• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.359-374
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• 2017

The seismic events in Northern Italy, May 2012, have revealed the seismic vulnerability of typical Italian precast industrial buildings. The aim of this paper is to present a seismic fragility model for Italian RC precast buildings, to be used in earthquake loss estimation and seismic risk assessment by comparing two building typologies and three different codes: D.M. 3-03-1975, D.M. 16-01-1996 and current Italian building code that has been released in 2008. Based on geometric characteristics and design procedure applied, ten different building classes were identified. A Monte Carlo simulation was performed for each building class in order to generate the building stock used for the development of fragility curves trough analytical method. The probabilistic distributions of geometry were mainly obtained from data collected from 650 field surveys, while the material properties were deduced from the code in place at the time of construction or from expert opinion. The structures were modelled in 2D frameworks; since the past seismic events have identified the beam-column connection as the weakest element of precast buildings, two different modelling solutions were adopted to develop fragility curves: a simple model with post processing required to detect connection collapse and an innovative modelling solution able to reproduce the real behaviour of the connection during the analysis. Fragility curves were derived using both nonlinear static and dynamic analysis.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.1145-1167
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• 2016

This study presents a new method to computes analytical fragility curves of a structure subject to tsunami waves. The method uses dynamic analysis at each stage of the computation. First, the smooth particle hydrodynamics (SPH) model simulates the propagation of the tsunami waves from shallow water to their impact on the target structure. The advantage of SPH over mesh based methods is its capability to model wave surface interaction when large deformations are involved, such as the impact of water on a structure. Although SPH is computationally more expensive than mesh based method, nowadays the advent of parallel computing on general purpose graphic processing unit overcome this limitation. Then, the impact force is applied to a finite element model of the structure and its dynamic non-linear response is computed. When a data-set of tsunami waves is used analytical fragility curves can be computed. This study proves it is possible to obtain the response of a structure to a tsunami wave using state of the art dynamic models in every stage of the computation at an affordable cost.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.89-96
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• 2018

The paper presents the damage estimation of bridge structures in Daegu city based on the scenario-based earthquakes. Since the fragility curves for domestic bridge strucures are limited, the Hazus methodology is employed to derive the fragility curves and estimate the damage. A total of four earthuquake scenarios near Daegu city are assumed and structure damage is investigated for 81 bridge structures. The seismic fragility function and damage level of each bridge had adopted from the analytical method in HAZUS and then, the damage probability using seismic fragility function for each bridge was evaluated. It was concluded that the seismic damage to bridges was higher when the magnitude of the earthquake was large or nearer to the epicenter.

• International journal of steel structures
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.1325-1335
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• 2018

This study dealt with investigating the seismic performance of the smart and shape memory alloy (SMA) and magnets plus rubber-spring (MRS) dampers and their effects on the seismic resistance of multiple-span simply supported bridges. The rubber springs in the MRS dampers were pre-compressed. For this aim, a set of experimental works was performed together with developing nonlinear analytical models to investigate dynamic responses of the bridges subjected to earthquakes. Fragility analysis and probabilistic assessment were conducted to assess the seismic performance for the overall bridge system. Fragility curves were then generated for each model and were compared with those of as-built. Results showed dampers could increase the seismic capacity of bridges. Furthermore, from system fragility curves, use of damper models reduced the seismic vulnerability in comparison to the as-built bridge model. Although the SMA damper showed the best seismic performance, the MRS damper was the most appropriate one for the bridge in that the combination of magnetic friction and pre-compressed rubber springs was cheaper than the shape memory alloy, and had the similar capability of the damper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.46 no.6
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• pp.791-808
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• 2013

The main purpose of this paper is to develop seismic fragility curves for existing reinforced concrete, RC, buildings based on the post earthquake field survey and the seismic performance using capacity design. Existing RC buildings constitute approximately 65% of the total stock in Algiers. This type of buildings, RC, was widely used in the past and chosen as the structural type for the future construction program of more than 2 millions apartments all over Algeria. These buildings, suffered moderate to extensive damage after the 2003 Boumerdes earthquake, on May 21st. The determination of analytical seismic fragility curves for low-rise and mid-rise existing RC buildings was carried out based on the consistent and complete post earthquake survey after that event. The information on the damaged existing RC buildings was investigated and evaluated by experts. Thirty four (34) communes (districts) of fifty seven (57), the most populated and affected by earthquake damage were considered in this study. Utilizing the field observed damage data and the Japanese Seismic Index Methodology, based on the capacity design method. Seismic fragility curves were developed for those buildings with a large number data in order to get a statistically significant sample size. According to the construction period and the code design, four types of existing RC buildings were considered. Buildings designed with pre-code (very poor structural behavior before 1955), Buildings designed with low code (poor structural behavior, between 1955-1981), buildings designed with medium code (moderate structural behavior, between 1981-1999) and buildings designed with high code (good structural behavior, after 1999).

