• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
• /
• v.28 no.5A
• /
• pp.685-690
• /
• 2008

Recently, as large structures become lighter and more flexible, the necessity of structural control for reducing excessive displacement and acceleration due to seismic excitation is increased. As a means to minimize seismic damages, various base isolation systems are adopted or considered for adoption. In this study, a base isolation system using hysteretic damper is shown to effectively protect structures against earthquakes. A mechanical model is determined that can effectively portray the behavior of a typical E-shape device. Comparison with experimental results for a hysteretic damper indicates that the model is accurate over a wide range of operating conditions and adequate for analysis. The seismic performance of hysteretic dampers are studied and compared with the conventional systems as a base isolation system. A five-story building is modeled and the seismic performance of the systems subjected to three different earthquake is compared. The results show that the hysteretic damper system can provide superior protection than the other systems for a wide range of ground motions.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.227-242
• /
• 2019

Seismic isolation systems employ structural control that protect both buildings and vibration-sensitive contents from destructive effects of earthquakes. Structural control is divided into three main groups: passive, active, and semi-active. Among them, semi-active isolation systems, which can reduce floor displacements and accelerations concurrently, has gained importance in recent years since they don't require large power or pose stability problems like active ones. However, their seismic performance may vary depending on the variations that may be observed in the mechanical properties of semi-active devices and/or seismic isolators. Uncertainties relating to isolators can arise from variations in geometry, boundary conditions, material behavior, or temperature, or aging whereas those relating to semi-active control devices can be due to thermal changes, inefficiencies in calibrations, manufacturing errors, etc. For a more realistic evaluation of the seismic behavior of semi-active isolated buildings, such uncertainties must be taken into account. Here, the probabilistic behavior of semi-active isolated buildings under historical pulse-like near-fault earthquakes is evaluated in terms of their performance in preserving structural integrity and protecting vibration-sensitive contents considering aforementioned uncertainties via Monte-Carlo simulations of 3-story and 9-story semi-active isolated benchmark buildings. The results are presented in the form of fragility curves and probability of failure profiles.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.26 no.6
• /
• pp.765-779
• /
• 2020

Collapse of bridges in recent earthquakes demonstrates the need to deepen the understanding of the behaviour of these structures against seismic actions. This paper presents a highly detailed numerical model of an actual bridge subjected to extreme seismic action which results in its collapse. Normally, nonlinear numerical models have high difficulties to achieve convergence when reinforced concrete is intended to be represented. The main objective of this work is to determine the efficiency of different passive control strategies to prevent the structural collapse of an existing bridge. Metallic dampers and seismic isolation by decoupling the mass were evaluated. The response is evaluated not only in terms of reduction of displacements, but also in increasing of shear force and axial force in key elements, which can be a negative characteristic of the systems studied. It can be concluded that the use of a metallic damper significantly reduces the horizontal displacements and ensures the integrity of the structure from extreme seismic actions. Moreover, the isolation of the deck, which in principle seems to be the most effective solution to protect existing bridges, proves inadequate for the case analysed due to its dynamic characteristics and its particular geometry and an unpredictable type of axial pounding in the columns. This unexpected effect on the isolation system would have been impossible to identify with simplified models.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.261-272
• /
• 2020

Recent severe earthquakes in and around the vital public places worldwide indicate the severe vulnerability of ground excitation to be assailed. Reducing the effect of seismic lateral load in structural design is an important conception. Essentially, seismic isolation is required to shield the superstructure in such a way that the building superstructure would not move when the ground is shaking. This study explores the effectiveness, design, and practical feasibility of base isolation systems to reduce seismic demands on buildings of varying elevations. Thus, static and dynamic analyses were conducted based on site-specific bi-directional earthquakes for base-isolated as well as fixed-based buildings. Remarkably, it was discovered that isolators used in low-rise to high-rise structures tend to significantly decrease the structural responses of seismic prone buildings. The higher allowable horizontal displacement induces structural flexibility and ensure good structural health of the building stories. Reinforcement from vertical and horizontal members can be reduced in significant amounts for BI buildings. Thus, although incorporating base isolators increases the initial outlay, it considerably diminishes the total structural cost.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.22 no.4
• /
• pp.441-457
• /
• 2018

