• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.31-40
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• 2003

Due to the random nature of earthquake, the definition of the input excitation is one of the major uncertainties in the seismic response analysis. Furthermore, ground motions that correspond to a limited number of design parameters are not unique. Consequently, a brood range of response values can be obtained even with a set of motions, which match the same target parameters. The paper presents a practical probabilistic approach that can be used to systematically model the stochastic nature of seismic loading. The new approach is based on energy-based RMS hazard and takes account for the uncertainties of key ground motion parameters. The simulations indicate that the new RMS procedure is particularly useful for the rigorous probabilistic seismic response analysis, since the procedure is suitable for generation of large number of hazard-compatible motions, unlike the conventional procedure that aim to generate a small number of motions.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.91-96
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• 1992

Earthquake resistant design is evolutionary, and, although great progress has been made since seismic design was made mandatory by building codes, it is still not completely understood. In this paper, a 10 story steel building is analyzed and its results are compared by applying two different actual ground motions to the structure. 12 sets of Loma Prieta, California, earthquake data which occurred in 1989, and recorded 7.1 on the Richter scale and 9 sets of Valparaiso, Chile, earthquake data which occurred in 1985, and recorded 7.8 on the Richter scale were scaled to zone 2B level of UBC-88. By applying earthquake ground motions which had similar Richter scale magnitude, it was found that the Chile earthquake which had long duration of ground motion affected about twice bigger than that of California earthquake which had relatively short duration of ground motion. In addition to the peak ground motion, the duration of the ground motion is a very important factor in structural design.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.25-31
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• 2007

For areas such as the Korean Peninsula, which have moderate seismic activity but no available records of strong ground motion, synthetic seismograms can be used to evaluate ground motion without waiting for a strong earthquake. Such seismograms represent the estimated ground motions expected from a set of possible earthquake scenarios. Local site effects are especially important in assessing the seismic hazard and possible ground motion scenarios for a specific fault. The earthquake source and rupture dynamics can be described as a two-step process of rupture initiation and front propagation controlled by a frictional sliding mechanism. The seismic wavefield propagates through heterogeneous geological media and finally undergoes near-surface modulations such as amplification or deamplification. This is a complex system in which various scales of physical phenomena are integrated. A unified approach incorporates multi-scale problems of dynamic rupture, radiated wave propagation, and site effects into an all-in-one model using a three-dimensional, fourth-order, staggered-grid, finite-difference method. The method explains strong ground motions as products of complex systems that can be modified according to a variety of fine-scale rupture scenarios and friction models. A series of such deterministic earthquake scenarios can shed light on the kind of damage that would result and where it would be located.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2014

The main focus of this paper is the analysis of the different components of the variability for strong ground motions recorded from earthquakes produced by the Vrancea subcrustal seismic source. The analysis is performed for two ground motion prediction equations: Youngs et al. (1997) and Zhao et al. (2006), recommended within the SHARE project for the Vrancea subcrustal seismic source and which are proposed in the work of Delavaud et al. (2012) and graded best in Vacareanu et al. (2013c). The first phase of the analysis procedure consists of a grading procedure. In the second phase, the single station sigma procedure is applied for both attenuation models in order to reduce some parts of ground motion models' variability produced by the ergodic assumption. The strong ground motion database which is used throughout the study consists of over 400 accelerograms recorded from 9 Vrancea intermediate-depth seismic events. The results of the single station sigma analysis show significant reduction of the standard deviations, especially in the case of the Youngs et al. (1997) attenuation model, which is also graded better than the other selected GMPE.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.354-365
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• 2014

The horizontal response spectra using the observed ground motions from 15 Fukuoka earthquake series, including main earthquake (2005/03/20; Mw=6.5), were analysed and then were compared to both the seismic design response spectra (Regulatory Guide 1.60), applied to the domestic nuclear power plants, and the Korean Standard Design Response Spectrum for general structures and buildings (1997). 178 horizontal ground motions, without considering soil types, were used for normalization with respect to the peak acceleration value of each ground motion. The results showed that response spectrum have strong dependency on epicentral distance. The results also showed that the horizontal response spectra revealed higher values for frequency bands at two frequency bands (about 8 - 10 and 16- 20 Hz) than Regulatory Guide 1.60. The results were also compared to the Korean Standard Building Design Spectrum for the 3 different soil types and showed that thehorizontal response spectra revealed higher values for almost all period bands than the Korean Standard Response Spectrum (500 yrs; Return Period; Seismic province 1; SE soil conditions). Through the qualitative improvements and quantitative enhancement of the observed ground motions, the diversity of the observed ground motions should be considered more significantly to improve the certainty of response spectrum.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.371-380
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• 2023

