• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.605-616
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• 2018

In this paper, an extended Cloud analysis method is developed for seismic fragility assessment of existing highway bridges in the southeast Queensland region. This method extends the original Cloud analysis dataset by performing scaled Cloud analyses. The original and scaled Cloud datasets are then paired to generate seismic fragility curves. The seismic hazard in this region is critically reviewed, and the ground motion records are selected for the time-history analysis based on various record selection criteria. A parametric highway bridge model is developed in the OpenSees analysis software, and a sampling technique is employed to quantify the uncertainties of highway bridges ubiquitous in this region. Technical recommendations are also given for the seismic performance evaluation of highway bridges in such low-to-moderate seismic zones. Finally, a probabilistic fragility study is conducted by performing a total of 8000 time-history analyses and representative bridge fragility curves are generated. It is illustrated that the seismic fragility curves generated by the proposed extended Cloud analysis method are in close agreement with those which are obtained by the rigorous incremental dynamic analysis method. Also, it reveals that more than 50% of highway bridges existing in southeast Queensland will be damaged subject to a peak ground acceleration of 0.14 g.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.471-484
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• 2020

Previous earthquakes show that, structural safety evaluations should include the evaluation of nonstructural components. Failure of nonstructural components can affect the operational capacity of critical facilities, such as hospitals and fire stations, which can cause an increase in number of deaths. Additionally, failure of nonstructural components may result in economic, architectural, and historical losses of community. Accelerations and random vibrations must be under the predefined limitations in structures with high technological equipment, data centers in this case. Failure of server equipment and anchored server racks are investigated in this study. A probabilistic study is completed for a low-rise rigid sample structure. The structure is investigated in two versions, (i) conventional fixed-based structure and (ii) with a base isolation system. Seismic hazard assessment is completed for the selected site. Monte Carlo simulations are generated with selected parameters. Uncertainties in both structural parameters and mechanical properties of isolation system are included in simulations. Anchorage failure and vibration failures are investigated. Different methods to generate fragility curves are used. The site-specific annual hazard curve is used to generate risk curves for two different structures. A risk matrix is proposed for the design of data centers. Results show that base isolation systems reduce the failure probability significantly in higher floors. It was also understood that, base isolation systems are highly sensitive to earthquake characteristics rather than variability in structural and mechanical properties, in terms of accelerations. Another outcome is that code-provided anchorage failure limitations are more vulnerable than the random vibration failure limitations of server equipment.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.84 no.1
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• pp.85-100
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• 2022

The updated Turkish Building Earthquake Code has been significantly renovated and expanded compared to previous seismic design codes. The use of earthquake ground motion levels with different probabilities of exceedance is one of the major advances in structural mechanics with the current code. This study aims to investigate the earthquake performance of steel structure in settlements with different seismic hazards for various earthquake ground motion levels. It is focused on earthquake and structural parameters for four different ground motion levels with different probabilities of exceedance calculated according to the location of the structure by the updated Turkish Hazard Map. For this purpose, each of the seven different geographical regions of Turkey which has the same seismic zone in the previous earthquake hazard map has been considered. Earthquake parameters, horizontal design elastic spectra obtained and comparisons were made for all different ground motion levels for the seven different locations, respectively. Structural analyzes for a sample steel structure were carried out using pushover analysis by using the obtained design spectra. It has been determined that the different ground motion levels significantly affect the expected target displacements of the structure for performance criteria. It is noted that the different locations of the same earthquake zone in the previous code with the same earthquake-building parameters show significant variations due to the micro zoning properties of the updated seismic design code. In addition, the main innovations of the updated code were discussed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.28 no.6
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• pp.625-633
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• 2015

