• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1997.04a
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• pp.88-93
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• 1997

Amplication factor spectrum has been obtained and compared with standard Response Spectrum using the observed strong ground motions database. The observed ground motions from the Miramichi, Nahanni, Saguenay and New Madrid Earthquake (vertical component 19. horizontal component 36). which are estimated to represent domestic seismotectonic characteristics such as seismic source, attenuation, and site effect, are used for the analysis of amplication factor spectrum. Amplication factor has been calculated using both observed peak values and results from responses to the observed horizontal and vertical ground motions. The comparison shows that the amplication factors resultant from this study exceeds those of Standard Response Spectrum at relatively higher frequencies. The results implie that the characteristics of the seismic strong ground motion which may represent the domestic seismotectonic characteristics differs from those of Standard Response Spectrum, which are resultant from the strong ground motions observed mainly at the westem United States.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1997.10a
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• pp.90-97
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• 1997

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the seismic response characteristics of Wolsong nuclear power plant (NPP) structures for the Kyeongju earthquake(ML=4.3) occurred on June 26, 1997. The seismograms are obtained from five accelerographs of nuclear power plant at Wolsong, Kyeongbuk. The distance from the epicenter is about 25km. The peak acceleration (PA) due to the earthquake is 0.0235g, which is far lower value than that of design basis earthquake(DBE). The PA at the containment wall is about twice as large as that at free field. Also, the higher the accelerograph is located in, the larger the PA is measured to be From the response spectrum analysis, the dominant frequency of the response is close to 4 Hz, which is similar to the free field is poor because of contamination by high frequency waves as a result of reflection and diffraction between ground and NPP structure. We are of opinion that the accelerograph at the free field should be moved approximately twice the building dimension away from the containment structure.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.4
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• pp.363-372
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• 2010

Accurate peak response estimation of a seismically excited structure with frictional damping system (FDS) is very difficult since the structure with FDS shows nonlinear behavior dependent on the structural period, loading characteristics, and relative magnitude between the frictional force and the excitation load. Previous studies have estimated the peak response of the structure with FDS by replacing a nonlinear system with an equivalent linear one or by employing the response spectrum obtained based on nonlinear time history and statistical analysis. In case that earthquake excitation is defined probabilistically, corresponding response of the structure with FDS becomes to have probabilistic distribution. In this study, nonlinear time history analyses were performed for the structure with FDS subjected to artificial earthquake excitation generated using Kanai-Tajimi filter. An equation for the probability density function (PDF) of the displacement response is proposed by adapting the PDF of the normal distribution. Coefficients of the proposed PDF are obtained by regression of the statistical distribution of the time history responses. Finally, the correlation between the resulting PDFs and statistical response distribution is investigated.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.6 no.8
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• pp.953-974
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• 2010

The performance of variable dampers for seismic protection of the benchmark highway bridge (phase I) under six real earthquake ground motions is presented. A simplified lumped mass finite-element model of the 91/5 highway bridge in Southern California is used for the investigation. A variable damper, developed from magnetorheological (MR) damper is used as a semi-active control device and its effectiveness with friction force schemes is investigated. A velocity-dependent damping model of variable damper is used. The effects of friction damping of the variable damper on the seismic response of the bridge are examined by taking different values of friction force, step-coefficient and transitional velocity of the damper. The seismic responses with variable dampers are compared with the corresponding uncontrolled case, and controlled by alternate sample control strategies. The results of investigation clearly indicate that the base shear, base moment and mid-span displacement are substantially reduced. In particular, the reduction in the bearing displacement is quite significant. The friction and the two-step friction force schemes of variable damper are found to be quite effective in reducing the peak response quantities of the bridge to a level similar to or better than that of the sample passive, semi-active and active controllers.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2006.03a
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• pp.327-336
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• 2006

Site coefficients in IBC and KBC codes have some limits to predict the rational seismic responses of a structure, because they consider only the effect of the soil amplification without the effects of the structure-soil interaction. In this study, upper and lower limits of site coefficients are estimated through the pseudo 3-D elastic seismic response analyses of structures built on linear or nonlinear soil layers considering the structure-soil interaction effects. Soil characteristics of site classes of A, B, and C were assumed to be linear, and those of site classes of D and E were done to be nonlinear and the Ramberg-Osgood model was used to evaluate shear modulus and damping ratio of a soil layer depending on the shear wave velocity of a soil layer. Seismic analyses were performed with 12 weak or moderate earthquake records, scaled the peak acceleration to 0.1g or 0.2g and deconvoluted as earthquake records at the bedrock 30m beneath the outcrop. With the study results of the elastic seismic response analyses of structures, new standard response spectrum and upper and lower limits of the site coefficients of Fa and Fv at the short period range and the period of 1 second are suggested Including the structure-soil interaction effects.