To calculate seismic fragility, it is important to select input earthquake ground motions that can properly express the characteristics of the target site. This study analyzed the seismic fragility of a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model based on input earthquake ground motions in strong and low-to-moderate seismic regions. As a first step, a total of four sets of input earthquake ground motions were selected,: two sets measured near or far from overseas strong earthquake records and two sets exhibiting the characteristics of low-to-moderate earthquake regions in South Korea. A nonlinear SDOF model for three natural periods was applied to the target structure, and incremental dynamic analysis was used for fragility analysis. In addition, four damage states were defined, and seismic fragility results for each natural period of the nonlinear SDOF model for the four aforementioned input earthquake ground motion sets were obtained for each damage state.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.04a
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• pp.353-360
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• 2001

An analysis procedure of 2-dimensional bridge dynamics has been developed by using force-deformation model, which simulates the pier motion under biaxial bending due to the bi-directional input seismic excitations. A three-dimensional mechanical model is utilized, which can consider the other major phenomena such as pounding, rotation of the superstructure, abutment stiffness degradation, and motions of the foundation motions. The bi-directional dynamic behaviors of the bridge are then examined by investigating the relative displacements of each oscillator to the ground. It is found that the nonlinearity of the pier due to biaxial bending affects the pier motions, but the global bridge behaviors are greatly governed by the pounding phenomena and stiffness degradation of the abutment-backfill system. Especially, the relative displacement of the abutment system (A2) with movable supports to the ground is increased about 30% due to the abutment stiffness degradation.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.115-139
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• 2024

In this study, numerical study of a long, straight, side-anchored floating bridge with discrete pontoons subjected to combined earthquakes and waves is conducted. Ground motions with magnitude corresponding to 200 YRP (years return period) earthquake in South Korea are generated based on the spectral matching method from a past earthquake record in California. Several sensitivity studies are carried out for bridge end condition, for different site classes (hard rock S1 and soft and deep soil S5), and for three different excitations (earthquake only, wave only, and earthquake-wave combined). Bridge and pontoon motions, bending moments along the bridge, and mooring tensions are systematically examined through coupled time-domain simulations by commercial program OrcaFlex. The numerical results show that the impact of earthquakes on floating bridges is still of importance especially for soft soil although ground motions are less directly applied to the structure than fixed bridges.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.223-232
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• 2021

The spatial variation characteristics of seismic motions at the nuclear power plant's site and structures were analyzed using earthquake records obtained at the Fukushima nuclear power plant during the Great East Japan Earthquake. The ground responses amplified as they approached the soil surface from the lower rock surface, and the amplification occurred intensively at about 50 m near the ground. Due to the soil layer's nonlinear characteristics caused by the strong seismic motion, the ground's natural frequency derived from the response spectrum ratio appeared to be smaller than that calculated from the shear wave velocity profile. The spatial variation of the peak ground acceleration at the ground surface of the power plant site showed a significant difference of about 0.6 g at the maximum. As a result of comparing the response spectrums at the basement of the structure with the design response spectrum, there was a large variability by each power plant unit. The difference was more significant in the Fukushima Daiichi site record, which showed larger peak ground acceleration at the surface. The earthquake motions input to the basement of the structure amplified according to the structure's height. The natural frequency obtained from the recorded results was lower than that indicated in the previous research. Also, the floor response spectrum change according to the location at the same height was investigated. The vertical response on the foundation surface showed a significant difference in spectral acceleration depending on the location. The amplified response in the structure showed a different variability depending on the type of structure and the target frequency.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.663-672
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• 2001

Numerous failures in welded connections in steel moment-resisting building frames (SMRF) were observed when buildings were inspected after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. These observations raised concerns about the effectiveness of such frames for resisting strong earthquake ground motions. The behavior of SMRFs during an earthquake must be assessed using nonlinear dynamic analysis, and such assessments must permit the deterioration in connection strength to capture the behavior of the frame. The uncertainties that underlie both structural and dynamic loading also need to be included in the analysis process. This paper describes the analysis of one of approximately 200 SMRFs that suffered damage to its welded beam-to-column connections from the Northridge Earthquake is evaluated. Nonlinear static and dynamic analysis of this SMRF in the time domain is performed using ground motions representing the Northridge Earthquake. Subsequently, a detailed uncertainty analysis is conducted for the building using an ensemble of earthquake ground motions. Probability distributions for deformation-related limit states, described in terms of maximum roof displacement or interstory drift, are constructed. Building fragilities that are useful for condition assessment of damaged building structures and for performance-based design are developed from these distributions.