• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.2 no.3
• /
• pp.121-127
• /
• 1998

For the seismic design of bridges in Korea classified as the low to moderate seismic zones, the design concepts provided in the Standard Specification for Highway Bridges, Division I-A: Seismic Design, are adopted, which is basically developed for the strong seismic zones by AASHITO. Accordingly, the design procedures provided for the low to moderate seismic zones are simplified too much to fulfill the purpose of the seismic design. In this paper the design procedures given for the low to moderate seismic zones in the Standard are summarized and discussed in view of the seismic design purpose. From the discussion results some revisions are proposed as conclusions for the reasonable a, pp.ication of the Standard for bridges located in the low to moderate seismic zones.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.8 no.1
• /
• pp.57-76
• /
• 2015

The Performance-based Earthquake Engineering (PBEE) concept implies the definition of multiple target performance levels of damage which are expected to be achieved (or not exceeded), when the structure is subjected to earthquake ground motion of specified intensity. These levels are associates to different return period (RP) of earthquakes and structural behaviors quantified with adopted factors or indexes of control. In this work an 8-level PBEE study is carried out, finding different curves for control index or Engineering Demand Parameters (EDP) of levels that assess the structural behavior. The results and the curves for each index of control allow to deduce the structural behavior at an a priori unspecified RP. A general methodology is proposed that takes into account a possible optimization process in the PBEE field. Finally, an application to 8-level seismic performance assessment to structure in a Spanish seismic zone permits deducing that its behavior is deficient for high seismic levels (RP > 475 years). The application of the methodology to a low-to-moderate seismic zone case proves to be a good tool of structural seismic design, applying a more sophisticated although simple PBEE formulation.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.351-360
• /
• 2016

In regions of low-to-moderate seismicity, various types of lap splices are used for longitudinal reinforcement of columns at the plastic hinge zones. The seismic performance of such lap spliced columns, such as strength, deformation capacity, and energy dissipation, is affected by material strengths, longitudinal re-bar size, confinement of hoops, lap splice location, and lap splice length. In the present study, cyclic loading tests were performed for columns using three types of lap splices (bottom offset bar splice, top offset bar splice, and splice without offset bend). Lap splice length($40d_b$ and $50d_b$) was also considered as test parameters. Ties with 90-degree end hooks were provided in the lap splice length. The test results showed that strength, deformation capacity, and energy dissipation of columns significantly differed depending on the details and the length of lap splices. The bottom offset bar splice showed high ductility and energy dissipation but low strength; on the other hand, the top offset bar splice and the splice without offset bend showed high strength but moderate ductility and energy dissipation.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.20 no.2
• /
• pp.149-160
• /
• 2021

Buildings made using the locally available clay materials are amongst the least expensive forms of construction in many developing countries, and therefore, widely popular in remote areas. It is despite the fact that these low-strength masonry structures are vulnerable to seismic forces. Since transporting imported materials like cement and steel in areas inaccessible by motorable roads is challenging and financially unviable. This paper presents, and experimentally investigates, adobe masonry structures that utilize the abundantly available local clay materials with moderate use of imported materials like cement, aggregates, and steel. Shake-table tests were performed on two 1:3 reduce-scaled adobe masonry models for experimental seismic testing and verification. The model AM1 was confined with vertical lightly reinforced concrete columns provided at all corners and reinforced concrete horizontal bands (i.e., tie beams) provided at sill, lintel, and eave levels. The model AM2 was confined only with the horizontal bands provided at sill, lintel, and eave levels. The models were subjected to sinusoidal base motions for studying the damage evolution and response of the model under dynamic lateral loading. The lateral forcedeformation capacity curves for both models were developed and bi-linearized to compute the seismic response parameters: stiffness, strength, ductility, and response modification factor R. Seismic performance levels, story-drift, base shear coefficient, and the expected structural damages, were defined for both the models. Seismic performance assessment of the selected models was carried out using the lateral seismic force procedure to evaluate their safety in different seismic zones. The use of vertical columns in AM1 has shown a considerable increase in the lateral strength of the model in comparison to AM2. Although an R factor equal to 2.0 is recommended for both the models, AM1 has exhibited better seismic performance in all seismic zones due to its relatively high lateral strength in comparison to AM2.

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

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.49 no.4
• /
• pp.825-837
• /
• 2017

Due to the severe impacts of recent earthquakes, the use of seismic isolation is paramount for the safety of nuclear structures. The diversity observed in seismic events demands ongoing research to analyze the devastating attributes involved, and hence to enhance the sustainability of base-isolated nuclear power plants. This study reports the seismic performance of a seismically-isolated nuclear reactor containment building (NRCB) under strong short-period ground motions (SPGMs) and long-period ground motions (LPGMs). The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission-based design response spectrum for the seismic design of nuclear power plants is stipulated as the reference spectrum for ground motion selection. Within the period range(s) of interest, the spectral matching of selected records with the target spectrum is ensured using the spectral-compatibility approach. NRC-compliant SPGMs and LPGMs from the mega-thrust Tohoku earthquake are used to obtain the structural response of the base-isolated NRCB. To account for the lack of earthquakes in low-to-moderate seismicity zones and the gap in the artificial synthesis of long-period records, wavelet-decomposition based autoregressive moving average modeling for artificial generation of real ground motions is performed. Based on analysis results from real and simulated SPGMs versus LPGMs, the performance of NRCBs is discussed with suggestions for future research and seismic provisions.

• Korean Journal of Remote Sensing
• /
• v.35 no.2
• /
• pp.217-228
• /
• 2019

In this study, a seismic vulnerability map of Gyeongju city, where the 9.12 Gyeongju earthquake occurred, was produced and evaluated using analytic hierarchy process(AHP) and geographic information system (GIS). Geotechnical, physical, social, structural, and capacity factors were selected as the main indicators and 18 sub-indicators to construct a spatial database. Weights derived using the AHP were applied to the 18 sub-indicators, which generated a vulnerability map of the five main indicators. After weighting the five generated maps, we created seismic vulnerability maps by overlaying each of the five maps. The seismic vulnerability map was classified into five zones, i.e., very high, high, moderate, low, and safe. For seismic vulnerability, the results indicated that 3% of Gyeongju area is characterized as having very high vulnerability, while 19% was characterized as safe. Based on district standards, Jungbu-dong, Hwangoh-dong, Hwangseong-dong, Seonggeon-dong, and Dongcheon-dong were high-risk areas, and Bodeok-dong, Gangdong-myeon, Yangbuk-myeon, Yangnam-myeon, and Oedong-eup were characterized as safe areas. The seismic vulnerability map produced in this study could possibly be used to minimize damage caused by earthquakes and could be used as a reference when establishing policies.