• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.71-86
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• 2021

This paper focuses on the development and assessment of the expected damage for the rocking response of rigid anchored blocks, with irregular geometry and non-uniform mass distribution, considering the site conditions and the seismicity of Mexico City. The non-linear behavior of the restrainers is incorporated to evaluate the pure tension and tension-shear failure mechanisms. A probabilistic framework is performed covering a wide range of block sizes, slenderness ratios and eccentricities using physics-based ground motion simulation. In order to incorporate the uncertainties related to the propagation of far-field earthquakes with a significant contribution to the seismic hazard at study sites, it was simulated a set of scenarios using a stochastic summation methods of small-earthquakes records, considered as Empirical Green's Function (EGFs). As Engineering Demand Parameter (EDP), the absolute value of the maximum block rotation normalized by the body slenderness, as a function of the peak ground acceleration (PGA) is adopted. The results show that anchorages are more efficient for blocks with slenderness ratio between two and three, while slenderness above four provide a better stability when they are not restrained. Besides, there is a range of peak intensities where anchored blocks located in soft soils are less vulnerable with respect to those located in firm soils. The procedure used in here allows to take decisions about risk, reliability and resilience assessment of different types of contents, and it is easily adaptable to other seismic environments.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.377-389
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• 2021

Reinforced concrete vertical silos are universal structures that store large amounts of granular materials. Due to the asymmetric structure, heavy load, uneven storage material distribution, and the difference between the storage volume and the storage material bulk density, the corresponding earthquake is very complicated. Some scholars have proposed the calculation method of horizontal forces on reinforced concrete vertical silos under the action of earthquakes. Without considering the effect of torsional effect, this article aims to reveal the expansion factor of the silo group considering the torsional effect through experiments. Through two-way seismic simulation shaking table tests on reinforced concrete column-supported group silo structures, the basic dynamic characteristics of the structure under earthquake are obtained. Taking into account the torsional response, the structure has three types of storage: empty, half and full. A comprehensive analysis of the internal force conditions under the material conditions shows that: the different positions of the group bin model are different, the side bin displacement produces a displacement difference, and a torsional effect occurs; as the mass of the material increases, the structure's natural vibration frequency decreases and the damping ratio Increase; it shows that the storage material plays a role in reducing energy consumption of the model structure, and the contribution value is related to the stiffness difference in different directions of the model itself, providing data reference for other researchers; analyzing and calculating the model stiffness and calculating the internal force of the earthquake. As the horizontal side shift increases in the later period, the torsional effect of the group silo increases, and the shear force at the bottom of the column increases. It is recommended to consider the effect of the torsional effect, and the increase factor of the torsional effect is about 1.15. It can provide a reference for the structural safety design of column-supported silos.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.72 no.5
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• pp.643-652
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• 2019

Protection of cultural heritage and carrying it to the future are at the top of the significant topics of research and implementation in engineering in the 21st century. There are several historical structures in the district of Ahlat located in the east of Turkey on the Lake Van Basin that has harbored many civilizations. Some of such works are the gravestones that are found in the Ahlat Seljuk Cemetery, which is the oldest and largest cemetery in the district. This study firstly provides information about the Ahlat Seljuk Cemetery and the gravestones found in it. Observation-based structural analyses were carried out on these gravestones that are found in this area that are known to have belonged to different civilizations based on their physical and constructional characteristics. These stones were built out of Ahlat stone as single pieces. Information is provided on the damages that have occurred on the gravestones in time and their causes. In general, losses of mass, abrasions, separations, collapses and calcifications due to natural conditions, as well as vegetative formations, were observed in the gravestones. To provide an example of other gravestones within the context of the study, the gravestone that is known to belong to the person named Nureddin Ebu Hasan was selected. As a result of the modeling that was carried out for this gravestone by using the finite elements method, modal analyses were carried out. With these analyses, for the gravestone, period, effective mass participation rates and stress values were calculated. The stress values that were obtained in this study were compared to the material safety stress values that were obtained in previous studies. Additionally, QR code application was created for the gravestone that was selected as an example in the study, and information on this gravestone was transferred to an electronic environment. The QR code application includes different language options, visuals of the gravestone and information on the gravestone. The QR application was also supported with a video of the cemetery where the gravestone is located. With this application, access to information about gravestones will be possible by using tablets and smartphones. With a QR code to be created for each gravestone, these gravestones will obtain identity cards.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.371-379
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• 2008

