• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.3100-3111
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• 2021

Numerical modeling for the safety-related equipment used in a nuclear power plant (i.e., cabinet facilities) plays an essential role in seismic risk assessment. A full finite element model is often time-consuming for nonlinear time history analysis due to its computational modeling complexity. Thus, this study aims to generate a simplified model that can capture the nonlinear behavior of the electrical cabinet. Accordingly, the distributed plasticity approach was utilized to examine the stiffness-degradation effect caused by the local buckling of the structure. The inherent dynamic characteristics of the numerical model were validated against the experimental test. The outcomes indicate that the proposed model can adequately represent the significant behavior of the structure, and it is preferred in practice to perform the nonlinear analysis of the cabinet. Further investigations were carried out to evaluate the seismic behavior of the cabinet under the influence of the constitutive law of material models. Three available models in OpenSees (i.e., linear, bilinear, and Giuffre-Menegotto-Pinto (GMP) model) were considered to provide an enhanced understating of the seismic responses of the cabinet. It was found that the material nonlinearity, which is the function of its smoothness, is the most effective parameter for the structural analysis of the cabinet. Also, it showed that implementing nonlinear models reduces the seismic response of the cabinet considerably in comparison with the linear model.

• 한국지구물리탐사학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2007.06a
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• pp.197-202
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• 2007

Most of seismic reflection prospecting assumes subsurface formation to be homogeneous media. These models are not capable of estimating small scale heterogeneity which is verified by well log data or drilling core. And those synthetic seismograms by homogeneous media are limited to explain various changes at field data. So we developed a inhomogeneous velocity model which can estimate inhomogeneity of background medium to implement numerical modeling from homogeneous medium and inhomogeneous medium on the model. Background medium using three autocorrelation functions in order to generate inhomogeneous velocity media was according to dominant wavelength of background medium and correlation length of random medium. And then we compared shot gathers. The results show that numerical modeling implemented at inhomogeneous medium depicts complex wave propagation of field data.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.15-26
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• 2018

Recently, as the seismic performance based design methods have been introduced, dynamic numerical analyses need to be performed to evaluate the actual performance of structures under earthquakes. The verification of the numerical modeling is the most important for the performance based design. Therefore, 2-dimensional numerical analyses were performed to simulate the seismic behavior of a pile-supported structure, to provide the proper numerical modeling and to determine of input parameters. A dynamic centrifuge test of a pile group in dry loose sand was simulated to verify the applicability of the numerical model. The numerical modeling was carefully made to reflect the actual condition of the centrifuge test including dynamic soil properties, soil-pile interaction, boundary condition, the modeling of the group pile and structure and so on. The predicted behavior of the numerical analyses successfully simulated the acceleration variation in ground, the moment and displacement of the pile, and the displacement and acceleration of the structure. Therefore, the adopted numerical modeling and the input parameters can be used to evaluate the seismic performance of pile groups.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.705-714
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• 2019

Seismic assessment of underground structures is one of the challenging problems in engineering design. This is because there are usually many sources of uncertainties in rocks and probable earthquake characteristics. Therefore, for decreasing of the uncertainties, seismic response of underground structures should be evaluated by sufficient number of earthquake records which is scarcely possible in common seismic assessment of underground structures. In the present study, a practical risk-based approach was performed for seismic risk assessment of an unsupported tunnel. For this purpose, Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) was used to evaluate the seismic response of a tunnel in south-west railway of Iran and different analyses were conducted using 15 real records of earthquakes which were chosen from the PEER ground motion database. All of the selected records were scaled to different intensity levels (PGA=0.1-1.7 g) and applied to the numerical models. Based on the numerical modeling results, seismic fragility curves of the tunnel under study were derived from the IDA curves. In the next, seismic risk curve of the tunnel were determined by convolving the hazard and fragility curves. On the basis of the tunnel fragility curves, an earthquake with PGA equal to 0.35 g may lead to severe damage or collapse of the tunnel with only 3% probability and the probability of moderate damage to the tunnel is 12%.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.8
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• pp.2933-2940
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• 2022

Approximations such as the delete-term approximation, rare event approximation, and minimal cutset upper bound (MCUB) need to be prudently applied for the quantification of a seismic probabilistic safety assessment (PSA) model. Important characteristics of seismic PSA models indicate that preserving the success branches in a primary seismic event tree is necessary. Based on the authors' experience in modeling and quantifying plant-level seismic PSA models, the effects of applying negate-down to the success branches in primary seismic event trees on the quantification results are summarized along with the following three insights gained: (1) there are two competing effects on the MCUB-based quantification results: one tending to increase and the other tending to decrease; (2) the binary decision diagram does not always provide exact quantification results; and (3) it is identified when the exact results will be obtained, and which combination provides more conservative results compared to the others. Complicated interactions occur in Boolean variable manipulation, approximation, and the quantification of a seismic PSA model. The insights presented herein can assist PSA analysts to better understand the important theoretical principles associated with the quantification of seismic PSA models.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.287-294
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• 2019

