• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.16 no.6 s.73
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• pp.793-805
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• 2004

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the ductility and strength factors that are key components of the response modification factor for special steel moment-resistant frames. The ductility factors for special steel moment-resistant frames were calculated by multiplying the ductility factor for SDOF systems and the MDOF modification factors. Ductility factors were computed for elastic and perfectly plastic SDOF systems undergoing different levels of inelastic deformation and periods when subjected to a large number of recorded earthquake ground motions. Based on the results of the regression analysis, simplified expressions were proposed to compute the ductility factors. Based on previous studies, the MDOF modification factors were also proposed to account for the MDOF systems. Strength factors for special steel moment resisting frames were estimated from the results of the nonlinear static analysis. A total of 36 sample steel frames were designed to investigate the ductility and strength factors considering design parameters such as number of stories (4, 8, and 16 stories), seismic zone factors (Z = 0.075, 0.2, and 0.4), framing system (Perimeter Frames, PF and Distributed Frames, DF), and failure mechanism (Strong-Column Weak Beam, SCWB, and Weak-Column Strong-Beam, WCSB). The effects of these design parameters on the ductility and strength factors for special steel moment-resisting frames were investigated.

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

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.16 no.3 s.81
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• pp.357-367
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• 2004

In this paper, the effect of cumulative damage for reinforced concrete bridge piers subjected to both single and multiple earthquakes is investigated. For this purpose, selected are three set of accelerograms one of which represents the real successive input ground motions, recorded at the same station with three months time interval. The analytical predictions indicate that piers are in general subjected to a large number of inelastic cycles and increased ductility demand due to multiple earthquakes, and hence more damage in terms of stiffness degradation is expected to occur. In addition, displacement ductility demand demonstrates that inelastic seismic response of piers can significantly be affected by the applied input ground motion characteristics. Also evaluated is the effect of multiple earthquakes on the response with shear. Comparative studies between the cases with and without shear indicate that stiffness degradation and hence reduction in energy dissipation capacity of piers are pronounced due to the multiple earthquakes combined with shear. It is thus concluded that the effect of multiple earthquakes should be taken into account for the stability assessment of reinforced concrete bridge piers.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.3 s.49
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• pp.101-111
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• 2006

This paper proposes a method for modeling new fault ground motion due to moderate size earthquakes in Stable Continental Regions (SCRs) for the first time. The near fault ground motion is characterized by a single long period velocity pulse of large amplitude. In order to model the velocity pulse, its period and peak amplitude need be determined in terms of earthquake magnitude and distance from the causative fault. Because there have been observed very few new fault ground motions, it is difficult to derive the model directly from the recorded data in SCRs. Instead an indirect approach is adopted in this work. The two parameters, the period and peak amplitude of the velocity pulse, are known to be functions of the rise time and the slip velocity. For Western United States (WUS) that belongs active tectonic regions, there art empirical formulas for these functions. The relations of rise time and slip velocity on the magnitude in SCRs are derived by comparing related data between Western United States and Central-Eastern United States that belongs to SCRs. From these relations, the functions of these pulse parameters for NFGM in SCRs can be expressed in terms of earthquake magnitude and distance. A time history of near fault ground motion of moderate magnitude earthquake in stable continental regions is synthesized by superposing the velocity pulse on the for field ground motion that is generated by stochastic method. As an demonstrative application, the response of a single degree of freedom elasto-plastic system is studied.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.12 no.5
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• pp.47-56
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• 2008

This study was performed to evaluate the effect of Response modification factors (R-factor) in 3-, 9- and 20- story steel Moment Resisting Frame (MRF) buildings. Each structure was designed using a R-factor of 8, as tabulated in the 2000 International Building Code provision (IBC 2000) and Korea Building Code (KBC) 2008. In order to evaluate the maximum and minimum performance expected for such structures, an upper bound and lower bound design were adopted for each model. Next, each analytical model was designed using different R-factors (8, 9, 10, 11, 12) and four different structural periods with the original fundamental period. For a detailed case study, a total of 150 analytical models were subjected to 20 ground motions representing a hazard level with a 2% probability of being exceeded in 50 years. In order to evaluate the performance of the structures, static push-over and non-linear time history analysis (NTHA) were performed, and displacement ductility demand was investigated to consider the ductility capacity of the structures. The results show that the dynamic behaviors for the 3- and 9-story buildings are relatively stable and conservative, while the 20-story buildings show a large displacement ductility demand due to dynamic instability factors. (e.g. P-delta effect and high mode effect)

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.132-142
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• 2009

The Tamar rift valley runs through the City of Launceston, Tasmania. Damage has occurred to city buildings due to earthquake activity in Bass Strait. The presence of the ancient valley, the Tamar valley, in-filled with soft sediments that vary rapidly in thickness from 0 to 250mover a few hundreds metres, is thought to induce a 2D resonance pattern, amplifying the surface motions over the valley and in Launceston. Spatially averaged coherency (SPAC), frequency-wavenumber (FK) and horizontal to vertical spectrum ratio (HVSR) microtremor survey methods are combined to identify and characterise site effects over the Tamar valley. Passive seismic array measurements acquired at seven selected sites were analysed with SPAC to estimate shear wave velocity (slowness) depth profiles. SPAC was then combined with HVSR to improve the resolution of these profiles in the sediments to an approximate depth of 125 m. Results show that sediments thicknesses vary significantly throughout Launceston. The top layer is composed of as much as 20m of very soft Quaternary alluvial sediments with a velocity from 50 m/s to 125 m/s. Shear-wave velocities in the deeper Tertiary sediment fill of the Tamar valley, with thicknesses from 0 to 250m vary from 400 m/s to 750 m/s. Results obtained using SPAC are presented at two selected sites (GUN and KPK) that agree well with dispersion curves interpreted with FK analysis. FK interpretation is, however, limited to a narrower range of frequencies than SPAC and seems to overestimate the shear wave velocity at lower frequencies. Observed HVSR are also compared with the results obtained by SPAC, assuming a layered earth model, and provide additional constraints on the shear wave slowness profiles at these sites. The combined SPAC and HVSR analysis confirms the hypothesis of a layered geology at the GUN site and indicates the presence of a 2D resonance pattern across the Tamar valley at the KPK site.