• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.53 no.12
• /
• pp.4179-4188
• /
• 2021

This study identifies efficient earthquake intensity measures (IMs) for seismic performances and fragility evaluations of the reactor containment building (RCB) in the advanced power reactor 1400 (APR1400) nuclear power plant (NPP). The computational model of RCB is constructed using the beam-truss model (BTM) for nonlinear analyses. A total of 90 ground motion records and 20 different IMs are employed for numerical analyses. A series of nonlinear time-history analyses are performed to monitor maximum floor displacements and accelerations of RCB. Then, probabilistic seismic demand models of RCB are developed for each IM. Statistical parameters including coefficient of determination (R²), dispersion (i.e. standard deviation), practicality, and proficiency are calculated to recognize strongly correlated IMs with the seismic performance of the NPP structure. The numerical results show that the optimal IMs are spectral acceleration, spectral velocity, spectral displacement at the fundamental period, acceleration spectrum intensity, effective peak acceleration, peak ground acceleration, A95, and sustained maximum acceleration. Moreover, weakly related IMs to the seismic performance of RCB are peak ground displacement, root-mean-square of displacement, specific energy density, root-mean-square of velocity, peak ground velocity, Housner intensity, velocity spectrum intensity, and sustained maximum velocity. Finally, a set of fragility curves of RCB are developed for optimal IMs.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.86 no.1
• /
• pp.85-92
• /
• 2023

This article examines the seismic vulnerability of soil nail wall structures. Detailed information regarding finite element modeling has been provided. The fragility function evaluates the relationship between ground motion intensities and the probability of surpassing a specific level of damage. The use of incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) has been applied to the soil nail wall against low to severe ground motions. In the nonlinear dynamic analysis of the soil nail wall, a set of twenty seismic ground motions with varying PGA ranges are used. The numerical results demonstrate that the soil-nailed wall reaction is extremely sensitive to earthquake ground vibrations under different intensity measures (IM). In addition, the analytical fragility curve is provided for various intensity values.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
• /
• v.8 no.4 s.29
• /
• pp.77-84
• /
• 1996

The structural members under seismic loading actually show inelastic behavior, so the inelastic responses should be calculated for the seismic design of structures or estimating the structural damage level. Although direct time history analysis may calculate the exact dynamic nonlinear responses for given ground motions, this approach involves a high computational cost and long period. Therefore, it should be developed the approach to estimate nonlinear responses for the practical purpose. The artificial earthquake accelerograms were generated to obtain the smoothed responses spectra, and the samples of generated accelerogram for each seismic event was used to examine average nonlinear response spectra. The stabilized response spectra for each earthquake event was used to evaluate the effects of various yield strength ratios, damping values and nonlinear hysteretic models. The approach, which can simply predict the nonlinear seismic responses of structures, was shown in this study.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.301-310
• /
• 2016

There are differences in seismic behavior between non-skewed bridges and skewed bridges due to in-plane rotations caused by pounding between the skewed deck and its abutments during strong earthquake. Many advances have been made in developing design codes and guidelines for dynamic analyses of non-skewed bridges. However, there remain significant uncertainties with regard to the structural response of skewed bridges caused by unusual seismic response characteristics. The purpose of this study is performing non-linear time history analysis of the bridges using abutment-soil interaction model considering pounding between the skewed deck and its abutments, and analyzing global seismic behavior characteristics of the skewed bridges to assess the possibility of unseating. Refined bridge model with abutment back fill, shear key and elastomeric bearing was developed using non-linear spring element. In order to evaluate the amplification of longitudinal and transverse displacement response, non-linear time history analysis was performed for single span bridges. Far-fault and near-fault ground motions were used as input ground motions. According to each parameter, seismic behavior of skewed bridges was evaluated.

• Architectural research
• /
• v.3 no.1
• /
• pp.53-60
• /
• 2001

The proposed building upgrading technique employs prestressing cables to function as bracing to improve the seismic performance during future events. A four-story reinforced concrete moment resisting frame damaged from an ultimate limit state earthquake is assessed and upgraded using the proposed technique. Both existing and upgraded buildings are evaluated in regard of seismic performance parameters performing static lateral load to collapse analysis and dynamic nonlinear time history analysis as well. To obtain realistic comparison of seismic performance between existing and upgraded frames, each frame is subjected to its critical ground motion that has strength demand exceeding the building strength supply. Furthermore, reliability of static lateral load to collapse analysis as a substitute to time history analysis is evaluated. The results reveal that the proposed upgrading technique improves the stiffness distribution compared to the ideal distribution that gives equal inter-story drift. As a result, the upgraded building retains more stories that contribute to energy dissipation. The overall behavior of upgraded building beyond yield is also enhanced due to the gradual change of building stiffness as the lateral load increases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.59 no.3
• /
• pp.455-473
• /
• 2016