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.629-643
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• 2016

Among all the natural disasters, earthquakes are the most destructive calamities since they cause a plenty of injuries and economic losses leaving behind a series of signs of panic. The present study highlights the moment-curvature relationships for the structural elements such as beam and column elements and Non-Linear Static Pushover Analysis of RC frame structures since it is a very simplified procedure of non-linear static analysis. The highly popular model namely Mander's model and Kent and Park model are considered and then, seismic risk evaluation of RC building has been conducted using SAP 2000 version 17 treating uncertainty in strength as a parameter. From the obtained capacity and demand curves, the performance level of the structure has been defined. The seismic fragility curves were developed for the variations in the material strength and damage state threshold are calculated. Also the comparison of experimental and analytical results has been conducted.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.17 no.9
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• pp.724-731
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• 2016

As the structural damage caused by earthquakes has been gradually increasing, estimating the seismic fragility of structures has become essential for earthquake preparation. Seismic fragility curves are widely used as a probabilistic indicator of structural safety against earthquakes, and many researchers have made efforts to develop them in a more accurate and effective manner. However, most of the previous research studies used simplified 2D analytical models when deriving fragility curves, mainly to reduce the numerical simulation time; however, in many cases 2D models are inadequate to accurately evaluate the seismic behavior of a structure and its seismic vulnerability. Thus, this study provides a way to derive more accurate, but still effective, seismic fragility curves by using 3D analytical models. In this method, the reliability analysis software, FERUM, is integrated with the structural analysis software, ZEUS-NL, enabling the automatic exchange of data between these two software packages, and the first order reliability method (FORM), which is not a sampling-based method, is utilized to calculate the structural failure probabilities. These tools make it possible to conduct structural reliability analyses effectively even with 3D models. By using the proposed method, this study conducted a seismic vulnerability assessment of RC frame structures with their 3D analytical models.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.723-740
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• 2015

In this study, the seismic performance of skewed highway bridges has been assessed by using fragility function methodology. Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) has been used to prepare complete information about the different damage states of a 30 degree skewed highway bridge. A three dimensional model of a skewed highway bridge is presented and incremental dynamic analysis has been applied. The details of the full nonlinear procedures have also been presented. Different spectral intensity measures are studied and the effects of the period on the fragility curves are shown in different figures. The efficiency, practicality and proficiency of these different spectral intensity measures are compared. A suite of 20 earthquake ground motions are considered for nonlinear time history analysis. It has been shown that, considering different intensity measures (IM) leads us to overestimate or low estimate the damage probability which has been discussed completely.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.183-189
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• 2019

In this study, it has been tried to prepare an analytical fragility curves for isolated straight continues highway bridges by considering different spectral intensity measures. A three-span concrete isolated bridge has been selected and the seismic performance of the bridge has been improved by Lead Rubber Bearing (LRB). Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) is applied to the bridge in longitudinal direction. A suite of 14 earthquake ground motions from medium to sever motions are scaled and used for nonlinear time history analysis. Fragility function considers the relationship of earthquake intensity measures (IM) and probability of exceeding certain Damage State (DS). A full three dimensional finite element model of the isolated bridge has been developed and analyzed. A wide range of different intensity measures are selected and the optimal intensity measure which has the less dispersion is proposed.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.99-123
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• 2015

In this study, structural vulnerability of reinforced concrete moment resisting frames (RC-MRFs) by considering the Iran-specific characteristics is investigated to manage the earthquake risk in terms of multicomponent seismic excitations. Low and medium rise RC-MRFs, which constitute approximately 80-90% of the total buildings stock in Iran, are focused in this fragility-based assessment. The seismic design of 3-12 story RC-MRFs are carried out according to the Iranian Code of Practice for Seismic Resistant Design of Buildings (Standard No. 2800), and the analytical models are formed accordingly in open source nonlinear platforms. Frame structures are categorized in three subclasses according to the specific characteristics of construction practice and the observed seismic performance after major earthquakes in Iran. Both far and near fields' ground motions have been considered in the fragility estimation. An optimal intensity measure (IM) called Sa, avg and beta probability distribution were used to obtain reliable fragility-based database for earthquake damage and loss estimation of RC buildings stock in urban areas of Iran. Nonlinear incremental dynamic analyses by means of lumped-parameter based structural models have been simulated and performed to extract the fragility curves. Approximate confidence bounds are developed to represent the epistemic uncertainties inherent in the fragility estimations. Consequently, it's shown that including vertical ground motion in the analysis is highly recommended for reliable seismic assessment of RC buildings.