• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.86-95
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• 2016

Weight-bearing building materials are substantially weakened under high temperatures, and this is evident through the collapse of structures once engulfed by fire. Currently, there is no scientific or technological process of evaluating the real-time structural stability of a building whcih is engulfed by flame. There are many building design specifications which aim to reduce the risk of fire, but little consideration given to fire officer safety while operating in a dangerous building. This paper aims to provide direction within building policy in order to ensure the safe evacuation of fire-fighters in case of an impending building collapse. This paper suggests evaluation criteria for buildings which are damaged due to fire, autilizing current information on fire-resistant building design and a fire-resistant capacity.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.245-252
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• 2011

Currently, the design guidelines for the prevention of progressive collapse are not available in Korea due to the lack of study efforts in progressive collapse resistance evaluation of RC flat plate system. Therefore, in this study, three types of analysis were conducted to evaluate the progressive collapse resistance of a RC flat plate system. A linear static analysis was carried out by comparing the demand-capacity ratio (DCR) differences of the systems using the alternate load path method, which is the guideline of GSA. A dynamic behavior was investigated by checking the vertical deflection after removal of the column using the linear dynamic analysis. Lastly, a maximum load factor was investigated using the nonlinear static analysis. The finite element (FE) analyses were conducted using various parameters to analyze the results obtained using effective beam width (EB) model and plate element FEM (PF) model. This study results showed that the strength contributions of the slab in the EB models are underestimated compared to those obtained from the PF models. Therefore, a detailed FE analysis considering the slab element is required to thoroughly estimate the progressive collapse resisting capacity of flat plate system. The scenario of the corner column (CC) removal is the most dangerous conditions where as the scenario of the inner column (IC) removal is the least dangerous conditions based on the consideration of various parameters. The analysis results will allow more realistic evaluations of progressive collapse resistance of RC flat plate system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.379-394
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• 2013

Post-earthquake fire (PEF) can lead to a rapid collapse of buildings damaged partially as a result of prior earthquake. Almost all standards and codes for the design of structures against earthquake ignore the risk of PEF, and thus buildings designed using those codes could be too weak when subjected to a fire after an earthquake. An investigation based on sequential analysis inspired by FEMA356 is performed here on the Immediate Occupancy, Life Safety and Collapse Prevention performance levels of structures, designed to the ACI 318-08 code, after they are subjected to an earthquake level with PGA of 0.35g. This investigation is followed by a fire analysis of the damaged structures, examining the time taken for the damaged structures to collapse. As a point of reference, a fire analysis is also performed for undamaged structures and before the occurrence of earthquake. The results indicate that the vulnerability of structures increases dramatically when a previously damaged structure is exposed to PEF. The results also show that the damaging effects of post-earthquake fire are exacerbated when initiated from the second and third floor. Whilst the investigation is made for a certain class of structures (conventional buildings, intermediate reinforced structure, 3 stories), the results confirm the need for the incorporation of post-earthquake fire into the process of analysis and design, and provides some quantitative measures on the level of associated effects.

• Computational Structural Engineering : An International Journal
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2001

Collapse behavior of Mission-Gothic Undercrossing under Northridge earthquake is studied by performing nonlinear time-history analysis and three-dimensional nonlinear finite element method for flared columns. Bridge structural model is characterized as three-dimensional with consideration of columns, superstructures, and abutment conditions. Three components of ground motion, corresponding to bridge's longitudinal, transverse, and vertical direction and their combinations are used to investigate bridge collapse. Studies indicate that bridge collapse is dominantly caused by transverse ground motion and the consideration of three-dimensional ground motion leads to a more accurate assessment. Failure mechanism of flared columns is analyzed applying nonlinear finite element method. Reduction of column capacity is observed due to orientation of flare. Further investigation demonstrates that the effects of flare play an important role in predicting of bridge failure mechanism. Suggestions are offered to improve the performance of bridges during severe earthquake.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.157-160
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• 2007

I present a model to explain the mass segregation and shallow mass functions observed in the central parts of starburst stellar clusters. The model assumes that the initial pre-stellar cores mass function resulting from the turbulent fragmentation of the proto-cluster cloud is significantly altered by the cores coalescence before they collapse to form stars. With appropriate, yet realistic parameters, this model based on the competition between cores coalescence and collapse reproduces the mass spectra of the well studied Arches cluster. Namely, the slopes at the intermediate and high mass ends, as well as the peculiar bump observed at $6M_{\bigodot}$. This coalescence-collapse process occurs on a short timescale of the order of the free fall time of the proto-cluster cloud (i.e., a few $10^4$ years), suggesting that mass segregation in Arches and similar clusters is primordial. The best fitting model implies the total mass of the Arches cluster is $1.45{\times}10^5M_{\bigodot}$, which is slightly higher than the often quoted, but completeness affected, observational value of a few $10^4M_{\bigodot}$. The model implies a star formation efficiency of ${\sim}30$ percent which implies that the Arches cluster is likely to a gravitationally bound system.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.167-174
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• 2023

