• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.21 no.6
• /
• pp.265-275
• /
• 2017

In order to improve the seismic performance of structures, friction pendulum system (FPS) is the most commonly used seismic isolation device in addition to lead rubber bearing (LRB) in high seismicity area. In a nuclear power plant (NPP) with a large self weight, it is necessary to install a large number of seismic isolation devices, and the position of the center of rigidity varies depending on the arrangement of the seismic isolation devices. Due to the increase in the eccentricity, which is the difference between the center of gravity of the nuclear structure and the center of stiffness of the seismic isolators, an excessive seismic response may occur which could not be considered at the design stage. Three different types of eccentricity models (CASE 1, CASE 2, and CASE 3) were used for seismic response evaluation of seismically isolated NPP due to the increase of eccentricity (0%, 5%, 10%, 15%). The analytical model of the seismic isolation system was compared using the equivalent linear model and the bilinear model. From the results of the seismic response of the seismically isolated NPP with increasing eccentricity, it can be observed that the effect of eccentricity on the seismic response for the equivalent linear model is larger than that for the bilinear model.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.74 no.2
• /
• pp.201-214
• /
• 2020

This study aims at evaluating composite moment frame structures (CFS) using wavelet analysis of the displacement behavior of these structures. Five seismic damage mitigation systems' models of 9-story CFS are examined namely, basic (Model 1), reinforced (Model 2), buckling restrained braced (BRB) (Model 3), lead rubber bearing (LRB) (Model 4), and composite (Model 5) moment frames. A novel integration between continuous and discrete wavelet transforms is designed to estimate the wavelet power energy and variance of measurements' behaviors. The behaviors of the designed models are evaluated under influence of four seismic loads to study the dynamic performance of CFS in the frequency domain. The results show the behaviors of models 3 and 5 are lower than other models in terms of displacement and frequency performances. Model 3 has been shown lower performances in terms of energy and variance wavelets along the monitoring time; therefore, Model 3 demonstrates superior performance and low probability of failure under seismic loads. Furthermore, the wavelet variance analysis is shown a powerful tool that can be used to assess the CFS under seismic hazards.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.55-65
• /
• 2018

In order to reduce the seismic response of the spatial structure, a seismic isolation system with sufficient flexibility is used. The natural period of structure with seismic isolation system got be long to avoid prominent period. In this study, The seismic response of the truss-arch structure, which is modeled in three types according to the rise-span ratio is analyzed on El-centro, Northridge and Artificial Earthquake and compared with the seismic response of the truss-arch structure with lead rubber bearing(LRB). When seismic load is applied to the truss arch with isolation system, the horizontal acceleration response of the truss arch is reduced and vertical seismic response is also reduced. The application of the seismic isolation system is effective in controlling the seismic response.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.13 no.6
• /
• pp.561-572
• /
• 2017

Seismic base isolation has been accepted as one of the most popular design procedures to protect important structures against earthquakes. However, due to lack of information and experimental data the application of base isolation is quite limited to nuclear power plant (NPP) industry. Moreover, the effects of inelastic behavior of soil beneath base-isolated NPP have raised questions to the effectiveness of isolation device. This study applies the wavelet analysis to investigate the effects of soil-structure interaction (SSI) on the seismic response of a base-isolated NPP structure. To evaluate the SSI effects, the NPP structure is modelled as a lumped mass stick model and combined with a soil model using the concept of cone models. The lead rubber bearing (LRB) base isolator is used to adopt the base isolation system. The shear wave velocity of soil is varied to reflect the real rock site conditions of structure. The comparison between seismic performance of isolated structure and non-isolated structure has drawn. The results show that the wavelet analysis proves to be an efficient tool to evaluate the SSI effects on the seismic response of base-isolated structure and the seismic performance of base-isolated NPP is not sensitive to the effects in this case.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.109-116
• /
• 2019

In this study, the seismic response is investigated by using a relatively low-rise building under torsion-prone conditions and three seismic loads with change of the location of the seismic isolation system. LRB (Lead Rubber Bearing) was used for the seismic isolator applied to the analytical model. Fixed model without seismic isolation system was set as a basic model and LB models using seismic isolation system were compared. The maximum story drift ratio and the maximum torsional angle were evaluated by using the position of the seismic layer as a variable. It was confirmed that the isolation device is effective for torsional control of planar irregular structures. Also, it was shown that the applicability of the mid-story seismic isolation system. Numerical analyses results presented that an isolator installed in the lower layer provided good control performance for the maximum story drift ratio and the maximum torsional angle simultaneously.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.169-188
• /
• 2015

