• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.103-117
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• 2020

The effect of the foundation size on the efficiency of seismic base isolation using a layer of stone pebbles is experimentally investigated. Four scaled models of buildings with different stiffnesses (from very stiff to soft) were tested, each with the so-called small and large foundation, and exposed to four different accelerograms (different predominant periods and durations). Tests were conducted so that the strains in the model remained elastic and afterwards the models were tested until collapse. Each model was tested for the case of the foundation being supported on a rigid base and on an aseismic layer. Compared to the smaller foundation, the larger foundation results in a reduced rocking effect, higher earthquake forces and lower bearing capacity of the tested models, with respectable efficiency (reduced strain/stress, displacement and increase of the ultimate bearing capacity of the model) for the considered seismic base isolation compared to the foundation on a rigid base.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2008.10a
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• pp.549-558
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• 2008

Well known and widely used in urban area and limited installation condition, a low noise and vibration piling method which has being called Bored Prefabricated Piling Method was reviewed in terms of design guide, and introduced a few case as well. Among the areas being applied of that method, a structural guide of architectural foundation was reviewed and compared to civil engineering foundation area to provide wider information for the foundation engineers. With introducing a few case application including pile load testing review especially dynamic testing in normal building foundation work, engineers may have a useful information on the design and construction of the piling method even different engineering area. It may also make enhancement a view of foundation engineering knowledge to various pile foundation area.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.259-274
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• 2023

In this paper, mechanical properties of periodic foundation made of concrete and rubber are investigated by a parametric study using the finite element method (FEM). Periodic foundation is a special type of seismic isolation foundation used in civil engineering, which is inspired by the meso-scale structure of phononic crystals in solid-state physics. This type of foundation is capable of reducing the seismic wave propagating though the foundation, therefore providing additional protection for the structures. In the FEM analysis, layered periodic foundation is frequently modelled due to its simplicity in numerical modeling. However, the isolation effect of periodic foundation on nuclear power plant has not been fully discussed to the best knowledge of authors. In this work, we construct four numerical models of nuclear power plant with different foundations to investigate the seismic isolation effects of periodic foundations. The results show that the layered periodic foundation can increase the natural period of the nuclear power plant like traditional base isolation systems, which is beneficial to the structures. In addition, the seismic response of the nuclear power plant can also be effectively reduced in both vertical and horizontal directions when the frequencies of the incident waves fall into some specific frequency bandgaps of the periodic foundation. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that the layered periodic foundation can reduce the amplitude of the floor response spectrum, which plays an important role in the protection of the equipment.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 1988.10a
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• pp.43-48
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• 1988

This paper provides readers with an attempt In applying expert systems to structural engineering. As a demonstrative domain to provide the pontentiality of expert system foundation design is presented. Foundation design can have less formalized phage in the overall design process, particularly during preliminary design. It depends on several factors: the function of the structure and the loads it must carry the subsurface conditions, and the cost of foundation, The expert system in the paper is to be used for determining the type of foundation.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.221-231
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• 2021

A two dimensional model of linearly elastic soil spring used for the settlement analysis of the flexible mat foundation is suggested in this study. The spring constants of the soils underneath the foundation were modeled assuming uniformly vertical load applied onto the foundation. The soil spring constants were back calculated using the three-dimensional finite element analysis with Midas GTS NX program. Variation of the soil spring constants was modeled as a two-dimensional polynomial function in terms of the normalized spatial distances between the center of foundation and the analytical points. The Lysmer's analog spring for soils underneath the rigid foundation was adopted and calibrated for the flexible foundation. For validations, the newly proposed soil spring model was incorporated into a two dimensional finite difference analysis for a square mat foundation at the surface of an elastic half-space consisting of soft clays. Comparative study was made for elastic soils where the shear wave velocity is 120~180 m/s and the Poisson's ratio varies at 0.3~0.5. The resulting foundation settlements from the two dimensional finite difference analysis with the proposed soil springs were found in good agreement with those obtained directly from three dimensional finite element analyses. Details of the applications and limitations of the modified Lysmer's analog springs were discussed in this study.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.73-84
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• 2020