This study evaluated slope stability through a case study to determine the disaster risks associated with increased deforestation in structures, including schools and apartments, located in urban areas adjacent to slopes. The slope behind the ○○ High School in Gwangju, Korea, collapsed owing to heavy rain in August 2018. Historically, rainwater drained well around the slope during the rainy season. However, during the collapse, a large amount of seepage water flowed out of the slope surface and a shallow failure occurred along the saturated soil layer. To analyze the cause of the collapse, the images of the upper area of the slope, which could not be directly identified, were captured using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A digital elevation model of the slope was constructed through image analysis, making it possible to calculate the rainfall flow direction and the area, width, and length of logging areas. The change in the instability of the slope over time owing to rainfall lasting ten days before the collapse was analyzed through numerical analysis. Imaging techniques based on the UAV images were found to be effective in analyzing ground disaster risk maps in urban areas. Furthermore, the analysis was found to predict the failure before its actual occurrence.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.54 no.6
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• pp.1245-1266
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• 2015

In this research, the cylindrical absorber made of expanded metal sheets under impact loading has been examined. Expanded metal sheets due to their low weight, effective collapse mechanism has a high energy absorption capacity. Two types of absorbers with different cells angle were examined. First, the absorber with cell angle ${\alpha}=0$ and then the absorber with angle cell ${\alpha}=90$. Experimental Study is done by drop Hammer device and numerical investigation is done by finite element of ABAQUS software. The output of device is acceleration-time Diagram which is shown by Accelerometer that is located on the picky mass. Also the output of ABAQUS software is shown by force-displacement diagram. In this research, the numerical and experimental study of the collapse type, force-displacement diagrams and effective parameters has been investigated. Similarly, the comparison between numerical and experimental results has been observed that these results are matched well with each other. From the obtained results it was observed that the absorber with cell angle ${\alpha}=0$, have symmetric collapse and had high energy absorption capacity but the absorber with cell angle ${\alpha}=90$, had global buckling and the energy absorption value was not suitable.

• ETRI Journal
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• v.40 no.4
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• pp.546-553
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• 2018

Since the Gyeongju earthquakes in 2016, there have been increased research interests in the areas of seismic design, building collapse, and rescue radar applications in Korea. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a nondestructive electromagnetic method that is used for underground surveys. To properly design ground penetrating radar that detects buried victims precisely, it is important to study electromagnetic wave propagation channel characteristics in advance. This work presents an electromagnetic propagation environment analysis of a trapped victim for GPR applications. In this study, we develop a realistic collapse model composed of layered reinforced concrete and a victim positioned horizontally. In addition, the effects of rebars and the distance between the radar antenna and target are investigated. The numerical analysis presents the electromagnetic wave propagation characteristics, including amplitude loss and phase difference, in the 450-MHz and 1,500-MHz frequency band, and it shows the electric field distribution in the environment.

• Journal of Korean Tunnelling and Underground Space Association
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.561-573
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• 2012

Recently, tunnel constructions have been increased in Korea. According to the increment of tunnel constructions, cases of tunnel collapses also have been increased under tunnel construction. Among these tunnel collapses, after a certain amount of time has elapsed due to excessive displacements on slope of tunnel exit or entrance, cases of tunnel collapse have been increased rapidly. Therefore, the case study was conducted in this study to figure out factors effect on the tunnel collapses due to excessive displacements on tunnel exit or entrance slopes. Base on the case study, the fragmental zone of fault and the rainfall were most important factors on the collapse.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.7
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• pp.2516-2533
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• 2023

Several practical methods for accelerating the depletion calculation in a GPU-based Monte Carlo (MC) code PRAGMA are presented including the multilevel spectral collapse method and the vectorized Chebyshev rational approximation method (CRAM). Since the generation of microscopic reaction rates for each nuclide needed for the construction of the depletion matrix of the Bateman equation requires either enormous memory access or tremendous physical memory, both of which are quite burdensome on GPUs, a new method called multilevel spectral collapse is proposed which combines two types of spectra to generate microscopic reaction rates: an ultrafine spectrum for an entire fuel pin and coarser spectra for each depletion region. Errors in reaction rates introduced by this method are mitigated by a hybrid usage of direct online reaction rate tallies for several important fissile nuclides. The linear system to appear in the solution process adopting the CRAM is solved by the Gauss-Seidel method which can be easily vectorized on GPUs. With the accelerated depletion methods, only about 10% of MC calculation time is consumed for depletion, so an accurate full core cycle depletion calculation for a commercial power reactor (BEAVRS) can be done in 16 h with 24 consumer-grade GPUs.