• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• 제12권1호
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• pp.743-754
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• 2020

This study provides an insight of the nonlinear behavior of the Offshore Wind Turbine (OWT) structure using the distributed plasticity approach. The fiber section beam-column element is applied to construct the finite element model. The accuracy of the proposed model is verified using linear analysis via the comparison of the dynamic characteristics. For collapse risk assessment of OWT, the nonlinear effects considering the earthquake Incident Angle (IA) have been evaluated first. Then, the Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) has been executed using a set of 20 near-fault records. Lastly, fragility curves are developed to evaluate the vulnerability of structures for different limit states. Attained results justify the accuracy of the proposed approach for the structural response against the ground motions and other environmental loads. It indicates that effects of static wind and wave loads along with the earthquake loads should be considered during the risk assessment of the OWT structure.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.67-79
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• 2021

The influence of ground motions on the seismic response of utility tunnels was investigated. A series of small-scale shaking table model tests were carried out under uniform excitation in the transverse direction. Different peak accelerations of EL-Centro and Taft earthquake waves were applied. The acceleration responses, earth pressure, seismic strain, bending moment and structure deformations were measured and discussed. The results showed that the types of earthquake waves had significant influences on the soil-structure acceleration responses. However, the amplitude of the soil acceleration along the depth showed consistent variation regardless of the types of earthquake waves and tunnels. The horizontal soil pressure near the top and bottom slabs showed obviously larger values than those at other depths. In general, the strain response in the outer surface was more significant than that on the inner surface, and the peak strain in the end section of the model was larger than that in the middle section. Moreover, the bending moment at the corner points was much larger than that at middle point, and the bending moment was greatly affected by both input accelerations and seismic wave types. The opposite direction of shear deformation on the top and bottom slabs presented a rotation trend of the model structure.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제78권5호
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• pp.637-649
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• 2021

Great efforts have been conducted to investigate the seismic performances of the arch and rectangular underground structures, however, the differences between seismic responses of these two types of underground structures, especially the vault radian influencing the seismic responses of arch structures are not clarified. This paper presents a detailed numerical investigation on the seismic responses of arch underground structures with different vault radians, and aims to illustrate the rule that vault radian affects the seismic responses of underground structures. Five arch underground structures are built for nonlinear soil-structure interaction analysis. The internal forces of the structural components of the underground structures only under gravity are discussed detailedly, and an optimum vault radian for perfect load-carrying functionality of arch underground structures is suggested. Then the structures are analyzed under seven scaled ground motions, amounting to a total of 35 dynamic calculations. The numerical results show that the vault radian can have beneficial effects on the seismic response of the arch structure, compared to the rectangular underground structures, causing the central columns to suffer smaller axial force and horizontal deformation. The conclusions provide some directive suggestions for the seismic design of the arch underground structures.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제37권6호
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• pp.679-693
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• 2020

This paper investigates the seismic response of buildings equipped with Self-Centering Energy Dissipating (SCED) braces. Two-dimensional models of 3, 6, 12 and 16-story SCED buildings considering both material and geometric nonlinearities are investigated by carrying out pushover and nonlinear time-history analyses. The response indicators of the buildings are studied for weight-scaled ground motions to represent the Design Basis Earthquake (DBE) level and the Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) event. The fragility curves of the buildings for two Immediate Occupancy (IO) and Life Safety (LS) performance levels are developed using Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA). Results of the nonlinear response history analyses indicate that the maximum inter-story drift occurs at the taller buildings. The mean peak inter-story drift is less than 2% in both hazard levels. High floor acceleration peaks are observed in all the SCED frames regardless of the building height. The overall ductility and ductility demand increase when the number of stories reduces. The results also showed the residual displacement is negligible for all of case study buildings. The 3 and 6-story buildings exhibit desirable performance in IO and LS performance levels according to fragility curves results, while 12 and 16-story frames show poor performance especially in IO level. The results indicated the SCED braces performance is generally better in lower-rise buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.201-213
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• 2021

Contrast to the conventional jointed bridge design, integral abutment bridges (IABs) offer some marked advantages like reduced maintenance and enhanced service life of the structure due to elimination of joints in the deck and monolithic construction practices. However, the force transfer mechanism during seismic and thermal movements is a topic of interest owing to rigid connection between superstructure and substructure (piers and abutments). This study attempts to model an existing IAB by including the abutment backfill interaction and soil-foundation interaction effects using Winkler foundation assumption to determine its seismic response. Keeping in view the significance of abutment behavior in an IAB, the probability of damage to the abutment is evaluated using fragility function. Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA) approach is used in this regard, wherein, nonlinear time history analyses are conducted on the numerical model using a selected suite of ground motions with increasing intensities until damage to abutment. It is concluded from the fragility analysis results that for a MCE level earthquake in the location of integral bridge, the probability of complete damage to the abutment is minimal.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• 제54권8호
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• pp.2974-2988
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• 2022