In this study, seismic elastic wave and dynamic elastic modulus properties are investigated by down-hole seismic tests that were applied to the 11 gneiss area. The research results show that the realtionship between the two properties are $V_s=0.5589{\times}V_p$ in gneiss. The relationship between the two properties are separated into two groups. Group 1 is influenced mainly by the specific gravity of rock, but group 2 is influenced mainly by the joint aperture. As weathering progresses, group 1 clearly shows a decreasing tendency. In fresh and slightly weathered rock-mass, correlations between $V_p$ and dynamic elastic modulus is expressed in linear line but in moderately-highly weathered rock-mass, correlations between $V_p$ and dynamic elastic modulus is expressed curve as a quadratic function. Correlations between $V_s$ and dynamic elastic modulus are analyzed similar with a $V_p$ case.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.239-248
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• 2020

Exact rock classification helps suitable support patterns to be installed. Face mapping is usually conducted to classify the rock mass using RMR (Rock Mass Ration) or Q values. There have been several attempts to predict the grade of rock mass using mechanical data of jumbo drills or probe drills and photographs of excavation surfaces by using deep learning. However, they took long time, or had a limitation that it is impossible to grasp the rock grade in ahead of the tunnel surface. In this study, a method to predict the Q value ahead of excavation surface is developed using recurrent neural network (RNN) technique and it is compared with the Q values from face mapping for verification. Among Q values from over 4,600 tunnel faces, 70% of data was used for learning, and the rests were used for verification. Repeated learnings were performed in different number of learning and number of previous excavation surfaces utilized for learning. The coincidence between the predicted and actual Q values was compared with the root mean square error (RMSE). RMSE value from 600 times repeated learning with 2 prior excavation faces gives a lowest values. The results from this study can vary with the input data sets, the results can help to understand how the past ground conditions affect the future ground conditions and to predict the Q value ahead of the tunnel excavation face.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.487-496
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• 2010

The structural damping ratios for seismic design of nuclear power plant structures are specified in Regulatory guide 1.61 of the United States NRC for RC structures of 4%(OBE) and 7%(SSE), and for steel structures of 3%(OBE) and 4%(SSE), but not for steel-plate concrete (SC) structures that have been developed recently. The objective of this study is to investigate the damping ratios of SC structures by identifying the relative differences in the damping ratios between RC and SC structures. An experimental study was performed on four specimens, RC-S, RC-M, SC-S and SC-M, where S stands for shear-governed and M for moment-governed. The conducted method was free vibration testing by rupturing a brittle steel plate that linked the actuator and the mass center. The test results were analyzed to determine fundamental frequencies and damping ratios at various load levels. By examining the relative differences in damping ratios of four specimens, it is proposed for SC structures to use the same damping ratio of 4% as RC one at OBE, but 1% less damping ratio than RC one resulting in 6% at SSE.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.101-108
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• 2003

Small-scale models have been frequently used for experimental evaluation of seismic performance because of limited testing facilities and economic reasons. However, there are not enough studies on similitude law for analogizing prototype structures accurately with small-scale models, although conventional similitude law based on geometry is not well consistent in the inelastic seismic behavior. When fabricating prototype and small-scale model of reinforced concrete structures by using the same material. added mass is demanded from a volumetric change and scale factor could be limited due to size of aggregate. Therefore, it is desirable that different material is used for small-scale models. Thus, a modified similitude law could be derived depending on geometric scale factor and equivalent modulus ratio. In this study, compressive strength tests are conducted to analyze equivalent modulus ratio of micro-concrete to normal-concrete. Equivalent modulus ratios are divided into multi phases, which are based on ultimate strain level. Therefore, an algorithm adaptable to the pseudodynamic test. considering equivalent multi-phase similitude law based on seismic damage levels, is developed. In addition, prior to the experiment. it is verified numerically if the algorithm is applicable to the pseudodynamic test.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.21 no.3
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• pp.347-362
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• 2019

