• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.31-41
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• 2024

This study aims to investigate the seismic response of a large span thin shell structures and assess their displacement under seismic loads. The study employs finite element analysis to model a thin shell structure subjected to seismic excitation. The analysis includes eigenvalue analysis and time history analysis to evaluate the natural frequencies and displacement response of the structure under seismic loads. The findings show that the seismic response of the large span thin shell structure is highly dependent on the frequency content of the seismic excitation. The eigenvalue analysis reveals that the tenth mode of vibration of the structure corresponds to a large-span mode. The time history analysis further demonstrates, with 5% damping, that the displacement response of the structure at the critical node number 4920 increases with increasing seismic intensity, reaching a maximum displacement of 49.87mm at 3.615 seconds. Nevertheless, the maximum displacement is well below the allowable limit of the thin shell. The results of this study provide insight into the behaviour of complex large span thin shell structures as elevated foundations for buildings under seismic excitation, based on the displacement contours on different modes of eigenvalues. The findings suggest that the displacement response of the structure is significant for this new application of thin shell, and it is recommended to enhance the critical displacement area in the next design phase to align with the findings of this study to resist the seismic impact.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.799-823
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• 2016

A finite element model for the non-linear dynamic analysis of a reinforced concrete (RC) containment shell of a nuclear power plant subjected to extreme loads such as impact and earthquake is presented in this work. The impact is modeled by using an uncoupled approach in which a load function is applied at the impact zone. The earthquake load is modeled by prescribing ground accelerations at the base of the structure. The nuclear containment is discretized spatially by using 20-node brick finite elements. The concrete in compression is modeled by using a modified $Dr{\ddot{u}}cker$-Prager elasto-plastic constitutive law where strain rate effects are considered. Cracking of concrete is modeled by using a smeared cracking approach where the tension-stiffening effect is included via a strain-softening rule. A model based on fracture mechanics, using the concept of constant fracture energy release, is used to relate the strain softening effect to the element size in order to guaranty mesh independency in the numerical prediction. The reinforcing bars are represented by incorporated membrane elements with a von Mises elasto-plastic law. Two benchmarks are used to verify the numerical implementation of the present model. Results are presented graphically in terms of displacement histories and cracking patterns. Finally, the influence of the shear transfer model used for cracked concrete as well as the effect due to a base slab incorporation in the numerical modeling are analyzed.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.175-194
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• 2017

Research to date has mainly focused on structural analysis and design of wind turbines considering turbulent aerodynamic loading. The combined effects of wind and seismic loading have not been studied by many researchers. With the recent expansion of wind turbines into seismically active regions research is now needed into the implications of seismic loading coupled with turbulent aerodynamic loading. This paper proposes a monitoring procedure for onshore horizontal axis wind turbines (HAWTs) subjected to this combined loading regime. The paper examines the impact of seismic loading on the 5-MW baseline HAWT developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). A modified version of FAST, an open-source program developed by NREL, is used to perform the dynamic analysis.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.111-120
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• 1992

This paper investigates the dynamic characteristics of spacer grid impact loads and the effects of variations in the amplitude and frequency of the core plate motions on the resultant impact loads. A model of the longest row (15 fuel assemblies) across the core is analyzed using the input motions generated from safe shutdown earthquake. Input excitations consist of time history motions applied to the core support plate, fuel alignment plate and core shroud. The responses are determined for a set of four parameter runs with respect to the amplitude and frequency changes. Spacer grid impact loads and normalized input values for all cases are presented. The results show that changing the natural frequency has negligible effect but changing the amplitude of the input motions has a significant effect on the grid impact loads Therefore, time history analysis is not necessary for a shifted case to get the core responses under the seismic excitation.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.224-231
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• 2003

The purpose of this study is to review and validate the seismic analysis procedures of turbine-generator foundation specified in the Korea Building Code which adopts equivalent static analysis. Typical machines and foundations were chosen and various kinds of parametric studies were peformed and the results were compared with the detail dynamic analysis. The general trend of the study results showed that the most of the computed responses of equivalent static analysis are smaller than those of the dynamic analyses(response spectrum analysis and time history analysis), which implies the existing seismic analysis technique using the existing Building Code may give unconservative design results. The results also showed that the seismic loads are one of the governing design parameters of the turbine-generator foundations.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.19-27
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• 2020

Reinforced concrete (RC) buildings built in the 1980s are vulnerable to seismic behavior because they were designed without any consideration of seismic loads. These buildings have widely spaced transverse reinforcements and a short lap splice length of longitudinal reinforcements, which makes them vulnerable to severe damage or even collapse during earthquakes. The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of bidirectional lateral loads on RC columns with deficient reinforcement details. An experimental test was conducted for two full-scale RC column specimens. The test results of deficient RC columns revealed that bidirectional loading deteriorates the seismic capacity when compared with a column tested unidirectionally. Modeling parameters were extracted from the tested load-displacement response and compared with those proposed in performance-based design standards. The modeling parameters proposed in the standards underestimated the deformation capacity of tested specimens by nearly 50% and overestimated the strength capacity by 15 to 20%.

