• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.57-70
• /
• 2010

Recent earthquakes have demonstrated that the tunnels, which were once considered to be highly resistant to earthquakes, are susceptible to substantial damage under severe seismic loading. Among various modes of deformation under an earthquake loading, the response of the tunnel in the transverse direction is known to be the critical mode. This paper investigates the seismic response of the tunnel in the transverse direction using the method of seismic displacement, which is a type of pseudo-static analysis. Firstly, the methods of calculating the ground deformation are compared. It is shown that the single and double cosine may not provide an accurate estimation of the ground deformation, and that a one-dimensional site response analysis needs to be performed for a more reliable evaluation. Secondly, the tunnel responses are calculated using the simplified, analytical, and numerical solutions. It is demonstrated that the simplified method provides poor estimates of the tunnel response ground deformation. The analytical solution is shown to be effective in modeling circular tunnels in uniform ground, but has serious limitation in modeling tunnel response in non-uniform ground. Numerical analyses are shown to be applicable to all cases, and give the most accurate estimates of the tunnel response. It is also demonstrated that the linear solutions can be so conservative that the soil nonlinearity needs to be accounted for more accurate evaluation of the tunnel response.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.341-380
• /
• 2023

This study evaluates the seismic fragilities in fill slopes in South Korea through parametric finite element analyses that have been barely investigated thus far. We consider three slope geometries for a slope of height 10 m and three slope angles, and two soil types, namely frictional and frictionless, associated with two soil states, loose and dense for frictional soils and soft and stiff for frictionless soils. The input ground motions accounting for four site conditions in South Korea are obtained from one-dimensional site response analyses. By comparing the numerical modeling of slopes using PLAXIS^2D against the previous studies, we compiled suites of the maximum permanent slope displacement (D_max) against two ground motion parameters, namely, peak ground acceleration (PGA) and Arias Intensity (I_A). A probabilistic seismic demand model is adopted to compute the probabilities of exceeding three limit states (minor, moderate, and extensive). We propose multiple seismic fragility curves as functions of a single ground motion parameter and numerous seismic fragility surfaces as functions of two ground motion parameters. The results show that soil type, slope angle, and input ground motion influence these probabilities, and are expected to help regional authorities and engineers assess the seismic fragility of fill slopes in the road systems in South Korea.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.151-167
• /
• 2023

This study compares the revised method in loose saturated sandy ground where the LNG storage tank will be installed with an evaluation method by one-dimensional effective stress analysis using the UBC3D-PLM model. Various laboratory and field tests were conducted to establish the parameters necessary for evaluation. The revised liquefaction evaluation method using the seismic response analysis result and N value from standard penetration testing evaluated the possibility of liquefaction as high, but assessment using effective stress analysis, which can consider various liquefaction resistance factors, found the site to be somewhat stable against liquefaction. One-dimensional finite element analysis using UBC3D-PLM modeling facilitated easier assessment of stability against liquefaction than the other methods and minimized the area required for reinforcement against liquefaction. In addition, it is expected that two-and three-dimensional numerical analysis considering the foundation of the LNG storage tank can identify the seismic design and behavior when liquefaction occurs.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
• /
• 2006.03a
• /
• pp.617-624
• /
• 2006

Site response analysis is widely used in estimating local seismic site effects. The soil behavior in the analysis is assumed to be Independent of the rate of the seismic loading laboratory results, however, indicate that cohesive soil behavior is greatly influenced by the rate of loading. A new equivalent linear analysis method is developed that accounts for the rate-dependence of soil behavior and used to perform a series of one dimensional site response analyses. Results indicate that while rate-dependent shear modulus has limited influence on computed site response, rate-dependent soil damping greatly filters out high frequency components of the ground motion and thus results in lower response.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.36 no.1
• /
• pp.111-127
• /
• 2010

This paper studies the effects of spatially varying ground motions on the responses of a bridge frame located on a canyon site. Compared to the spatial ground motions on a uniform flat site, which is the usual assumptions in the analysis of spatial ground motion variation effects on structures, the spatial ground motions at different locations on surface of a canyon site have different intensities owing to local site amplifications, besides the loss of coherency and phase difference. In the proposed approach, the spatial ground motions are modelled in two steps. Firstly, the base rock motions are assumed to have the same intensity and are modelled with a filtered Tajimi-Kanai power spectral density function and an empirical spatial ground motion coherency loss function. Then, power spectral density function of ground motion on surface of the canyon site is derived by considering the site amplification effect based on the one dimensional seismic wave propagation theory. Dynamic, quasi-static and total responses of the model structure to various cases of spatially varying ground motions are estimated. For comparison, responses to uniform ground motion, to spatial ground motions without considering local site effects, to spatial ground motions without considering coherency loss or phase shift are also calculated. Discussions on the ground motion spatial variation and local soil site amplification effects on structural responses are made. In particular, the effects of neglecting the site amplifications in the analysis as adopted in most studies of spatial ground motion effect on structural responses are highlighted.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.11 no.6
• /
• pp.821-845
• /
• 2016

