• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.33-44
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• 2013

Mononobe-Okabe (M-O) theory is widely used for evaluating seismic earth pressure of retaining wall. It was originally developed for gravity walls, which have rigid behavior, retaining cohesionless backfill materials. However, it is used for cantilever retaining wall on the various foundation conditions. Considering only inertial force of the soil wedge as a dynamic force in the M-O method, inertial force of the wall does not take into account the effect on the dynamic earth pressure. This paper presents the theoretical background for the calculation of the dynamic earth pressure of retaining wall during earthquakes, and the current research trends are organized. Besides, the discrepancies between real seismic behavior and M-O method for inverted T-shape retaining wall with 5.4m height subjected to earthquake motions were evaluated using dynamic centrifuge test. From previous studies, it was found that application point, distribution of dynamic earth pressure and M-O method are needed to be re-examined. Test results show that real behavior of retaining wall during an earthquake has a different phase between dynamic earth pressure and inertial force of retaining wall. Moreover, when bending moments of retaining wall reach maximum values, the measured earth pressures are lower than static earth pressures and it is considered due to inertial effects of retaining wall.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.31 no.10
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• pp.999-1008
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• 2007

The spacer grid set is a component in the nuclear fuel assembly. The set supports the fuel rods safely. Therefore, the spacer grid set should have sufficient strength for the external impact forces such as earthquake. The fretting wear occurs between the spring of the fuel rod and the spacer grid due to flow-induced vibration. Conceptual design of the spacer grid set is performed based on the Independence Axiom of axiomatic design. Two functional requirements are defined for the impact load and the fretting wear, and corresponding design parameters are selected. The overall flow of design is defined according to the application of axiomatic design. Design for the impact load is carried out by using nonlinear dynamic analysis to determine the length of the dimple. Topology optimization is carried out to determine a new configuration of the spring. The fretting wear is reduced by shape optimization using the homology theory. The deformation of a structure is called homologous if a given geometrical relationship holds before, during, and after the deformation. In the design to reduce the fretting wear, the deformed shape of the spring should be the same as that of the fuel rod. This condition is transformed to a function and considered as a constraint in the shape optimization process. The fretting wear is expected to be reduced due to the homology constraint. The objective function is minimizing the maximum stress to allow a slight plastic deformation. Shape optimization results are confirmed through nonlinear static analysis.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.333-347
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• 2017

Masonry infill walls are unavoidable parts of any building to create a separation between internal space and external environment. In general, there are some prevalent openings in the infill wall due to functional needs, architectural considerations or aesthetic concerns. In current design practice, the strength and stiffness contribution of infill walls is not considered. However, the presence of infill walls may decisively influence the seismic response of structures subjected to earthquake loads and cause a different behavior from that predicted for a bare frame. Furthermore, partial openings in the masonry infill wall are significant parameter affecting the seismic behavior of infilled frames thereby decreasing the lateral stiffness and strength. The possible effects of openings in the infill wall on seismic behavior of RC frames is analytically studied by means of pushover analysis of several bare, partially and fully infilled frames having different bay and story numbers. The stiffness loss due to partial opening is introduced by the stiffness reduction factors which are developed from finite element analysis of frames considering frame-infill interaction. Pushover curves of frames are plotted and the maximum base shear forces, the yield displacement, the yield base shear force coefficient, the displacement demand, interstory drift ratios and the distribution of story shear forces are determined. The comparison of parameters both in terms of seismic demand and capacity indicates that partial openings decisively influences the nonlinear behavior of RC frames and cause a different behavior from that predicted for a bare frame or fully infilled frame.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.271-287
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• 2005

