• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.893-910
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• 2015

Earthquake safety of existing buildings has gained considerable importance after earthquakes which have occurred in our country especially in the last 30 years. Performance based assessment methods have been widely used for existing reinforced concrete structures. This study aims to investigate the earthquake performances of the building stock located in Van Lake basin in Eastern Anatolia of Turkey. The case study of buildings has been modeled on and the structural performances have been determined by employing the non-linear methods described in the latest Turkish Earthquake Code published in 2007. The Van lake basin is located on the very seismically active in a region. On October 23, 2011, a magnitude of Mw 7.2 earthquake struck the Van province in eastern Turkey. The earthquake ground motion was recorded as about 0.1g in Bitlis province. Performance evaluations have been performed by taking samples from each district consisting urban building stocks of Bitlis. A total of 16 reinforced concrete buildings have been evaluated. Among them, 53% of those buildings were determined in the Fully Operational performance level; 13% of them in the Life Safety performance and 34% of them could not be evaluated because of the ratio of the effective mass of first mode to the total mass of the buildings was smaller than 0.70. Therefore, incremental equivalent seismic load methods, which are a part of Turkish Earthquake Code -2007, cannot be used.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.535-558
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• 2008

This study evaluates seismic performance of the school buildings with the selected template designs in Turkey considering nonlinear behavior of reinforced concrete components. Six school buildings with template designs were selected to represent major percentage of school buildings in medium-size cities located in high seismic region of Turkey. Selection of template designed buildings and material properties were based on field investigation on government owned school buildings in several cities in western part of Turkey. Capacity curves of investigated buildings were determined by pushover analyses conducted in two principal directions. The inelastic dynamic characteristics were represented by equivalent single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) systems and their seismic displacement demands were calculated under selected ground motions. Seismic performance evaluation was carried out in accordance with recently published Turkish Earthquake Code that has similarities with FEMA-356 guidelines. Reasons of building damages in past earthquakes are examined using the results of performance assessment of investigated buildings. The effects of material quality on seismic performance of school buildings were investigated. The detailed examination of capacity curves and performance evaluation identified deficiencies and possible solutions for template designs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.557-570
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• 2017

In this study, the seismic performance levels of four bridges are determined using finite element modeling based on ambient vibration testing. The study includes finite element modeling, analytical modal analyses, ambient vibration testing and earthquake analyses of the bridges. For the purpose, four prestressed precast I beam bridges that were constructed for the Ankara-Sivas high speed railway line are selected for analytical and experimental studies. In the study, firstly a literature review related to the dynamic behavior of bridges especially precast beam bridges is given and then the formulation part related to ambient vibration testing and structural performance according to Turkish Seismic Code (2007) is presented. Next, 3D finite element models of the bridge are described and modeled using LARSA 4D software, and analytical dynamic characteristics are obtained. Then ambient vibration testing conducted on the bridges under natural excitations and experimental natural frequencies are estimated. Lastly, time history analyses of the bridges under the 1999 Kocaeli, 1992 Erzincan, and 1999 Duzce Earthquakes are performed and seismic performance levels according to TSC2007 are determined. The results show that the damage on the bridges is all under the minimum damage limit which is in the minimum damage region under all three earthquakes.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.405-417
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• 2014

The poor seismic performance of reinforced concrete buildings during the latest earthquakes has become a serious issue in the building industry in Turkey. This case, designing new buildings without structural irregularities against earthquake loads reveals to be quite significant. This study mainly is focused on the effects of different torsional irregularities on construction costs and earthquakes performance of reinforced concrete buildings. In that respect, structural torsional irregularities are investigated based on the Turkish Earthquake Code. The study consists of major eight main parametric models. In this models consist of totally 49 models together with the variations in the number of storey. With this purpose, the earthquake performances and construction costs (especially steel quantities) of reinforced concrete buildings which having different structural torsional irregularities were obtained with the help of Sta4-CAD program. Each model has been analyzed by both the methods of equivalent earthquake loading and dynamic analysis. The obtained results reveal that the model-1 which has lower torsional irregularity coefficient shows the best earthquake performance owing to its regular plan geometry. Also, economical comparisons on costs of the torsional irregularity are performed, and results-recommendations are given.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1195-1211
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• 2016

In this study, seismic behaviour of reinforced concrete buildings using the pushover and incremental dynamic analysis method was investigated. A numerical study was performed for a reinforced concrete frame building. Pushover analysis according to uniform and triangular load shapes and incremental dynamic analyses were performed for selected building. For the nonlinear analysis, three ground motion records were selected to ensure compatibility with the design spectrum defined in the Turkish Seismic Code. The maximum response, dynamic pushover curve, capacity curves, interstorey drifts and moment rotation curves for various element ends of the selected building were obtained. Results were compared each other and good correlation was obtained between the dynamic analyses envelope with static pushover curves for the building.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.399-412
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• 2016

