• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.17 no.2
• /
• pp.163-173
• /
• 2019

For Special Concentrically Braced Frame (SCBF), it is common that the damage concentrates at a certain story instead of spreading over all stories. Once the damage occurs, the soft-story mechanism is likely to take place and possibly to result in the failure of the whole system with more damage accumulation. In this study, we use a strongback column which is an additional structural component extending along the height of the building, to redistribute the excessive deformation of SCBF and activate more structural members to dissipate energy and thus avoid damage concentration and improve the seismic performance of SCBF. We tested one-third-scaled, three-story, double-story X SCBF specimens with static cyclic loading procedure. Three specimens, namely S73, S42 and S0, which represent different combinations of stiffness and strength factors ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ for the strongback columns, were designed based on results of numerical simulations. Specimens S73 and S42 were the specimens with the strongback columns, and S0 is the specimen without the strongback column. Test results show that the deformation distribution of Specimen S73 is more uniform and more brace members in three stories perform nonlinearly. Comparing Drift Concentration Factor (DCF), we can observe 29% and 11% improvement in Specimen S73 and S42, respectively. This improvement increases the nonlinear demand of the third-story braces and reduces that of the first-story braces where the demand used to be excessive, and, therefore, postpones the rupture of the first-story braces and enhances the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of the whole SCBF system.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.5-12
• /
• 2021

Owing to economically efficient and easy installation, bucket foundation is a promising solution for offshore wind turbines. This paper aims at finding the behavior of suction caissons and soil surrounding the foundation by using three-dimensional finite element analysis. Under various loading conditions, a wide range of foundation geometries installed in dense and medium dense sandy soil was considered to evaluate ultimate horizontal load and overturning moment capacity. The results show that the rotation and displacement of the bucket due to monotonic loading are largely dependent on the foundation geometry, soil density and load eccentricity. Normalized diagrams and equations for the ultimate horizontal load and overturning moment capacities are presented that are useful tool for the preliminary design of such foundation type.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.40 no.3
• /
• pp.65-75
• /
• 2024

This study investigates liquefaction-induced settlement through strain-controlled tests using a cyclic direct simple shear device on clean sand specimens. By focusing on the accumulated shear strain, soil density, sample preparation method, and cyclic waveshape, this study attempts to enhance the understanding of soil behavior under seismic loading and its further deformation. Results from tests conducted on remolded samples reveal insights into excess pore water pressure development and post-liquefaction volumetric strain behavior, with denser samples exhibiting lower volumetric strains than looser samples. Similarly, the correlation between the frequency and amplitude variations of the wave and volumetric strain highlights the importance of wave characteristics in soil response, with shear strain amplitude changes, varying the volumetric strain response after reconsolidation. In addition, samples prepared under moist conditions exhibit less volumetric strain than dry-reconstituted samples. Overall, the findings of this study are expected to contribute to predictive models to evaluate liquefaction-induced settlement.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.26 no.2
• /
• pp.5-14
• /
• 2010

In this study, cyclic triaxial tests were performed under anisotropically consolidated condition by using irregular earthquake loading to consider in-situ condition and seismic wave. Jumunjin sand with a relative density 50 percent was used in the tests. The consolidation pressure ratio (K) was changed from 0.5 to 1.0. The Ofunato and Hachinohe wave were applied as irregular earthquake loadings and liquefaction resistance strengths of each specimen were estimated from the excess pore water pressure (EPWP) ratio. As a results of the cyclic triaxial tests, EPWP ratio increased with increased K value. It shows that isotropically consolidated sand is more susceptible to liquefaction than anisotropically consolidated sand under equal confining pressure and dynamic loadings. From the test results, the relationship between K and EPWP ratio normalized by effective confining pressure and deviator stress was proposed. And a new factor which corrects the liquefaction resistance strength for the in-situ stress condition is proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
• /
• v.20 no.4
• /
• pp.85-93
• /
• 2021

The seventy percentage of Korean Peninsular is covered by the mountainous area, and the depth of west sea and south sea is relatively shallow. Therefore, a large scale land reclamation from the sea has been implemented for the construction of industrial complex, residental area, and port and airport facilities. The common problem of reclaimed land is consisted of soft ground, and hence it has low load bearing capacity as well as excessive settlement upon loading on the ground surface. The hollow concrete block has been used to reinforce the loose and soft foundation soil where the medium-high apartment or one-story industrial building is being planned to be built. Recently the earthquakes with the magnitude of 4.0~5.0 have been occurred in the west coastal and southeast coastal areas. Lee (2019) reported the advantages of hollow concrete block reinforced shallow foundation through the static laboratory bearing capacity tests. In this study, the dynamic behavior of hollow concrete block reinforced sandy ground with filling the crushed stone in the hollow space has been investigated by the means of shaking table test with the size of shaking table 1000 mm × 1000 mm. Three types of seismic wave, that is, Ofunato, Hachinohe, Artificial, and two different accelerations (0.154 g, 0.22 g) were applied in the shaking table tests. The horizontal displacement of structure which is situated right above the hollow concrete block reinforced ground was measured by using the LVDT. The relative density of soil ground are varied with 45%, 65%, and 85%, respectively, to investigate the effectiveness of reinforcement by hollow block and measured the magnitude of lateral movement, and compared with the limit value of 0.015h (Building Earthquake Code, 2019). Based on the results of shaking table test for hollow concrete block reinforced sandy ground, honeycell type hollow block gives a large interlocking force due to the filling of crushed stone in the hollow space as well as a great interface friction force by the confining pressure and punching resistance along the inside and outside of hollow concrete block. All these factors are contributed to reduce the great amount of horizontal displacement during the shaking table test. Finally, hollow concrete block reinforced sandy ground for shallow foundation is provided an outstanding reinforced method for medium-high building irrespective of seismic wave and moderate accelerations.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.22 no.3
• /
• pp.325-333
• /
• 2010

