• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.93-107
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• 2016

Seismic fragility analysis is a probabilistic decision-making framework which is widely implemented for evaluating vulnerability of a building under earthquake loading. It requires ingredient named probabilistic model and commonly developed using statistics requiring collecting data in large quantities. Preparation of such a data-base is often costly and time-consuming. Therefore, in this paper, by developing generic seismic drift demand model for regular-multi-story steel moment resisting frames is tried to present a novel application of the probabilistic decision-making analysis to practical purposes. To this end, a demand model which is a linear function of intensity measure in logarithmic space is developed to predict overall maximum inter-story drift. Next, the model is coupled with a set of regression-based equations which are capable of directly estimating unknown statistical characteristics of the model parameters.To explicitly address uncertainties arise from randomness and lack of knowledge, the Bayesian regression inference is employed, when these relations are developed. The developed demand model is then employed in a Seismic Fragility Analysis (SFA) for two designed building. The accuracy of the results is also assessed by comparison with the results directly obtained from Incremental Dynamic analysis.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.501-516
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• 2017

Numerical simulations are prevalently used to evaluate the seismic behaviour of structures. The accuracy of the simulation results depends directly on the accuracy of the modelling techniques employed to simulate the behaviour of individual structural members. An empirical modelling technique is employed in this paper to simulate the behaviour of column members under cyclic and seismic loading. Despite the common modelling techniques, this technique is capable of simulating two important aspects of the cyclic and seismic behaviour of columns simultaneously. The proposed fiber-based modelling technique captures explicitly the interaction between the bending moment and the axial force in columns, and the cyclic deterioration of the hysteretic behaviour of these members is implicitly taken into account. The fiber-based model is calibrated based on the cyclic behaviour of square hollow steel sections. The behaviour of several column archetypes is investigated under a dual cyclic loading protocol to develop a benchmark database before the calibration procedure. The dual loading protocol used in this study consists of both axial and lateral loading cycles with varying amplitudes. After the calibration procedure, a regression analysis is conducted to derive an equation for predicting a varying calibrated modelling parameter. Finally, several nonlinear time-history analyses are conducted on a 6-story steel special moment frame in order to investigate how the results of numerical simulations can be affected by employing the intended modelling technique for columns instead of other common modelling techniques.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.715-723
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• 2007

A displacement-based seismic design procedure was proposed for mid-to-low-rise steel moment frames. The proposed method was totally different from the current R-factor approach in that it directly uses available connection rotation capacity as a primary design variable. To this end, the relationship between available connection rotation capacity and seismic response modification (R factor) was established first; this relationship has been a missing link in current ductility-based design practice. A step-by-step displacement-based iterative design procedure was then proposed and verified using inelastic dynamic analysis.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.189-209
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• 2004

The commonly used seismic design procedures to evaluate the maximum effect of both horizontal components of earthquakes, namely, the Square Root of the Sum of the Squares (SRSS) and the 30-percent (30%) combination rules, are re-evaluated. The maximum seismic responses of four three-dimensional moment resisting steel frames, in terms of the total base shear and the axial loads at interior, lateral and corner columns, are estimated as realistically as possible by simultaneously applying both horizontal components. Then, the abovementioned combination rules and others are evaluated. The numerical study indicates that both, the SRSS rule and the 30% combination method, may underestimate the combined effect. It is observed that the underestimation is more for the SRSS than for the 30% rule. In addition, the underestimation is more for inelastic analysis than for elastic analysis. The underestimation cannot be correlated with the height of the frames or the predominant period of the earthquakes. A basic probabilistic study is performed in order to estimate the accuracy of the 30% rule in the evaluation of the combined effect. Based on the results obtained in this study, it is concluded that the design requirements for the combined effect of the horizontal components, as outlined in some code-specified seismic design procedures, need to be modified. New combination ways are suggested.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.37 no.5
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• pp.571-587
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• 2020

In this article the seismic demand and performance of two recent braced steel frames named steel moment frames with the elliptic bracing (ELBRFs) are assessed through a laboratory program and numerical analyses of FEM. Here, one of the specimens is without connecting bracket from the corner of the frame to the elliptic brace (ELBRF-E), while the other is with the connecting brackets (ELBRF-B). In both the elliptic braced moment resisting frames (ELBRFs), in addition to not having any opening space problem in the bracing systems when installed in the surrounding frames, they improve structure's behavior. The experimental test is run on ½ scale single-story single-bay ELBRF specimens under cyclic quasi-static loading and compared with X-bracing and SMRF systems in one story base model. This system is of appropriate stiffness and a high ductility, with an increased response modification factor. Moreover, its energy dissipation is high. In the ELBRF bracing systems, there exists a great interval between relative deformation at the yield point and maximum relative deformation after entering the plastic region. In other words, the distance from the first plastic hinge to the collapse of the structure is fairly large. The experimental outcomes here, are in good agreement with the theoretical predictions.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.215-231
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• 1995

