• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.57-64
• /
• 2003

The liquefaction potential of saturated sands under seismic loading conditions has been carefully considered by many investigations. Typical of these investigations is the laboratory determination of cyclic strength of sands by means of cyclic triaxial tests. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of the method of sample preparation on the liquefaction characteristics of remolded samples of saturated uniform sands. Cyclic triaxial tests were performed on saturated uniform sand compacted to the same density by 3 different procedures of pluvial compaction through air, pluvial compaction through water and vibratory compaction. It was validated that the cyclic stress ratio of remolded saturated uniform sands by different compaction procedures at the same density was very different.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.33-42
• /
• 2008

Buckling-Restrained Braces (BRB) has been developed to inhibit buckling and exhibit stable behavior underboth tensile and compresive cycles. In this study, an experime nt has been conducted by using the strength of its members and loading protocols as parameters to evaluate the structural performance of BRB (without in-filed concrete). Specimens are composed of an inner core and an outer tube with diferent steel strengths. When high-strength steels were used as iner cores, the ductility of BRB decreased, and the requirements (Cumulative Plastic Ductility) of the AISC Seismic Provisions were not satisfied. however, when high-strength steels were used as inner cores instead of conventional strength stel cores, the maximum capacity increased significantly and displayed similar performance in total energy dissipation.

• Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
• /
• v.48 no.5
• /
• pp.685-695
• /
• 2020

The connection performance between cross-laminated timber (CLT) walls and support has the greatest effect on the horizontal shear strength. In this study, the horizontal shear performance of CLT walls with reinforced connection systems was evaluated. The reinforcements of metal bracket connections in the CLT connection system was made by attaching glass fiber-based reinforcement to the connection zone of a CLT core lamina. Three types of glass fiber-based reinforcement were used: glass fiber sheet (GS), glass fiber cloth (GT) and fiber cloth plastic (GTS). The horizontal shear strength of the fabricated wall specimens was compared and evaluated through monotonic and cyclic tests. The test results showed that the resistance performance of the reinforced CLT walls to a horizontal load based on a monotonic test did not improve significantly. The residual and yield strengths under the cyclic loading test were 38 and 18% higher, respectively, while the ductility ratio was 38% higher than that of the unreinforced CLT wall. The glass fiber-based reinforcement of the CLT connection showed the possibility of improving the horizontal shear strength performance under a cyclic load, and presented the research direction for the application of real-scale CLT walls.

• Journal of Welding and Joining
• /
• v.31 no.6
• /
• pp.1-7
• /
• 2013

In nuclear power plants, lined carbon steel pipes or PCCPs (pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes) have been widely used for sea water transport systems. However, de-bonding of linings and oxidation of PCCP could make problems in aged NPPs (nuclear power plants). Recently at several NPPs in the United States, the PCCPs or lined carbon steel pipes of the sea water or raw water system have been replaced with HDPE (high density polyethylene) pipes, which have outstanding resistance to oxidation and seismic loading. ASME B&PV Code committee developed Code Case N-755, which describes rules for the construction of buried Safety Class 3 polyethylene pressure piping systems. Although US NRC permitted HDPE materials for Class 3 buried piping, their permission was limited to only 10-year operation because of several concerns including the quality of fusion zone of HDPE. In this study, various requirements for fusion qualification test of HDPE and some regulatory issues raised during HDPE application review in foreign NPPs are introduced.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2003.09a
• /
• pp.98-106
• /
• 2003

To construct pile-supported wharf structures that must support heavy horizontal loads, both vertical piles and batter piles are used. Batter piles are used to secure the bearing capacity against the horizontal loads. However, past case histories have shown that the heads of batter piles are vulnerable because these heads are subjected to excessive axial loads during earthquakes. Therefore, the aseismatic reinforcement method must be developed to prevent batter pile heads from breaking due to excessive seismic loads. Two different connecting methods of either inserting rubber or ball-bearing between batter pile head and upper plate were proposed to improve the aseismatic efficiency. Three large-scale pile head models(rubber type model, ball-bearing type model, and fixed type model) were manufactured and horizontal loading tests were peformed for these models. The results showed that the force-displacement relationship of the fixed type model was linear, but that of the rubber type model and the ball-bearing type model was bilinear. The increase in the horizontal displacement led to the increase in the horizontal stiffness of the rubber type models and the decrease in that of the ball-bearing type model. Compared with the values for fixed type model, the damping ratios of the rubber type model and the ball-bearing type model increased about 33~185％ and 263~269％, respectively.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.305-325
• /
• 1998

