• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.527-538
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• 2012

In seismic analyses of structures, additional eccentricity is introduced to take account for oscillations of random and unknown origins. In many codes of practice, the torsion about the vertical axis is considered through empirical accidental eccentricity formulation. Due to the random nature of structural systems, it is very difficult to evaluate the accidental eccentricity in a deterministic way and to specify its effect on the overall seismic response of structures. The aim of this study is to develop a procedure for the evaluation of the accidental eccentricity induced by uncertainties in stiffness and mass of structural members, using the neural network techniques coupled with Monte Carlo simulations. This method gives very interesting results for single story structures. For real structures, this method can be used as a tool to determine the accidental eccentricity in the seismic vulnerability studies of buildings.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.387-410
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• 2013

This paper deals with the damage assessment for isolators of base-isolated building systems considering the torsion-coupling (TC) effect by establishing damage indices. The damage indices can indicate the reduction in lateral stiffness of the isolator story as explicit formulas in terms of modal parameters. In addition, the damage location, expressed in terms of the estimated damage index and eccentricities before and after damage, is also presented. Numerical analysis shows that the proposed algorithms are applicable for general base-isolated multi-story TC buildings. A procedure from the analysis of seismic response to the implementation of damage indices is demonstrated by using a numerical case. A system identification technique is employed to extract modal parameters from seismic responses of a building. Results show that the proposed indices are capable of detecting the occurrence of damage and preliminarily estimating the location of damaged isolator.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.55-74
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• 2017

The evaluation of torsional effects on multistory buildings remains an open issue, despite considerable research efforts and numerous publications. In this study, a large number of multiple test structures are considered with normally distributed topological attributes, in order to quantify the statistically derived relationships between the torsional criteria and response parameters. The linear regression analysis results, depict that the center of twist and the ratio of torsion (ROT) index proved numerically to be the most reliable criteria for the prediction of the modal rotation and displacements, however the residuals distribution and R-squared derived for the ductility demands prediction, was not constant and low respectively. Thus, the assessment of the torsional parameters' contribution to the nonlinear structural response was investigated using artificial neural networks. Utilizing the connection weights approach, the Center of Strength, Torsional Stiffness and the Base Shear Torque curves were found to exhibit the highest impact numerically, while all the other torsional indices' contribution was investigated and quantified.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.181-195
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• 2010

Coupled building control is a viable method to protect tall buildings from seismic excitation. In this study, the semi-active control of a building complex is investigated for mitigating seismic responses. The building complex is formed of one main building and one podium structure connected through Magneto-Rheological (MR) Dampers and Tuned Mass Damper. The conventional semi-active control techniques require a primary controller as a reference to determine the desired control force, and modulate the input voltage of the MR damper by comparing the desired control force. The fuzzy logic directly determines the input voltage of an MR damper from the response of the MR damper. The control performance of the proposed fuzzy control technique for the MR damper is evaluated for the control problem of a seismically-excited building complex. In this paper, a building complex that include a 14-story main building and an 8-story podium structure is applied as a numerical example to demonstrate the effectiveness of semi-active control with Magneto-Rheological dampers and its comparison with the passive control with the Tuned Mass Damper and two uncoupled buildings and hybrid semi-active control including the Tuned Mass Damper and Magneto-Rheological dampers while they are subject to the earthquake excitation. The numerical results show that semi-active control and hybrid semi-active control can significantly mitigate the seismic responses of both buildings, such as displacement and shear force responses, and fuzzy control technique can effectively mitigate the seismic response of the building complex.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.67 no.6
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• pp.671-682
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• 2018

The effect of earthquake induced torsion, due to mass eccentricities, is investigated with the objective of providing practical design guidelines for minimizing the torsional response of building structures. Current code provisions recommend performing three dimensional static or dynamic analyses, which involve shifting the centers of the floor masses from their nominal positions to what is called an accidental eccentricity. This procedure however may significantly increase the design cost of multistory buildings, due to the numerous possible spatial combinations of mass eccentricities and it is doubtful whether such a cost would be justifiable. This paper addresses this issue on a theoretical basis and investigates the torsional response of asymmetric multistory buildings in relation to their behavior when all floor masses lie on the same vertical line. This approach provides an insight on the overall seismic response of buildings and reveals how the torsional response of a structure is influenced by an arbitrary spatial combination of mass eccentricities. It also provides practical guidelines of how a structural configuration may be designed to sustain minor torsion, which is the main objective of any practicing engineer. A parametric study is presented on 9-story common building types having a mixed-type lateral load resisting system (frames, walls, coupled wall bents) and representative heightwise variations of accidental eccentricities.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.62 no.4
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• pp.465-475
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• 2017

