• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.75 no.6
• /
• pp.675-684
• /
• 2020

An innovative retrofit method using pre-stressed steel strips and externally-bonded steel plates was presented in this paper. With the aim of exploring the seismic performance of the retrofitted RC interior joints, four 1/2-scale retrofitted joint specimens together with one control specimen were designed and subjected to constant axial compression and cyclic loading, with the main test parameters being the volume of steel strips and the existence of externally-bonded steel plates. The damage mechanism, force-displacement hysteretic response, force-displacement envelop curve, energy dissipation and displacement ductility ratio were analyzed to investigate the cyclic behavior of the retrofitted joints. The test results indicated that all the test specimens suffered a typical shear failure at the joint core, and the application of externally-bonded steel plates and that of pre-stressed steel strips could effectively increase the lateral capacity and deformability of the deficient RC interior joints, respectively. The best cyclic behavior could be found in the deficient RC interior joint retrofitted using both externally-bonded steel plates and pre-stressed steel strips due to the increased lateral capacity, displacement ductility and energy dissipation. Finally, based on the test results and the softened strut and tie model, a theoretical model for determining the shear capacity of the retrofitted specimens was proposed and validated.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
• /
• v.5 no.4 s.19
• /
• pp.95-105
• /
• 2005

Korea is located away from plate boundaries which are not safe from earthquakes. However, having witnessed the large-scale earthquake in the Tangshan region in 1976 deemed as a safe plate, it should not be assured that Korea is absolutely safe from earthquakes. In addition, many seismologists have claimed that there indeed is a high possibility of earthquakes above mid scale that would occur in Korea. Because it is impossible to prevent earthquake, studies on seismic design and earthquake disaster control system are widely being conducted. However, studies on early response to earthquakes or recovery process are still very limited, and only a few studies for establishing earthquake damage evaluation system are being conducted. Thus, this study aimed to present essential data for establishing earthquake damage evaluation system that takes into account the real situation of structures in Korea. In this study, a nonseimically reinforced concrete apartment structure in Gangnamgu was selected as an standard type of such structures and its earthquake damage was estimated. The result of damage evaluation based on the derivation of vulnerability function and realtive story displacement was compared to that abtained using HAZUS Program Vulnerability Function.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.103-110
• /
• 2021

A shake table test is conducted for the three-story reinforced concrete building structure using 0.28 g, 0.5 g, 0.75 g, and 1.0 g of seismic input motions based on the Gyeongju earthquake. Computational efforts are made in parallel to explore the mechanical details in the structure. For engineering practice, the elastic modulus of concrete and rebar in the dynamic analysis is reduced to 38% and 50%, respectively, to calibrate the structure's natural frequencies. The engineering approach to the reduced modulus of elasticity is believed to be due to the inability to specify the flexibility of the actual boundary conditions. This aspect may lead to disadvantages of nonlinear dynamic analysis that can distort local stress and strain relationships. The initial elastic modulus can be applied directly without the so-called engineering adjustment with infinite element models with spring and spring-dashpot boundary conditions. This has the advantage of imposing the system flexibility of the structure on the sub-boundary conditions of springs and damping devices to control its sensitivity in a serial arrangement. This can reflect the flexibility of realistic boundary conditions and the effects of system damping (such as the gap between a concrete footing and shake table, loosening of steel anchors, etc.) in scalar quantities. However, these spring and dashpot coefficients can only be coordinated based on experimental results, making it challenging to select the coefficients in-prior to perform an experimental test.

• Steel and Composite Structures
• /
• v.46 no.6
• /
• pp.773-791
• /
• 2023

Connections with damage concentrated to pre-selected components can enhance seismic resilience for moment resisting frames. These pre-selected components always yield early to dissipate energy, and their energy dissipation mechanisms vary from one to another, depending on their position in the connection, geometry configuration details, and mechanical characteristics. This paper presents behaviour insights on two types of beam-to-beam connections that the angles were designed as energy dissipation components, through the results of experimental study and finite element analysis. Firstly, an experimental programme was reviewed, and key responses concerning the working mechanism of the connections were presented, including strain distribution at the critical section, section force responses of essential components, and initial stiffness of test specimens. Subsequently, finite element models of three specimens were established to further interpret their behaviour and response that were not observable in the tests. The moment and shear force transfer paths of the composite connections were clarified through the test results and finite element analysis. It was observed that the bending moment is mainly resisted by axial forces from the components, and the dominant axial force is from the bottom angles; the shear force at the critical section is primarily taken by the slab and the components near the top flange. Lastly, based on the insights on the load transfer path of the composite connections, preliminary design recommendations are proposed. In particular, a resistance requirement, quantified by a moment capacity ratio, was placed on the connections. Design models and equations were also developed for predicting the yield moment resistance and the shear resistance of the connections. A flexible beam model was proposed to quantify the shear resistance of essential components.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.61-74
• /
• 2017

One of the most reliable and simplest tools for structural vibration control in civil engineering is Tuned Mass Damper, TMD. Provided that the frequency and damping parameters of these dampers are tuned appropriately, they can reduce the vibrations of the structure through their generated inertia forces, as they vibrate continuously. To achieve the optimal parameters of TMD, many different methods have been provided so far. In old approaches, some formulas have been offered based on simplifying models and their applied loadings while novel procedures need to model structures completely in order to obtain TMD parameters. In this paper, with regard to the nonlinear decision-making of fuzzy systems and their enough ability to cope with different unreliability, a method is proposed. Furthermore, by taking advantage of both old and new methods a fuzzy system is designed to be operational and reduce uncertainties related to models and applied loads. To design fuzzy system, it is required to gain data on structures and optimum parameters of TMDs corresponding to these structures. This information is obtained through modeling MDOF systems with various numbers of stories subjected to far and near field earthquakes. The design of the fuzzy systems is performed by three methods: look-up table, the data space grid-partitioning, and clustering. After that, rule weights of Mamdani fuzzy system using the look-up table are optimized through genetic algorithm and rule weights of Sugeno fuzzy system designed based on grid-partitioning methods and clustering data are optimized through ANFIS (Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System). By comparing these methods, it is observed that the fuzzy system technique based on data clustering has an efficient function to predict the optimal parameters of TMDs. In this method, average of errors in estimating frequency and damping ratio is close to zero. Also, standard deviation of frequency errors and damping ratio errors decrease by 78% and 4.1% respectively in comparison with the look-up table method. While, this reductions compared to the grid partitioning method are 2.2% and 1.8% respectively. In this research, TMD parameters are estimated for a 15-degree of freedom structure based on designed fuzzy system and are compared to parameters obtained from the genetic algorithm and empirical relations. The progress up to 1.9% and 2% under far-field earthquakes and 0.4% and 2.2% under near-field earthquakes is obtained in decreasing respectively roof maximum displacement and its RMS ratio through fuzzy system method compared to those obtained by empirical relations.