• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.14 no.3
• /
• pp.31-38
• /
• 2010

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the seismic performance of gravity-designed post tensioned (PT) flat plate frames with and without slab bottom reinforcement passing through the column. In low and moderate seismic regions, buildings are often designed considering only gravity loads. This study focuses on the seismic performance of gravity load designed PT flat plate frames. For this purpose, 3-, 6- and 9-story PT flat plate frames are designed considering only gravity loads. For reinforced concrete flat plate frames, continuous slab bottom reinforcement (integrity reinforcement) passing through the column should be placed to prevent progressive collapse; however, for the PT flat plate frames, the slab bottom reinforcement is often omitted since the requirement for the slab bottom reinforcement for PT flat plates is not clearly specified in ACI 318-08. This study evaluates the seismic performance of the model frames, which was evaluated by conducting nonlinear time history analyses. For conducting nonlinear time history analyses, six sets of ground motions are used as input ground motions, which represent two different hazard levels (return periods of 475 and 2475 years) and three different locations (Boston, Seattle, and L.A.). This study shows that gravity designed PT flat plate frames have some seismic resistance. In addition, the seismic performance of PT flat plate frames is significantly improved by the placement of slab bottom reinforcement passing through the column.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
• /
• v.9 no.4
• /
• pp.401-413
• /
• 2015

In this study the progressive collapse resisting capacity of a RC beam-column subassemblage with and without strengthening was investigated. Total of five specimens were tested; two unreinforced specimens, the one designed as gravity load-resisting system and the other as seismic load-resisting system, and three specimens reinforced with: (i) bonded strand, (ii) unbonded strand, and (iii) side steel plates with stud bolts. The two-span subassemblages were designed as part of an eight-story RC building. Monotonically increasing load was applied at the middle column of the specimens and the force-displacement relationships were plotted. It was observed that the gravity load-resisting specimen failed by fractures of re-bars in the beams. In the other specimens no failure was observed until the maximum displacement capacity of the actuator was reached. Highest strength was observed in the structure with unbonded strand. The test result of the specimen with side steel plates in beam-column joints showed that the force-displacement curve increased without fracture of re-bars. Based on the test results it was concluded that the progressive collapse resisting capacity of a RC frame could be significantly enhanced using unbonded strands or side plates with stud bolts.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.19-35
• /
• 2015

This study compares the seismic performances of two reinforced concrete frame specimens tested by the pseudo-dynamic procedure. The pair of 3-storey, 3-bay frames specimens are constructed with typical characteristics of older construction which is lacking seismic design. One of the specimens is a bare frame while the other is infilled with low-strength autoclave aerated concrete (AAC) block masonry. The focus of this study is to investigate the influence of low strength masonry infill walls on the seismic response of older RC frames designed for gravity loads. It is found that the presence of weak infill walls considerably reduce deformations and damage in the upper stories while their influence at the critical ground story is not all that positive. Infill walls tend to localize damage at the critical story due to a peculiar frame-infill interaction, and impose larger internal force and deformation demands on the columns and beams bounding the infills. Therefore the general belief in earthquake engineering that infills develop a second line of defence against lateral forces in seismically deficient frames is nullified in case of low-strength infill walls in the presented experimental research.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Marine Engineers Conference
• /
• 2011.10a
• /
• pp.97-98
• /
• 2011

This paper is about the study of a new exo-skeleton device applying a gravity compensator. The exo-skeleton devices is to reduce the external torque applied to the human body joint for the purpose of helping the disabled, reducing heavy payload for industry workers or military soldiers. Most of the exoskeleton devices are actuated by the motors, but motors are limited in energy such that a short durability is always a big problem. In this paper, an exoskeleton device using a new gravity compensator based on a torsion bar is proposed to reduce the torque load applied to human body joints. The exoskeleton device is designed for the lower body of human. Analyses on the torsion bar spring and link of the exoskeleton device using FEM method were performed. To reduce the applied torque to the human joint, a torsion bar gravity compensator is applied to the exoskeleton. The effect of the torsion bar compensator for the exoskeleton device was verified through load test using developed test equipment.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.455-462
• /
• 2011

This paper is about the design of a new gravity compensator for the lower body exo-skeleton device. The exo-skeleton devices is for increasing the torque of the human body joint for the purpose of helping the disabled, workers in the industry, and military soldiers. So far, most of studied exo-skeleton devices are actuated by the motors, but motors are limited in energy such that a short durability is always a big problem. In this paper, a new gravity compensator is proposed to reduce the torque load applied to human body joints due to gravity. The gravity compensator is designed using a tortional bar spring, and its structure and characteristics are studied through the test and computer simulation. A design concept on the exo-skeleton device using the gravity compensator is presented. An analysis and computer simulation on the torque reduction of the proposed exo-skeleton device that applies and non-applies the gravity compensator are performed.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Military Science and Technology
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.127-139
• /
• 2024

