• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.817-842
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• 2014

ASCE/SEI 41-13 provides modeling parameters and numerical acceptance criteria for various types of members that are useful for evaluating the seismic performance of reinforced concrete (RC) building structures. To accurately evaluate the global performance of a coupled wall system, it is crucial to first properly define the component behaviors (i.e., force-displacement relationships of shear walls and coupling beams). However, only a few studies have investigated on the modeling of RC coupling beams subjected to earthquake loading to date. The main objective of this study is to assess the reliability of ASCE 41-13 modeling parameters specified for RC coupling beams with various design details, based on a database compiling almost all coupling beam tests available worldwide. Several recently developed coupling beam models are also reviewed. Finally, a rational method is proposed for determining the chord yield rotation of RC coupling beams.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.505-514
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• 2021

A formulation based on structural reliability and cost effectiveness is proposed to provide recommendations to select the best retrofit strategy for schools with reinforced concrete frames and masonry walls, among three proposed alternatives. The cost calculation includes the retrofit cost and the expected costs of failure consequences. Also, the uncertainty of the seismic hazard is considered for each school site. The formulation identifies the potential failure modes, among shear and bending forces for beams, and flexure-compression forces for columns, for each school, and the seismic damages suffered by the schools after the earthquake of September 17, 2017 are taken into account to calibrate the damaged conditions per school. The school safety level is measured through its global failure probability, instead of only the local failure probability. The proposed retrofit alternatives are appraised in terms of the cost/benefit balance under future earthquakes, for the respective site seismic hazard, as opposed to the current practice of just restoring the structure original resistance. The best retrofit is the one that corresponds to the minimum value of the expected life cycle cost. The study, with further developments, may be used to develop general recommendations to retrofit schools located at seismic zones.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.203-208
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• 2023

The implementation of artificial intelligence (AI) design for tall building structures is an essential solution for addressing critical challenges in the current structural design industry. Generative AI technology is a crucial technical aid because it can acquire knowledge of design principles from multiple sources, such as architectural and structural design data, empirical knowledge, and mechanical principles. This paper presents a set of AI design techniques for building structures based on two types of generative AI: generative adversarial networks and graph neural networks. Specifically, these techniques effectively master the design of vertical and horizontal component layouts as well as the cross-sectional size of components in reinforced concrete shear walls and frame structures of tall buildings. Consequently, these approaches enable the development of high-quality and high-efficiency AI designs for building structures.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.32 no.5A
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• pp.277-287
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• 2012

The shear wall with openings built with reinforced concrete (RC) have been elaborately studied by many researchers, whereas the steel plate concrete (SC) wall structure has not been investigated as much. The recent SC wall structures developed in Korea have been partly applied to nuclear power plant structures, although its design specification or guideline for the SC wall structure with openings has not been completed yet. This study based on numerical analysis evaluates the effects of opening on the structural resistance of the SC structure in nuclear power plant. As a result from nonlinear analysis, since the strengthening for openings significantly affect the overall strength of SC wall, the openings should be considered to strengthen them around adjacent area. It is also proved that the strengthened openings have the sufficient resistance and ductility regardless their size, shape, location, and quantity.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.23 no.6
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• pp.711-722
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• 2011

Beam-column gravity or Intermediate Moment frames subjected to unexpected large displacements are vulnerable when no seismic details are provided, which is typical. Conversely, economic efficiency of those frames is decreased if unnecessary special detailing is applied as the beam and column size becomes quite large and steel congestion is caused by joint transverse reinforcement in beam-column connections. Moderate seismic design is used in Korea for beam-column connections of buildings with structural walls, which are to be destroyed when the unexpected large earthquake occurs. Nonetheless, performance of such beamcolumn connections may be substantially improved by the addition of steel fibers. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of steel fibers in reinforced concrete exterior beam-column connections and possibility for the replacement of some joint transverse reinforcement. Ten half-scale beam-column connections with non-seismic details were tested under cyclic loads with two cycles at each drift up to 19 cycles. Main test parameters used were the volume ratio of steel fibers (0%, 1%, 1.5%) and joint transverse reinforcement amount. The test results show that maximum capacity, energy dissipation capacity, shear strength and bond condition are improved with the application of steel fibers to substitute transverse reinforcement of beam-column connections. Furthermore, several shear strength equations for exterior connections were examined, including the proposed equation for steel fiber-reinforced concrete exterior connections with non-seismic details.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.293-300
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• 2015

In this study, a series of forced vibration testing and ambient vibration measurement were performed at a lowrise masonry-infilled reinforced concrete frame structure before and after seismic retrofit and its dynamic properties were extracted using system identification techniques. Also, analytical models which show similar dynamic properties to the measures ones were constructed. The system identification results showed that damping ratios in x direction along which the dampers were installed has been increased. From the comparison between the analytical models, the effective stiffness of post-installed member and post-reinforced members(shear walls and damper frames) were only 50% of gross sectional stiffness of the members, which indicates that the these members were not fully integrated with the existing structure or members. In addition, support condition of post-installed footing has to be pinned in y direction to match the dynamic properties, which is seemingly caused by the change of fixity of the soil due to the installation of new footing.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.455-464
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• 2023