This paper evaluates the seismic response of three dimensional steel space buildings using the spread plastic hinge approach. A numerical study was carried out in which a sample steel space building was selected for pushover analysis and incremental nonlinear dynamic time history analysis. For the nonlinear analysis, three earthquake acceleration records were selected to ensure compatibility with the design spectrum defined in the Turkish Earthquake Code. The interstorey drift, capacity curve, maximum responses and dynamic pushover curves of the building were obtained. The analysis results were compared and good correlation was obtained between the idealized dynamic analyses envelopes with and static pushover curves for the selected building. As a result to more accurately account response of steel buildings, dynamic pushover envelopes can be obtained and compared with static pushover curve of the building.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.59-74
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• 2015

Since there are several places located in active seismic zones in the world, serious damages and losses have happened due to major scaled earthquakes. Especially, structures having different irregularities have been severely damaged or collapsed during these seismic events. Behavior of existing structures under several loading conditions is not completely determined due to some uncertainties. This situation reveals the importance of design and analysis of structures under seismic effects. Several non-linear static procedures have been developed in recent years. Determination of the seismic safety of the existing structures and strengthening techniques are significant civil engineering problems Non-linear methods are defined in codes to determine the performance levels of structures more accurately. However, displacement based ones give more realistic results. These methods provide more reliable evaluation possibilities for existing structures with developing computer technology. In this study, non-linear performance analysis of existing and strengthened steel structures by X shaped bracing members with 3, 5 and 7 stories which have soft story irregularity is performed according to FEMA-356 and Turkish Earthquake Code-2007. Damage ratios of the structural members and global performance levels are determined as well as modal properties and story drift ratios after non-linear finite elements analysis for each structure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.469-486
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• 2006

The main objective of this study was to investigate the seismic behavior of damaged reinforced concrete frames rehabilitated by introducing cast in place reinforced concrete infills. Four bare and five infilled frames were constructed and tested. Each specimen consisted of two (twin) 1/3-scale, one-bay and two-story reinforced concrete frames. Test specimens were tested under reversed-cyclic lateral loading until considerable damage occurred. RC infills were then introduced to the damaged specimens. One bare specimen was infilled without being subjected to any damage. All infilled frames were then tested under reversed-cyclic lateral loading until failure. While some of the test frames were detailed properly according to the current Turkish seismic code, others were built with the common deficiencies observed in existing residential buildings. The variables investigated were the effects of the damage level and deficiencies in the bare frame on the seismic behavior of the infilled frame. The deficiencies in the frame were; low concrete strength, inadequate confinement at member ends, 90 degree hooks in column and beam ties and inadequate length of lapped splices in column longitudinal bars made above the floor levels. Test results revealed that both the lateral strength and lateral stiffness increased significantly with the introduction of reinforced concrete infills even when the frame had the deficiencies mentioned above. The deficiency which affected the behavior of infilled frames most adversely was the presence of lap splices in column longitudinal reinforcement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.63 no.1
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• pp.23-35
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• 2017

A nonlinear static procedure considering work-energy principle and global failure mechanism to estimate base shears of reinforced concrete (RC) frame-type structures is presented. The relative energy equation comprising of elastic vibrational energy, plastic strain energy and seismic input energy is obtained. The input energy is modified with a factor depending on damping ratio and ductility, and the energy that contributes to damage is obtained. The plastic energy is decreased with a factor to consider the reduced hysteretic behavior of RC members. Given the pre-selected failure mechanism, the modified energy balance equality is written using various approximations for modification factors of input energy and plastic energy in scientific literature. External work done by the design lateral forces distributed to story levels in accordance with Turkish Seismic Design Code is calculated considering the target plastic drift. Equating the plastic energy obtained from energy balance to external work done by the equivalent inertia forces considering, a total of 16 energy-based base shears for each frame are derived considering different combinations of modification factors. Ductility related parameters of modification factors are determined from pushover analysis. Relative input energy of multi degree of freedom (MDOF) system is approximated by using the modal-energy-decomposition approach. Energy-based design base shears are compared with those obtained from nonlinear time history (NLTH) analysis using recorded accelerograms. It is found that some of the energy-based base shears are in reasonable agreement with the mean base shear obtained from NLTH analysis.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.4
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• pp.563-576
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• 2022

This study aimed to evaluate the progressive collapse potential of buildings designed using conventional design codes for the merchant occupancy classification and subjected to a sudden column failure. For this purpose, three reinforced concrete buildings having different story numbers were designed according to the seismic design recommendations of TSCB-2019. Later on, the buildings were analyzed using the GSA-2016 and UFC 4-023-03 to observe their progressive collapse responses. Three columns were removed independently in the structures from different locations. Nonlinear dynamic analysis method for the alternate path direct design approach was implemented for the design evaluation. The plasticity of the structural members was simulated by using nonlinear fiber hinges. The moment, axial, and shear force interaction on the hinges was considered by the Modified Compression Field Theory. Moreover, an existing experimental study investigating the progressive collapse behavior of reinforced concrete structures was used to observe the validation of nonlinear fiber hinges and the applied analysis methodology. The study results deduce that a limited local collapse disproportionately more extensive than the initial failure was experienced on the buildings designed according to TSCB-2019. The mercantile structures designed according to current seismic codes require additional direct design considerations to improve their progressive collapse resistance against the risk of a sudden column loss.