This paper discusses a gravity compensation technique designed to reduce wavefront error caused by gravity during the assembly and alignment of satellite multi-band optical sensor. For this study, the wavefront error caused by gravity was analyzed for the opto-mechanical structure of multi-band optical sensor. Wavefront error, an indicator of optical performance, was computed by using the displacements of optics calculated through structural analysis and optical sensitivity calculated through optical analysis. Since the calculated wavefront error caused by gravity exceeded the allocated budget, the gravity compensation technique was required. This compensation technique reduces wavefront error effectively by applying the compensation load to the appropriate position of the housing tube. This method successfully meets the wavefront error budget for all bands. In the future, a gravity compensation equipment applying this technique will be manufactured and used for assembly and alignment of multi-band optical sensor.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.73 no.3
• /
• pp.239-257
• /
• 2020

In the present study, an innovative steel bracket and haunch hybrid scheme is devised, for retrofitting of earthquake damaged deficient beam-column sub-assemblages. Formulations are presented for evaluating haunch force factor under combined load case of lateral and gravity loads for the design of double haunch retrofit. The strength hierarchies of control and retrofitted beam-column sub-assemblages are established to showcase the efficacy of the retrofit in reversing the undesirable strength hierarchy. Further, the efficacy of the proposed retrofit scheme is demonstrated through experimental investigations carried out on gravity load designed (GLD), non-ductile and ductile detailed beam-column sub-assemblages which were damaged under reverse cyclic loading. The maximum load carried by repaired and retrofitted GLD specimen in positive and negative cycle is 12% and 28% respectively higher than that of the control GLD specimen. Further, the retrofitted GLD specimen sustained load up to drift ratio of 5.88% compared with 2.94% drift sustained by control GLD specimen. Repaired and retrofitted non-ductile specimen, could attain the displacement ductility of three during positive cycle of loading and showed improved ductility well above the expected displacement ductility of three during negative cycle. The hybrid haunch retrofit restored the load carrying capacity of damaged ductile specimen to the original level of control specimen and improved the ductility closer to the expected displacement ductility of five. The total cumulative energy dissipated by repaired and retrofitted GLD, non-ductile and ductile specimens are respectively 6.5 times, 2.31 times, 1.21 times that of the corresponding undamaged control specimens. Further, the damage indices of the repaired and retrofitted specimens are found to be lower than that of the corresponding control specimens. The novel and innovative steel bracket and haunch hybrid retrofit scheme proposed in the present study demonstrated its effectiveness by attaining the required displacement ductility and load carrying capacity and would be an excellent candidate for post-earthquake retrofit of damaged existing RC structures designed according to different design evolutions.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
• /
• v.20 no.1
• /
• pp.35-41
• /
• 2008

In general, flat plate systems have been used as a gravity load resisting system (GLRS) in building. Thus, this system should be constructed with lateral force resisting system (LFRS) such as shear walls and brace frames. GLRS should retain the ability to undergo the lateral drift associated with the LFRS without loss of gravity load carrying capacity. And flat plate system can be designed LFRS as ordinary moment frame with the special details. Thus, flat plate system designed as GLRS or LFRS should be considered internal forces (e.g., unbalanced moments) and lateral deformation generated in vicinity of slab joints render the system more susceptible to punching shear. ACI 318 (2005) allows the direct design method, equivalent frame method under gravity loads and allows the finite-element models, effective beam width models, and equivalent frame models under lateral loads. These analysis methods can produce widely different result, and each has advantage and disadvantages. Thus, it is sometimes difficult for a designer to select an appropriate analysis method and interpret the results for design purposes. This study is to help designer selecting analysis method for flat plate system and to verify practicality of the modified equivalent frame method under lateral loads. This study compared internal force and drift obtained from frame methods with those obtained from finite element method under gravity and lateral loads. For this purposes, 7 story building is considered. Also, the accuracy of these models is verified by comparing analysis results using frame methods with published experimental results of NRC slab.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2000.04a
• /
• pp.186-193
• /
• 2000

In this study the effect and applicability of viscoelastic dampers on the seismic reinforcement of steel framed structures are investigated in the context of the performance based design approach. The effect of the damper on dissipating the input seismic energy was investigated with a single degree of freedom system. For analysis models a five-story steel frame subjected to gravity load and a ten-story structure subjected to gravity and wind load were designed. the code-specified design spectrums were constructed for each soil type and performance objective and artificial ground excitation records to be used in the nonlinear time history analysis were generated based on the design spectrums. Interstory drift was adopted as the primary performance criterion. According to the analysis results both model structures turned out to satisfy the life safety performance level for most of the soil conditions except for the soft soil. It was also found that the seismic performance could be greatly enhanced by installing viscoelastic dampers on appropriate locations.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
• /
• 2004.04a
• /
• pp.169-176
• /
• 2004

Offshore structure crossing navigation waterways must not only be designed to resist gravity, wind, and earthquake load, but also be capable of resisting ship and barge collision load. Current specifications for offshore structure design provide empirical relationships for computing impact loads generated during barge collision, however, these relationships are based on the limited experimental data. In this paper, the dynamic finite element analysis is used to computing force for vessel collision scenarios to offshore structures. Results obtained from the ANSYS/LS-DYNA are compared to AASHTO bridge design specifications.