In this study, new moment-resisting precast concrete beam-column joint made up of hybrid steel concrete was developed and tested. This beam-column joint is proposed for use in moderate seismic regions. It has square hollow tubular section in concrete column and connecting plate in precast U-beam. The steel elements in column and beam members were connected using bolt. Furthermore, in order to prevent the premature failure of concrete in hybrid steel-concrete connection, ECC(engineered cementitious composite) was used. An experimental study was carried out investigating the joint behavior subjected to reversed cyclic loading and constant axial compressive load. Two precast beam-column joint specimens and monolithic reinforced concrete joint specimen were tested. The variables for interior joints were cast-in-situ concrete area and transverse reinforcement within the joint. Tests were carried out under displacement controlled reverse cyclic load with a constant axial load. Joint performance is evaluated on the basis of connection strength, stiffness, energy dissipation, and displacement capacity. The test results showed that significant differences in structural behavior between the two types of connection because of different bonding characteristics between steel and concrete; steel and ECC. The proposed joint detail can induce to move the plastic hinge out of the ECC and steel plate. And proposed precast connection showed better performance than the monolithic connection by providing sufficient moment-resisting behavior suitable for applications in moderate seismic regions.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.30-39
• /
• 2022

Maintaining structural integrity of major apparatuses in a nuclear power plant, including piping system, is recognized as a critical safety issue. The integrity of piping system is also a critical matter related to the safety of a nuclear power plant. The actual failure mode of a piping system due to a seismic load is the leakage due to a fatigue crack, and the structural damage mechanism is the low-cycle fatigue due to large relative displacement that may cause plastic deformation. In this study, in-plane cyclic loading tests were conducted under various constant amplitudes using specimens composed of steel straight pipes and a steel pipe tee in the piping system of a nuclear power plant. The loading amplitude was increased to consider the relative displacement generated in the piping system under seismic loads, and the test was conducted until leakage, which is the limit state of the steel pipe tee, occurred due to fatigue cracks. The limit state of the steel pipe tee was expressed using a damage model based on the damage index that used the force-displacement relationship. As a result, it was confirmed that the limit state of the steel pipe tee can be quantitatively expressed using the damage index.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.389-410
• /
• 2004

In this study, theoretical and experimental results are presented which were obtained during an investigation of the influence of the $P-{\Delta}$ effect that was caused by the simultaneous changing of the axial load P of the column and the lateral displacement ${\Delta}$ in the external beam-column joints. The increase or decrease of ${\Delta}$ was simultaneous with the increase or decrease of the axial compression load P and caused an additional influence on the aseismic mechanical properties of the joint. A total of 12 reinforced concrete exterior beam-column subassemblies were examined. A new model, which predicts the beam-column joint ultimate shear strength, was used in order to predict the seismic behaviour of beam-column joints subjected to earthquake-type loading plus variable axial load and $P-{\Delta}$ effect. Test data and analytical research demonstrated that axial load changes and $P-{\Delta}$ effect during an earthquake cause significant deterioration in the earthquake-resistance of these structural elements. It was demonstrated that inclined bars in the joint region were effective for reducing the unfavourable impact of the $P-{\Delta}$ effect and axial load changes in these structural elements.

• Computers and Concrete
• /
• v.21 no.3
• /
• pp.299-310
• /
• 2018

When reinforced concrete structures are subjected to strong seismic forces, their beam-column connections are very susceptible to be damaged during the earthquake event. Consequently, structural designers try to fit an important quantity of steel reinforcement inside the connection, complicating its construction without a clear justification for this. The aim of this work is to evaluate -and demonstrate- numerically how the quantity and the array of the internal steel reinforcement influences on the nonlinear response of the RC beam-column connection. For this, two specimens (extracted from an experimental test of 12 RC beam-column connections reported in literature) were modeled in the Finite Element code FEAP considering different stirrup's arrays. The nonlinear response of the RC beam-column connection is evaluated taking into account the nonlinear thermodynamic behavior of each component: a damage model is used for concrete; a classical plasticity model is adopted for steel reinforcement; the steel-concrete bonding is considered perfect without degradation. At the end, the experimental responses obtained in the tests are compared to the numerical results, as well as the distribution of shear stresses and damage inside the concrete core of the beam-column connection, which are analyzed for a low and high state of confinement.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
• /
• 2002.05a
• /
• pp.493-498
• /
• 2002

An experimental investigation was conducted to study the behavior of high-strength RC wide beam-column joints with slab subjected to reversed cyclic loads under constant axial load. Six half scale interior wide beam-column assemblies representing a portion of a frame subjected to simulated seismic loading were tested, including three specimens without slab and three specimens with slab. The primary variables were compressive strength of concrete( $f_{ck}$ =240, 500kgf/c $m^2$), the ratio of the column-to-beam flexural capacity( $M_{r}$=2$\Sigma$ $M_{c}$$\Sigma$ $M_{b}$ ; 0.77-2.26), extended length of the column concrete($\ell$$_{d}$ ; 0, 9.6, 30cm), ratio of the column-to-beam width(b/H ; 1.54, 1.67). Test results are shown that (1) the behavior of specimen using high-strength concrete satisfied the required minimum ductile capacity according to increase the compressive strength, (2). In the design of the wide beam-column joints, one should be consider the effects of slab stiffness which is ignored in the current design code and practice.ice.e.e.