• Wind and Structures
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.143-152
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• 2020

The wind design of buildings is typically based on strength provisions under ultimate loads. This is unlike the ductility-based approach used in seismic design, which allows inelastic actions to take place in the structure under extreme seismic events. This research investigates the application of a similar concept in wind engineering. In seismic design, the elastic forces resulting from an extreme event of high return period are reduced by a load reduction factor chosen by the designer and accordingly a certain ductility capacity needs to be achieved by the structure. Two reasons have triggered the investigation of this ductility-based concept under wind loads. Firstly, there is a trend in the design codes to increase the return period used in wind design approaching the large return period used in seismic design. Secondly, the structure always possesses a certain level of ductility that the wind design does not benefit from. Many technical issues arise when applying a ductility-based approach under wind loads. The use of reduced design loads will lead to the design of a more flexible structure with larger natural periods. While this might be beneficial for seismic response, it is not necessarily the case for the wind response, where increasing the flexibility is expected to increase the fluctuating response. This particular issue is examined by considering a case study of a sixty-five-story high-rise building previously tested at the Boundary Layer Wind Tunnel Laboratory at the University of Western Ontario using a pressure model. A three-dimensional finite element model is developed for the building. The wind pressures from the tested rigid model are applied to the finite element model and a time history dynamic analysis is conducted. The time history variation of the straining actions on various structure elements of the building are evaluated and decomposed into mean, background and fluctuating components. A reduction factor is applied to the fluctuating components and a modified time history response of the straining actions is calculated. The building components are redesigned under this set of reduced straining actions and its fundamental period is then evaluated. A new set of loads is calculated based on the modified period and is compared to the set of loads associated with the original structure. This is followed by non-linear static pushover analysis conducted individually on each shear wall module after redesigning these walls. The ductility demand of shear walls with reduced cross sections is assessed to justify the application of the load reduction factor "R".

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.311-322
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• 2020

This paper studies the influence of parameters of a novel SMA helical spring energy dissipation brace on the seismic resistance of a frame structure. The force-displacement relationship of the SMA springs is established mathematically based on a multilinear constitutive model of the SMA material. Four SMA helical springs are fabricated, and the force-displacement relationship curves of the SMA springs are obtained via tension tests. A numerical dynamic model of a two-floor frame with spring energy dissipation braces is constructed and evaluated via vibration table tests. Then, two spring parameters, namely, the ratio of the helical spring diameter to the wire diameter and the pre-stretch length, are selected to investigate their influences on the seismic responses of the frame structure. The simulation results demonstrate that the optimal ratio of the helical spring diameter to the wire diameter can be found to minimize the absolute acceleration and the relative displacement of the frame structure. Meanwhile, if the pre-stretch length is assigned a suitable value, excellent vibration reduction performance can be realized. Compared with the frame structure without braces, the frames with spring braces exhibit highly satisfactory seismic resistance performance under various earthquake waves. However, it is necessary to select an SMA spring with optimal parameters for realizing optimal vibration reduction performance.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2007.09a
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• pp.259-265
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• 2007

The technical committee of Soil Dynamics and Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering of Korean Geotechnical Socity has conducted Round Robin Test(RRT) on seismic ground response analyses in 2007. Total 14 participating teams were given exact same soil information of three sites and three input ground motions including two recorded ground motions and one synthetic ground motion. Each team selected its own analysis method and approaches to perform ground response analyses. There were equivalent linear, nonlinear total stress, and nonlinear effective stress approaches, which could be selected. The results from RRT were systematically analyzed and dispersion and variation due to analysis methods, input ground motions, shear velocity profiles, shear modulus reduction curves, damping curves, and other input data are reported by the companion papers.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.671-682
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• 2017

In this research, seismic response of pipes is examined by applying nanotechnology and piezoelectric materials. For this purpose, a pipe is considered which is reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and covered with a piezoelectric layer. The structure is subjected to the dynamic loads caused by earthquake and the governing equations of the system are derived using mathematical model via cylindrical shell element and Mindlin theory. Navier-Stokes equation is employed to calculate the force due to the fluid in the pipe. Mori-Tanaka approach is used to estimate the equivalent material properties of the nanocomposite and to consider the effect of the CNTs agglomeration on the scismic response of the structure. Moreover, the dynamic displacement of the structure is extracted using harmonic differential quadrature method (HDQM) and Newmark method. The main goal of this research is the analysis of the seismic response using piezoelectric layer and nanotechnology. The results indicate that reinforcing the pipeline by CNTs leads to a reduction in the displacement of the structure during an earthquake. Also the negative voltage applied to the piezoelectric layer reduces the dynamic displacement.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.423-435
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• 2020

Open ground story (OGS) reinforced concrete (RC) buildings are vulnerable to the complete collapse or severe damages under seismic actions. This study investigates the effectiveness of four different strengthening techniques representing the local and global modifications to improve the seismic performance of a non-ductile RC OGS frame. Steel caging and concrete jacketing methods of column strengthening are considered as the local modification techniques, whereas steel bracing and RC shear wall systems are selected as the global strengthening techniques in this study. Performance-based plastic design (PBPD) approach relying on energy-balance concept has been adopted to determine the required design force demand on the strengthening elements. Nonlinear static and dynamic analyses are carried out on the numerical models of study frames to assess the effectiveness of selected strengthening techniques in improving the seismic performance of OGS frame.. Strengthening techniques based on steel braces and RC shear wall significantly reduced the peak interstory drift response of the OGS frame. However, the peak floor acceleration of these strengthened frames is amplified by more than 2.5 times as compared to that of unstrengthened frame. Steel caging technique of column strengthening resulted in a reasonable reduction in the peak interstory drift response without substantial amplification in peak floor acceleration of the OSG frame.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.2
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• pp.147-161
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• 2022

