• Wind and Structures
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2008

Interference effects in five square tall buildings arranged in an L- or T-shaped pattern are investigated in the wind tunnel. Mean and fluctuating shear forces, overturning moments and torsional moment are measured on each building with a force balance mounted at its base. Results are obtained at two values of clear separation between adjacent buildings, at half and a quarter building breadth. It is found that strong interference effect exists on all member buildings, resulting in significant modifications of wind loads as compared with the isolated single building case. Sheltering effect is observed on wind loads acting along the direction of an arm of the "L" or "T" on the inner buildings. However, increase in these wind loads from the isolated single building case is found on the most upwind edge building in the arm when wind blows at a slight oblique angle to the arm. The corner formed by two arms of buildings results in some wind catchment effect leading to increased wind pressure on windward building faces. Interesting interference phenomena such as negative drag force are reported. Interference effects on wind load fluctuations, load spectra and dynamic building responses are also studied and discussed.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.31-44
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• 2001

Mean concentrations of ammonia gas released as a tracer from an isolated low-rise building have been measured and predicted. Predictions were calculated using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and two dispersion models: a diffusion model and a Lagrangian particle tracking technique. Explicit account was taken of the natural variation of wind direction by a technique based on the weighted summation of individual steady state wind direction results according to the probability density function of the wind direction. The results indicated that at distances >3 building heights downstream the weighted predictions from either model are satisfactory but that in the near wake the diffusion model is less successful. Weighted solutions give significantly improved predictions over unweighted results. Lack of plume spread is identified as the main cause of inaccuracies in predictions and this is linked to inadequate resolution of flow features and mixing in the CFD model. Further work on non-steady state simulation of wake flows for dispersion studies is recommended.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.649-670
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• 2013

It is known that a base-isolated building exhibits a large response to a long-duration, long-period wave and an inter-connected system without base-isolation shows a large response to a pulse-type wave. To compensate for each deficiency, a new hybrid passive control system is investigated in which a base-isolated building is connected to another building (free wall) with oil dampers. It is demonstrated that the present hybrid passive control system is effective both for pulse-type ground motions and long-duration and long-period ground motions and has high redundancy and robustness for a broad range of disturbances.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2004.05a
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• pp.700-703
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• 2004

The purpose of this study is to present the design methodology of base isolated buildings. To achieve the goal of this study, time-history analysis was performed with seismic performance level and recorded seismic data. From the analysis results of MDOF system, the maximum. displacement and base shear were evaluated as 25 cm and $4\%$ by the input level which is maximum velocity of 50 kine. By introducing hybrid isolation system, seismic energy can be concentrated consequently high seismic capacity of the total building is secured.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.587-606
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• 2013

The given paper presents a new approach in design of seismic isolation systems of base isolated buildings. The idea is to install not one big size rubber bearing under the columns and/or shear walls, or one by one with certain spacing under the load-bearing walls, but to install a group/cluster of small size bearings, in order to increase the overall effectiveness of the isolation system. The advantages of this approach are listed and illustrated by the examples. Also the results of analyses of some buildings where the approach on installation of clusters of rubber bearings was used in their isolation systems are given for two cases: i) when the analyses are carried out based on the provisions of the Armenian Seismic Code, and ii) when the time history analyses are carried out. Obtained results are compared and discussed. Paper also presents, as an example, detailed analysis and design of the 18-story unique building in one of the residential complexes in Yerevan. Earthquake response analyses of this building were carried out in two versions, i.e. when the building is base isolated and when it is fixed base. Several time histories were used in the analyses. Comparison of the obtained results indicates the high effectiveness of the proposed structural concepts of isolation systems and the need for further improvement of the Seismic Code provisions regarding the values of the reduction factors. A separate section in the paper dedicated to the design of high damping laminated rubber-steel bearings and to results of their tests.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.91-108
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• 2017

