• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.429-446
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• 2006

Experimental investigation was conducted to evaluate the seismic ductility of earthquake-experienced concrete columns with an aspect ratio of 2.5. Eight circular concrete columns with a diameter of 600 mm were constructed with three test parameters: confinement ratio, lap-splice of longitudinal bars, and retrofitting with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) materials. The objective of this research is to examine the seismic performance of RC bridge piers subjected to a Quasi static test (QST), which were preliminary tested under a series of artificial earthquake motions referred to as a Pseudo dynamic test (PDT). The seismic enhancement effect of FRP wrap was also investigated on these RC bridge piers. Six specimens were loaded to induce probable damage by four series of artificial earthquakes, which were developed to be compatible with earthquakes in the Korean peninsula by the Korea Highway Corporation (KHC). Directly after the PDT, six earthquake-experienced columns were subjected to inelastic cyclic loading under a constant axial load of $0.1{f_c}^{\prime}A_g$. Two other reference specimens without the PDT were also subjected to similar quasi-static loads. Test results showed that specimens pre-damaged by moderate artificial earthquakes generally demonstrated good residual seismic performance, which was similar to the corresponding reference specimen. Moreover, RC bridge specimens retrofitted with wrapping fiber composites in the potential plastic hinge region exhibited enhanced flexural ductility.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.225-237
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• 2013

Excessive vibrations induced by earthquake excitation and wind load are an obstacle in design and construction of tall and super tall buildings. An innovative vibration control structure system (Mega-Sub Controlled Structure System-MSCSS) was recently proposed to further improve humans comfort and their safeties during natural disasters. Preliminary investigations were performed using a two dimensional equivalent simplified model, composed by 3 mega-stories. In this paper, a more reasonable and realistic scaled model is design to investigate the dynamical characteristics and controlling performances of this structure when subjected to strong earthquake motion. The control parameters of the structure system, such as the modulated sub-structures disposition; the damping coefficient ratio (RC); the stiffness ratio (RD); the mass ratio of the mega-structure and sub-structure (RM) are investigated and their optimal values (matched values) are obtained. The MSCSS is also compared with the so-called Mega-Sub Structure (MSS) regarding their displacement and acceleration responses when subjected to the same load conditions. Through the nonlinear time history analysis, the effectiveness and the feasibility of the proposed mega-sub controlled structure system (MSCSS) is demonstrated in reducing the displacement and acceleration responses and also improving human comfort under earthquake loads.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.463-479
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• 2020

Currently, there are many lateral resisting systems utilized in resisting lateral loads being produced in an earthquake. Such systems can significantly reduce the roof's displacement when placed at an optimum location. Since in the design of tall buildings, the minimum distance between adjacent buildings is important. In this paper, the critical excitation method is used to determine the best location of the belt truss system while calculating the minimum required distance between two adjacent buildings. For this purpose, the belt truss system is placed at a specific story. Then the critical earthquakes are computed so that the considered constraints are satisfied, and the value of roof displacement is maximized. This procedure is repeated for all stories; i.e., for each, a critical acceleration is computed. From this set of computed roof displacement values, the story with the least displacement is selected as the best location for the belt truss system. Numerical studies demonstrate that absolute roof displacements induced through critical accelerations range between 5.36 to 1.95 times of the San Fernando earthquake for the first example and 7.67 to 1.22 times of the San Fernando earthquake for the second example. This method can also be used to determine the minimum required distance between two adjacent buildings to eliminate the pounding effects. For this purpose, this value is computed based on different standard codes and compared with the results of the critical excitation method to show the ability of the proposed method.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.39-47
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• 2020

Lightly reinforced concrete (RC) moment frames may suffer significant damage during large earthquake events. Most buildings with RC moment frames were designed without considering seismic loads. The load-displacement response of gravity load designed frames could be altered by masonry infill walls. The objective of this study is to investigate the load-displacement response of gravity load designed frames with masonry infill walls. For this purpose, three-story gravity load designed frames with masonry infill walls were considered. The masonry infilled RC frames demonstrated larger lateral strength and stiffness than bare RC frames, whereas their drift capacity was less than that of bare frames. A specimen with a partial-height infill wall showed the least drift capacity and energy dissipation capacity. This specimen failed in shear, whereas other specimens experienced a relatively ductile failure mode (flexure-shear failure).

