• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2004.11a
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• pp.574-577
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• 2004

This paper presents a hybrid system combining lead rubber bearings and hydraulic actuators controlled by a $\mu-synthesis$ method for seismic response control of a cable-stayed bridge. A hybrid system could alleviate some of restrictions and limitations that exist when each system is acting alone because multiple control devices are operating. Therefore, the overall control performance of a hybrid system may be improved compared to each system, however the overall system robustness may be negatively impacted by active device in the hybrid system or active controller may cause instability due to small margins. Therefore, a $\mu-synthesis$ method that guarantees the robust performance is considered to enhance the possibility of real applications of the control system. The performances of the proposed control system are compared with those of passive, active, semiactive control systems and hybrid system controlled by a LQG algorithm. Furthermore, an extensive robust analysis with respect to stiffness and mass matrices perturbation and time delay of actuator is performed. Numerical simulation results show that the performances of the proposed control system are superior to those of passive system and slightly better than those of active and semiactive systems and two hybrid systems show similar control performances. Furthermore, the hybrid system controlled by a f-synthesis method shows the good robustness without loss of control performances. Therefore, the proposed control system could effectively be used to seismically excited cable-stayed bridge which contains many uncertainties.

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

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.165-176
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• 2017

Multi-Axial Testing System (MATS) is a 6-DOF loading system located at National Center for Research on Earthquake Engineering (NCREE) in Taiwan for advanced seismic testing of structural components or sub-assemblages. MATS was designed and constructed for a large variety of structural testing, especially for the specimens that require to be subjected to vertical and longitudinal loading simultaneously, such as reinforced concrete columns and lead rubber bearings. Functionally, MATS consists of a high strength self-reacting frame, a rigid platen, and a large number of servo-hydraulic actuators. The high strength self-reacting frame is composed of two post-tensioned A-shape reinforced concrete frames interconnected by a steel-and-concrete composite cross beam and a reinforced concrete reacting base. The specimen can be anchored between the top cross beam and the bottom rigid platen within a 5-meter high and 3.25-meter wide clear space. In addition to the longitudinal horizontal actuators that can be installed for various configurations, a total number of 13 servo-hydraulic actuators are connected to the rigid platen. Degree-of-freedom control of the rigid platen can be achieved by driving these actuators commanded by a digital controller. The specification and information of MATS in detail are described in this paper, providing the users with a technical point of view on the design, application, and limitation of MATS. Finally, future potential application employing advanced experimental technology is also presented in this paper.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.319-329
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• 2020

Among the bridges used in Korea, those that are more than 30 years old account for approximately 11% of the total bridges. Therefore, developing a seismic performance-evaluation method is necessary by considering the bridge age. Three composite steel-concrete box girder bridges with port, elastic-rubber, and lead-rubber bearings were selected, and a structural analysis model was developed using the OpenSEESs program. In this study, pier aging was reflected by the reduction in the area of the longitudinal and transverse rebars. Four conditions of 5%, 10%, 25%, and 50% in the degree of pier aging were used. As input earthquakes, 40 near-fault and far-field earthquakes were used, and the maximum displacement and maximum shear-force responses of the piers were obtained and compared. The result shows that as the aging degree increases, the pier strength decreases. Therefore, the pier displacement response increases. To analyze the effects of displacement response and shear resistance, displacement ratio D_ratio and shear-force ratio F_ratio were evaluated. The older the sample bridge is, the greater is the tendency of D_ratio to increase and the smaller is the tendency of F_ratio to decrease.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.119-131
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• 2024

Pulse-like ground motion can cause greater damage to structures than nonpulse-like ground motion. Currently, much research is being conducted to determine the presence or absence of velocity pulses and to quantify them from seismic-acceleration records. Existing ground motion is divided into far-field (FF) and near-fault ground motion, based on the distance of the measurement point from the fault. Near-fault ground motion is further classified into near-fault pulse-like (NFP) and near-fault nonpulse-like (NFNP) ground motion by quantifying the presence or absence of velocity pulses. For each ground motion group, 40 FF, 40 NFP, and 40 NFNP ground motions are selected; thus, 120 ground motions are used in the seismic analysis to assess the seismic fragility of sample bridges. Probabilistic seismic demand models (PSDMs) are created by evaluating the seismic responses of two types of sample bridges with lead-rubber and elastomeric rubber bearings using three groups of ground motions. Seismic fragility analysis is performed using the PSDM, and from these results, the effect of the presence or absence of seismic velocity pulses on the seismic fragility is evaluated. From the comparison results of the seismic fragility curve, the seismic fragility of NFP ground motion appears to be approximately three to five times greater than that of NFNP ground motion, according to the presence or absence of a velocity pulse of seismic waves. This means that the damage to the bridge is greater in the case of NFP ground motion than that in the case of NFNP ground motion.