The key concepts of seismic moment tensor are introduced in a 'physicist - oriented' style. The theory and application of seismic moment tensor which have been developed since the 1970s have become one of the most important branches in modern seismology. The description of earthquake sources in the modern seismology have led to much deeper understanding of the physics of indigenous earthquakes as well as various kinds of artificial seismic events, such as underground explosions, mining rockbursts, and reservoir induced tremors. Furthermore, with the development of digital seismological observation, some concepts, which were not included in 'classical' seismology, or not so important in 'classical' seismology, has become more and more important. It seems that it has been the time to have a new look at the fundamentals of seismology as a branch of applied physics, especially the part dealing with the physics of earthquake sources. Also in this field it may be important to clarify some fundamental concepts which, unexpectedly, have caused confusions even among professionals.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.435-445
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• 2019

The collapses of curved bridges are mainly caused by the damaged columns, subjected to the combined loadings of axial load, shear force, flexural moment and torsional moment, under earthquakes. However, these combined loadings have not been fully investigated. This paper firstly investigated the mechanical characteristics of the bending-torsion coupling effects, based on the seismic response spectrum analysis of 24 curved bridge models. And then 9 reinforced concrete (RC) and circular column specimens were tested, by changing the bending-tortion ratio (M/T), axial compression ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and spiral reinforcement ratio, respectively. The results show that the bending-torsion coupling effects of piers are more significant, along with the decrease of girder curvature and the increase of pier height. The M/T ratio ranges from 6 to 15 for common cases, and influences the crack distribution, plastic zone and hysteretic curve of piers. And these seismic characteristics are also influenced by the compression ratio, longitudinal reinforcement ratio and spiral reinforcement ratios of piers.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.145-153
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• 2016

Small-size buildings are not designed by professional structural engineers in Korea. Therefore, their seismic performance can not be exactly estimated because their member sizes and reinforcement may be over- or under-designed. A prescriptive design criteria for the small-size buildings exists, but it also provides over-designed structural members since structural analysis is not incorporated, so it is necessary to revise the prescriptive criteria. The goal of this study was to provide an information for the revision, which is seismic performance and capability of small-size reinforced concrete moment frame buildings. For the study, the state of existing small-size reinforce-concrete buildings such as member size and reinforcement was identified by investigating their structural drawings. Then, over-strength, ductility and response modification factor of the small-size reinforced concrete moment frame buildings were estimated by analytical approach along with seismic performance check. The result showed that they possess moderate over-strength and ductility, and may use slightly increased response modification factor.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.1
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• pp.19-29
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• 2022

The angle steel frame confined concrete columns (ASFCs) are an emerging form of hybrid columns, which comprise an inner angle steel frame and a concrete column. The inner angle steel frame can provide axial bearing capacity and well confining effect for composite columns. This paper presents the experimental and theoretical studies on the seismic behaviour of ASFCs. The experimental study of the 6 test specimens is presented, based on the previous study of the authors. The theoretical study includes two parts. One part establishes the section analysis model, and it uses to analyze section axial force-moment-curvature. Another part establishes the section moment-curvature hysteresis model. The test and analysis results show that the axial compression ratio and the assembling of steel slabs influence the local buckling of the angle steel. The three factors (axial compression ratio, content of angle steel and confining effect) have important effects on the seismic behaviour of ASFCs. And the theoretical model can provide reasonably accurate predictions and apply in section analysis of ASFCs.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.49-63
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• 2022

This study aims to develop ensemble machine learning (ML) models for estimating the peak floor acceleration and maximum top drift of steel moment frames. For this purpose, random forest, adaptive boosting, gradient boosting regression tree (GBRT), and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) models were considered. A total of 621 steel moment frames were analyzed under 240 ground motions using OpenSees software to generate the dataset for ML models. From the results, the GBRT and XGBoost models exhibited the highest performance for predicting peak floor acceleration and maximum top drift, respectively. The significance of each input variable on the prediction was examined using the best-performing models and Shapley additive explanations approach (SHAP). It turned out that the peak ground acceleration had the most significant impact on the peak floor acceleration prediction. Meanwhile, the spectral accelerations at 1 and 2 s had the most considerable influence on the maximum top drift prediction. Finally, a graphical user interface module was created that places a pioneering step for the application of ML to estimate the seismic demands of building structures in practical design.