The seismic behavior of two steel moment-resisting frames, which satisfy all the current seismic design requirements, are evaluated and compared in the presence of pre-Northridge connections denoted as BWWF and an improved post-Northridge connections denoted as BWWF-AD. Pre-Northridge connections are modeled first as fully restrained (FR) type. Then they are considered to be partially restrained (PR) to model their behavior more realistically. The improved post-Northridge connections are modeled as PR type, as proposed by the authors. A sophisticated nonlinear time-domain finite element program developed by the authors is used for the response evaluation of the frames in terms of the overall rotation of the connections and the maximum drift. The frames are excited by ten recorded earthquake time histories. These time histories are then scaled up to produce some relevant response characteristics. The behaviors of the frames are studied comprehensively with the help of 120 analyses. Following important observations are made. The frames produced essentially similar rotation and drift for the connections modeled as FR type and PR type represented by BWWF-AD indicating that the presence of slots in the web of beams in BWWF-AD is not detrimental to the overall response behavior. When the lateral displacements of the frames are significantly large, the responses are improved if BWWF-AD type connections are used in the frames. This study analytically confirms many desirable features of BWWF-AD connections. PR frames have longer periods of vibration in comparison to FR frames and may attract lower inertia forces. However, calculated periods of the frames of this study using FEMA 350 empirical equation is longer than those calculated using dynamic characteristics of the frames. This may result in even lower design forces and may adversely influence the design.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.68 no.6
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• pp.747-760
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• 2018

In the present study, a methodology for developing fragilities of arch concrete dams to assess their performance against seismic hazards is introduced. Firstly, the probability risk and fragility curves are presented, followed by implementation and representation of the way this method is used. Amirkabir arch concrete dam was subjected to non-linear dynamic analyses. A modified three dimensional rotating smeared crack model was used to take the nonlinear behavior of mass concrete into account. The proposed model considers major characteristics of mass concrete. These characteristics are pre-softening behavior, softening initiation criteria, fracture energy conservation, suitable damping mechanism and strain rate effect. In the present analysis, complete fluid-structure interaction is included to account for appropriate fluid compressibility and absorptive reservoir boundary conditions. In this study, the Amirkabir arch concrete dam is subjected to a set of 8 three-component earthquakes each scaled to 10 increasing intensity levels. Using proposed nonlinear smeared crack model, nonlinear analysis is performed where the structure is subjected to a large set of scaled and un-scaled ground motions and the maximum responses are extracted for each one and plotted. Based on the results, fragility curves were plotted according to various and possible damages indexes. Discrete damage probabilities were calculated using statistical methods for each considered performance level and incremental nonlinear analysis. Then, fragility curves were constructed based on the lognormal distribution assumption. Two damage indexes were introduced and compared to one another. The results indicate that the dam has a proper stability under earthquake conditions at MCE level. Moreover, displacement damages index is more conservative and impractical in the fragility analysis than tensional damage index.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.35-57
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• 2022

This article presents a computationally efficient framework for multi-objective seismic design optimization of steel moment-resisting frame (MRF) structures based on the nonlinear dynamic analysis procedure. This framework employs the uniform damage distribution philosophy to minimize the weight (initial cost) of the structure at different levels of damage. The preliminary framework was recently proposed by the authors based on the single excitation and the nonlinear static (pushover) analysis procedure, in which the effects of record-to-record variability as well as higher-order vibration modes were neglected. The present study investigates the reliability of the previous framework by extending the proposed algorithm using the nonlinear dynamic design procedure (optimization under multiple ground motions). Three benchmark structures, including 4-, 8-, and 12-story steel MRFs, representing the behavior of low-, mid-, and high-rise buildings, are utilized to evaluate the proposed framework. The total weight of the structure and the maximum inter-story drift ratio (IDRmax) resulting from the average response of the structure to a set of seven ground motion records are considered as two conflicting objectives for the optimization problem and are simultaneously minimized. The results of this study indicate that the optimization under several ground motions leads to almost similar outcomes in terms of optimization objectives to those are obtained from optimization under pushover analysis. However, investigation of optimal designs under a suite of 22 earthquake records reveals that the damage distribution in buildings designed by the nonlinear dynamic-based procedure is closer to the uniform distribution (desired target during the optimization process) compared to those designed according to the pushover procedure.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.182-192
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• 2022

