• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.111-119
• /
• 2020

Recently, some of the most destructive earthquakes have occurred in South Korea since earthquake observations began in 1978. In particular, the soil liquefactions have been reported in Pohang as a result of the ML 5.4 earthquake that occurred in November 2017. Liquefaction-induced ground deformations can cause significant damage to a wide range of buildings and infrastructures. Therefore, it is necessary to take practical steps to ensure safety during an earthquake. In the current seismic design in South Korea, the Hachinohe earthquake and Ofunato earthquake recorded in Japan, along with artificial earthquakes, have been generally used for input motions in dynamic analyses. However, such strong ground motions are only from Japan, and artificial earthquake ground motions are different from real ground motions. In this study, seven ground motions are selected, including those recorded in South Korea, while others are compatible to the current design spectra of South Korea. The effects of the newly selected ground motions on site response analyses and liquefaction analyses are evaluated.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.557-566
• /
• 2019

The evaluation of the seismic hazard for a given site is to estimate the seismic ground motion at the surface. This is the result of the combination of the action of the seismic source, which generates seismic waves, the propagation of these waves between the source and the site, and site local conditions. The aim of this work is to evaluate the sensitivity of dynamic response of extended structures to spatial variable ground motions (SVGM). All factors of spatial variability of ground motion are considered, especially local site effect. In this paper, a method is presented to simulate spatially varying earthquake ground motions. The scheme for generating spatially varying ground motions is established for spatial locations on the ground surface with varying site conditions. In this proposed method, two steps are necessary. Firstly, the base rock motions are assumed to have the same intensity and are modelled with a filtered Tajimi-Kanai power spectral density function. An empirical coherency loss model is used to define spatial variable seismic ground motions at the base rock. In the second step, power spectral density function of ground motion on surface is derived by considering site amplification effect based on the one dimensional seismic wave propagation theory. Several dynamics analysis of a curved viaduct to various cases of spatially varying seismic ground motions are performed. For comparison, responses to uniform ground motion, to spatial ground motions without considering local site effect, to spatial ground motions with considering coherency loss, phase delay and local site effects are also calculated. The results showed that the generated seismic signals are strongly conditioned by the local site effect. In the same sense, the dynamic response of the viaduct is very sensitive of the variation of local geological conditions of the site. The effect of neglecting local site effect in dynamic analysis gives rise to a significant underestimation of the seismic demand of the structure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.6
• /
• pp.1283-1301
• /
• 2014

Ground motion modification is extensively used in seismic design of civil infrastructure, especially where few or no recorded ground motions representative of the design scenario are available. A site in Los Angeles, California is used as a study site and 28 ground motions consistent with the design earthquake scenario are selected. The suite of 28 ground motions is scaled and modified in the time domain (TD) and frequency domain (FD) before being used as input to a bilinear SDOF system. The median structural responses to the suites of scaled, TD-modified, and FD-modified motions, along with ratios of he modified-to-scaled responses, are investigated for SDOF systems with different periods, strength ratios, and post-yield stiffness ratios. Overall, little difference (less than 20%) is observed in the peak structural accelerations, velocities, and displacements; displacement ductility; and absolute accelerations caused by the TD-modified and FD-modified motions when compared to the responses caused by the scaled motions. The energy absorbed by the system when the modified motions are used as input is more than 20% greater than when scaled motions are used as input. The observed trends in the structural response are predominantly the result of changes in the ground motion characteristics caused by modification.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.87 no.5
• /
• pp.431-450
• /
• 2023

In this study, it is intended to perform nonlinear time-history analyses of nuclear power plant structures (NPP) under near-fault earthquakes showing directivity pulse and fling-step characteristics. Simulation procedures based on cycloidal pulse and far-fault ground motions are also used to simulate near-fault motions showing forward-directivity and fling-step characteristics and the structural responses are compared with those of the recorded near-fault ground motions. Because it is aimed to determine specifically the pulse type characteristics of near-fault ground motions on NPPs, all the ground motions are normalized to have a PGA of 0.3 g. Depending on the obtained results it can be underlined that although near-fault ground motion has the potential to cause damage mostly on structural systems having larger periods, it may also have noticeable effects on the responses of rigid structures, like NPP containment buildings. On the other hand, simulated near-fault motions can help us to get an insight into the near-fault mechanism as well as an approximate visualization of the structural responses under near-fault earthquakes.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.1-10
• /
• 2011

