• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.17 no.4 s.77
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• pp.407-417
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• 2005

An experimental and analytical study was performed to apply the friction pendulum system (FPS) to the main control room of a nuclear power plant. A friction pendulum bearing was fabricated, and the dynamic response of the bearing was evaluated. A partial model of a main control room attached to the FPS was tested on the shake table. The model consisted of a cabinet, a $3m\times3m$ access floor, and four friction pendulum bearings. The artificial time history based on the floor response spectrum of the main control room was used as the earthquake input signal in the test. Comparisons between the analytical study and the experimental study were conducted to verify the results and to extend the experimental study to the range of parameters that could not be experimentally studied.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.381-395
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• 2019

This paper proposes a new approach to model the screw joints of integrated ceilings via the finite element method (FEM). The simulation models consist of the beam elements. The screw joints used in the main bars and cross bars and in the W bars and cross bars are assumed to be rotation springs. The stiffness of the rotation springs is defined according to the technical standards proposed by the National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management of Japan. By comparing the results of the sheer tests and the simulation models, the effectiveness and efficiency of the simulation models proposed in this paper are verified. This paper indicates the possibility that the seismic performance of suspended ceilings can be confirmed directly via beam element models using FEM if the stiffnesses of the screw joints of the ceiling substrates are appropriately defined. Because cross-sectional shapes, physical properties, and other variables of the ceiling substrates can be easily changed in the models, it is expected that suspended ceiling manufactures will be able to design and confirm the seismic performance of suspended ceilings with different cross-sectional shapes or materials via computers, instead of spending large amounts of time and money on shake table tests.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.319-344
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• 2020

Inverse analysis of non-linear reinforced concrete bridge pier using recursive Gaussian filtering for in-situ condition assessment is the main theme of this work. For this purpose, minimum variance unbiased estimation using unscented sigma points is adopted here. The uniqueness of this inverse analysis lies in its approach for strain based updating of engineering demand parameters, where appropriate bound and constrained conditions are introduced to ensure numerical stability and convergence. In this analysis, seismic input is also identified, which is an added advantage for the structures having no dedicated sensors for earthquake measurement. First, the proposed strategy is tested with a simulated example whose hysteretic properties are obtained from the slow-cyclic test of a frame to investigate its efficiency and accuracy. Finally, the experimental test data of a full-scale bridge pier is used to study its in-situ condition in terms of Park & Ang damage index. Overall the study shows the ability of the augmented minimum variance unbiased estimation based recursive time-marching algorithm for non-linear system identification with the aim to estimate the engineering damage parameters that are the fundamental information necessary for any future decision making for retrofitting/rehabilitation.

• Ocean Systems Engineering
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.353-371
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• 2021

Sloshing behavior of liquid within containers represents one of the most fundamental fluid-structure interactions. Liquid in partially filled tanks tends to slosh when subjected to external disturbances. Sloshing is a vicious resonant fluid motion in a moving tank. To understand the effect of baffle positioned at L/3 and 2L/3 location, a shake table experiments was conducted for different fill volumes of aspect ratio 0.163, 0.325 and 0.488. For a fixed amplitude of 7.5 mm, the excitation frequencies are varied between 0.457 Hz to 1.976 Hz. Wave probes have been located at both tank ends to capture the surface elevation. The experimental parameters such as sloshing oscillation and energy dissipation are discussed here. Comparison is done for with baffles and without baffles conditions. For both conditions, the results showed that aspect ratio of 0.163 gives better surface elevation and energy dissipation than obtained for aspect ratio 0.325 and 0.488. Good agreement is observed when numerical analysis is compared with the experiments results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.1363-1373
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• 2022

The recent seismic events that occurred in South Korea have increased the interest in the re-evaluation of the seismic capacity of nuclear power plant (NPP) equipment, which is often conservatively estimated. To date, various approaches-including the Bayesian method proposed by the United States (US) Electric Power Research Institute -have been developed to quantify the seismic capacity of NPP equipment. Among these, the Bayesian approach has advantages in accounting for both prior knowledge and new information to update the probabilistic distribution of seismic capacity. However, data availability and region-specific issues exist in applying this Bayesian approach to Korean NPP equipment. Therefore, this paper proposes to construct an earthquake experience database by combining available earthquake records at Korean NPP sites and the general location of equipment within NPPs. Also, for the better representation of the seismic demand of Korean earthquake datasets, which have distinct seismic characteristics from those of the US at a high-frequency range, a broadband frequency range optimization is suggested. The proposed data construction and seismic demand optimization method for seismic capacity re-evaluation are demonstrated and tested on a 480 V motor control center of a South Korea NPP.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.141-154
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• 2023

