• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.1215-1240
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• 2015

In this paper, the Theory of Plastic Mechanism Control (TPMC) is applied to the seismic design of dual systems composed by moment-resisting frames and Chevron braced frames. The application of TPMC is aimed at the design of dual systems able to guarantee, under seismic horizontal forces, the development of a collapse mechanism of global type. This design goal is of primary importance in seismic design of structures, because partial failure modes and soft-storey mechanisms have to be absolutely prevented due to the worsening of the energy dissipation capacity of structures and the resulting increase of the probability of failure during severe ground motions. With reference to the examined structural typology, diagonal and beam sections are assumed to be known quantities, because they are, respectively, designed to withstand the whole seismic actions and to withstand vertical loads and the net downward force resulting from the unbalanced axial forces acting in the diagonals. Conversely column sections are designed to assure the yielding of all the beam ends of moment-frames and the yielding and the buckling of tensile and compressed diagonals of the V-Braced part, respectively. In this work, a detailed designed example dealing with the application of TPMC to moment frame-chevron brace dual systems is provided with reference to an eight storey scheme and the design procedure is validated by means of non-linear static analyses aimed to check the actual pattern of yielding. The results of push-over analyses are compared with those obtained for the dual system designed according to Eurocode 8 provisions.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.39-63
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• 2011

Referring to the formulation of physical stochastic optimal control of structures and the scheme of optimal polynomial control, a nonlinear stochastic optimal control strategy is developed for a class of structural systems with hysteretic behaviors in the present paper. This control strategy provides an amenable approach to the classical stochastic optimal control strategies, bypasses the dilemma involved in It$\hat{o}$-type stochastic differential equations and is applicable to the dynamical systems driven by practical non-stationary and non-white random excitations, such as earthquake ground motions, strong winds and sea waves. The newly developed generalized optimal control policy is integrated in the nonlinear stochastic optimal control scheme so as to logically distribute the controllers and design their parameters associated with control gains. For illustrative purposes, the stochastic optimal controls of two base-excited multi-degree-of-freedom structural systems with hysteretic behavior in Clough bilinear model and Bouc-Wen differential model, respectively, are investigated. Numerical results reveal that a linear control with the 1st-order controller suffices even for the hysteretic structural systems when a control criterion in exceedance probability performance function for designing the weighting matrices is employed. This is practically meaningful due to the nonlinear controllers which may be associated with dynamical instabilities being saved. It is also noted that using the generalized optimal control policy, the maximum control effectiveness with the few number of control devices can be achieved, allowing for a desirable structural performance. It is remarked, meanwhile, that the response process and energy-dissipation behavior of the hysteretic structures are controlled to a certain extent.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.71-87
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• 2014

Interaction between closely-spaced buildings subject to earthquake induced strong ground motions, termed in the literature as "seismic pounding", occurs commonly during major seismic events in contemporary congested urban environments. Seismic pounding is not taken into account by current codes of practice and is rarely considered in practice at the design stage of new buildings constructed "in contact" with existing ones. Thus far, limited research work has been devoted to quantify the influence of slab-to-slab pounding on the inelastic seismic demands at critical locations of structural members in adjacent structures that are not aligned in series. In this respect, this paper considers a typical case study of a "new" reinforced concrete (R/C) EC8-compliant, torsionally sensitive, 7-story corner building constructed within a block, in bi-lateral contact with two existing R/C 5-story structures with same height floors. A non-linear local plasticity numerical model is developed and a series of non-linear time-history analyses is undertaken considering the corner building "in isolation" from the existing ones (no-pounding case), and in combination with the existing ones (pounding case). Numerical results are reported in terms of averages of ratios of peak inelastic rotation demands at all structural elements (beams, columns, shear walls) at each storey. It is shown that seismic pounding reduces on average the inelastic demands of the structural members at the lower floors of the 7-story building. However, the discrepancy in structural response of the entire block due to torsion-induced, bi-directionally seismic pounding is substantial as a result of the complex nonlinear dynamics of the coupled building block system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.5
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• pp.499-526
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• 2013

