• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.319-330
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• 2022

Retrofit of soft-story buildings due to seismic loads using Gap-Inclined-Brace (GIB) system is considered a new retrofit technique that aims to maintain both strength and stiffness of structure. In addition, it provides more ductility and less P-delta effect, and subsequently better performance is observed. In this paper, the effect of the eccentricity between GIB and the retrofitted column due to installation on the efficiency of the retrofitting system is studied. In addition, a modification in the determination method of GIB properties is introduced to reduce the eccentricity effect. Also, the effect of GIB system on the seismic response of mid-rise buildings with different heights considering soft-story at various heights has been studied. A numerical model is developed to study the impact of such system on the response of retrofitted soft-story buildings under the action of seismic loads. To achieve that goal, this model is used to perform a numerical investigation, by considering five case study scenarios represent several locations of soft-story of two mid-rise reinforced concrete buildings. At first, Non-linear static pushover analysis was carried out to develop the capacity curves for case studies. Then, Non-linear time history analyses using ten earthquake records with five peak ground accelerations is performed for each case study scenario before and after retrofitting with GIB. The results show that large GIB eccentricity reduce the ultimate lateral resistance and deformation capacity of the retrofitting system. Moreover, the higher the retrofitted building, the more deformation capacity is observed but without significant increase in ultimate lateral resistance.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.193-203
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• 2021

The time-history finite element analysis is usually used to evaluate the seismic response of shallow foundations. However, the literature lacks studies on the influence of the soil constitutive model complexity on the seismic response of shallow foundations. This study, thus, aims to fill this gap by investigating the seismic response of shallow foundation resting on dry silica sand using the linear elastic (LE) model, elastic-perfectly-plastic (EPP) model, and hardening soil with small strain stiffness (HS small) model. These models have been used because it is intended to compare the results of a soil constitutive model that accurately captures the seismic response of the soil-structure interaction problems (which is the HS small model) with simpler models (the LE and EPP models) that are routinely used by practitioners in geotechnical designs. The results showed that the LE model produces a very small seismic settlement value which is approximately equal to zero. The EPP model predicts a seismic settlement higher than that produced using the HS small model for earthquakes with a peak ground acceleration (PGA) lower than 0.25 g for a relative density of 45% and 0.40 g for a relative density of 70%. However, the HS small model predicts a seismic settlement higher than the EPP model beyond the aforementioned PGA values with the difference between both models increases as the PGA rises. The results also showed that the LE and EPP models predict similar trend and magnitude of the acceleration-time relationship directly below the foundation, which was different than that predicted using the HS small model. The results reported in this paper provide a useful benchmark for future numerical studies on the response of shallow foundations subjected to seismic shake.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.119-126
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• 2022

This study proposed a BCM(Binding Column Method) that can reinforce the insufficient seismic force of piloti buildings that are not designed for seismic resistance. In addition, 4 reinforcement specimens and 1 reference specimen were manufactured for the proposed seismic reinforcement method. The effect of improving seismic performance before and after reinforcement was examined through repeated loading tests. As a result of experiment, seismic reinforcement specimen with BCM system showed hysteretic characteristics of a large ellipse with great energy dissipation ability and increased strength and stiffness, while reference specimen showed rapid reduction in strength and brittle shear failure column. In addition, it can be seen that the reinforcing effect is improved as the gap is narrow, the torque is large, and the thickness of the L-shaped steel sheet is thicker. The SC4 specimen showed the best seismic performance reinforcement effect.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.285-297
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• 2024

Due to the imbalanced vibration of the adjacent buildings, the pounding phenomenon occurs as a result of an insufficient gap between them. Providing enough gap between adjacent structures is the most efficient approach to preventing the pounding effect. This paper calculated the required separation gaps between adjacent buildings, including two, four, eight, twelve and twenty stories steel moment-resisting frames, and investigated their related influencing parameters such as time periods, damping ratios, and the number of bays. The linear and nonlinear dynamic time-history analyses under real seismic event records were conducted to calculate the required separation gaps by obtaining relative displacement and velocity functions of two adjacent frames. The results showed that the required separation gap increased when the time periods of adjacent frames were not the same. The resulting separation gaps values of linear and nonlinear analyses were similar only for two and four stories frames. In other frames, the resulting separation gap values of linear analyses surpassed the corresponding nonlinear analyses. Although increasing the damping ratios in adjacent frames causes a decrease in the required separation gaps, the number of bays had no significant effect on them.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.55-70
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• 2021

In urban cities, buildings were built in the neighborhood, these buildings influence each other through structure-soilstructure interaction (SSSI) and seismic pounding due to limited separation distance in-between. Generally, the effects of the interaction between soil and structure are disregarded during seismic design and analysis of superstructure. However, the system of soil-base adversely changes structural behavior and response demands. Thus, the vibration characteristics plus the seismic response of a building are not able to be independent of those in adjacent buildings. The interaction between structure, soil, and structure investigates the action of the attendance of adjacent buildings to the others by the interaction effect of the sub-soil under dynamic disturbances. The main purpose of this research is to analyze the effects of SSSI and seismic pounding on the behavior of adjacent buildings. The response of a single structure or two adjacent structures with shallow raft base lying on soft soil are studied. Three dimensions finite element models are developed to investigate the effects of pounding; gap distance; conditions of soil; stories number; a mass of adjacent building and ground excitation frequency on the seismic responses and vibration characteristics of the structures. The variation in the story displacement, story shear, and story moment responses demands are studied to evaluate the presence effect of the adjacent buildings. Numerical results acquired using conditions of soil models are compared with the condition of fixed support and adjacent building models to a single building model. The peak responses of story displacement, story moment, and story shear are studied.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2009

