• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.1-27
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• 2015

In this paper Fragility Curves (FCs) relevant to existing RC framed building types representative of the Italian building population designed only to vertical load and regular in-plan have been derived from an extensive campaign of non-linear dynamic analyses. In the generation of the FCs, damage states according to the EMS98 scale have been considered while the intensity measure has been defined by adopting an integral parameter, such as the Housner intensity. FCs have been generated by varying different parameters, including building age, number of storeys, presence and position of infill panels, plan dimensions, external beams stiffness and concrete strength. In order to verify the effectiveness of the damage prediction, comparisons were made between the results obtained from the proposed FCs with those deriving from both prominent fragility studies available in the technical literature and damage distributions observed in past earthquakes. Results show that damage grades obtained by adopting the proposed FCs are generally lower than those provided by the other approaches considered. A comparison with real damage data, shows that the proposed FCs generally estimate more severe damage distributions than those observed in past earthquakes, although they give lower differences with respect to the other approaches.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.409-430
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• 2006

The aim of this study is to investigate the reliability of strong motion records processed by causal and acausal Butterworth filters in comparison to the results obtained from a synthetic accelerogram. For this purpose, the fault parallel component of the Bolu record of the Duzce earthquake is modeled with a sum of exponentially damped sinusoidal components. Noise-free velocities and displacements are then obtained by analytically integrating the synthetic acceleration model. The analytical velocity and displacement signals are used as a standard with which to judge the validity of the signals obtained by filtering with causal and acausal filters and numerically integrating the acceleration model. The results show that the acausal filters are clearly preferable to the causal filters due to the fact that the response spectra obtained from the acausal filters match the spectra obtained from the simulated accelerogram better than that obtained by causal filters. The response spectra are independent from the order of the filters and from the method of integration (whether analytical integration after a spline fit to the synthetic accelerogram or the trapezoidal rule). The response spectra are sensitive to the chosen corner frequency of both the causal and the acausal filters and also to the inclusion of the pads. Accurate prediction of the static residual displacement (SRD) is very important for structures traversing faults in the near-fault regions. The greatest adverse effect of the high pass filters is their removal of the SRD. However, the noise-free displacements obtained by double integrating the synthetic accelerogram analytically preserve the SRD. It is thus apparent that conventional high pass filters should not be used for processing near-fault strong-motion records although they can be reliably used for far-fault records if applied acausally. The ground motion parameters such as ARIAS intensity, HUSID plots, Housner spectral intensity and the duration of strong-motion are found to be insensitive to the causality of filters.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.12
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• pp.4179-4188
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• 2021

This study identifies efficient earthquake intensity measures (IMs) for seismic performances and fragility evaluations of the reactor containment building (RCB) in the advanced power reactor 1400 (APR1400) nuclear power plant (NPP). The computational model of RCB is constructed using the beam-truss model (BTM) for nonlinear analyses. A total of 90 ground motion records and 20 different IMs are employed for numerical analyses. A series of nonlinear time-history analyses are performed to monitor maximum floor displacements and accelerations of RCB. Then, probabilistic seismic demand models of RCB are developed for each IM. Statistical parameters including coefficient of determination (R²), dispersion (i.e. standard deviation), practicality, and proficiency are calculated to recognize strongly correlated IMs with the seismic performance of the NPP structure. The numerical results show that the optimal IMs are spectral acceleration, spectral velocity, spectral displacement at the fundamental period, acceleration spectrum intensity, effective peak acceleration, peak ground acceleration, A95, and sustained maximum acceleration. Moreover, weakly related IMs to the seismic performance of RCB are peak ground displacement, root-mean-square of displacement, specific energy density, root-mean-square of velocity, peak ground velocity, Housner intensity, velocity spectrum intensity, and sustained maximum velocity. Finally, a set of fragility curves of RCB are developed for optimal IMs.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.365-384
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• 2014

The intensity of a ground motion can be measured by a number of parameters, some of which might exhibit robust correlations with the damage of structures subjected to that motion. In this study, 204 near-fault pulse-type records are selected and their seismic parameters are determined. Time history and damage analyses of a tested 3-storey reinforced concrete frame representing for low-rise reinforced concrete buildings subjected to those earthquake motions are performed after calibration and comparison with the available experimental results. The aim of this paper is to determine amongst several available seismic parameters, the ones that have strong correlations with the structural damage measured by a damage index and the maximum inter-story drift. The results show that Velocity Spectrum Intensity is the leading parameter demonstrating the best correlation, followed by Housner Intensity, Spectral Acceleration and Spectral Displacement. These seismic parameters are recommended as reliable parameters of near-fault pulse-type motions related to damage potential of low-rise reinforced concrete structures. The results also reaffirm that the conventional and widely used parameter of Peak Ground Acceleration does not exhibit a good correlation with the structural damage.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.2
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• pp.219-230
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• 2022

Due to the large number of railway bridges along China's high-speed railway (HSR) lines, which cover a wide area with many lines crossing the seismic zone, the possibility of a HSR train running over a bridge when an earthquake occurs is relatively high. Since the safety performance of the train will be threatened, it is necessary to study the safety of trains running over HSR bridges during earthquakes. However, ground motion (GM) is highly random and selecting the appropriate ground-motion intensity measures (IMs) for train running safety analysis is not trivial. To deal this problem, a model of a coupled train-bridge system under seismic excitation was established and 104 GM samples were selected to evaluate the correlation between 16 different IMs and train running safety over HSR bridges during earthquakes. The results show that spectral velocity (SvT₁) and displacement (SdT₁) at the fundamental period of the structure have good correlation with train running safety for medium-and long-period HSR bridges, and velocity spectrum intensity (VSI) and Housner intensity (HI) have good correlation for a wide range of structural periods. Overall, VSI and HI are the optimal IMs for safety analysis of trains running over HSR bridges during earthquakes. Finally, based on VSI and HI, the IM thresholds of an HSR bridge at different speed were analyzed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.343-362
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• 2004

Rocking response of rigid bodies with rectangular footprint, freely standing on horizontal rigid plane is studied analytically. Bodies are subjected to simulated single component of horizontal earthquakes. The effect of baseline correction, applied to simulated excitations, on the rocking response is first examined. The sensitiveness of rocking motion to the details of earthquakes and geometric properties of rigid bodies is investigated. Due to the demonstrated sensitivity of rocking response to these factors, prediction of rocking stability must be made in the framework of probability theory. Therefore, using a large number of simulated earthquakes, the effects of duration and shape of intensity function of simulated earthquakes on overturning probability of rigid bodies are studied. In the case when a rigid body is placed on any floor of a building, the corresponding probability is compared to that of a body placed on the ground. For this purpose, several shear frames are employed. Finally, the viability of the energy balance equation, which was introduced by Housner in 1963 and widely used by nuclear power industry to estimate the rocking stability of bodies, is evaluated. It is found that the equation is robust. Examples are also given to show how this equation can be used.