• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.391-399
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• 2019

Residual deformation of high-speed railway bridge piers is cumulative under repeated earthquakes, and influences the safety and ride comfort of high-speed trains. This paper investigates the effects of the peak ground acceleration, longitudinal reinforcement ratio, and axial compression ratio on the cumulative deformation through finite element analysis. A simply-supported beam bridge pier model is established using nonlinear beam-column elements in OpenSees, and validated against a shaking table test. Repeated earthquakes were input in the model. The results show that the cumulative deformation of the bridge piers under repeated earthquakes increases with the peak ground acceleration and the axial compression ratio, and decreases with the longitudinal reinforcement ratio.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.3_4
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• pp.231-248
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• 2012

In this study, a systematic investigation is carried out on the seismic behaviour of plane moment resisting steel frames (MRF) to repeated strong ground motions. Such a sequence of earthquakes results in a significant damage accumulation in a structure because any rehabilitation action between any two successive seismic motions cannot be practically materialised due to lack of time. In this work, thirty-six MRF which have been designed for seismic and vertical loads according to European codes are first subjected to five real seismic sequences which are recorded at the same station, in the same direction and in a short period of time, up to three days. Furthermore, the examined frames are also subjected to sixty artificial seismic sequences. This investigation shows that the sequences of ground motions have a significant effect on the response and, hence, on the design of MRF. Additionally, it is concluded that ductility demands, behaviour factor and seismic damage of the repeated ground motions can be satisfactorily estimated using appropriate combinations of the corresponding demands of single ground motions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.957-981
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• 2015

Earthquakes occur as a cluster in many regions around the world where complex fault systems exist. The repeated shaking usually induces accumulative damage to affected structures. Damage accumulation in structural systems increases their level of degradation in stiffness and also reduces their strength. Many existing analytical tools of modeling RC structures lack the salient damage features that account for stiffness and strength degradation resulting from repeated earthquake loading. Therefore, these tools are inadequate to study the response of structures in regions prone to multiple earthquakes hazard. The objective of this paper is twofold: (a) develop a tool that contains appropriate damage features for the numerical analysis of RC structures subjected to more than one earthquake; and (b) conduct a parametric study that investigates the effects of multiple earthquakes on the response of RC moment resisting frame systems. For this purpose, macroscopic constitutive models of concrete and steel materials that contain the aforementioned damage features and are capable of accurately capturing materials degrading behavior, are selected and implemented into fiber-based finite element software. Furthermore, finite element models that utilize the implemented concrete and steel stress-strain hysteresis are developed. The models are then subjected to selected sets of earthquake sequences. The results presented in this study clearly indicate that the response of degrading structural systems is appreciably influenced by strong-motion sequences in a manner that cannot be predicted from simple analysis. It also confirms that the effects of multiple earthquakes on earthquake safety can be very considerable.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.137-150
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• 2017

This paper focuses on the post-earthquake serviceability of steel arch bridges installed with three types of seismic dampers suffered mainshock-aftershock sequences. Two post-earthquake serviceability verification methods for the steel arch bridges are compared. The energy-absorbing properties of three types of seismic dampers, including the buckling restrained brace, the shear panel damper and the shape memory alloy damper, are investigated under major earthquakes. Repeated earthquakes are applied to the steel arch bridges to examine the influence of the aftershocks to the structures with and without dampers. The relative displacement is proposed for the horizontal transverse components in such complicated structures. Results indicate that the strain-based verification method is more conservative than the displacement-base verification method in evaluating the post-earthquake serviceability of structures and the seismic performance of the retrofitted structure is significantly improved.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.3 no.5
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• pp.629-647
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• 2012

Multiple acceleration sequences of earthquake ground motions have been observed in many regions of the world. Such ground motions can cause large damage to the structures due to accumulation of inelastic deformation from the repeated sequences. The dynamic analysis of inelastic structures under repeated acceleration sequences generated from simulated and recorded accelerograms without sequences has been recently studied. However, the characteristics of recorded earthquake ground motions of multiple sequences have not been studied yet. This paper investigates the gross characteristics of earthquake records of multiple sequences from an engineering perspective. The definition of the effective number of acceleration sequences of the ground shaking is introduced. The implication of the acceleration sequences on the structural response and damage of inelastic structures is also studied. A set of sixty accelerograms is used to demonstrate the general properties of repeated acceleration sequences and to investigate the associated structural inelastic response.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.1-12
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• 2017