More than 40% of railway bridges on the conventional lines in Korea consist of track-on-steel plate girder (TOSPG) bridges. This type of bridge is typically designed without considering seismic loadings, as most of them were built before 1970. The seismic performance of this particular type of bridge could be upgraded through various seismic retrofit schemes, and seismic risk assessment could play a key role in decision-making on the level of the seismic retrofit. This study performed a seismic risk assessment of TOSPG bridges in Korea. The seismic damage of several crucial components of TOSPG bridges--fixed bearings, free bearings, and piers--were probabilistically estimated, and their seismic fragility curves were developed. The probability that the components would exceed their predefined limit states was also calculated by combining the fragility curves and the seismic hazard function. The analysis showed that the piers of TOSPG bridges, which are made of plain concrete without rebars, have relatively low risk against seismic loadings in Korea. This is because the mass of the superstructures of TOSPG bridges is relatively small, and hence, the seismic loading being transferred to the piers is minimal. The line-type bearings typically used for TOSPG bridges, however, are exposed to a degree of seismic risk. Among the bearings, the probability of the free-end bearings and the fixed-end bearings exceeding the slight damage state in 50 years was found to be 12.78% and 4.23%, respectively. The gap between these probability values lessened towards more serious damage states. This study could effectively provide an engineering background for decision-making activities on the seismic retrofit of railway bridges.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.342-348
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• 2018

An earthquake of $M_L$ 5.8 hit the Gyeongju area on September 12, 2016. A sequence of foreshock-mainshock-aftershock of 588 events with equal to or greater than magnitude 1.5 occurred for six months in this area. Around ninety-nine percentage (98.8%) of the total energy was released intensively within a day, and about 80% of the total events took place within a month after the Gyeongju earthquake. The epicentral distribution of aftershocks of major events ($M_L$ 5.1, 5.8, 4.5, and 3.5) were elongated in the direction of $N30^{\circ}E$. They correlate well with the focal mechanism solution. These facts support the inference that the Gyeongju earthquakes occurred on a sub-parallel subsidiary fault of the Yangsan fault zone or on the linking damage zones between Deokcheon and Yangsan fault. During the last six years before the Gyeongju earthquake, there were few events within 10-km radius from the epicenter. This seismic gap area was filled with a sequence of the Gyeongju earthquakes. The b value for aftershock of the Gyeongju earthquakes is 1.09.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.231-252
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• 2010

Previous research on pounding between seismically isolated buildings during earthquakes has been focused on impacts at the bases of structures and the effect of simultaneous interactions at the bases and at the superstructures has not been studied in details. In this paper, the seismic responses of adjacent buildings supported on different or similar base systems considering impacts between bases and superstructures are numerically investigated. The study is carried out in three parts for the two types of adjacent buildings: (i) both structures have fixed bases; (ii) one structure has fixed base and the other is seismically isolated and (iii) both structures have base isolation systems. The results of the study indicate that the pounding-involved responses of the buildings depend mainly on the type of structural base systems and on the structural parameters of both buildings. For the base-isolated building, the variation of the peak accelerations and displacements of the storeys have been found to be relatively low. On the other hand, significant differences have been observed for the fixed base building. The results of the parametric study conducted for different values of the gap size between colliding structures show the reduction in the peak base displacements as the gap distance decreases.

• Journal of Korean Society of Coastal and Ocean Engineers
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.1-7
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• 2002

In the past, safety assessment on the site of Ulchin Nuclear Power Plants against tsunamis was carried out with probable maximum earthquake magnitude and related tsunamigenic fault parameters. Recently, however, based on the seismic gap theory, some seismologists warned about earthquakes of larger magnitudes than had been expected. In this study, we revaluated tsunami risk with a finite difference model based on linear and nonlinear shallow water equations. Firstly, we simulated the\`83 tsunami and compared the calculated water surface profile with the observed wave heights. Secondly, we evaluated the rise and drop of sea water level at the site of Ulchin Nuclear Power Plant with fault parameters of the past '83, '93 tsunamis and some dangerous faults. Finally, we showed that the cooling water intake facility of Ulchin Nuclear Power Plants would be safely operated in disastrous tsunamis.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.289-308
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• 2018

Numerous urban seismic vulnerability studies have recognized pounding as one of the main risks due to the restricted separation distance between neighboring structures. The pounding effects on the adjacent buildings could extend from slight non-structural to serious structural damage that could even head to a total collapse of buildings. Therefore, an assessment of the seismic pounding hazard to the adjacent buildings is superficial in future building code calibrations. Thus, this study targets are to draw useful recommendations and set up guidelines for potential pounding damage evaluation for code calibration through a numerical simulation approach for the evaluation of the pounding risks on adjacent buildings. A numerical simulation is formulated to estimate the seismic pounding effects on the seismic response demands of adjacent buildings for different design parameters that include: number of stories, separation distances; alignment configurations, and then compared with nominal model without pounding. Based on the obtained results, it has been concluded that the severity of the pounding effects depends on the dynamic characteristics of the adjacent buildings and the input excitation characteristics, and whether the building is exposed to one or two-sided impacts. Seismic pounding among adjacent buildings produces greater acceleration and shear force response demands at different story levels compared to the no pounding case response demands.