• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
• /
• v.22 no.1
• /
• pp.1-12
• /
• 2010

According to the capacity design concept which forms the basis of the current steel seismic codes, the braces in concentrically braced frames (CBFs) should dissipate seismic energy through cyclic tension yielding and cyclic compression buckling while the beams and the columns should remain elastic. Brace buckling in inverted V-braced frames induces unbalanced vertical forces which, in turn, impose the additional beam moments and column axial forces. However, due to difficulty in predicting the location of buckling stories, the most conservative approach implied in the design code is to estimate the column axial forces by adding all the unbalanced vertical forces in the upper stories. One alternative approach, less conservative and recommended by the current code, is to estimate the column axial forces based on the amplified seismic load expected at the mechanism-level response. Both are either too conservative or lacking technical foundation. In this paper, three combination rules for a rational estimation of the column axial forces were proposed. The idea central to the three methods is to detect the stories of high buckling potential based on pushover analysis and dynamic behavior. The unbalanced vertical forces in the stories detected as high buckling potential are summed in a linear manner while those in other stories are combined by following the SRSS(square root of sum of squares) rule. The accuracy and design advantage of the three methods were validated by comparing extensive inelastic dynamic analysis results. The mode-shape based method(MSBM), which is both simple and accurate, is recommended as the method of choice for practicing engineers among the three.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.92-101
• /
• 2012

Three-dimensional finite-difference simulation in a small-scale half-sphere basin with planar free-surface is performed for an arbitrary shear-dislocation point source. A new scheme to deal with free-surface boundary condition is presented. Then basin parameters are examined to understand main characteristics on ground-motion response in the basin. To analyze the frequency content of ground motion in the basin, spectral amplitudes are compared with each other for four sites inside and outside the basin. Also particle motions for those sites are examined to find which kind of wave plays a dominant role in ground-motion response. The results show that seismic energy is concentrated on a marginal area of the basin far from the source. This focusing effect is mainly due to constructive interference of the direct Swave with basin-edge induced surface waves. Also, ground-motion amplification over the deepest part of the basin is relatively lower than that above shallow basin edge. In the small-scale basin with relatively simple bedrock interface, therefore, the ground-motion amplification may be more related to the source azimuth or direction of the incident waves into the basin rather than depth of it.