Historical earthquakes have shown that successive seismic events may occur in regions of high seismicity. Such a sequence of earthquakes has the potential to increase the damage level of the structures, since any rehabilitation between the successive ground motions is practically impossible due to lack of time. Few studies about this issue can be found in literature, most of which focused their attention on the seismic response of SDOF systems or planar frame structures. The aim of the present study is to examine the impact of seismic sequences on the damage level of 3D multistorey R/C buildings with various structural systems. For the purposes of the above investigation a comprehensive assessment is conducted using three double-symmetric and three asymmetric in plan medium-rise R/C buildings, which are designed on the basis of the current seismic codes. The buildings are analyzed by nonlinear time response analysis using 80 bidirectional seismic sequences. In order to account for the variable orientation of the seismic motion, the two horizontal accelerograms of each earthquake record are applied along horizontal orthogonal axes forming 12 different angles with the structural axes. The assessment of the results revealed that successive ground motions can lead to significant increase of the structural damage compared to the damage caused by the corresponding single seismic events. Furthermore, the incident angle can radically alter the successive earthquake phenomenon depending on the special characteristics of the structure, the number of the sequential earthquakes, as well as the distance of the record from the fault.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.487-506
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• 2023

Looking from the past to the present, the earthquakes can be said to be type of disaster with most casualties among natural disasters. Soil liquefaction, which occurs under repeated loads such as earthquakes, plays a major role in these casualties. In this study, analytical equation models were developed to predict the probability of occurrence of soil liquefaction. In this context, the parameters effective in liquefaction were determined out of 170 data sets taken from the real field conditions of past earthquakes, using WEKA decision tree. Linear, Exponential, Power and Quadratic models have been developed based on the identified earthquake and ground parameters using Krill Herd algorithm. The Exponential model, among the models including the magnitude of the earthquake, fine grain ratio, effective stress, standard penetration test impact number and maximum ground acceleration parameters, gave the most successful results in predicting the fields with and without the occurrence of liquefaction. This proposed model enables the researchers to predict the liquefaction potential of the soil in advance according to different earthquake scenarios. In this context, measures can be realized in regions with the high potential of liquefaction and these measures can significantly reduce the casualties in the event of a new earthquake.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.272-282
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• 2019

Although the knowledge of current seismicity is a critical information for making and implementing effective earthquake-related policy, the detailed seismicity information of the metropolitan areas with high-population density has been largely underestimated due to the high-level of cultural noise and small earthquake magnitude. This study presents 12 earthquakes including 2 earthquakes previously known and 10 additional earthquakes occurred from 2010 to 2017 in Busan, but they were unreported by the Korea Meteorological Administration. Matched filter technique is used to detect micro-earthquakes. Although the epicenters of micro-earthquakes though present a distinguished linearity, a correlation with faults in the area is unknown. A repeated micro-seismicity suggests that there are subsurface structures responsible for observed events. If large earthquakes occur along the fault in Busan, they may cause catastrophic natural disasters. Given the fact that the recent earthquakes did not accompany any surface signatures, it is highly recommended that the current micro-seismicity be investigated, and updated seismicity information be incorporated into establishing active fault maps in Korea.

• Electronics and Telecommunications Trends
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.51-58
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• 2018

Natural and social disasters, such as typhoons, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, fires, explosions, and traffic accidents occur frequently around the world. In Korea, a vicious cycle of large-scale accidents caused by natural disasters and insensitivity to safety is repeated each year. In particular, the tragic sinking of the Sewol ferry in 2014 and strong earthquakes with a magnitude of 5.0 and greater in Gyeongju and Pohang in 2016 and 2017, respectively, threw the entire country into a state of shock, increasing the public anxiety regarding disaster preparedness. This paper discusses the trends in broadcast emergency alert systems used to minimize damage from a disaster by delivering urgent status information quickly and accurately through a broadcast network, and to provide information regarding disaster risk and emergency evacuation procedures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.215-244
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• 2004

There is an ever-increasing demand for assessment of earthquake effects on transportation structures, emphasised by the crippling consequences of recent earthquakes hitting developed countries reliant on road transportation. In this work, vulnerability functions for RC bridges are derived analytically using advanced material characterisation, high quality earthquake records and adaptive inelastic dynamic analysis techniques. Four limit states are employed, all based on deformational quantities, in line with recent development of deformation-based seismic assessment. The analytically-derived vulnerability functions are then compared to a data set comprising observational damage data from the Northridge (California 1994) and Hyogo-ken Nanbu (Kobe 1995) earthquakes. The good agreement gives some confidence in the derived formulation that is recommended for use in seismic risk assessment. Furthermore, by varying the dimensions of the prototype bridge used in the study, and the span lengths supported by piers, three more bridges are obtained with different overstrength ratios (ratio of design-to-available base shear). The process of derivation of vulnerability functions is repeated and the ensuing relationships compared. The results point towards the feasibility of deriving scaling factors that may be used to obtain the set of vulnerability functions for a bridge with the knowledge of a 'generic' function and the overstrength ratio. It is demonstrated that this simple procedure gives satisfactory results for the case considered and may be used in the future to facilitate the process of deriving analytical vulnerability functions for classes of bridges once a generic relationship is established.