• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.17-38
• /
• 2014

As the desire for high performance buildings increases, it is increasingly evident that engineers require reliable methods for the estimation of seismic demands on both structural and non-structural components. To this extent, improved tools for the prediction of floor spectra would assist in the assessment of acceleration sensitive non-structural and secondary components. Recently, a new procedure was successfully developed and tested for the simplified construction of floor spectra, at various levels of elastic damping, atop single-degree-of-freedom structures. This paper extends the methodology to multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) supporting systems responding in the elastic range, proposing a simplified modal combination approach for floor spectra over upper storeys and accounting for the limited filtering of the ground motion input that occurs over lower storeys. The procedure is tested numerically by comparing predictions with floor spectra obtained from time-history analyses of RC wall structures of 2- to 20-storeys in height. Results demonstrate that the method performs well for MDOF systems responding in the elastic range. Future research should further develop the approach to permit the prediction of floor spectra in MDOF systems that respond in the inelastic range.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.4 no.1
• /
• pp.109-132
• /
• 2013

Current codes incorporate simplified methods for the prediction of acceleration demands on secondary structural and non-structural elements at different levels of a building. While the use of simple analysis methods should be advocated, damage to both secondary structural and non-structural elements in recent earthquakes have highlighted the need for improved design procedures for such elements. In order to take a step towards the formation of accurate but simplified methods of predicting floor spectra, this work examines the floor spectra on elastic and inelastic single-degree of freedom systems subject to accelerograms of varying seismic intensity. After identifying the factors that appear to affect the shape and intensity of acceleration demands on secondary structural and non-structural elements, a new series of calibrated equations are proposed to predict floor spectra on single degree of freedom supporting structures. The approach uses concepts of dynamics and inelasticity to define the shape and intensity of the floor spectra at different levels of damping. The results of non-linear time-history analyses of a series of single-degree of freedom supporting structures indicate that the new methodology is very promising. Future research will aim to extend the methodology to multi-degree of freedom supporting structures and run additional verification studies.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.115-128
• /
• 2022

One common method to select input ground motions to predict dynamic behavior of structures subjected to seismic excitation requires spectral acceleration (S_a) match target mean response spectrum. However, dispersion of ground motions, which explicitly affects the structural response, is rarely discussed in this method. Generally, selecting ground motions matching target mean and variance has been utilized as an appropriate method to predict reliable seismic response. The goal of this paper is to investigate the impact of target spectra variance of ground motions on structural seismic response. Two sets of ground motions with different target variances (zero variance and minimum variance larger than inherent variance of the target spectrum) are selected as input to two different structures. Structural responses at different heights are compared, in terms of peak, mean and dispersion. Results show that increase of target spectra variance tends to increase peak floor acceleration, peak deformation and dispersions of response of interest remarkably. To short-period structures, dispersion increase ratios of seismic response are close to that of S_a of input ground motions at the first period. To long-period structures, dispersions of floor acceleration and floor response spectra increase more significantly at the bottom, while dispersion increase ratios of IDR and deformation are close to that of S_a of input ground motions at the first period. This study could further provide useful information on selecting appropriate ground motion to predict seismic behavior of different types of structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.17-26
• /
• 2000

This paper presents a case study with a multi-degree-of-freedom (MDOF) system where the Floor Response Spectra (FRS) have been derived from a large ensemble of ground motion accelerograms. The FRS are evaluated by the frequency response function which is calculated numerically. The advantage of this scheme over a repetitive time-history analysis of the entire structure for each accelerogram of the set has been highlighted. The present procedure permits generation of FRS with a specified probability of exceedence.

• Computational Structural Engineering
• /
• v.6 no.4
• /
• pp.67-72
• /
• 1993

This paper deals with the response spectra analysis method of the secondary structures including the correlation effect between the nonuniform multiple support excitations. Based on the random vibration theory, the multiple floor response spectra and the cross-correlation coefficient spectra of the floor motions are derived from the design ground response spectra. The example analysis results show that the proposed method yields more accurate results than those by the conventional multiple floor response spectra method without the correlation effects of the support motions. The present method may be easily employed in the seismic design of the secondary structures in engineering practice.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.15 no.5
• /
• pp.565-581
• /
• 2018

This paper proposes a new analytical formulation for computing the seismic input at various levels of a structure in terms of floor response spectra. The approach, which neglects the dynamic interaction between primary structure and secondary element, is particularly useful for the seismic assessment of secondary and non-structural elements. The proposed formulation has a robust theoretical basis and it is based on few meaningful dynamic parameters of the main building. The method has been validated in the linear and nonlinear behavior of the main building through results coming from both experimental tests (available in literature) and parametric numerical analyses. The conditions, for which the Floor Spectrum Approach and its simplified assumptions are valid, have been derived in terms of specific interval ratios between the mass of the secondary element and the participant mass of the main structure. Finally, a practice-oriented formulation has been derived, which could be easily implementable also at code level.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.17 no.6
• /
• pp.279-291
• /
• 2013

The seismic damage of non-structural components, such as communication facilities, causes direct economic losses as well as indirect losses which result from social chaos occurring with downtime of communication and financial management network systems. The current Korean seismic code, KBC2009, prescribes the design criteria and requirements of non-structural components based on their elastic response. However, it is difficult for KBC to reflect the dynamic characteristics of structures where non-structural components exist. In this study, both linear and nonlinear time history analyses of structures with various analysis parameters were carried out and floor acceleration spectra obtained from analyses were compared with both ground acceleration spectra used for input records of the analyses and the design floor acceleration spectrum proposed by National Radio Research Agency. Also, this study investigates to find out the influence of structural dynamic characteristics on the floor acceleration spectra. The analysis results show that the acceleration amplification is observed due to the resonance phenomenon and such amplification increases with the increase of building heights and with the decrease of structure's energy dissipation capacities.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2006.03a
• /
• pp.409-416
• /
• 2006

The seismic characteristics with 3-Dimensional Floor Isolation System have been studied using a shaking table system. In this study, we made two kind of floor system (Type I, Type II) and several seismic tests with and without isolation system were conducted to evaluate 3-Dimensional Floor Isolation Effectiveness. Both type have showed large reduction effectiveness in acceleration, response spectra but Type II have showed lower acceleration and lower first mode in response spectra, compared to type I. On the basis of test results and consideration of application, it is found that type II is more suitable for floor model of main control room of Nuclear Power Plant.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.37-43
• /
• 1991

An efficient method for generating floor response spectra with the structure-equipment interaction effects is proposed. Floor response spectra are computed from a prescribed ground response spectrum by a random vibration approach. Transfer function of equipment response for earthquake excitation is constructed directly from the modal properties of the individual structures. The method also can account for the nonproportional damping characteristics of the combined system.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.71 no.4
• /
• pp.377-390
• /
• 2019

A method for estimating the floor response spectra (FRS) of elastic structures under earthquake excitations is proposed. The method is established based on a previously proposed direct estimation method for single degree of freedom systems, which generally overestimates the FRS of a structure, particularly in the resonance period range. A modification factor is introduced to modify the original method; the modification factor is expressed as a function of the period ratio and is determined through regression analysis on time history analysis results. Both real and artificial ground motions are considered in the analysis, and it is found that the modification factors obtained from the real and artificial ground motions are significantly different. This suggests that the effect of ground motion should be considered in the estimation of FRS. The modified FRS estimation method is further applied to a 10-story building structure, and it is verified that the proposed method can lead to a good estimation of FRS of multi-story buildings.