• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.3
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• pp.267-277
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• 2017

Base-isolation is now being adopted as a retrofitting strategy to improve seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete (r.c.) framed structures subjected to far-fault earthquakes. However, the increase in deformability of a base-isolated framed building may lead to amplification in the structural response under the long-duration horizontal pulses of high-magnitude near-fault earthquakes, which can become critical once the strength level of a fire-weakened r.c. superstructure is reduced. The aim of the present work is to investigate the nonlinear seismic response of fire-damaged r.c. framed structures retrofitted by base-isolation. For this purpose, a five-storey r.c. framed building primarily designed (as fixed-base) in compliance with a former Italian seismic code for a medium-risk zone, is to be retrofitted by the insertion of elastomeric bearings to meet the requirements of the current Italian code in a high-risk seismic zone. The nonlinear seismic response of the original (fixed-base) and retrofitted (base-isolated) test structures in a no fire situation are compared with those in the event of fire in the superstructure, where parametric temperature-time curves are defined at the first level, the first two and the upper levels. A lumped plasticity model describes the inelastic behaviour of the fire-damaged r.c. frame members, while a nonlinear force-displacement law is adopted for the elastomeric bearings. The average root-mean-square deviation of the observed spectrum from the target design spectrum together with a suitable intensity measure are chosen to select and scale near- and far-fault earthquakes on the basis of the design hypotheses adopted.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.11
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• pp.71-80
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• 2018

In this study, the seismic response of cut-and-cover box tunnels is evaluated from pseudo-static analyses and the fragility curves are derived. A series of site profiles were used to evaluate the effect of soil conditions. A total of 20 ground motions were used. The fragility curves were developed as functions of peak ground acceleration for three damage states, which are minor, moderate, and extensive states. The damage indices, defined as the ratio of the elastic moment to the yield moment, correlated to three damage states, were used. The curves are shown to greatly depend on the site profile. The curves are further compared to those derived in previous studies. The widely used empirically derived curves are shown not to account for the site effects, and therefore underestimate the response for soft sites.