• Computational Structural Engineering
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.229-237
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• 1996

In some current procedures, ground motions from different sources have been scaled by their peak ground accelerations and combined to obtain smoothed response spectra for specific regions. As consideration of the inelastic deformation capacity of structure, inelastic deformations are permitted under seismic ground excitation in all codes. In the ATC(Applied Technology Council) and UBC(Uniform Building Code), the inelastic design spectrum is obtained by reducing the elastic design spectrum by a factor that is independent of structural period. In this study, the average of nonlinear response spectra calculated from a sample of 20 records for each event are constructed to obtain the smoothed response spectra. These response spectra are used to examine the effects of structural strength factors such as the yield strength ratio and damping value. Through the regression analysis of nonlinear response of system for a given damping value and yield strength ratio, the required yield strength for seismic design can be estimated for a certain earthquake event. And a response modification coefficient depending on the natural period for current seismic design specifications are proposed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.2
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• pp.117-128
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• 2023

On February 6, 2023, Türkiye woke up with a strong ground motion felt in a wide geography. As a result of the Kahramanmaraş, Pazarcık and Elbistan earthquakes, which took place 9 hours apart, there was great destruction and loss of life. The 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes occurred on active faults known to pose a high seismic hazard, but their effects were devastating. Seismic code spectra were investigated in Hatay, Adıyaman and Kahramanmaraş where destruction is high. The study mainly focuses on the investigation of ground motion parameters of 6 February Kahramanmaraş earthquakes and the correlation between ground motion parameters. In addition, earthquakes greater than Mw 5.0 that occurred in Türkiye were compared with certain seismic parameters. As in the strong ground motion studies, seismic energy parameters such as Arias intensity, characteristic intensity, cumulative absolute velocity and specific energy density were determined, especially considering the duration content of the earthquake. Based on the study, it was concluded that the structures were overloaded far beyond their normal design levels. This, coupled with significant vertical seismic components, is a contributing factor to the collapse of many buildings in the area. In the evaluation made on Arias intensity, much more energy (approximately ten times) emerged in Kahramanmaraş earthquakes compared to other Türkiye earthquakes. No good correlation was found between moment magnitude and peak ground accelerations, peak ground velocities, Arias intensities and ground motion durations in Türkiye earthquakes. Both high seismic components and long ground motion durations caused intense energy to be transferred to the structures. No strong correlation was found between ground motion durations and other seismic parameters. There is a strong positive correlation between PGA and seismic energy parameter AI. Kahramanmaraş earthquakes revealed that changes should be made in the Turkish seismic code to predict higher spectral acceleration values, especially in earthquake-prone regions in Türkiye.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.1
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• pp.55-64
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• 2023

Energy-based seismic design and evaluation methods are promising to be involved in the next generation design codes. Accordingly, determining the distribution of earthquake input energy demand among floor levels is quite imperative in order to develop an energy-based seismic design procedure. In this paper, peak floor input energy demands are achieved from relative input energy response histories of several reinforced concrete (RC) frames. A set of 22 horizontal acceleration histories selected from recorded near-fault earthquakes and scaled in time domain to be compatible with the elastic acceleration design spectra of Turkish Seismic Design Code are used in time history analyses. The distribution of the computed input energy per mass values and the arithmetic means through the height of the considered RC frames are presented as a result. It is found that spatial distribution of input energy per mass is highly affected by the number of stories. Very practical yet consistent formulation of distributing the total input energy to story levels is achieved, as a most important contribution of the study.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.860-868
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• 2018

This article presents a new design of earthquake instrumentation that is suitable for quick decision-making after the seismic event at the nuclear power plant (NPP). The main objective of this work is to ensure more availability of the NPP by expediting walk-down period when the seismic wave is incident. In general, the decision-making to restart the NPP after the seismic event requires more than 1 month if an earthquake exceeds operating basis earthquake level. It affects to the plant availability significantly. Unnecessary shutdown can be skipped through quick assessments of operating basis earthquake, safe shutdown earthquake events, and damage status to structure, system, and components. Multidecision parameters such as cumulative absolute velocity, peak ground acceleration, Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale, floor response spectrum, and cumulative fatigue are discussed. The implementation scope on the field-programmable gate array platform of this work is limited to cumulative absolute velocity, peak ground acceleration, and Modified Mercalli Intensity. It can ensure better availability of the plant through integrated decision-making process by automatic assessment of NPP structure, system, and components.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.399-414
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• 1997

This paper presents an investigation into the seismic response characteristics of a proposed ligh-weight pedestrian cable-stayed bridge made entirely from Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastics(GFRP). The study employs three dimensional finite element models to study and compare the dynamic characteristics and the seismic response of the GFRP bridge to a conventional Steel-Concrete (SC) cable-stayed bridge alternative. The two bridges were subjected to three synthetic earthquakes that differ in the frequency content characteristics. The performance of the GFRP bridge was compared to that of the SC bridge by normalizing the live load and the seismic internal forces with respect to the dead load internal forces. The normalized seismically induced internal forces were compared to the normalized live load internal forces for each design alternative. The study shows that the design alternatives have different dynamic characteristics. The light GFRP alternative has more flexible deck motion in the lateral direction than the heavier SC alternative. While the SC alternative has more vertical deck modes than the GFRP alternative, it has less lateral deck modes than the GFRP alternative in the studied frequency range. The GFRP towers are more flexible in the lateral direction than the SC towers. The GFRP bridge tower attracted less normalized base shear force than the SC bridge towers. However, earthquakes, with peak acceleration of only 0.1 g, and with a variety of frequency content could induce high enough seismic internal forces at the tower bases of the GFRP cable-stayed bridge to govern the structural design of such bridge. Careful seismic analysis, design, and detailing of the tower connections are required to achieve satisfactory seismic performance of GFRP long span bridges.