A method that determines the minimum stiffness of baracing to achieve non-sway buckling conditions at a given story level of a multi-column elastic frame is proposed. Condensed equations that evaluate the required minimum stiffness of the lateral and torsional bracing are derived using the classical stability functions. The proposed method is applicable to elastic framed structures with rigid, semirigid, and simple connections. It is shown that the minimum stiffness of the bracing required by a multi-column system depends on: 1) the plan layout of the columns; 2) the variation in height and cross sectional properties among the columns; 3) the applied axial load pattern on the columns; 4) the lack of symmetry in the loading pattern, column layout, column sizes and heights that cause torsion-sway and its effects on the flexural bucking capacity; and 5) the flexural and torsional end restrains of the columns. The proposed method is limited to elastic framed structures with columns of doubly symmetrical cross section with their principal axes parallel to the global axes. However, it can be applied to inelastic structures when the nonlinear behavior is concentrated at the end connections. The effects of axial deformations in beams and columns are neglected. Three examples are presented in detail to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.57 no.5
• /
• pp.785-808
• /
• 2016

An innovative Reduced Beam Section (RBS) connection, called Tubular Web RBS connection (TW-RBS), has been recently introduced and its performance has been numerically investigated in some earlier studies. The TW-RBS connection is a kind of accordion-web RBS connection in which part of the flat web of the beam is replaced by a steel tube at the expected region of the plastic hinge. This paper presents experimental results of three TW-RBS connections under cyclic loading. Obtained results indicated that TW-RBS reduces contribution of the beam web to the whole moment strength and creates a ductile fuse far from components of the beam-to-column connection. Besides, TW-RBS connection can increase story drift capacity up to 9% in the case of shallow beams which is much more than those stipulated by the current seismic codes. Based on the experimental results, the tubular web in the plastic hinge region improves lateral-torsional buckling stability of the beam such that only local buckling of the beam flange at the center of the reduced section was observed during the tests. In order to achieve a better understanding, behavior of all TW-RBS specimens are also numerically investigated and compared with those of experimental results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.251-271
• /
• 2011

To make direct comparisons regarding the cyclic behavior of thin steel plate shear walls (TSPSWs) with different infill-to-boundary frame connections, two TSPSWs were tested under quasi-static conditions, one having the infill plate attached to the boundary frame members on all edges and the other having the infill plate connected only to the beams. Also, the bare frame that was used in the TSPSW specimens was tested to provide data for the calibration of numerical models. The connection of infill plates to surrounding frames was achieved through the use of self-drilling screws to fish plates that were welded to the frame members. The behavior of TSPSW specimens are compared and discussed with emphasis on the characteristics important in seismic response, including the initial stiffness, ultimate strength and deformation modes observed during the tests. It is shown that TSPSW specimens achieve significant ductility and energy dissipation while the ultimate failure mode resulted from infill plate fracture at the net section of the infill plate-to-boundary frame connection after substantial infill plate yielding. Experimental results are compared to monotonic pushover predictions from computer analysis using strip models and the models are found to be capable of approximating the monotonic behavior of the TSPSW specimens.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.821-845
• /
• 2016

Extensive researches on distribution of earthquake induced damages in different regions have shown that geological and geotechnical conditions of the local soils significantly influence behavior of alluvial areas under seismic loading. In this article, the site of Babol city which is formed up of saturated fine alluvial soils is considered as a case study. In order to reduce the uncertainties associated with earthquake resistant design of structures in this area (Babol city), the required design parameters have been evaluated with consideration of site's dynamic effects. The utilized methodology combines experimental ground ambient noise analysis, expressed in terms of horizontal to vertical (H/V) spectral ratio, with numerical one-dimensional response analysis of soil columns using DEEPSOIL software. The H/V spectral analysis was performed at 60 points, experimentally, for the region in order to estimate both the fundamental period and its corresponding amplification for the ground vibration. The investigation resulted in amplification ratios that were greater than one in all areas. A good agreement between the proposed ranges of natural periods and alluvial amplification ratios obtained through the analytical model and the experimental microtremor studies verifies the analytical model to provide a good engineering reflection of the subterraneous alluviums.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.279-293
• /
• 2019

The overall seismic performance of existing pre 1960-70s reinforced concrete (RC) structures is significantly affected by the inadequate length of columns' lap-spliced reinforcement. Due to this crucial structural deficiency, the cyclic response is dominated by premature bond - slip failure, strength and stiffness degradation, poor energy dissipation capacity and low ductility. Recent earthquakes worldwide highlighted the importance of improving the load transfer mechanism between lap-spliced bars, while it was clearly demonstrated that the failure of lap splices may result in a devastating effect on structural integrity. Extensive experimental and analytical research was carried out herein, to evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of strengthening techniques applied to RC columns with lap-spliced reinforcement and also accurately predict the columns' response during an earthquake. Ten large scale cantilever column subassemblages, representative of columns found in existing pre 1970s RC structures, were constructed and strengthened by steel or RC jacketing. The enhanced specimens were imposed to earthquake-type loading and their lateral response was evaluated with respect to the hysteresis of two original and two control subassemblages. The main variables examined were the lap splice length, the steel jacket width and the amount of additional confinement offered by the jackets. Moreover, an analytical formulation proposed by Tsonos (2007a, 2019) was modified appropriately and applied to the lap splice region, to calculate shear stress developed in the concrete and predict if yielding of reinforcement is achieved. The accuracy of the analytical method was checked against experimental results from both the literature and the experimental work included herein.