• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.16 no.2
• /
• pp.1-13
• /
• 2012

Seismic fragility functions are derived for probabilistic evaluation of seismic control performance of energy dissipation devices installed in reinforced concrete structures. Displacement-dependent dampers are added to the nonlinear single-degree-of-freedom systems with different natural periods and hysteretic characteristics of which stiffness and strength has uncertainty. Nonlinear time history analysis is conducted for those SDOF systems and the result is processed statistically to obtain seismic fragility functions in the form of log normal distribution. Variation of seismic fragility functions for different parameters of SDOF systems and dampers are investigated and the seismic control performance is assessed probabilistically.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.34 no.4
• /
• pp.341-380
• /
• 2023

This study evaluates the seismic fragilities in fill slopes in South Korea through parametric finite element analyses that have been barely investigated thus far. We consider three slope geometries for a slope of height 10 m and three slope angles, and two soil types, namely frictional and frictionless, associated with two soil states, loose and dense for frictional soils and soft and stiff for frictionless soils. The input ground motions accounting for four site conditions in South Korea are obtained from one-dimensional site response analyses. By comparing the numerical modeling of slopes using PLAXIS^2D against the previous studies, we compiled suites of the maximum permanent slope displacement (D_max) against two ground motion parameters, namely, peak ground acceleration (PGA) and Arias Intensity (I_A). A probabilistic seismic demand model is adopted to compute the probabilities of exceeding three limit states (minor, moderate, and extensive). We propose multiple seismic fragility curves as functions of a single ground motion parameter and numerous seismic fragility surfaces as functions of two ground motion parameters. The results show that soil type, slope angle, and input ground motion influence these probabilities, and are expected to help regional authorities and engineers assess the seismic fragility of fill slopes in the road systems in South Korea.

• International journal of steel structures
• /
• v.18 no.4
• /
• pp.1325-1335
• /
• 2018

This study dealt with investigating the seismic performance of the smart and shape memory alloy (SMA) and magnets plus rubber-spring (MRS) dampers and their effects on the seismic resistance of multiple-span simply supported bridges. The rubber springs in the MRS dampers were pre-compressed. For this aim, a set of experimental works was performed together with developing nonlinear analytical models to investigate dynamic responses of the bridges subjected to earthquakes. Fragility analysis and probabilistic assessment were conducted to assess the seismic performance for the overall bridge system. Fragility curves were then generated for each model and were compared with those of as-built. Results showed dampers could increase the seismic capacity of bridges. Furthermore, from system fragility curves, use of damper models reduced the seismic vulnerability in comparison to the as-built bridge model. Although the SMA damper showed the best seismic performance, the MRS damper was the most appropriate one for the bridge in that the combination of magnetic friction and pre-compressed rubber springs was cheaper than the shape memory alloy, and had the similar capability of the damper.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.63 no.1
• /
• pp.47-53
• /
• 2017

The fundamental goal of this study is to minimize the uncertainty of the median fragility curve and to assess the structural vulnerability under earthquake excitation. Bayesian Inference with Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) simulation has been presented for efficient collapse response assessment of the independent intake water tower. The intake tower is significantly used as a diversion type of the hydropower station for maintaining power plant, reservoir and spillway tunnel. Therefore, the seismic fragility assessment of the intake tower is a pivotal component for estimating total system risk of the reservoir. In this investigation, an asymmetrical independent slender reinforced concrete structure is considered. The Bayesian Inference method provides the flexibility to integrate the prior information of collapse response data with the numerical analysis results. The preliminary information of risk data can be obtained from various sources like experiments, existing studies, and simplified linear dynamic analysis or nonlinear static analysis. The conventional lognormal model is used for plotting the fragility curve using the data from time history simulation and nonlinear static pushover analysis respectively. The Bayesian Inference approach is applied for integrating the data from both analyses with the help of MCMC simulation. The method achieves meaningful improvement of uncertainty associated with the fragility curve, and provides significant statistical and computational efficiency.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.503-515
• /
• 2022

This paper presents the development of seismic fragility curves for a precast reinforced concrete bridge instrumented with a structural health monitoring (SHM) system. The bridge is located near an active seismic fault in the Dominican Republic (DR) and provides the only access to several local communities in the aftermath of a potential damaging earthquake; moreover, the sample bridge was designed with outdated building codes and uses structural detailing not adequate for structures in seismic regions. The bridge was instrumented with an SHM system to extract information about its state of structural integrity and estimate its seismic performance. The data obtained from the SHM system is integrated with structural models to develop a set of fragility curves to be used as a quantitative measure of the expected damage; the fragility curves provide an estimate of the probability that the structure will exceed different damage limit states as a function of an earthquake intensity measure. To obtain the fragility curves a digital twin of the bridge is developed combining a computational finite element model and the information extracted from the SHM system. The digital twin is used as a response prediction tool that minimizes modeling uncertainty, significantly improving the predicting capability of the model and the accuracy of the fragility curves. The digital twin was used to perform a nonlinear incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) with selected ground motions that are consistent with the seismic fault and site characteristics. The fragility curves show that for the maximum expected acceleration (with a 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years) the structure has a 62% probability of undergoing extensive damage. This is the first study presenting fragility curves for civil infrastructure in the DR and the proposed methodology can be extended to other structures to support disaster mitigation and post-disaster decision-making strategies.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.25 no.6
• /
• pp.293-303
• /
• 2021