This paper proposes an efficient method for selecting ground motions with the mean response spectrum matching a target spectrum. Since former studies reported that the shape and amplitude of the response spectra can be treated independently for selecting ground motions, this study first selects ground motions such that the shape of their mean response spectrum matches that of the target spectrum, then scales the ground motions. To select the ground motions best matching the shape of the target response spectrum, the standard deviation of the difference between the target response spectrum and the mean response spectrum of the selected ground motions needs to be minimized. Unlike the existing procedure, the scaling factor can be computed without iteration. Based on the selection results of 7 ground motions from a library of 40 ground motions, the proposed method is verified as an accurate and efficient method.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2007.09a
• /
• pp.293-304
• /
• 2007

In 2007, Round Robin Test (RRT) on ground response analyses has been conducted by the technical committee of Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering of Korean Geotechnical Society. Total 14 teams have reported 16 different results. This paper discusses the evaluation of ground response dispersion caused by the difference of input ground motions. In order to determine the characteristics of ground response, this study analysed the peak ground acceleration, predominant period, and response spectrum of reported ground surface motions. The results suggest that ground response dispersion due to the difference of input ground motions can be significant.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2001.09a
• /
• pp.19-27
• /
• 2001

Seismic parameters fur computation of ground motions in Southern Korea are obtained from recently recorded data, and site-independent regional and site-dependent local strong ground motions are predicted using efficient computational techniques. For the computation of ground motions, we devised an efficient procedure to compute site-independent $x_{q}$ and dependent $x_{s}$ values separately. The first step of this procedure is to use the coda normalization method far computation of site independent Q or corresponding $x_{q}$ value. The next step is the computation of $x_{s}$, values fur each site separately using the given $x_{q}$ value. For computation of ground motions the empirical Green's function (EGF) is modified to account fur the depth and distance variations of subevents on a finite fault plane using the theoritical Green's function. It is computed using wavenumber integration technique in layered media. The site dependent ground motions at seismic stations in southeastern local area were properly simulated using the modified empirical Green's function method in layered medium. The proposed method and procedures fur estimation of site dependent seismic parameters and ground motions could be efficiently used in the low and moderate seismicity regions.ons.s.ons.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.23 no.7
• /
• pp.137-144
• /
• 2019

For the structures near the seismogenic fault, the evaluation of seismic performance against near-fault ground motions is important as well as for design ground motions. In this study, characteristics of seismic behaviors and seismic performance of the pile-bent bridge constructed on the thick soft soil site with various weak soil layers were analyzed. The input ground motions were synthesized by the directivity pulse parameters for intra-plate regions. The ground motion acceleration histories of each layer were obtained by one-dimensional site response analysis. Each soil layer was modeled by equivalent linear springs, and multi-support excitations with different input ground motions at each soil spring were applied for nonlinear seismic analyses. The analysis result by the near-fault ground motions and ground motions matched to design spectra were compared. In case of the near fault ground motion input, the bridge behaved within the elastic range but the location of the maximum moment occurred was different from the result of design ground motion input.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 1997.04a
• /
• pp.88-93
• /
• 1997

Amplication factor spectrum has been obtained and compared with standard Response Spectrum using the observed strong ground motions database. The observed ground motions from the Miramichi, Nahanni, Saguenay and New Madrid Earthquake (vertical component 19. horizontal component 36). which are estimated to represent domestic seismotectonic characteristics such as seismic source, attenuation, and site effect, are used for the analysis of amplication factor spectrum. Amplication factor has been calculated using both observed peak values and results from responses to the observed horizontal and vertical ground motions. The comparison shows that the amplication factors resultant from this study exceeds those of Standard Response Spectrum at relatively higher frequencies. The results implie that the characteristics of the seismic strong ground motion which may represent the domestic seismotectonic characteristics differs from those of Standard Response Spectrum, which are resultant from the strong ground motions observed mainly at the westem United States.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 1998.10a
• /
• pp.407-412
• /
• 1998

Amplification factor spectrum, using the observed strong ground motions database, has been obtained and compared with Standard Response Spectrum, which were suggested by US NRC. The observed ground motions from the Yongwol and the Kyoungju Earthquake, respectively, which are suppose to represent domestic seismotectonic characteristics such as seismic source, attenuation, and site effect, are used for the analysis of amplification factor spectrum. Amplification factors have been calculated by comparing the observed peak ground motions with results from responses to the observed horizontal and vertical ground motions. The comparison shows that the amplification factors resultant from this study exceeds those of Standard Response Spectum at relatively higher frequencies. The results suggest that the characteristics of the seismic strong ground motion, which are supposed to represent the domestic seismotectonic characteristics, differs from those of Standard Response Spectrum, especially at hither frequencies