The finite element method (FEM) is widely used to evaluate the seismic performance of pile-supported buildings. However, there are problems associated with modeling the pile end resistance using the FEM, such as the dependence on the mesh size. This paper proposes a new method of modeling around the pile tip to avoid the mesh size effect in two-dimensional (2D) analyses. Specifically, we consider the area of influence around the pile tip as an artificial constraint on the behavior of the soil. We explain the problems with existing methods of modeling the pile tip. We then conduct a three-dimensional (3D) analysis of a pile in various soil conditions to evaluate the area of influence of the soil around the pile tip. The analysis results show that the normalized area of influence extends approximately 2.5 times the diameter of the pile below the pile tip. Finally, we propose a new method for modeling pile foundations with artificial constraints on the nodal points within the area of influence. The proposed model is expected to be useful in the practical seismic design of pile-supported buildings via a 2D analysis.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.97-112
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• 2023

The Finite Element (FE) modeling of Reinforced Concrete (RC) under seismic loading has a sensitive impact in terms of getting good contribution compared to experimental results. Several idealized model types for simulating the nonlinear response have been developed based on the plasticity distribution alone the model. The Continuum Models are the most used category of modeling, to understand the seismic behavior of structural elements in terms of their components, cracking patterns, hysteretic response, and failure mechanisms. However, the material modeling, contact and nonlinear analysis strategy are highly complex due to the joint operation of concrete and steel. This paper presents a numerical simulation of a chosen RC column under monotonic and cyclic loading using the FE Abaqus, to assessthe hysteretic response and failure mechanisms in the RC columns, where the perfect bonding option is used for the contact between concrete and steel. While results of the numerical study under cyclic loading compared to experimental tests might be unsuccessful due to the lack of bond-slip modeling. The monotonic loading shows a good estimation of the envelope response and deformation components. In addition, this work further demonstrates the advantage and efficiency of the damage distributions since the obtained damage distributions fit the expected results.

• Geotechnical Engineering
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.95-108
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• 1998

Downhole testing and seismic CPT (SCPT) have been widely used to evaluate stiffness profiles of the subgrade. Advantages of downhole testing and SCPT such as low cost, easy operation and a simple seismic source have got these testings more frequently adopted in site investigation. For the automated analysis of downhole testing and SCPT, the concept of interval measurements has been practiced. In this paper. a new inversion procedure to deal tilth the interval measurements for the automated downhole testing and SCPT (including a newlydeveloped continuous SCPT) is proposed. The forward modeling in the new inversion procedure incorporates ray path theory based on Snell's law. The formulation for the inversion analysis is derived from the maximum likelihood approach, which estimates the maximum likelihood of obtaining a particular travel time from a source to a receiver. Verification of the new inversion procedure was performed with numerical simulations of SCPT using synthesized profiles. The results of the inversion analyses performed for the synthetic data show that the new inversion analysis is a valid procedure which enhances Va profiles determined by downhole testing and SCPT.

• Computational Structural Engineering : An International Journal
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.139-150
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• 2001

An initial approach for the identification of physical causes underlying the spatial coherency of seismic ground motions it presented. The approach relies on the observation that amplitude and phase variability of seismic data recorded over extended areas around the amplitude and phase of a common, coherent component are correlated. It suffices then to examine the physical causes for the amplitude variability in the seismic motions, in order to recognize the causes for the phase variability and, consequently, the spatial coherency. In this study, the effect of randomness in the shear wave velocity at a site on the amplitude variability of the surface motions mi investigated by means of simulations. The amplitude variability of the simulated motions around the amplitude of the common component is contained within envelope functions, the shape of which suggests, on a preliminary basis, the trend of the decay of coherency with frequency.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.183-192
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• 2023

It is essential to properly understand the seismic behavior of reinforced concrete (RC) columns confined by stirrups that experience different corrosion rates. The current study investigated the effect of seismic performance indicators such as strength loss, energy dissipation rate, ductility and hysteresis damping on specimens and models for different stirrup corrosion rates. Analysis revealed the adverse effects of corrosion on the bond performance between the concrete and steel bars which affected the seismic performance of the columns. It was found that with increasing corrosion rate, ductility and energy dissipation of the specimens decreased. Compared with the uncorroded specimen, the ductility factor and energy dissipation decreased observably, by 22.89% and 60.64%, respectively. An attenuation relationship is proposed for the corrosion rate of the stirrups for different stirrup yield strengths, concrete compressive strengths, concrete covers and stirrup spacing.