The Brace-Type Shear Fuse (BSF) device is a newly proposed steel damper with excellent cumulative ductility and stable energy dissipation. In consideration of the current situation where there are not many alternatives for transversal seismic devices used in long-span three-tower self-anchored bridges (TSSBs), this paper implements improved BSFs into the world's longest TSSB, named Jinan Fenghuang Yellow River Bridge. The new details of the BSF are developed for the TSSB, and the force-displacement hysteretic curves of the BSFs are obtained using finite element (FE) simulations. A three-dimensional refined finite element model for the research TSSB was established in SAP2000, and the effects of BSFs on dynamic characteristics and seismic response of the TSSB under different site conditions were investigated by the numerical simulation method. The results show that remarkable controlling effects of BSFs on seismic response of TSSBs under different site conditions were obtained. Compared with the case without BSFs, the TSSB installed with BSFs has mitigation ratios of the tower top displacement, lateral girder displacement, tower bending moment and tower shear force exceeding 95%, 78%, 330% and 346%, respectively. Meanwhile, BSFs have a sufficient restoring force mechanism with a minor post-earthquake residual displacement. The proposed BSFs exhibit good application prospects in long-span TSSBs.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.333-347
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• 2017

Masonry infill walls are unavoidable parts of any building to create a separation between internal space and external environment. In general, there are some prevalent openings in the infill wall due to functional needs, architectural considerations or aesthetic concerns. In current design practice, the strength and stiffness contribution of infill walls is not considered. However, the presence of infill walls may decisively influence the seismic response of structures subjected to earthquake loads and cause a different behavior from that predicted for a bare frame. Furthermore, partial openings in the masonry infill wall are significant parameter affecting the seismic behavior of infilled frames thereby decreasing the lateral stiffness and strength. The possible effects of openings in the infill wall on seismic behavior of RC frames is analytically studied by means of pushover analysis of several bare, partially and fully infilled frames having different bay and story numbers. The stiffness loss due to partial opening is introduced by the stiffness reduction factors which are developed from finite element analysis of frames considering frame-infill interaction. Pushover curves of frames are plotted and the maximum base shear forces, the yield displacement, the yield base shear force coefficient, the displacement demand, interstory drift ratios and the distribution of story shear forces are determined. The comparison of parameters both in terms of seismic demand and capacity indicates that partial openings decisively influences the nonlinear behavior of RC frames and cause a different behavior from that predicted for a bare frame or fully infilled frame.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.2 no.4
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• pp.339-355
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• 2006

A procedure to retrofit existing essential facilities subjected to seismic excitation is proposed. The main features of this procedure are to reduce maximum acceleration and associated forces in buildings subjected to seismic excitation by reducing their strength (weakening). The weakening retrofit, which is an opposite strategy to strengthening, is particularly suitable for buildings having overstressed components and foundation supports or having weak brittle components. However, by weakening the structure large deformations are expected. Supplementaldamping devices however can control the deformations within desirable limits. The structure retrofitted with this strategy will have, therefore, a reduction in the acceleration response and a reduction in the deformations, depending on the amount of additional damping introduced in the structure. An illustration of the above strategy is presented here through an evaluation of the inelastic response of the structure through a nonlinear dynamic analysis. The results are compared with different retrofit techniques. A parametric analysis has also been carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the retrofitting method using different combination of the performance thresholds in accelerations and displacements through fragility analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.1
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• pp.129-143
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• 2020

This study proposes a new shape memory alloy-tuned mass damper (SMA-TMD) and investigates the effectiveness of this damper in reducing and controlling the vibrations of a transmission tower-line system under various seismic excitations. Based on a practical transmission line system and considering the geometric nonlinearity of this system, the finite element (FE) software ANSYS is used to create an FE model of the transmission tower-line system and simulate the proposed SMA-TMD. Additionally, the parameters of the SMA springs are optimized. The effectiveness of a conventional TMD and the proposed SMA-TMD in reducing and controlling the vibrations of the transmission tower-line system under seismic excitations is investigated. Moreover, the effects of the ground motion intensity and frequency ratio on the reduction ratio (η) of the SMA-TMD are studied. The vibration reduction effect of the SMA-TMD under various seismic excitations is superior to that of the conventional TMD. Changes in the ground motion intensity and frequency ratio have a significant impact on the η of the SMA-TMD. As the ground motion intensity and frequency ratio increase, the η values of the SMA-TMD first increase and then decrease. Studying the vibration reduction effects of the SMA-TMD can provide a reference for the practical engineering application of this damper.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.65-73
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• 2024

In this study, we propose an optimal design method by applying the Prefabricated Buckling Restrained Brace (PF-BRB) to structures with asymmetrically rigidity plan. As a result of the PF-BRB optimal design of a structure with an asymmetrically rigidity plan, it can be seen that the reduction effect of dynamic response is greater in the case of arrangement considering the asymmetric distribution of stiffness (Asym) than in the case of arrangement in the form of a symmetric distribution (Sym), especially It was confirmed that at an eccentricity rate of 20%, the total amount of reinforced PF-BRBs was also small. As a result of analyzing the dynamic response characteristics according to the change in eccentricity of the asymmetrically rigidity plan, the distribution of the reinforced PF-BRB showed that the larger the eccentricity, the greater the amount of damper distribution around the eccentric position. Additionally, when comparing the analysis models with an eccentricity rate of 20% and an eccentricity rate of 12%, the response reduction ratio of the 20% eccentricity rate was found to be large.