Characteristic parameter values of seismic isolators deviate from their nominal design values due to uncertainties and/or errors in their material properties and element dimensions, etc. Deviations may increase over service life due to environmental effects and service conditions. For accurate evaluation of the seismic safety level, all such effects, which would result in deviations in the structural response, need to be taken into account. In this study, the sensitivity of the probability of failure of the structures equipped with nonlinear base isolation systems to the uncertainties in various isolation system characteristic parameters is investigated in terms of various isolation system and superstructure response parameters in the context of a realistic three-dimensional base-isolated building model via Monte Carlo Simulations. The inherent record-to-record variability nature of the earthquake ground motions is also taken into account by carrying out analyses for a large number of ground motion records which are classified as those with and without forward-directivity effects. Two levels of nominal isolation periods each with three different levels of uncertainty are considered. Comparative plots of cumulative distribution functions and related statistical evaluation presented here portray the potential extent of the deviation of the structural response parameters resulting from the uncertainties and the uncertainty levels considered, which is expected to be useful for practicing engineers in evaluating isolator test results for their projects.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
• /
• v.5 no.3
• /
• pp.325-343
• /
• 2018

This study aims to propose a performance-based design method of a novel passive base isolation system, BIO isolation system, which is inspired by an energy dissipation mechanism called 'sacrificial bonds and hidden length'. Fragility functions utilized in this study are derived, indicating the probability that a component, element, or system will be damaged as a function of a single predictive demand parameter. Based on PEER framework methodology for Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering (PBEE), a systematic design procedure using performance and fragility objectives is presented. Base displacement, superstructure absolute acceleration and story drift ratio are selected as engineering demand parameters. The new design method is then performed on a general two degree-of-freedom (2DOF) structure model and the optimal design under different seismic intensities is obtained through numerical analysis. Seismic performances of the biologically inspired (BIO) isolation system are compared with that of the linear isolation system. To further demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of this method, the BIO isolation system of a 4-storey reinforced concrete building is designed and investigated. The newly designed BIO isolators effectively decrease the superstructure responses and base displacement under selected earthquake excitations, showing good seismic performance.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
• /
• v.46 no.5
• /
• pp.595-604
• /
• 2014

SILER (Seismic-Initiated event risk mitigation in LEad-cooled Reactors) is a Collaborative Project, partially funded by the European Commission in the $7^{th}$ Framework Programme, aimed at studying the risk associated to seismic-initiated events in Generation IV Heavy Liquid Metal reactors, and developing adequate protection measures. The project started in October 2011, and will run for a duration of three years. The attention of SILER is focused on the evaluation of the effects of earthquakes, with particular regards to beyond-design seismic events, and to the identification of mitigation strategies, acting both on structures and components design. Special efforts are devoted to the development of seismic isolation devices and related interface components. Two reference designs, at the state of development available at the beginning of the project and coming from the $6^{th}$ Framework Programme, have been considered: ELSY (European Lead Fast Reactor) for the Lead Fast Reactors (LFR), and MYRRHA (Multi-purpose hYbrid Research Reactor for High-tech Applications) for the Accelerator-Driven Systems (ADS). This paper describes the main activities and results obtained so far, paying particular attention to the development of seismic isolators, and the interface components which must be installed between the isolated reactor building and the non-isolated parts of the plant, such as the pipe expansion joints and the joint-cover of the seismic gap.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2000.10a
• /
• pp.424-431
• /
• 2000

After the Kobe earthquake(1995) in Japan, the Izmit earthquake(1997) in Turkey and the Chi-chi earthquake(1999) in Taiwan, the small-to-medium-sized earthquakes occurred in the Koreans peninsula and this shows the fact that Korea is not located in the safety zone of earthquake. The main concept of base isolation system is to reduce the member forces by decreasing the earthquake forces transmitted to superstructure instead of the conventional techniques of strengthening the structural members. This study investigates the effect of seismic response attenuation of computer floors using base isolation systems

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.2 no.4
• /
• pp.321-328
• /
• 2006

The paper describes the testing facilities and the methodology on testing of laminated rubber bearings envisaged for application in the system of Dynamic Damper (DD) of seismic isolated buildings, as well as the obtained results. For the first time in Armenia laminated rubber bearings were tested simultaneously under the action of horizontal shear force and vertical tension force. The test results have proven the possibility of using rubber bearings as elements subjected to tension due to action of the mass of DD. Also it was confirmed that the suggested structural concept of DD for reducing the displacements and shear forces of seismic isolation systems will have reliable behavior during the design level earthquakes.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2003.09a
• /
• pp.505-512
• /
• 2003

As large structures such as highrise buildings and cable-stayed bridges become lighter and more flexible, the necessity of structural control for reducing excessive displacement and acceleration due to seismic excitation is increased. As a means to minimize seismic damages, various base isolation systems are adopted or considered for adoption. In this study, the seismic performance of M dampers are studied and compared with that of the NZ system as a base isolation system As the control algorithm of the MR damper, the clipped-optimal control(applied LQR method) is employed. A five-story building is modeled and the seismic performance of the two systems subjected to three different earthquakes is compared. The results show that the M damper system can provide superior protection than the NZ system for a wide range of ground motions.