Seismic isolation is an effective method for the protection of buildings and their contents during strong earthquakes. This research work aims to assess the appropriateness of the linear and nonlinear models that can be used in the analysis of typical low-rise base isolated steel buildings, taking into account the inherent nonlinearities of the isolation system as well as the potential nonlinearities of the superstructure in case of strong ground motions. The accuracy of the linearization of the isolator properties according to Eurocode 8 is evaluated comparatively with the corresponding response that can be obtained through the nonlinear hysteretic Bouc-Wen constitutive model. The suitability of the linearized model in the determination of the size of the required seismic gap is assessed, under various earthquake intensities, considering relevant methods that are provided by building codes. Furthermore, the validity of the common assumption of elastic behavior for the superstructure is explored and the alteration of the structural response due to the inelastic deformations of the superstructure as a consequence of potential collision to the restraining moat wall is studied. The usage of a nonlinear model for the isolation system is found to be necessary in order to achieve a sufficiently accurate assessment of the structural response and a reliable estimation of the required width of the provided seismic gap. Moreover, the simulations reveal that the superstructure's inelasticity should be taken into account, especially if the response of the structure under high magnitude earthquakes is investigated. The consideration of the inelasticity of the superstructure is also recommended in studies of structural collision of seismically isolated structures to the surrounding moat wall, since it affects the response.

• Architectural research
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.79-87
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• 2017

In earthquake engineering, dynamic analyses are usually conducted by using a nonlinear analytical model of the entire building in order to identify the performance against earthquakes. At the same time, a large number of dynamic analyses are required to consider uncertainties on analytical models and ground motions. Therefore, it is necessary for the analytical model to be adequate, that is to say, the runtime should not be too long as the entire building is modeled to be in much detail, or the nonlinear model should not yield outputs very far from the actual ones by excluding important behaviors too much. The analytical model is usually developed based on experimental results, which have been already conducted for reinforced concrete columns with relaxed details. Therefore, this study aimed at making analytical models to be able to simulate the hysteretic behavior of the columns simply and easily. The analytical model utilizes a lumped hinge model to represent nonlinear moment-rotation hysteretic behavior of RC columns, which is feasible for nonlinear dynamic analyses usually conducted in earthquake engineering and for matching the analytical model to test results. For the analytical model, elements and material models provided by OpenSees are utilized. The analytical model can define the envelope curve, pinching, and unloading stiffness deterioration, but shortcoming of this model is not to be able to consider axial force-moment interaction directly and to simulate strength deterioration after post-capping completely. However, the analytical model can still represent test results well by considering that the goal of this study is to propose a general way to represent the hysteretic behavior of RC columns with relaxed details, not to provide parameters for a refined hysteretic model that can be just applied case by case.

• Tunnel and Underground Space
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• v.16 no.6 s.65
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• pp.486-494
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• 2006

The horizontal to vertical (H/V) ratio technique in spectral domain is a common useful technique to estimate empirical site transfer function. The technique, originally proposed by Nakamura, is proposed to analyse the surface waves in the micrortremor records. The purpose of this paper is to estimate spectral ratio using observed data at the seismic stations distributed within Southern Korean Peninsula from the Fukuoka earthquake including 11 aftershocks. The results show that most of the stations have fairly good amplification characteristics in low frequency band. However, some of the seismic stations show one (resonant frequency specific to the site) or several local peaks of amplification factors with narrow high frequency band. Even though the site amplification characteristics are important information, we should be careful to analyse the observed ground motions from the seismic stations which have several very high amplification peaks for the deconvolution of seismic source and attenuation parameters.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.115-124
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• 2006