Photovoltaic (PV) panels are used in high-rise buildings to convert solar energy to electricity. Due to the considerable energy consumption of high-rise buildings, applying PV technology is of great significance to energy saving. In the application of PV panels, one of the most important construction issues is the connection of the PV panel with the main structures. One major difficulty of the connection design is that the PV panel connection consists of two separate components with coupling and indeterminate dimension. In this paper, the gap element is employed in these two separated but coupled components, i.e., hook and catch. Topology optimization is applied to optimize and design the cross-section of the PV panel connection. Pareto optimization is conducted to operate the optimization subject to multiple load scenarios. The initial design for the topology optimization is determined by the common design specified by the Technical Code for Glass Curtain Wall Engineering (JGJ 102-2003). Gravity and wind load scenarios are considered for the optimization and numerical analysis. Post analysis is conducted for the optimal design obtained by the topology optimization due to the manufactory requirements. Generally, compared with the conventional design, the optimized connector reduces material use with improved structural characteristics.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.107-120
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• 2014

A Reinforced concrete (RC) shear wall system with coupling beams has been known as one of the most promising structural systems for high-rise buildings. However, significantly large flexural and/or shear stress demands induced in the coupling beams require special reinforcement details to avoid their undesirable brittle failure. In order to solve this problem, one of promising candidates is frictional hysteretic energy dissipating devices (HEDDs) as an alternative to the coupling beams. The introduction of frictional HEDDs into a RC shear wall system increases energy dissipation capacity and maintains the frame action after their yielding. This paper investigates the strength demands (specifically yield strength levels) with a maximum allowable ductility of frictional HEDDs based on comparative non-linear time-history analyses of a prototype RC shear wall system with traditional RC coupling beams and frictional HEDDs. Analysis results show that the RC shear wall systems coupled by frictional HEDDs with more than 50% yield strength of the RC coupling beams present better seismic performance compared to the RC shear wall systems with traditional RC coupling beams. This is due to the increased seismic energy dissipation capacity of the frictional HEDD. Also, it is found from the analysis results that the maximum allowable ductility demand of a frictional HEDD should increase as its yield strength decreases.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.277-295
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• 2023

Unsymmetrical high-rise buildings (HRBs) subjected to earthquake represent a difficult challenge to structural engineering, especially taking into consideration the effect of soil-structure interaction (SSI). L-shape in plan HRBs suffer from big straining actions when are subjected to an earthquake (in x- or y-direction, or both x- and y- directions). Additionally, the disastrous effect of seismic pounding may appear between two adjacent unsymmetrical HRBs. For two unsymmetrical L-shape in plan HRBs subjected to earthquake in three different direction cases (x, y, or both), including the SSI effect, different methods are investigated to mitigate the seismic pounding and thus protect these types of structures under the earthquake effect. The most effective technique to mitigate the seismic pounding and help in seismically protecting these adjacent HRBs is found herein to be the use of a combination of pounding tuned mass dampers (PTMDs) all over the height (at the connection points) together with tuned mass dampers (TMDs) on the top of both buildings.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.543-550
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• 2003

In order to saving the energy for HVAC system of buildings, utilization of wind-induced cross ventilation is thought to be promising. However, utilization of natural ventilation alone is not sufficient for maintaining the human thermal-comfort such as in hot and humid regions. A hybrid air conditioning system with a controlled natural ventilation system, or combination of natural ventilation with mechanical air conditioning is thought to overcome the deficiency of wind-driven cross ventilation and to have significant effects on energy reduction. This paper describes a concept of hybrid system and propose a new type of hybrid system using radiational cooling with wind-induced cross ventilation. Moreover, a radiational cooling system is compared with an all-air cooling system. The characteristics of the indoor environment will be examined through CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) simulation, which is coupled with a radiation heat transfer simulation and with HVAC control in which the PMV value for the human model in the center of the room is controlled to attain the target value.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.785-790
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• 2010

Geothermal energy is gaining wide attention as a highly efficient renewable energy and being increasingly used for heating/cooling systems of buildings. The standing column well (SCW) is especially efficient, cost-effective, and suitable for Korean geological and hydrological conditions. However, a numerical model that simulates the SCW has not yet been developed and applied in Korea. This paper describes the development of the SCW numerical model using a finite-volume analysis program. The model performs the hydro-thermal coupled analyses and simulates heat transfer through advection, convection, and conduction. The accuracy of the model was verified through comparisons with field data measured at SCWs in Korea. Comparisons indicated that the SCW numerical model can closely predict the performance of a SCW.