Methods for the seismic demands evaluation of structures require iterative procedures. Many studies dealt with the development of different inelastic spectra with the aim to simplify the evaluation of inelastic deformations and performance of structures. Recently, the concept of inelastic spectra has been adopted in the global scheme of the Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD) through Capacity-Spectrum Method (CSM). For instance, the Modal Pushover Analysis (MPA) has been proved to provide accurate results for inelastic buildings to a similar degree of accuracy than the Response Spectrum Analysis (RSA) in estimating peak response for elastic buildings. In this paper, a simplified nonlinear procedure for evaluation of the seismic demand of structures is proposed with its applicability to multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) systems. The basic concept is to write the equation of motion of (MDOF) system into series of normal modes based on an inelastic modal decomposition in terms of ductility factor. The accuracy of the proposed procedure is verified against the Nonlinear Time History Analysis (NL-THA) results and Uncoupled Modal Response History Analysis (UMRHA) of a 9-story steel building subjected to El-Centro 1940 (N/S) as a first application. The comparison shows that the new theoretical approach is capable to provide accurate peak response with those obtained when using the NL-THA analysis. After that, a simplified nonlinear spectral analysis is proposed and illustrated by examples in order to describe inelastic response spectra and to relate it to the capacity curve (Pushover curve) by a new parameter of control, called normalized yield strength coefficient (${\eta}$). In the second application, the proposed procedure is verified against the NL-THA analysis results of two buildings for 80 selected real ground motions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.12 no.5
• /
• pp.529-541
• /
• 2017

According to the definition, progressive collapse could occur due to the initial partial failure of the structural members which by spreading to the adjacent members, could result in partial or overall collapse of the structure. Up to now, most researchers have investigated the progressive collapse due to explosion, fire or impact loads. But new research has shown that the seismic load could also be a factor for initiation of the progressive collapse. In this research, the progressive collapse capacity for the 5 and 15-story steel special moment resisting frames using push-down nonlinear static analysis, and nonlinear dynamic analysis under the gravity loads specified in the GSA Guidelines, were studied. After identifying the critical members, in order to investigate the seismic progressive collapse, the 5-story steel special moment resisting frame was analyzed by the nonlinear time history analysis under the effect of earthquakes with different characteristics. In order to account for the initial damage, one of the critical columns was weakened at the initiation of the earthquake or its Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA). The results of progressive collapse analyses showed that the potential of progressive collapse is considerably dependent upon location of the removed column and the number of stories, also the results of seismic progressive collapse showed that the dynamic response of column removal under the seismic load is completely dependent on earthquake characteristics like Arias intensity, PGA and earthquake frequency contents.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.295-317
• /
• 2020

Investigation of the stability of arch dam abutments is one of the most important aspects in the analysis of this type of dams. To this end, the Bakhtiari dam, a doubly curved arch dam having six wedges at each of its abutments, is selected. The seismic safety of dam abutments is studied through time history analysis using the design-based earthquake (DBE) and maximum credible earthquake (MCE) hazard levels. Londe limit equilibrium method is used to calculate the stability of wedges in abutments. The thrust forces are obtained using ABAQUS, and stability of wedges is calculated using the code written within MATLAB. Effects of foundation flexibility, grout curtain performance, vertical component of earthquake, nonlinear behavior of materials, and geometrical nonlinearity on the safety factor of the abutments are scrutinized. The results show that the grout curtain performance is the main affecting factor on the stability of the abutments, while nonlinear behavior of the materials is the least affecting factor amongst others. Also, it is resulted that increasing number of the contraction joints can improve the seismic stability of dam. A cap is observed on the number of joints, above which the safety factor does not change incredibly.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2006.05a
• /
• pp.198-201
• /
• 2006

In order to evaluate the seismic performance of reinforced concrete bridge piers, an inelastic time-dependent element is proposed. The proposed element enables increased characteristics due to structural intervention (i.e., repair and retrofitting) to be accurately reflected to the degraded strength and stiffness of the members. Comparative studies are conducted for reinforced concrete bridge columns being repaired and retrofitted and show good correlation between analytical prediction and experimental results. In addition, a nonlinear time-history analysis of a reinforced concrete bridge under multiple earthquakes confirms the applicability and effectiveness of the present development.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.26 no.3
• /
• pp.48-54
• /
• 2022

This research describes a quantitative procedure used to estimate the effect of concrete cracking on stiffness degradation of concrete shear walls and provides analytical references for the seismic design of concrete shear walls. As preliminary research on the seismic response of concrete shear walls, nonlinear transient analysis was performed with commercial FE software. The study presents the nonlinear time history analysis results in terms of concrete damage and cracking behavior induced by seismic input motions. By varying the input motions, concrete strength and shear wall thickness, the seismic responses of a shear wall were examined with nonlinear time history analysis, and the progressive cracking behavior and corresponding hysteresis loop were described. Based on the analysis results, frequency and stiffness degradation of the shear wall from progressive concrete damage and cracking were captured with respect to the seismic levels. The results of this study suggest that stiffness degradation from concrete cracking should be appropriately considered when determining the seismic capacity of RC shear wall structures.