This study was conducted to investigate the running motion in the max-velocity phase(150-160m) and the fatigue phase(350-360m) during 400m sprint by performed elementary school athletes. Eighteen elementary school male athletes who achieved at least the 3rd place in the sprint at the Korea Gangwon-Do elementary school track and field meetings during 2004 and 2005 were selected as subjects. The running motions performed by the subjects were recorded using two 8mm high speed cameras at the nominal speed of 100 frames per second. The Direct Linear Transformation technique was adopted from the beginning of filming to the final stage of data extraction. KWON 3D motion analysis package program was used to compute the 3 Dimensional coordinates, smoothing factor in which lowpass filtering method was used and cutoff frequency was 6.0 Hz. The movement patterns during foot touchdown and takeoff for the running stride were related with the biomechanical consideration. Within the limitations of this study it is concluded: In order to increase running velocity, several conditions must be fullfilled at the instant of leg touchdown and takeoff during the fatigue phase(350-360m). First, the body C.O.G(Center of Gravity) height should be raised at the instant of leg touchdown and takeoff during the fatigue phase. Second, the foot contact time should be shortened and the takeoff distance should be increased at the foot takeoff during the fatigue phase. Third, the shank angular velocity with respect to a transverse axis through the center of gravity should be increased during the leg touchdown and takeoff in the fatigue phase. Forth, the active landing style described as clawing the ground with the sole of the foot should be performed during the leg touchdown and takeoff in the fatigue phase) phase. Fifth, In order to increase running velocity in the fatigue phase while taking a slightly greater leg knee angle and body lean angle within the range of the subject's running motion during the fatigue phase would result in greater flight distance.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.163-179
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• 2014

Dynamic test with scaled model of a group of intake towers was performed to study the dynamic interaction between water and towers. The test model consists of intake tower or towers, massless foundation near the towers and part of water to simulate the dynamic interaction of tower-water-foundation system. Models with a single tower and 4 towers were tested to find the different influences of the water on the tower dynamic properties, seismic responses as well as dynamic water-tower interaction. It is found that the water has little influence on the resonant frequency in the direction perpendicular to flow due to the normal force transfer role of the water in the contraction joints between towers. By the same effect of the water, maximum accelerations in the same direction on 4 towers tend to close to each other as the water level increased from low to normal level. Moreover, the acceleration responses of the single tower model are larger than the group of towers model in both directions in general. Within 30m from the surface of water, hydrodynamic pressures were quite close for a single tower and group of towers model at two water levels. For points deeper than 30m, the pressures increased about 40 to 55% for the group of towers model than the single tower model at both water levels. In respect to the pressures at different towers, two mid towers experienced higher than two side towers, the deeper, the larger the difference. And the inside hydrodynamic pressures are more dependent on ground motions than the outside.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.9 no.4 s.44
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• pp.43-54
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• 2005

This paper presents cost-effectiveness evaluation of semi-active control system for cable-stayed bridge under earthquake excitations with various magnitudes and frequency contents. Semi-active control system, which is operated by using Bi-stale control method on the basis of linear quadratic Gaussian (LQG) optimal controller, is designed for the benchmark control problem proposed by Dyke et at. The cost-effectiveness of the proposed control system is defined by the ratio of life-cycle costs between a bridge structure with shock transmission units and a bridge structure with the semi-active control devices. The simulated results show that the damper cost has little influence on the cost-effectiveness of the semi-active control system while the cost-effectiveness is quite sensitive to the damage cost induced by the bridge failure. It is also found that the semi-active control system guarantees relatively high cost-effectiveness for the cable-stayed bridge subject to the ground motions in the regions of moderate seismicity with soft soil condition and strong seismicity with stiff soil condition.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.3 no.3
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• pp.75-86
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• 1999

An analysis model is developed to evaluate the dynamic responses of a bridge system under seismic excitations, in which pounding actions between girders are considered in addition to other phenomena such as nonlinear pier motion, rotational and translational motions of foundations. The model also considers the abutment and restrainers connecting adjacent girders to prevent the unseating failures. Using the developed model, the longitudinal dynamic behaviors of a bridge system are examined for various peak ground accelerations, and the effects of the applied restrainers are investigated. It is found that the restrainers reduce the relative displacement with the shorter clearance length as well as the higher stiffness of the restrainers for moderate excitations. However, in the region with strong excitations the restrainers may yield due to the large relative displacement. Therefore, the extension of support length in addition to restrainers may need to prevent the unseating failure more effectively.