• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.80 no.6
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• pp.737-747
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• 2021

The objective of seismic resilience is to maintain or rapidly restore the function of a building after an earthquake. An efficient tilt mechanism at the member level is crucial for the restoration of the main structure function; however, the damage resistance of the members should be the main focus. In this study, through a comparison with the classical Flamant theory of local loading in the elastic half-space, an elastomechanical solution for the axial-stress distribution of a reinforced-concrete (RC) rocking column was derived. Furthermore, assuming that the lateral displacement of the rocking column is determined by the contact surface rotation angle of the column end and bending and shear deformation of the column body, the load-lateral displacement mechanical model of the RC rocking column was established and validated through a comparison with finite-element simulation results. The axial-compression ratio and column-end strength were analyzed, and the results indicated that on the premise of column damage resistance, simply increasing the axial-compression ratio increases the lateral loading capacity of the column but is ineffective for improving the lateral-displacement capacity. The lateral loading and displacement of the column are significantly improved as the strength of the column end material increases. Therefore, it is feasible to improve the working performance of RC rocking columns via local reinforcement of the column end.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.66 no.1
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• pp.1-14
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• 2018

Column is usually floating on the stone base directly with or without positioning tenon in traditional Chinese timber structure. Vertical load originated by the heavy upper structure would induce large friction force and compression force between interfaces of column foot and stone base. This study focused on the mechanical behaviors of column foot joint with consideration of the influence of vertical load. Mechanism of column rocking and stress state of column foot has been explored by theoretical analysis. A nonlinear finite element model of column foot joint has been built and verified using the full-scale test. The verified model is then used to investigate the mechanical behaviors of the joint subjected to cyclic loading with different static vertical loads. Column rocking mechanism and stress distributions of column foot were studied in detail, showing good agreement with the theoretical analysis. Mechanical behaviors of column foot joint and the effects of the vertical load on the seismic behavior of column foot were studied. Result showed that compression stress, restoring moment and stiffness increased with the increase of vertical load. An appropriate vertical load originated by the heavy upper structure would produce certain restoring moment and reset the rocking columns, ensuring the stability of the whole frame.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.6
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• pp.1001-1024
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• 2014

The size of spread footings was found to be unnecessarily large from some actual engineering practices constructed in Taiwan, due to the strict design provisions related to footing uplift. According to the earlier design code in Taiwan, the footing uplift involving separation of footing from subsoil was permitted to be only up to one-half of the foundation base area, as the applied moment reaches the value of plastic moment capacity of the column. The reason for this provision was that rocking of spread footings was not a favorable mechanism. However, recent research has indicated that rocking itself may not be detrimental to seismic performance and, in fact, may act as a form of seismic isolation mechanism. In order to clarify the effects of the relative strength between column and foundation on the rocking behavior of a column, six circular reinforced concrete (RC) columns were designed and constructed and a series of rocking experiments were performed. During the tests, columns rested on a rubber pad to allow rocking to take place. Experimental variables included the dimensions of the footings, the strength and ductility capacity of the columns and the intensity of the applied earthquake. Experimental data for the six circular RC columns subjected to quasi-static and pseudo-dynamic loading are presented. Results of each cyclic loading test are compared against the benchmark test with fixed-base conditions. By comparing the experimental responses of the specimens with different design details, a key parameter of rocking behavior related to footing size and column strength is identified. For a properly designed column with the parameter higher than 1, the beneficial effects of rocking in reducing ductility and the strength demand of columns is verified.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.5
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• pp.611-628
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• 2022

Energy-dissipative rocking (EDR) columns are a class of seismic mitigation device capable of dissipating seismic energy and preventing weak-story failure of moment resisting frames (MRFs). An EDR consists of two hinge-supported steel columns interconnected by steel dampers along its height. Under earthquakes, the input seismic energy can be dissipated by plastic energy of the steel dampers in the EDR column. However, the unrecoverable plastic deformation of steel dampers generally results in residual drifts in the structural system. This paper presents a proof-of-concept study on an innovative device, namely self-centring energy-dissipative rocking (SC-EDR) column, aiming at enabling self-centring capability of the EDR column by installing a set of shape memory alloy (SMA) tension braces. The working mechanism of the SC-EDR column is presented in detail, and the feasibility of the new device is carefully examined via experimental and numerical studies considering the parameters of the SMA bar diameter and the steel damper plate thickness. The seismic responses including load carrying capacities, stress distributions, base rocking behaviour, source of residual deformation, and energy dissipation are discussed in detail. A rational combination of the steel damper and the SMA tension braces can achieve excellent energy dissipation and self-centring performance.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.73 no.3
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• pp.303-317
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• 2020

In this study an innovative rocking zipper braced frame (RZBF) is proposed to overcome the deficiencies of common concentrically braced frames. RZBF is an improved rocking concentrically braced frame which is based on combination of rocking behavior and zipper columns. The base rocking joints and post-tensioned bars provide rocking response and restoring force, respectively. Also, zipper columns distribute the unbalance force over the frame height and reduce the damage concentration. To evaluate seismic performance of RZBF, a comparison study is carried out considering concentrically braced frame, zipper braced frame, rocking concentrically braced frame and RZBF. Thereby, a suite of non-linear time history analyses had been performed on four different types of archetypes with four, six, eight, ten and twelve stories. Frames were designed and non-linear time history analyses were conducted in OpenSees. To compare the seismic behavior of the archetypes, roof drifts, residual roof drifts, story drifts, the forces of first and top story braces, PT bars forces, column uplift and base shears were taken in to consideration. Results illustrate that using RZBF, can reduce the damage due to reduced residual drifts. Zipper columns enhance the seismic performance of rocking systems. As the number of stories increase in the RZBF systems, larger top story braces were needed. So the RZBF system is applicable on low and midrise buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.49-61
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• 2019

