short period range corresponds to the critical periods in the design response spectrum, reinforcing the loose ground with rubble mound can effectively decrease the acceleration response of the ground surface.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.17-34
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• 2020

In response spectrum analysis of pile-supported structure, an amplified seismic wave should be used as the input ground acceleration through the site-response analysis. However, each design standard uses different input ground acceleration criteria, which leads to confusion in determining the appropriate input ground acceleration. In this study, the ground accelerations were calculated through dynamic centrifuge model test, and the response spectrum analysis was performed using the calculated ground acceleration. Then, the moments derived from the test and analysis were compared, and a method for determining the appropriate input ground acceleration in response spectrum analysis was presented. Comparison of the experimental and simulated results reveals that modeling of the ground using elastic springs allows proper simulation of the natural period of the structure, and the use of a seismic wave that is amplified at the ground surface as the input ground acceleration provided the most accurate results for the response analysis of pile-supported structures in sands.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.311-322
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• 2018

As a method of seismic-design for pile-supported wharves, equivalent static analysis, response spectrum analysis, and time history analysis method are applied. Among them, the response spectrum analysis is widely used to obtain the maximum response of a structure. Because the ground is not modeled in the response spectrum analysis of pile-supported wharves, the amplified input ground acceleration should be calculated by ground classification or seismic response analysis. However, it is difficult to calculate the input ground acceleration through ground classification because the pile-supported wharf is build on inclined ground, the methods to calculate the input ground acceleration proposed in the standards are different. Therefore, in this study, the dynamic centrifuge model tests and the response spectrum analysis were carried out to calculate the appropriate input ground acceleration. The pile moment in response spectrum analysis and the dynamic centrifuge model tests were compared. As a result of comparison, it was shown that the response spectrum analysis results using the amplified acceleration in the ground surface were appropriate.

• Interaction and multiscale mechanics
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.75-90
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• 2012

This paper investigates the effects of sports ground materials on the transfer characteristics of the landing impact force using a coupled foot-shoe-ground interaction model. The impact force resulting from the collision between the sports shoe and the ground is partially dissipated, but the remaining portion transfers to the human body via the lower extremity. However, since the landing impact force is strongly influenced by the sports ground material we consider four different sports grounds, asphalt, urethane, clay and wood. We use a fully coupled 3-D foot-shoe-ground interaction model and we construct the multi-layered composite ground models. Through the numerical simulation, the landing impact characteristics such as the ground reaction force (GRF), the acceleration transfer and the frequency response characteristics are investigated for four different sports grounds. It was found that the risk of injury, associated with the landing impact, was reduced as the ground material changes from asphalt to wood, from the fact that both the peak vertical acceleration and the central frequency monotonically decrease from asphalt to wood. As well, it was found that most of the impact acceleration and frequency was dissipated at the heel, then not much changed from the ankle to the knee.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.171-187
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• 2011

Rational scaling of design earthquake ground motions for tall buildings is essential for safer, risk-based design of tall buildings. This paper provides the structural designers with an insight for more rational scaling based on drift and input energy demands. Since a resonant sinusoidal motion can be an approximate critical excitation to elastic and inelastic structures under the constraint of acceleration or velocity power, a resonant sinusoidal motion with variable period and duration is used as an input wave of the near-field and far-field ground motions. This enables one to understand clearly the relation of the intensity normalization index of ground motion (maximum acceleration, maximum velocity, acceleration power, velocity power) with the response performance (peak interstory drift, total input energy). It is proved that, when the maximum ground velocity is adopted as the normalization index, the maximum interstory drift exhibits a stable property irrespective of the number of stories. It is further shown that, when the velocity power is adopted as the normalization index, the total input energy exhibits a stable property irrespective of the number of stories. It is finally concluded that the former property on peak drift can hold for the practical design response spectrum-compatible ground motions.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2023

Structures of high-rise buildings are less prone to earthquake damage. This is because the response acceleration of high-rise buildings appears to be small by generally occurring short-period ground motions. However, due to the increased construction volume of high-rise buildings and concerns about large earthquakes, long-period ground motions have begun to be recognized as a risk factor for high-rise buildings. Ground motion observed on each floor of the building is affected by the eigenmode of the building because the ground motion input to the building is amplified in the frequency range corresponding to the building's natural frequency. In addition, long-period components of ground motion are more easily transmitted to the floor or attached components of the building than short-period components. As such, high-rise buildings and non-structural components pose concerns about long-period ground motion. However, the criteria (ASCE 7-22) underestimate the acceleration response of buildings and non-structural components caused by long-period ground motion. Therefore, the characteristics of buildings' acceleration response amplification ratio and non-structural components were reviewed in this study through shake table tests considering long-period ground motions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.115-128
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• 2022

One common method to select input ground motions to predict dynamic behavior of structures subjected to seismic excitation requires spectral acceleration (S_a) match target mean response spectrum. However, dispersion of ground motions, which explicitly affects the structural response, is rarely discussed in this method. Generally, selecting ground motions matching target mean and variance has been utilized as an appropriate method to predict reliable seismic response. The goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of target spectra variance of ground motions on structural seismic response. Two sets of ground motions with different target variances (zero variance and minimum variance larger than inherent variance of the target spectrum) are selected as input to two different structures. Structural responses at different heights are compared, in terms of peak, mean and dispersion. Results show that increase of target spectra variance tends to increase peak floor acceleration, peak deformation and dispersions of response of interest remarkably. To short-period structures, dispersion increase ratios of seismic response are close to that of S_a of input ground motions at the first period. To long-period structures, dispersions of floor acceleration and floor response spectra increase more significantly at the bottom, while dispersion increase ratios of IDR and deformation are close to that of S_a of input ground motions at the first period. This study could further provide useful information on selecting appropriate ground motion to predict seismic behavior of different types of structures.