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.181-199
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• 2014

The infill walls, whose contribution to the earthquake resistance of a structure is generally ignored due to their limited lateral rigidities, constitute a part of the lateral load bearing system of an RC frame structure. A common method for improving the earthquake behavior of RC frame structures is increasing the contribution of the infill walls to the overall lateral rigidity by strengthening them through different techniques. The present study investigates the influence of externally bonded perforated steel plates on the load capacities, rigidities, and ductilities of hollow brick infill walls. For this purpose, a reference (unstrengthened) and twelve strengthened specimens were subjected to monotonic diagonal compression. The experiments indicated that the spacing of the bolts, connecting the plates to the wall, have a more profound effect on the behavior of a brick wall compared to the thickness of the strengthening plates. Furthermore, an increase in the plate thickness was shown to result in a considerable improvement in the behavior of the wall only if the plates are connected to the wall with closely-spaced bolts. This strengthening technique was found to increase the energy absorption capacities of the walls between 4 and 14 times the capacity of the reference wall. The strengthened walls reached ultimate loads 30-160% greater than the reference wall and all strengthened walls remained intact till the end of the test.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.85-97
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• 2003

In this paper, earthquake response analyses were performed using equivalent linear method at the soil sites classified as soil types III and IV in "Standard Design Loads for Buildings" Soil Factors were back-calculated by using spectral accelerations obtained from the analyses and those values are compared with soil factors described in other domestic seismic guidelines. For buildings which have the natural period higher than 0.9 sec, it was possible to use soil factors of soil types II and III instead of those of soil types III and IV, respectively. Therefore, it can be concluded that seismic base shear force can be overestimated in the current seismic guidelines and the improvement is required. required.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.117-125
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• 2013

Seismic isolation has been considered and utilized in various industries as a way to prevent huge damage on to structures by large earthquakes in various industries. The laminated Laminated rubber bearings is are most frequently used in seismic isolation systems. The structural Structural safety could not be assured unless the performance of the rubber bearing is not guaranteed for the life time of the structure under the consideration that the bearing is a critical structural member to sustain vertical loads in the seismically isolated structure. However, there are few studies on the deterioration problems of rubber bearings during their service life. The long term performance of the rubber bearings was not considered in past designs of seismically isolated structures. This study evaluates the long term performance and creep characteristics of laminated natural rubber bearings that are used in seismically isolated buildings. For the this study, a set of accelerated thermal aging tests and creep tests are were performed on real specimens. The experimental results show that the natural rubber bearings would have a stable change rate of change for durability under severe environmental conditions for a long time.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.495-505
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• 2009

Bridges form crucial links in the transportation network especially in high seismic risk regions. This research aims to provide a quantitative methodology for post-earthquake performance evaluation of the bridges. The experimental portion of the research involved shake table tests of a 4-span bridge which was subjected to progressively increasing amplitudes of seismic motions recorded from the Northridge earthquake. As part of this project, a high resolution long gauge fiber optic displacement sensor was developed for post-seismic evaluation of damage in the columns of the bridge. The nonlinear finite element model was developed using Opensees program to simulate the response of the bridge and the abutments to the seismic loads. The model was modified to predict the bent displacements of the bridge commensurate with the measured bent displacements obtained from experimental analysis results. Following seismic events, the tangential stiffness matrix of the whole structure is reduced due to reduction in structural strength. The nonlinear static push over analysis using current damaged stiffness matrix provides the longitudinal and transverse ultimate capacities of the bridge. Capacity loss in the transverse and longitudinal directions following the seismic events was correlated to the maximum displacements of the deck recorded during the events.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.44 no.6
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• pp.763-774
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• 2012

Reinforced concrete frame structures with masonry infill walls constitute the significant portion of the building stock in Turkey. Therefore it is very important to understand the behavior of masonry infill frame structures under earthquake loads. This study presents an experimental work performed on reinforced concrete (RC) frames with different types of masonry infills, namely standard and locked bricks. Earthquake effects are induced on the RC frames by quasi-static tests. Results obtained from different frames are compared with each other through various stiffness, strength, and energy related parameters. It is shown that locked bricks may prove useful in decreasing the problems related to horizontal and vertical irregularities defined in building codes. Moreover tests show that locked brick infills maintain their integrity up to very high drift levels, showing that they may have a potential in reducing injuries and fatalities related to falling hazards during severe ground shakings.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.3
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• pp.293-306
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• 2019

In current seismic design codes, various elastic design acceleration spectra are defined considering different seismological and soil characteristics and are widely used tool for calculation of seismic loads acting on structures. Response spectrum analyses directly use the elastic design acceleration spectra whereas time history analyses use acceleration records of earthquakes whose acceleration spectra fit the design spectra of seismic codes. Due to the fact that obtaining coherent structural response quantities with the seismic design code considerations is a desired circumstance in dynamic analyses, the response spectra of earthquake records used in time history analyses had better fit to the design acceleration spectra of seismic codes. This paper evaluates structural response distributions of multi-story reinforced concrete frames obtained from nonlinear time history analyses which are performed by using the scaled earthquake records compatible with various elastic design spectra. Time domain scaling procedure is used while processing the response spectrum of real accelerograms to fit the design acceleration spectra. The elastic acceleration design spectra of Turkish Seismic Design Code 2007, Uniform Building Code 1997 and Eurocode 8 are considered as target spectra in the scaling procedure. Soil classes in different seismic codes are appropriately matched up with each other according to $V_{S30}$ values. The maximum roof displacements and the total base shears of considered frame structures are determined from nonlinear time history analyses using the scaled earthquake records and the results are presented by graphs and tables. Coherent structural response quantities reflecting the influence of elastic design spectra of various seismic codes are obtained.