Seismologists now suggest that the earth has entered an active seismic period; many earthquake-related events are occurring globally. Consequently, numerous casualties, as well as economic losses due to earthquakes, have been reported in recent years. Primarily, significant and colossal damage occurs in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings with masonry infill wall systems, and the construction of these types of structures have increased worldwide. According to a report from the Ministry of Education in the Republic of Korea, many buildings were built with RC frames with masonry infill walls in the Republic of Korea during the 1980s. For years, most structures of this type have been school buildings, and since the Pohang earthquake in 2017, the government of the Republic of Korea has paid close attention to this social event and focused on damage from earthquakes. From a long-term research perspective, damage from structural collapse due to the short column effect has been a major concern, specifically because the RC frame with a masonry infill wall system is the typical form of structure for school buildings. Therefore, the short column effect has recently been a major topic for research. This study compares one RC frame with four different types of RC frames with masonry infill wall systems. Structural damage due to the short column effect is clearly analyzed, as the result of this research is giving in a higher infill wall system produces a greater shear force on the connecting point between the infill wall system and the column. The study is expected to be a useful reference for research on the short column effect in RC frames with masonry infill wall systems.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.19-33
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• 2008

Dynamic response measurements from natural excitation were carried out for 25- and 42-story buildings to evaluate their inherent properties, such as natural frequencies, mode shapes and damping ratios. Both are reinforced concrete buildings adopting a core wall, or with shear walls as the major lateral force resisting system, but frames are added in the plan or elevation. In particular, shear walls in a 25-story building are converted to frames from the 4th floor level downwards while maintaining a core wall throughout, resulting in a fairly complex structure. Due to this, along with similar stiffness characteristics in the principal directions, significantly coupled and closely spaced modes of motion are expected in this building, making identification rather difficult. By using various state-of-the-art system identification methods, the modal parameters are extracted, and the results are then compared. Three frequency-domain and four time-domain based operational modal identification methods are considered. Overall, all natural frequencies and damping ratios estimated from the different identification methods showed a greater consistency for both buildings, while mode shapes exhibited some degree of discrepancy, varying from method to method. On the other hand, in comparison with analysis results obtained using the initial finite element(FE) models, test results exhibited a significant difference of about doubled frequencies, at least for the three lower modes in both buildings. To improve the correlation between test and analysis, a few manual schemes of FE model updating based on plausible reasons have been applied, and acceptable results are obtained. The advantages and disadvantages of each identification method used are addressed, and some difficulties that might arise from the updating of FE models, including automatic procedures, for such large structures are carefully discussed.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.85-93
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• 2016

In this study, finite element analyses of masonry infilled frames using a general purpose FE program, ABAQUS, were conducted. Analysis models consisted of the bare frame, infilled frames with masonry wall thickness of 0.5B and 1.0B, respectively. The masonry walls were constructed using the concrete bricks which were generally used in Korea as infilled wall. The material properties of frames and masonry for the analysis were obtained from material tests. However, four times increased the tensile strength was used for 1.0B wall, which is seemingly due to the differences in locating the bricks. The force-displacement relation and development of crack from the FE analysis were very similar to those from the experiments. From the FEA results, contact force between the frame and masonry, distribution of shear force and bending moments in frame members were analyzed. Obtained contact stress shows a trianglur distribution, and the contact length for 0.5B speciment and 1.0B specimen were close to the value estimated using ASCE 41-06 equation and ASCE 41-13 equation, respectively. Obtained shear force and bending moment distribution seems to replicate actual behavior which originates from the contact stress and gap between the frame and masonry.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.71-87
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• 2014

Interaction between closely-spaced buildings subject to earthquake induced strong ground motions, termed in the literature as "seismic pounding", occurs commonly during major seismic events in contemporary congested urban environments. Seismic pounding is not taken into account by current codes of practice and is rarely considered in practice at the design stage of new buildings constructed "in contact" with existing ones. Thus far, limited research work has been devoted to quantify the influence of slab-to-slab pounding on the inelastic seismic demands at critical locations of structural members in adjacent structures that are not aligned in series. In this respect, this paper considers a typical case study of a "new" reinforced concrete (R/C) EC8-compliant, torsionally sensitive, 7-story corner building constructed within a block, in bi-lateral contact with two existing R/C 5-story structures with same height floors. A non-linear local plasticity numerical model is developed and a series of non-linear time-history analyses is undertaken considering the corner building "in isolation" from the existing ones (no-pounding case), and in combination with the existing ones (pounding case). Numerical results are reported in terms of averages of ratios of peak inelastic rotation demands at all structural elements (beams, columns, shear walls) at each storey. It is shown that seismic pounding reduces on average the inelastic demands of the structural members at the lower floors of the 7-story building. However, the discrepancy in structural response of the entire block due to torsion-induced, bi-directionally seismic pounding is substantial as a result of the complex nonlinear dynamics of the coupled building block system.