Extensive researches on distribution of earthquake induced damages in different regions have shown that geological and geotechnical conditions of the local soils significantly influence behavior of alluvial areas under seismic loading. In this article, the site of Babol city which is formed up of saturated fine alluvial soils is considered as a case study. In order to reduce the uncertainties associated with earthquake resistant design of structures in this area (Babol city), the required design parameters have been evaluated with consideration of site's dynamic effects. The utilized methodology combines experimental ground ambient noise analysis, expressed in terms of horizontal to vertical (H/V) spectral ratio, with numerical one-dimensional response analysis of soil columns using DEEPSOIL software. The H/V spectral analysis was performed at 60 points, experimentally, for the region in order to estimate both the fundamental period and its corresponding amplification for the ground vibration. The investigation resulted in amplification ratios that were greater than one in all areas. A good agreement between the proposed ranges of natural periods and alluvial amplification ratios obtained through the analytical model and the experimental microtremor studies verifies the analytical model to provide a good engineering reflection of the subterraneous alluviums.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.201-213
• /
• 2015

Site effects resulting in the amplification of earthquake ground motion are strongly influenced not only by the subsurface soil conditions and structure, but also by the surface topography. Yet, over the last several decades, most studies of site-specific seismic responses in Korea have focused primarily on the seismic amplification associated with geologic and soil conditions. For example, the effects of local geology are now well established and have been incorporated into current Korean seismic design codes, whereas topographic effects have not been considered. To help address this shortcoming, two-dimensional (2D) seismic site response analyses, using finite element (FE) ground modeling with three different slope angles, were performed in order to assess the site effects of surface topography. We then compared our results, specifically peak ground acceleration (PGA) and acceleration response spectrum, to those of one-dimensional (1D) FE model analyses conducted alongside our study. Throughout much of the upper slope region, PGAs and spectral accelerations are larger in the 2D analyses than in the 1D analyses as a result of the topographic effect.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
• /
• v.10 no.7
• /
• pp.111-115
• /
• 2009

In Korea, the probabilistically developed seismic hazard maps are used with deterministically derived seismic site coefficients in developing the design response spectrum of a specific site. Even though the seismic hazard maps and seismic site coefficients are incompatible, the current design code ignores such incompatibility. If the seismic hazard map and seismic coefficients are both developed in identical probabilistic framework, such problems can be solved. Unfortunately, the available method cannot be use to derive "true" probabilistic site coefficients. This study uses the ground motion time histories, which were developed as the result of a new probabilistic seismic hazard analysis in the companion paper, as input motions in performing one-dimensional equivalent linear site response analyses, from which the uniform hazard response spectra are generated. Another important characteristic of the hazard response spectra are that the uncertainties and randomness of the ground properties are accounted for. The uniform hazard spectra are then used to derive probabilistic site coefficients. Comparison of probabilistic and deterministically site coefficients demonstrate that there is a distinct discrepancy between two coefficients.

• Geotechnical Engineering
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.5-18
• /
• 1989

The ground input motions used for seismic analysis of structures are studied in this paper, The one-dimensional wave propagation theory, the simple transfer function by Elsabee and Morray, and the finite element method that can account for the effect of scattering field, respectively, are used to get the ground input motions, and the results by these methods are compared among others. The responses of structures are also computed by both finite element analysis and elastic half space analysis, using the ground input motions obtained by the different methods mentioned above, and the computed results are analyzed. In addition, the parameteric study Is performed to analyze the effect of the increase of soil stiffness on the response of structures, and on that of the ground input motions. The responses of structures obtained are compared with the results obtained using the Building Code on seismic analysis for structures in Korea. The results of this study show that the ground input motions obtained without considering the effect of scattering field was 2 times larger than those with scattering effect, concluding that the effect of scattering field may not be ignored when obtains the ground input motion.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.23 no.7
• /
• pp.137-144
• /
• 2019

For the structures near the seismogenic fault, the evaluation of seismic performance against near-fault ground motions is important as well as for design ground motions. In this study, characteristics of seismic behaviors and seismic performance of the pile-bent bridge constructed on the thick soft soil site with various weak soil layers were analyzed. The input ground motions were synthesized by the directivity pulse parameters for intra-plate regions. The ground motion acceleration histories of each layer were obtained by one-dimensional site response analysis. Each soil layer was modeled by equivalent linear springs, and multi-support excitations with different input ground motions at each soil spring were applied for nonlinear seismic analyses. The analysis result by the near-fault ground motions and ground motions matched to design spectra were compared. In case of the near fault ground motion input, the bridge behaved within the elastic range but the location of the maximum moment occurred was different from the result of design ground motion input.