After an earthquake, information regarding potential damage to buildings close to the epicenter is very important during the initial emergency response. This study proposes the use of crowdsourced measured acceleration response data collected from smartphones located within buildings to perform system identification of building structures during earthquake excitations, and the feasibility of the proposed approach is studied. The principal advantage of using crowdsourced smartphone data is the potential to determine the condition of millions of buildings without incurring hardware, installation, and long-term maintenance costs. This study's goal is to assess the feasibility of identifying the lowest fundamental natural frequencies of buildings without knowing the orientations and precise locations of the crowds' smartphones in advance. Both input-output and output-only identification methods are used to identify the lowest fundamental natural frequencies of numerical finite element models of a real building structure. The effects of time synchronization and the orientation alignment between nearby smartphones on the identification results are discussed, and the proposed approach's performance is verified using large-scale shake table tests of a scaled steel building. The presented results illustrate the potential of using crowdsourced smartphone data with the proposed approach to identify the lowest fundamental natural frequencies of building structures, information that should be valuable in making emergency response decisions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.6
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• pp.555-574
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• 2023

An efficient optimization algorithm and damage-sensitive objective function are two main components in optimization-based Finite Element Model Updating (FEMU). A suitable combination of these components can considerably affect damage detection accuracy. In this study, a new hybrid damage-sensitive objective function is proposed based on combining two different objection functions to detect the location and extent of damage in structures. The first one is based on Generalized Pseudo Modal Strain Energy (GPMSE), and the second is based on the element's Generalized Flexibility Matrix (GFM). Four well-known population-based metaheuristic algorithms are used to solve the problem and report the optimal solution as damage detection results. These algorithms consist of Cuckoo Search (CS), Teaching-Learning-Based Optimization (TLBO), Moth Flame Optimization (MFO), and Jaya. Three numerical examples and one experimental study are studied to illustrate the capability of the proposed method. The performance of the considered metaheuristics is also compared with each other to choose the most suitable optimizer in structural damage detection. The numerical examinations on truss and frame structures with considering the effects of measurement noise and availability of only the first few vibrating modes reveal the good performance of the proposed technique in identifying damage locations and their severities. Experimental examinations on a six-story shear building structure tested on a shake table also indicate that this method can be considered as a suitable technique for damage assessment of shear building structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.89 no.4
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• pp.421-436
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• 2024

This research addresses experimentally the relationship between the excitation frequency and both hoop and axial wall stresses in a water storage tank. A low-density polyethylene tank with six different aspect ratios (water level to tank radius) was tested using a shake table. A laminar box with sand represents a soil site to simulate Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI). Sine excitations with eight frequencies that cover the first free vibration frequency of the tank-water system were applied. Additionally, Ricker wavelet excitations of two different dominant frequencies were considered. The maximum stresses are compared with those using a nonlinear elastic spring-mass model. The results reveal that the coincidence between the excitation frequency and the free-vibration frequency of the soil-tank-water system increases the sloshing intensity and the rigid-like body motion of the system, amplifying the stress development considerably. The relationship between the excitation frequency and wall stresses is nonlinear and depends simultaneously on both sloshing and uplift. In most cases, the maximum stresses using the nonlinear elastic spring-mass model agree with those from the experiments.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.6
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• pp.703-731
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• 2013

In order to verify the applicability of buckling restrained braces (BRB's) and fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets to the seismic strengthening of a low-rise RC building having the irregularities of a soft/weak story and torsion at the ground story, a series of earthquake simulation tests were conducted on a 1:5 scale RC building model before, and after, the strengthening, and these test results are compared and analyzed, to check the effectiveness of the strengthening. Based on the investigations, the following conclusions are made: (1) The BRB's revealed significant slips at the joint with the existing RC beam, up-lifts of columns from RC foundations and displacements due to the flexibility of foundations, and final failure due to the buckling and fracture of base joint angles. The lateral stiffness appeared to be, thereby, as low as one seventh of the intended value, which led to a large yield displacement and, therefore, the BRB's could not dissipate seismic input energy as desired within the range of anticipated displacements. (2) Although the strengthened model did not behave as desired, great enhancement in earthquake resistance was achieved through an approximate 50% increase in the lateral resistance of the wall, due to the axial constraint by the peripheral BRB frames. Finally, (3) whereas in the original model, base torsion was resisted by both the inner core walls and the peripheral frames, the strengthened model resisted most of the base torsion with the peripheral frames, after yielding of the inner core walls, and represented dual values of torsion stiffness, depending on the yielding of core walls.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.93-96
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• 2008

The near fault ground motion(NFGM) is characterized by a single long period velocity pulse of large magnitude. NFGM's have been observed in recent strong earthquakes, Turkey Izmit (1999), Japan Kobe(1995), Northridge(1994), etc. These strong earthquakes have caused considerable damage to infrastructures because the epicenter was close to the urban area, called as NFGM. Extensive research for the far fault ground motion(FFGM) have been carried out in strong seismic region, but limited research have been done for NFGM in low or moderate seismic regions because of very few records. The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the effect of near-fault ground motions on RC bridge piers without lap-spliced longitudinal reinforcing steels. The seismic performance of two RC bridge piers under near-fault ground motions was investigated on the shake table. In addition, Two of four identical RC bridge piers were tested under a quasi-static load, and the others were under a pseudo-dynamic load. The respectively two RC bridge pier is comparatively subjected to Pseudo-dynamic loadings and Quasi-Static loadings. This paper indicated that more gives bigger ultimate strain of longitudinal steels to be fractured at bigger PGA motion.