In the seismic design of bridges, formation of plastic hinges plays an important role in the dissipation of seismic energy. In the case of conventional fixed-base bridges, the plastic hinges are allowed to form in the superstructure alone. During seismic event, such bridges may be safe from collapse but the superstructure undergoes significant plastic deformations. As an alternative design approach, the plastic hinges are guided to form in the soil thereby utilizing the inevitable yielding of the soil. Rocking foundations work on this concept. The formation of plastic hinges in the soil reduces the load and displacement demands on the superstructure. This study aims at evaluating the seismic response of bridge pier supported on rocking shallow foundation. For this purpose, a BNWF model is implemented in OpenSees platform. The capability of the BNWF model to capture the SSI effects, nonlinear behavior and dynamic loading response are validated using the centrifuge and shake table test results. A comparative study is performed between the seismic response of the bridge pier supported on the rocking shallow foundation and conventional fixed-base foundation. Results of the study have established the beneficial effects of using the rocking shallow foundation for the seismic response analysis of the bridge piers.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.117-125
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• 2022

In this study, centrifuge model tests were performed to evaluate the seismic response of multi-DOF structures with shallow foundations. Also, elastic time history analysis on the fixed-base model was performed and compared with the experimental results. As a result of the centrifuge model test, earthquake amplification at the fundamental vibration frequency of the soil (= 2.44 Hz) affected the third vibration mode frequency (= 2.50 Hz) of the long-period structure and the first vibration mode (= 2.27 Hz) of the short-period structure. The shallow foundation lengthened the periods of the structures by 14-20% compared to the fixed base condition. The response spectrum of acceleration measured at the shallow foundation was smaller than that of free-field motion due to the foundation damping effect. The ultimate moment capacity of the soil-foundation system limited the dynamic responses of the multi-DOF structures. Therefore, the considerations on period lengthening, foundation damping, and ultimate moment capacity of the soil-foundation system might improve the seismic design of the multi-DOF building structures.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.852-857
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• 2003

This paper has the object of investigating natural frequencies of thick plates on inhomogeneous Pasternak foundation by means of finite element method and providing kinematic design data lot mat of building structures. This analysis was applied for design of substructure on elastic foundation. Mat of building structure may be consisdered as a thick plate on elastic foundation. Recently, as size of building structure becomes larger, mat area of building structure also tend to become target and building structure is supported on inhomogeneous foundation. In this paper, vibration analysis or rectangular thick plate is done by use or serendipity finite element with 8 nodes by considering shearing strain of plate. The solutions of this paper are compared with existing solutions and finite element solutions with 4${\times}$4 meshes of this analysis are shown the error of maximum 0.083% about the existing solutions. It is shown that natrural frequencies depend on not only Winkler foundation parameter but also shear foundation parameter.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.699-712
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• 2005

The response of a plate-column system having five-degree-of-freedom supported by an elastic foundation and subjected to static lateral load, harmonic ground motion and earthquake motion is studied. Two Winkler foundation models are assumed: a conventional model which supports compression and tension and a tensionless model which supports compression only. The governing equations of the problem are obtained, solved numerically and the results are presented in figures to demonstrate the behavior of the system for various values of the system parameters comparatively for the conventional and the tensionless Winkler foundation models.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.1045-1075
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• 2016

Shallow footings are one of the most common types of foundations used to support mid-rise buildings in high risk seismic zones. Recent findings have revealed that the dynamic interaction between the soil, foundation, and the superstructure can influence the seismic response of the building during earthquakes. Accordingly, the properties of a foundation can alter the dynamic characteristics (natural frequency and damping) of the soil-foundation-structure system. In this paper the influence that shallow foundations have on the seismic response of a mid-rise moment resisting building is investigated. For this purpose, a fifteen storey moment resisting frame sitting on shallow footings with different sizes was simulated numerically using ABAQUS software. By adopting a direct calculation method, the numerical model can perform a fully nonlinear time history dynamic analysis to realistically simulate the dynamic behaviour of soil, foundation, and structure under seismic excitations. This three-dimensional numerical model accounts for the nonlinear behaviour of the soil medium and structural elements. Infinite boundary conditions were assigned to the numerical model to simulate free field boundaries, and appropriate contact elements capable of modelling sliding and separation between the foundation and soil elements are also considered. The influence of foundation size on the natural frequency of the system and structural response spectrum was also studied. The numerical results for cases of soil-foundation-structure systems with different sized foundations and fixed base conditions (excluding soil-foundation-structure interaction) in terms of lateral deformations, inter-storey drifts, rocking, and shear force distribution of the structure were then compared. Due to natural period lengthening, there was a significant reduction in the base shears when the size of the foundation was reduced. It was concluded that the size of a shallow foundation influences the dynamic characteristics and the seismic response of the building due to interaction between the soil, foundation, and structure, and therefore design engineer should carefully consider these parameters in order to ensure a safe and cost effective seismic design.