• Proceedings of the KSME Conference
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• 2007.05a
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• pp.305-308
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• 2007

The spacer grid assembly is one of the main structural components of the nuclear fuel assembly of a PWR. The spacer grid assembly supports and aligns the fuel rods, guides the fuel assemblies past each other during handling and, if needed, sustains lateral seismic loads. The ability of the spacer grid assembly to resist the lateral loads is usually characterized in terms of its dynamic and static crush strengths, which are acquired from tests. In this study, a finite element analysis on the dynamic crush strength of spacer grid assembly specimens is carried out and compared with test results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.569-576
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• 2003

Based on the equivalent uniform stress concept Presented by Seed and Idriss, sinusoidal cyclic loads which simplified earthquake loads have been applied in evaluating the liquefaction resistance strength experimentally. However, the liquefaction resistance strength of soil based on the equivalent uniform stress concept can not exactly reflect the dynamic characteristics of the irregular earthquake motion. The liquefaction assessment method which was invented by using the equivalent uniform stress concept is suitable for the severe earthquake region such as Japan or USA, so the proper method to Korea is needed. In this study, estimation of the resistance to liquefaction was conducted by applying real earthquake loading to the cyclic triaxial test. From the test results, the characteristics of the fine sand under moderate earthquake were analyzed and compared with the results under strong earthquakes. Typically real earthquake loads used in this study are divided into two types - impact type and vibration type. Furthermore, results of the liquefaction resistance strength based on the equivalent uniform stress concept and tile concept using real earthquake loading were compared.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.5
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• pp.557-572
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• 2018

The academic research works about liquid storage tanks are reviewed for the purpose of providing valuable reference to the engineering practice on their aseismic design. A summary of the performance of tanks during past earthquakes is described in this paper. Next, the seismic response of tanks under unidirectional earthquake is reported, supplemented with the dynamic response under multidirectional motions. Then, researches on the influence of soil-structure interaction are brought out to help modify the seismic design approach of tanks in different areas with variable properties of soils. Afterwards, base isolation systems are reported to demonstrate their effectiveness for the earthquake-resistant design of liquid storage tanks. Further, researches about the liquid-structure interaction are reviewed with description of simplified models and numerical analytical methods, some of which consider the elastic effect of tank walls. Moreover, the liquid sloshing phenomenon on the hydrodynamic behaviors of tanks is presented by various algorithms including grid-based and meshfree method. And then the impact of baffles in changing the dynamic characteristics of the liquid-structure system is raised, which shows the energy dissipation by the vortex motion of liquid. In addition, uplifting effect is given to enhance the understanding on the capacity of unanchored tanks and some assessment of their development. At last, the concluding remarks and the aspects of extended research in the field of liquid storage tanks under seismic loads are provided, emphasizing the thermal stress analysis, the replaceable system for base isolation, the liquid-solid interaction and dynamic responses with stochastic excitations.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.766-775
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• 2015

The integrity assessment of reactor vessel internals should be conducted in the design process to secure the safety of nuclear power plants. Various loads such as self-weight, seismic load, flow-induced load, and preload are applied to the internals. Therefore, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) Code, Section III, defines the stress limit for reactor vessel internals. The present study focused on structural response analyses of the upper guide structure upper flange. The distributions of the stress intensity in the flange body were analyzed under various design load cases during normal operation. The allowable stress intensities along the expected sections of stress concentration were derived from the results of the finite element analysis for evaluating the structural integrity of the flange design. Furthermore, seismic analyses of the upper flange were performed to identify dynamic behavior with respect to the seismic and impact input. The mode superposition and full transient methods were used to perform time-history analyses, and the displacement at the lower end of the flange was obtained. The effect of the damping ratio on the response of the flange was also evaluated, and the acceleration was obtained. The results of elastic and seismic analyses in this study will be used as basic information to judge whether a flange design meets the acceptance criteria.