Implementation of component isolation in nuclear industry is challenging due to gaps in research and the lack of specific guidelines. In this study, parameters affecting component-level isolation of advanced reactor vessels are identified based on a representative numerical model with explicit consideration of nonlinear soil-structure interaction (SSI). The objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of, and to identify potential limitations of using conventional friction pendulum bearings to seismically isolate vessels. It is found that slender vessels or components are particularly vulnerable to rotational accelerations at the isolation interface, which are caused by rotation of the sub-structure and by excitation of higher modes in the horizontal direction of the seismically isolated system. Component isolation is found to be more effective for relatively stiffer vessels and at sites with stiff soil. Considering that conventional isolators are deficient in resisting axial tension, it is observed that the optimum location for supporting a component to achieve seismic isolation, is at a cross-sectional plane passing through the center of mass of the vessel. These findings are corroborated by numerous simulations of the response of seismically isolated reactor vessels at different nuclear power plant sites subject to a variety of ground motions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.87-100
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• 2022

Limiting the displacement of seismic isolators causes a pounding phenomenon under severe earthquakes. Therefore, the ASCE 7-16 has provided minimum criteria for the design of the isolated building. In this research the seismic response of isolated buildings by Triple Friction Pendulum Isolator (TFPI) under the impact, expected, and unexpected mass eccentricity was evaluated. Also, the effect of different design parameters on the seismic behavior of structural and nonstructural elements was found. For this, a special steel moment frame structure with a surrounding moat wall was designed according to the criteria, by considering different response modification coefficients (RI), and 20% mass eccentricity in one direction. Then, different values of these parameters and the damping of the base isolation were evaluated. The results show that the structural elements have acceptable behavior after impact, but the nonstructural components are placed in a moderate damage range after impact and the used improved methods could not ameliorate the level of damage. The reduction in the RI and the enhancement of the isolator's damping are beneficial up to a certain point for improving the seismic response after impact. The moat wall reduces torque and maximum absolute acceleration (MAA) due to unexpected enhancement of mass eccentricity. However, drifts of some stories increase. Also, the difference between the response of story drift by expected and unexpected mass eccentricity is less. This indicates that the minimum requirement displacement according to ASCE 7-16 criteria lead to acceptable results under the unexpected enhancement of mass eccentricity.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제21권6호
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• pp.601-612
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• 2021

The paper concerns the selection of a design accelerograms used for the slope stability assessment under earthquake excitation. The aim is to experimentally verify the Arias Intensity as an indicator of the excitation threat to the slope stability. A simple dynamic system consisting of a rigid block on a rigid inclined plane subjected to horizontal excitation is adopted as a slope model. Strong ground motions recorded during earthquakes are reproduced on a shaking table. The permanent displacement of the block serves as a slope stability indicator. Original research stand allows us to analyse not only the relative displacement but also the acceleration time history of the block. The experiments demonstrate that the Arias Intensity of the accelerogram is a good indicator of excitation threat to the stability of the slope. The numerical analyses conducted using the experimentally verified extended Newmark's method indicate that both the Arias Intensity and the peak velocity of the excitation are good indicators of the impact of dynamic excitation on the dam's stability. The selection can be refined using complementary information, which is the dominant frequency and duration of the strong motion phase of the excitation, respectively.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.331-343
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• 2022

Masonry structures are the most common structural systems that have been used almost all over the world from the earliest ages of history to the present day. These structural systems are often unfavorably affected by natural disasters such as earthquakes. The main reason for this is that they are built without sufficient engineering knowledge. On January 24, 2020, a severe earthquake occurred near the Sivrice District of Elazığ in eastern Turkey. According to the Turkish Directorate of Disaster and Emergency Management (AFAD), the magnitude of the earthquake was 6.8 and the focal depth 8 km. This earthquake caused damage and destruction to the masonry structures used extensively in the region. The Hacı Yusuf Taş (new) mosque in the Malatya city center, located about 64 km from the epicenter of the earthquake, was among the buildings affected by the earthquake. The mosque has smooth-cut stone walls and domes made of brick units. The main dome of the structure was severely damaged during the earthquake. In this study, information about the earthquake is first provided, and the damage to the mosque is then interpreted via photographs. In addition, two separate finite element models were produced, where the current state of mosque and solution suggestions are presented, and response spectrum analyses were carried out. According to these analyses and field observations, a buttress system to the main walls of the structure should be constructed in the direction which has little lateral rigidity.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제43권3호
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• pp.375-388
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• 2022

Nibellen structural system is a novel resilient bracing system based on the application of Bellville disks and Nitinol rods. The cyclic behavior of Nibellen assembly was obtained, and the design equations were developed based on the available literature. Seismic performance of the system was then studied analytically. Two groups of buildings with different lateral force resisting systems were designed and studied: one group with the Nibellen system, and the other with the special concentrically braced frame system. Each building group consisted of 5-, 10-, and 15-story buildings. The Design-Base-Event (DBE) and Maximum Considered Event (MCE) were considered as the seismic hazard, and a suite of seven ground motions were scaled accordingly for response history analyses. Finally, the resiliency of the buildings was studied by obtaining the functionality curve of the buildings before and after the seismic event. The construction cost of the 5-story building with Nibellen bracing system increased but the post-earthquake cost decreased significantly. The application of Nibellen system in the 10- and 15-story buildings reduced both the construction and repair costs, considerably. Resiliency of all the buildings was improved when Nibellen system was used as the lateral force resisting system.