• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.551-562
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• 2021

In this study, the generalized intensity measure (IM) named I_Npg is analyzed. The recently proposed proxy of the spectral shape named N_pg is the base of this intensity measure, which is similar to the traditional N_p based on the spectral shape in terms of pseudo-acceleration; however, in this case the new generalized intensity measure can be defined through other types of spectral shapes such as those obtained with velocity, displacement, input energy, inelastic parameters and so on. It is shown that this IM is able to increase the efficiency in the prediction of nonlinear behavior of structures subjected to earthquake ground motions. For this work, the efficiency of two particular cases (based on acceleration and velocity) of the generalized I_Npg to predict the peak floor acceleration demands on steel frames under 30 earthquake ground motions with respect to the traditional spectral acceleration at first mode of vibration Sa(T₁) is compared. Additionally, a 3D reinforced concrete building and an irregular steel frame is used as a basis for comparison. It is concluded that the use of velocity and acceleration spectral shape increase the efficiency to predict peak floor accelerations in comparison with the traditional and most used around the world spectral acceleration at first mode of vibration.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.90 no.3
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• pp.313-323
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• 2024

Most of existing buildings in Mexico City are made of reinforced concrete (RC), however, it has been shown that they are very susceptible to narrow-band long duration ground motions. In recent years, the use of dual systems composed by Buckling Restrained Braces (BRB) has increased due to its high energy dissipation capacity under reversible cyclical loads. Therefore, in this work the behavior of RC buildings with BRB is studied in order to know their performance, specifically, the energy distribution through height and response transformation factors between the RC and simplified systems are estimated. For this propose, seven RC buildings with different heights were designed according to the Mexico City Seismic Design Provisions (MCSDP), in addition, equivalent single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems were obtained. Incremental dynamic analyses on the buildings under 30 narrow-band ground motions in order to compute the relationship between normalized hysteretic energy, maximum inter-story drift and roof displacement demands were performed. The results shown that the entire structural frames participate in energy dissipation and their distribution is independent of the global ductility. The results let propose energy distribution equations through height. Finally, response transformation factors between the SDOF and multi degree of freedom (MDOF) systems were developed aimed to propose a new energy-based approach of BRB reinforced concrete buildings.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.29-37
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• 2021

Since many geotechnical structures are constructed on a weathered granite layer, it is important to evaluate their characteristics. As a seismic design is the more important nowadays, the demands to estimate a shear wave velocity (V_S) based on acceptable methods are increasing. In this study, an empirical equation predicting V_S of the weathered granite layer is suggested based on the nonlinear multiple variable regression analysis whose independent variables are both SPT (Standard penetration test)-N₆₀ and chemical weathering index. It is concluded that the accuracy of the empirical equation estimating V_S of the weathered granite layer increases when it considers the chemical weathering index as an additional independent variable compared to the result of simple regression analysis using only N₆₀.