Superstructures and isolation systems of seismically isolated buildings located close to active faults may observe increased seismic demands resulting from long-period and high-amplitude velocity and displacement pulses existent in near-fault ground motions as their fundamental periods may be close to or coincident with these near-fault pulse periods. In order to take these effects into account, the 1997 Uniform Building Code (UBC97) has specified near-source factors that scale up the design spectrum depending on the closest distance to the fault, the soil type at the site, and the properties of the seismic source. Although UBC97 has been superseded by the 2015 International Building Code in the U.S.A., UBC97 near-source factors are still frequently referred in the design of seismically isolated buildings around the world. Therefore it is deemed necessary and thus set as the aim of this study to assess the necessity and the adequacy of near-source factors for seismically isolated buildings. Benchmark buildings of different heights with isolation systems of different properties are used in comparing seismic responses obtained via time history analyses using a large number of historical earthquakes with those obtained from spectral analyses using the amplified spectrums established through UBC97 near-source factors. Results show that near-source factors are necessary but inadequate for superstructure responses and somewhat unconservative for base displacement response.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.231-252
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• 2010

Previous research on pounding between seismically isolated buildings during earthquakes has been focused on impacts at the bases of structures and the effect of simultaneous interactions at the bases and at the superstructures has not been studied in details. In this paper, the seismic responses of adjacent buildings supported on different or similar base systems considering impacts between bases and superstructures are numerically investigated. The study is carried out in three parts for the two types of adjacent buildings: (i) both structures have fixed bases; (ii) one structure has fixed base and the other is seismically isolated and (iii) both structures have base isolation systems. The results of the study indicate that the pounding-involved responses of the buildings depend mainly on the type of structural base systems and on the structural parameters of both buildings. For the base-isolated building, the variation of the peak accelerations and displacements of the storeys have been found to be relatively low. On the other hand, significant differences have been observed for the fixed base building. The results of the parametric study conducted for different values of the gap size between colliding structures show the reduction in the peak base displacements as the gap distance decreases.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.6 s.52
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• pp.37-46
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• 2006

In this study, the efficacy of the newly developed smart passive control system to improve seismic performance of base isolated building structures is numerically verified. The smart passive control system consists of a magnetorheological (MR) damper and an electromagnetic induction (EMI) part. The damping characteristics of an MR damper can be controlled by the current generated in an EMI part according to the Faraday's law of electromagnetic induction. An EMI part consisting of a permanent magnet and a solenoid coil could substitute a control system including sensors, a controller and an external power supply in a conventional smart control system. The benchmark control problem for a base isolated building presented by the american society of civil engineers is considered for numerical simulation. The control performance of the smart passive control system is compared to that of the conventional smart control system using MR dampers. It is demonstrated from the numerical simulation results that the smart passive control system is useful to improve the seismic performance of base isolated buildings.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.643-651
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to evaluate seismic capacity of seismically isolated building according to the earthquake motion record selection method. To analyze the seismic behavior, 20-story building is designed, which has base isolation system. The using earthquake motion record were selected by two categories. The one is a proposed earthquake record according to soil type and response spectrum shape, and the other is a well known earthquake events such as El Centro (1940). The time history analysis results of base isolation buildings be induced difference results according to each ground motion records. Therefore detailed guidelines for the ground motion records selection method must be prepared. And the response of isolation story displacement and shear force show good seismic performance in consideration of the proposed earthquake records.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.247-251
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• 2001

Nowadays, base isolation systems such as lead-rubber bearing, elastomer bearing and sliding bearing have been installed to the various structures to prevent the disaster from seismic. The performance of base isolation system have been well proved by model-scale experiments and numerical analysis. However. the seismic response data measured at real large base-isolated structures is still insufficient. This paper presents a seismic monitoring system, acquiring real-time acceleration signals up to 32 channels, displaying time history and spectrum of the signals, storing the acquired data at a PC hard disk, and replaying the saved data. Moreover, the system can be operated without any limitation for monitoring period by automatic management of stored data file. The developed system has been installed at a real base-isolated building using lead-rubber bearings and we expect its seismic response data with ground motion signal can be well licquired in case of earthquake occurrence.