A novel asymmetrical resistance friction damper (ARFD) was proposed in this study to be applied on a rocking column base. The damper comprises multiple steel plates and was fastened using high-strength bolts. The sliding surfaces can be switched into one another and can cause strength to be higher in the loading direction than in the unloading direction. By combining the asymmetrical resistance with the restoring resistance that is generated due to an axial load on the column, the rocking column base can develop a self-centering behavior and achieve high connection strength. Cyclic tests on the ARFD proved that the damper performs a stable asymmetrical hysteretic loop. The desired hysteretic behavior was achieved by tuning the bolt pretension force and the diameter of the round bolt hole. In this study, full-scale, flexural tests were conducted to evaluate the performance of the column base and to verify the analytical model. The results indicated that the column base exhibits a stable self-centering behavior up to a drift angle of 4%. The decompression moment and maximum strength reached 42% and 88% of the full plastic moment of the section, respectively, under a column axial force ratio of approximately 0.2. The strengths and self-centering capacity can be obtained by determining the bolt pretension force. The analytical model results revealed good agreement with the experimental results.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.563-576
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• 2021

The rocking foundation is effective for reducing structural seismic demand and avoiding overdesign of the foundation. It is crucial to evaluate the performance of rocking foundations because they cause plastic hinging in the soil. In this study, to derive optimized ground motion intensity measures (IMs) for rocking foundations, the efficiency of IMs correlated with engineering demand parameters (EDPs) was estimated through the coefficient determination using a physical modeling database for rocking shallow foundations. Foundation deformations, the structural horizontal drift ratio, and contribution in drift from foundation rotation and sliding were selected as crucial EDPs for the evaluation of rocking foundation systems. Among 15 different IMs, the peak ground velocity exhibited the most efficient parameters correlated with the EDPs, and it was discovered to be an efficient ground motion IM for predicting the seismic performance of rocking foundations. For vector regression, which uses two IMs to present the EDPs, the IMs indicating time features improved the efficiency of the regression curves, but the correlation was poor when these are used independently. Moreover, the ratio of the column-hinging base shear coefficient to the rocking base shear coefficient showed obvious trends for the accurate assessment of the seismic performance of rocking foundation-structure systems.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.12
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• pp.11-20
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to investigate the seismic performance of exposed column-base plate strong-axis connections for small-sized steel buildings. Even though the seismic design for small-sized buildings became mandatory since Dec.2017, the arbitrary connection details in steel structure have been applied at the construction site, which is considered to be very insufficient to secure structural safety and stability considering the increased seismic risk. Therefore, a series of experimental test programs had been carried out to develop enhanced connection details in order to ensue the adequate seismic safety of small buildings. The hysteretic behavior of the exposed column-base plate connections commonly used in Korea seem to be very pure poor due to the "Rocking" phenomena between anchor plate and concrete by the residual plastic deformation of anchor bolts. A series of hysteretic tests were conducted to find the solution to overcome the "Rocking" phenomena of the exposed column-base plate connections, finally the stable seismic behavior was obtained by uisng at least 8 anchor bolts with good bonding strength to the protptype specimen.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.1-12
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• 2019

The purpose of this study is to enhance the seismic performance of exposed column-base plate weak-axis connections for small-sized steel buildings. According to the site inspection for the small-sized building construction, the arbitrary connection details in steel buildings have been applied at the job site, which is considered to be insufficient to guarantee structural safety and stability considering the increased seismic risk in Korea. Therefore, a series of test programs had been done to develop enhanced connection details in order to ensue the adequate seismic stability and safety of small-sized steel buildings. From the test results, It was found that the exposed column-base plate weak-axis connections commonly used in Korea shows very poor seismic behavior due to the "Rocking" phenomena caused by the residual plastic deformation of anchor bolts between anchor plate and concrete. A series of hysteretic tests for finding that solution were conducted to reduce the "Rocking" phenomena of the column-base plate connections, and local buckling of webs in H-column. Finally the enhanced stable seismic behavior was obtained by reinforcing at least 8 anchor bolts with good bonding strength and stiffeners to the webs in H-column.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.379-390
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• 2020

Four full-scaled partially confined and unconfined masonry panels were tested with monotonic lateral loads. To study the effects of vertical force and boundary columns, two specimens with no boundary columns were subjected to different vertical forces, while two wing-wall specimens had the column placed eccentrically and in the middle, respectively. The specimens with no boundary columns exhibited ductile rocking behavior, where the lateral strength increased with increasing vertical compression. The wing-wall specimens with columns behaved as strut-and-tie systems. The column-panel interaction resulted in greater strength, lower deformation capacity and differences in failure modes. A comparison with analytical models showed that rocking strength can be accurately estimated using vertical force and the panel aspect ratio for panels with no boundary columns. The estimation for lateral strength on the basis of a panel section area indicated scattered error for wing-wall specimens.