Brittle feature is one of the fracture behaviors of structure s and has a great influence on the seismic performance of structure materials. The load velocity acts as one of the main causes of brittle fracture, and in particular, in situations such as earthquakes, a high load velocity acts on buildings. However, most of the seismic performance evaluation of the domestic and external steel connections is conducted through static experiments. Therefore, there is a possibility that brittle fracture due to factors such as degradation of material toughness and reduction of maximum deformation rate due to high load velocity during an earthquake was not sufficiently considered in the existing seismic performance evaluation. This study conducts a static test at a low load velocity according to the existing experimental method and a dynamic test at a high load velocity using a shaking table, respectively. It compares and analyzes the fracture shape and structural performance according to the results of each experiment, and finally analyzes the effect of the load velocity size on the seismic performance of the connection.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.163-169
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• 2017

Although the strength of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers which are generally used to make plastic bottles is low, the deformability of PET fibers is substantially high. Due to these material characteristics, a PET fiber can be used as a reliable strengthening material to resist a large deformation caused by earthquake and research pertinent to application of PET fibers is actively conducted in Japan. Therefore, in this study, experiments have been carried out to investigate the lateral confinement effect of PET fibers and to assess the applicability of PET fibers to construction fields by comparing the strengthening effect of PET fibers to that of carbon and glass fiber sheets. For this purpose, concrete cylinder specimens with parameters of different concrete strength and strengthening layers of carbon fiber sheets, glass fiber sheets, and PET fibers were respectively tested using two sets of cylinders for each parameter. As a result, specimens strengthened with carbon fiber sheets and glass fiber sheets failed due to sudden decrease of strength as with existing studies. However, specimens with PET fibers reached their maximum strength and then failed after gradual decrease strength without failure of PET fibers. In addition, although the strength of specimens with PET fibers did not significantly increase in comparison with that of specimens with carbon fiber sheets and glass fiber sheets, specimens with PET fibers indicated considerable deformability. Thus, a PET fiber can be considered as an effective strengthening material.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.59-67
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• 2013

Complex-shaped tall building causes many structural challenges due to its structural characteristics regarding inclined members and complexed shape. This paper is aimed at development of design process using computational-platform which is effective design tool for responding frequent design changes, particularly as to overseas projects. StrAuto, a parametric structural modeling and optimizing system, provides the optimized alternatives according to design intent and realize a swift process converting a series of structural information necessary to nonlinear analytical models. The application of the process was to a 45-story hotel building in Ulanbator, Mongolia adopting shear wall and special moment frame with outrigger systems. To investigate the safety of lateral force resisting system against maximum considered earthquake(MCE), nonlinear response history analysis was conducted using StrAuto.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.243-253
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• 2011

This paper describes an analytical study on seismic performance of domestic reinforced concrete (RC) school building not designed by seismic provision. The seismic index and the seismic performance of the building were evaluated through Japanese standard and Midas Gen, respectively. Seismic index (Is) of the RC school buildings in the X-direction is below 0.4. Based on the seismic index, for seismic-strengthening the building, infill shear wall or steel brace with a capacity of 1,300 kN was used. According to nonlinear static analysis results, the contribution of the seismic-strengthening to the shear resistance of the school building was measured to be greater than 30%. However, as expected, shear strength of school building strengthened with infill wall dropt rapidly after peak load and much narrower ductile behavior range was observed compared to steel brace strengthened building. Also, the building strengthened with steel brace showed 30% larger spectral displacement than that strengthened with infill shear wall. In nonlinear dynamic analysis, for the time history analysis, the maximum displacement showed tendency to decrease as amount of reinforcement increased, regardless of strengthening method. It was recommended that variable soil properties and earthquake record should be considered for improving seismic performance of buildings in seismic zone.