In this study, a coupled probabilistic framework is developed to assess wind risk on apartment buildings by using the convolution of wind hazard and fragility functions. In this framework, typhoon induced extreme wind is estimated by applying the developed Monte Carlo simulation model to the climatological data of typhoons affecting Korean peninsular from 1951 to 2013. The Monte Carlo simulation technique is also used to assess wind fragility function for 4 different damage states by comparing the probability distributions of the window system's resistance performance and wind load. Wind hazard and fragility functions are modeled by the Weibull and lognormal probability distributions based on simulated wind speeds and failure probabilities. The modeled functions are convoluted to obtain the wind risk for the different damage levels. The developed probabilistic framework clearly shows that wind risk are influenced by various important characteristics of terrain and apartment building such as location of building, exposure category, topographic condition, roof angle, height of building, etc. The risk model presented in this paper can be used as tools to predict economic loss estimation and to establish wind risk mitigation plan for the existing building inventory.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.21
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• pp.9453-9458
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• 2014

Background: Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States. Differences in survival of breast cancer have been noted among racial and ethnic groups, but the reasons for these disparities remain unclear. This study presents the characteristics and the survival curve of two racial and ethnic groups and evaluates the effects of race on survival times by measuring the lifetime data-based half-normal model. Materials and Methods: The distributions among racial and ethnic groups are compared using female breast cancer patients from nine states in the country all taken from the National Cancer Institute's Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results cancer registry. The main end points observed are: age at diagnosis, survival time in months, and marital status. The right skewed half-normal statistical probability model is used to show the differences in the survival times between black Hispanic (BH) and black non-Hispanic (BNH) female breast cancer patients. The Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard ratio are used to estimate and compare the relative risk of death in two minority groups, BH and BNH. Results: A probability random sample method was used to select representative samples from BNH and BH female breast cancer patients, who were diagnosed during the years of 1973-2009 in the United States. The sample contained 1,000 BNH and 298 BH female breast cancer patients. The median age at diagnosis was 57.75 years among BNH and 54.11 years among BH. The results of the half-normal model showed that the survival times formed positive skewed models with higher variability in BNH compared with BH. The Kaplan-Meir estimate was used to plot the survival curves for cancer patients; this test was positively skewed. The Kaplan-Meier and Cox proportional hazard ratio for survival analysis showed that BNH had a significantly longer survival time as compared to BH which is consistent with the results of the half-normal model. Conclusions: The findings with the proposed model strategy will assist in the healthcare field to measure future outcomes for BH and BNH, given their past history and conditions. These findings may provide an enhanced and improved outlook for the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer patients in the United States.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.229-242
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• 2013

Objectives: This study was designed to investigate the current status of the association of job-related information such as employment status, workplace environment, and hazard material exposures with health examination outcomes. Methods: The study used data from KNHANES 2007-2009 representing the three years of 2007-2009, which was conducted annually using a rolling sampling design that involved a complex, stratified, multistage, probability-cluster survey of a representative sample of the non-institutionalized civilian population in Korea. The final analytical sample consisted of 17,240 participants. Information on age, education, smoking history and alcohol intake was collected during the health interview. Job related information consisted of employment status, workplace environment, and hazardous material exposure. The selected indices of health examination were blood pressure, fasting glucose, blood cholesterol, HDL, SGOT, SGPT, and BUN. Results: In multiple logistic regression analysis using hypertension and pre-hypertension as dependent variables and job related categories as independent variables after covariate adjustments, the odds of hypertension and pre-hypertension were significantly lower in those with responsibility and power in their job activities. Interestingly, low odds for hypertension were observed among those who reported that their jobs were fast-paced. Conclusions: This study confirmed that some job-related categories in employment status, workplace environment, and hazardous material exposure had an association with health outcome status. It is worthwhile to comment that high responsibility and power in job activities were revealed as one of the important favorable factors to improve health condition of workers.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Hazard Mitigation
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.119-127
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• 2007

We reconstructed the community disaster risk and patterns of damage magnitude using 'Annual Report of National Disaster Data'. And we developed the inspection index for damage reduction capacity of each facility or each damage prevention measure. The inspection indices include climatic and hydrological vulnerabilities, and disaster probability components. Also we considered all indices and components for DB construction on the GIS system. Then we constructed 'Inspection for Safety Degree of Community System(ISDCS)' according to the facility's criteria from the combination of damage reduction capacity of facility and damage magnitude. The safety index has designed a system that encourages communities to carry out a list of activities in the raw from natural disaster. The activities ultimately saves lives, reduce property damage, and protect disaster facilities. Damage patterns were also analyzed according to damage type using pattern analysis and GIS.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.31 no.3B
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• pp.243-252
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• 2011