Underground excavation using TBM machines has been increasing to reduce complaints caused by noise, vibration, and traffic congestion resulted from the urban underground construction in Korea. However, TBM excavation design and construction still need improvement because those are based on standards of the technologically advanced countries (e.g., Japan, Germany) that do not consider geological environment in Korea at all. Above all, although TBM performance is a main factor determining the TBM machine type, duration and cost of the construction, it is estimated by only using UCS (uniaxial compressive strength) as the ground parameters and it often does not match the actual field conditions. This study was carried out as part of efforts to predict penetration rate suitable for Korean ground conditions. The effective parameters were defined through the correlation analysis between the penetration rate and the geotechnical parameters or TBM performance parameters. The effective parameters were then used as variables of the multiple regression analysis to derive a regression model for predicting TBM penetration rate. As a result, the regression model was estimated by UCS and joint spacing and showed a good agreement with field penetration rate measured during TBM excavation. However, when this model was applied to another site in Korea, the prediction accuracy was slightly reduced. Therefore, in order to overcome the limitation of the regression model, further studies are required to obtain a generalized prediction model which is not restricted by the field conditions.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.5-19
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• 2017

In this study, the effect of rock mass curtain grouting was investigated by analyzing the correlation between the parameters of the RMR & grout injection volume, Lugeon value & RQD, Lugeon value & cement injection volume. In order to investigate the effect of rock mass curtain grouting, we analyzed the grout injection volume of 315 curtain grouting holes at 9 tunnel face of NATM Subsea tunnels in gneiss area. The total grout injection volume in the Subsea tunnels study was slightly changed in some tunnels face but decreased with increasing the rating of parameters in spacing of discontinuity (R3, Js) and groundwater condition (R5). The geological anomalies of seismic survey (3D, TSP) and the inflow of probe hole were found to be more correlated of relative than the parameters of RMR. The unit injection volume was found to decrease with higher ratings in the parameters of the RMR except the weathering degree of the discontinuity (Jc, R4). The correlation between RQD and Lugeon values is not significant, but it can be confirmed that the Lugeon value tends to decrease as the RQD value increases.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.64 no.2
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• pp.233-241
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• 2017

Earlier numerous studies have been done on implementation of Tuned Liquid Damper (TLD) for structural vibration control by many researchers. As per current review there is no significant study on a sloped bottom TLD. TLD's are passive devices. A TLD is a tank rigidly attached to the structure and filled partially by liquid. When fundamental linear sloshing frequency is tuned to structure's natural frequency large sloshing amplitude is expected. In this study set of experiments are conducted on flat bottom and sloped bottom TLD at beach slope $20^{\circ}$, $30^{\circ}$ and $45^{\circ}$, for different types of structures, mass ratio, and depth ratio to investigate the overall effectiveness of TLD and specific effect of TLD parameters on structural response. This experimental study shows that a properly designed TLD reduces structural response. It is also observed that effectiveness of TLD increases with increase in mass ratio. In this experimental study an effectiveness of sloped bottom TLD with beach slope $30^{\circ}$ is investigated and compared with that of flat bottom TLD in reducing the structural response. It is observed from this study that efficiency of sloped bottom TLD in reducing the response of structure is more as compared to that of flat bottom TLD. It is shown that there is good agreement between numerical simulation of flat bottom and sloped bottom TLD and its experimental results. Also an attempt has been made to investigate the effectiveness of sloped bottom TLD with beach slope $20^{\circ}$ and $45^{\circ}$.