Seismic fragility functions for unreinforced masonry buildings were derived based on the incremental dynamic analysis of eight representative inelastic numerical models for application to Korea's earthquake damage estimation system. The effects of panel zones formed between piers and spandrels around openings were taken into account explicitly or implicitly regarding stiffness and inelastic deformation capacity. The site response of ground motion records measured at the rock site was used as input ground motion. Limit states were proposed based on the fraction of structural components that do not meet the required performance from the nonlinear static analysis of each model. In addition to the randomness of ground motion considered in the incremental dynamic analysis explicitly, supplementary standard deviation due to uncertainty that was not reflected in the fragility assessment procedure was added. The proposed seismic fragility functions were verified by applying them to the damage estimation of masonry buildings located around the epicenter of the 2017 Pohang earthquake and comparing the result with actual damage statistics.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
• /
• v.10 no.4
• /
• pp.135-144
• /
• 2006

In performing a risk analysis of structures under earthquakes, it is imperative to identify the vulnerability of structures associated with various damage stages considering structural properties, soil-structure interactions, site condition, and so on. In this paper, the method to derive a representative fragility curve of seismic isolated LRB(lead rubber bearing) bridges is proposed. In which, the curve is assumed log-normally distribution with two parameters. The risk analysis of seismic isolated LRB bridges considering earthquake effects such as PGA, PGV, SA, SV, and SI is also performed to assure the earthquake resisting capability of the structures. An practical way for constructing the representative fragility curves is also recommended combining fragility curves of structures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
• /
• v.36 no.3
• /
• pp.277-293
• /
• 2024

Shored Mechanically Stabilized Earth (SMSE) walls are types of soil retaining structures that increase soil stability under static and dynamic loads. The damage caused by an earthquake can be determined by evaluating the probabilistic seismic response of SMSE walls. This study aimed to assess the seismic performance of SMSE walls and provide fragility curves for evaluating failure levels. The generated fragility curves can help to improve the seismic performance of these walls through assessing and controlling variables like backfill surface settlement, lateral deformation of facing, and permanent relocation of the wall. A parametric study was performed based on a non-linear elastoplastic constitutive model known as the hardening soil model with small-strain stiffness, HSsmall. The analyses were conducted using PLAXIS 2D, a Finite Element Method (FEM) program, under plane-strain conditions to study the effect of the number of geogrid layers and the axial stiffness of geogrids on the performance of SMSE walls. In this study, three areas of damage (minor, moderate, and severe) were observed and, in all cases, the wall has not completely entered the stage of destruction. For the base model (Model A), at the highest ground acceleration coefficient (1 g), in the moderate damage state, the fragility probability was 76%. These values were 62%, and 54%, respectively, by increasing the number of geogrids (Model B) and increasing the geogrid stiffness (Model C). Meanwhile, the fragility values were 99%, 98%, and 97%, respectively in the case of minor damage. Notably, the probability of complete destruction was zero percent in all models.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
• /
• v.27 no.2
• /
• pp.83-90
• /
• 2023

The recent increase in earthquake activities has highlighted the importance of seismic performance evaluation for civil infrastructures. In particular, the container crane essential to maintaining the national logistics system with port operation requires an exact evaluation of its seismic response. Thus, this study aims to assess the seismic vulnerability of container cranes considering their seismic characteristics. The seismic response of the container crane should account for the structural members' yielding and buckling, as well as the crane wheel's uplifting derailment in operation. The crane's yielding and buckling limit states were defined using the stress of crane members based on the load and displacement curve obtained from nonlinear static analysis. The derailment limit state was based on the height of the rail, and nonlinear dynamic analysis was performed to obtain the seismic fragility curves considering defined limit states and seismic characteristics. The yield and derailment probabilities of the crane in the near-fault ground motion were approximately 1.5 to 4.7 and 2.8 to 6.8 times higher, respectively, than those in the far-fault ground motion.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.6 no.6
• /
• pp.689-713
• /
• 2014

The seismic vulnerability of stone masonry buildings is studied on the basis of their fragility curves. In order to account for out-of-plane failure modes, normally disregarded in past studies, linear static Finite Element analysis in 3D of prototype regular buildings is performed using a nonlinear biaxial failure criterion for masonry. More than 1100 analyses are carried out, so as to cover the practical range of the most important parameters, namely the number of storeys, percentage of side length in exterior walls taken up by openings, wall thickness, plan dimensions and number of interior walls, type of floor and pier height-to-length ratio. Results are presented in the form of damage and fragility curves. The fragility curves correspond well to the damage observed in masonry buildings after strong earthquakes and are in good agreement with other fragility curves in the literature. They confirm what is already known, namely that buildings with stiff floors or higher percentage of load-bearing walls are less vulnerable, and that large openings, taller storeys, larger number of storeys, higher wall slenderness and higher ratio of clear height to horizontal length of walls increase the vulnerability, but show also by how much.