The change of rainfall pattern due to recent climate change increases the occurrence probability of drought in Korea. Unlike other natural disasters, a drought has long duration, extensive area subject to damage, and greater socioeconomic damage than other disasters. In order to evaluate drought severity, meteorological drought indices are mainly used in practice. This study presents a more realistic method to evaluate drought severity considering drought climate factors as well as socioeconomic factors which are vulnerable to disaster. To perform a spatial evaluation of drought risk in Gyeongsang-do, drought risk was defined and analyzed through the hazard index and the vulnerability index. The drought hazard index was spatially assessed using the drought index and GIS. The drought vulnerability index was also spatially assessed using the 5 socioeconomic factors. As a result, the drought risks were compared and used for evaluating regional drought risk considering regional characteristics of Gyeongsang-do.

• Architectural research
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• v.15 no.3
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• pp.151-158
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• 2013

Offshore oil and gas process plants are exposed to hazardous accidents such as explosion and fire, so that the structural components should resist such accidental loads. Given the possibilities of thousands of different scenarios for the occurrence of an accidental hazard, the best way to predict a reasonable size of a specific accidental load would be the employment of a probabilistic approach. Having the fact that a specific procedure for probabilistic accidental hazard analysis has not yet been established especially for explosion and fire hazards, it is widely accepted that engineers usually take simple and conservative figures in assuming uncertainties inherent in the procedure, resulting either in underestimation or more likely in overestimation in the topside structural design for offshore plants. The variation in the results of a probabilistic approach is determined by the assumptions accepted in the procedures of explosion probability computation, explosion analysis, and structural analysis. A design overpressure load for a sample offshore plant is determined according to the proposed probabilistic approach in this study. CFD analysis results using a Flame Acceleration Simulator, FLACS_v9.1, are utilized to create an overpressure hazard curve. Moreover, the negative impulse and frequency contents of a blast wave are considerably influencing structural responses, but those are completely ignored in a widely used triangular form of blast wave. An idealistic blast wave profile deploying both negative and positive pulses is proposed in this study. A topside process module and piperack with blast wall are 3D FE modeled for structural analysis using LS-DYNA. Three different types of blast wave profiles are applied, two of typical triangular forms having different impulse and the proposed load profile. In conclusion, it is found that a typical triangular blast load leads to overestimation in structural design.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.37 no.4
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• pp.579-592
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• 2017

This study assessed the quantitative microbial risk of non-enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (EHEC). For hazard identification, hazards of non-EHEC E. coli in natural and processed cheeses were identified by research papers. Regarding exposure assessment, non-EHEC E. coli cell counts in cheese were enumerated, and the developed predictive models were used to describe the fates of non-EHEC E. coli strains in cheese during distribution and storage. In addition, data on the amounts and frequency of cheese consumption were collected from the research report of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. For hazard characterization, a doseresponse model for non-EHEC E. coli was used. Using the collected data, simulation models were constructed, using software @RISK to calculate the risk of illness per person per day. Non-EHEC E. coli cells in natural- (n=90) and processed-cheese samples (n=308) from factories and markets were not detected. Thus, we estimated the initial levels of contamination by Uniform distribution ${\times}$ Beta distribution, and the levels were -2.35 and -2.73 Log CFU/g for natural and processed cheese, respectively. The proposed predictive models described properly the fates of non-EHEC E. coli during distribution and storage of cheese. For hazard characterization, we used the Beta-Poisson model (${\alpha}=2.21{\times}10^{-1}$, $N_{50}=6.85{\times}10^7$). The results of risk characterization for non-EHEC E. coli in natural and processed cheese were $1.36{\times}10^{-7}$ and $2.12{\times}10^{-10}$ (the mean probability of illness per person per day), respectively. These results indicate that the risk of non-EHEC E. coli foodborne illness can be considered low in present conditions.