This study presents the effects of the spatial variation of ground motions in a hard rock site on the seismic responses of a base-isolated nuclear power plant (BI-NPP). Three structural models were studied for the BI-NPP supported by different number of lead rubber bearing (LRB) base isolators with different base mat dimensions. The seismic responses of the BI-NPP were analyzed and investigated under the uniform and spatial varying excitation of El Centro ground motion. In addition, the rotational degrees of freedom (DOFs) of the base mat nodes were taken to consider the flexural behavior of the base mat on the seismic responses under both uniform and spatial varying excitation. Finally, the seismic response results for all the analysis cases of the BI-NPP were investigated in terms of the vibration periods and mode shapes, lateral displacements, and base shear forces. The analysis results indicate that: (1) considering the flexural behavior of the base mat has a negligible effect on the lateral displacements of base isolators regardless of the number of the isolators or the type of excitation used; (2) considering the spatial variation of ground motions has a substantial influence on the lateral displacements of base isolators and the NPP stick model; (3) the ground motion spatial variation effect is more prominent on lateral displacements than base shear forces, particularly with increasing numbers of base isolators and neglecting flexural behavior of the base mat.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.52 no.1
• /
• pp.192-205
• /
• 2020

Seismic design practices and seismic response analyses of civil structures and nuclear power plants (NPPs) have conventionally used the peak ground acceleration (PGA) or spectral acceleration (S_a) as an intensity measure (IM) of an earthquake. However, there are many other earthquake IMs that were proposed by various researchers. The aim of this study is to investigate the correlation between seismic responses of NPP components and 23 earthquake IMs and identify the best IMs for correlating with damage of NPP structures. Particularly, low- and high-frequency ground motion records are separately accounted in correlation analyses. An advanced power reactor NPP in Korea, APR1400, is selected for numerical analyses where containment and auxiliary buildings are modeled using SAP2000. Floor displacements and accelerations are monitored for the non- and base-isolated NPP structures while shear deformations of the base isolator are additionally monitored for the base-isolated NPP. A series of Pearson's correlation coefficients are calculated to recognize the correlation between each of the 23 earthquake IMs and responses of NPP structures. The numerical results demonstrate that there is a significant difference in the correlation between earthquake IMs and seismic responses of non-isolated NPP structures considering low- and high-frequency ground motion groups. Meanwhile, a trivial discrepancy of the correlation is observed in the case of the base-isolated NPP subjected to the two groups of ground motions. Moreover, a selection of PGA or S_a for seismic response analyses of NPP structures in the high-frequency seismic regions may not be the best option. Additionally, a set of fragility curves are thereafter developed for the base-isolated NPP based on the shear deformation of lead rubber bearing (LRB) with respect to the strongly correlated IMs. The results reveal that the probability of damage to the structure is higher for low-frequency earthquakes compared with that of high-frequency ground motions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.13 no.4
• /
• pp.353-363
• /
• 2017

The present study considers a multi-span continuous bridge, isolated by lead rubber bearing (LRB). Dynamic soilstructure interaction (SSI) is modelled with the help of a simplified, sway-rocking model for different types of soil. It is well understood from the literature that SSI influences the structural responses and the isolator performance. However, the abovementioned effect of SSI also depends on the earthquake ground motion properties. It is very important to understand how the interaction between soil and structure varies with the earthquake ground motion characteristics but, as far as the knowledge of the authors go, no study has been carried out to investigate this effect. Therefore, the objectives of the present study are to investigate the influence of earthquake ground motion characteristics on: (a) the responses of a multi span bridge (isolated and non-isolated), (b) the performance of the isolator and, most importantly, (c) the soil-structure interaction. Statistical analyses are conducted by considering 14 earthquakes which are selected in such a way that they can be categorized into three frequency content groups according to their peak ground acceleration to peak ground velocity (PGA/PGV) ratio. Lumped mass model of the bridge is developed and time history analyses are carried out by solving the governing equations of motion in the state space form. The performance of the isolator is studied by comparing the responses of the bridge with those of the corresponding uncontrolled bridge (i.e., non-isolated bridge). On studying the effect of earthquake motions, it is observed that the earthquake ground motion characteristics affect the interaction between soil and structure in such a way that the responses decrease with increase in frequency content of the earthquake for all the types of soil considered. The reverse phenomenon is observed in case of the isolator performance where the control efficiencies increase with frequency content of earthquake.