• Ocean Systems Engineering
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.1-19
• /
• 2017

This paper presents the numerical simulation results for the dynamic responses of two types of submerged floating tunnels (SFT) under wave and/or seismic excitations. Time domain simulations are conducted by the commercial program OrcaFlex (OF) and in-house CHARM3D program (CP). The dynamic performances of a short/rigid/free-end SFT section with vertical and inclined mooring lines are evaluated. The SFT numerical models were validated against Oh et al.'s (2013) model test results under regular wave conditions. Then the numerical models were further applied to the cases of irregular waves or seismic motions. The main results presented are SFT surge/heave motions and mooring tensions. The general trends and magnitudes obtained by the two different software packages reasonably agree to each other along with experimental results. When seabed seismic motions are applied to the SFT system, the dynamic responses of SFTs are small but dynamic mooring tension can significantly be amplified. In particular, horizontal earthquakes greatly increase the dynamic tension of the inclined mooring system, while vertical earthquakes cause similar effect on vertical mooring system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.3
• /
• pp.365-384
• /
• 2014

The intensity of a ground motion can be measured by a number of parameters, some of which might exhibit robust correlations with the damage of structures subjected to that motion. In this study, 204 near-fault pulse-type records are selected and their seismic parameters are determined. Time history and damage analyses of a tested 3-storey reinforced concrete frame representing for low-rise reinforced concrete buildings subjected to those earthquake motions are performed after calibration and comparison with the available experimental results. The aim of this paper is to determine amongst several available seismic parameters, the ones that have strong correlations with the structural damage measured by a damage index and the maximum inter-story drift. The results show that Velocity Spectrum Intensity is the leading parameter demonstrating the best correlation, followed by Housner Intensity, Spectral Acceleration and Spectral Displacement. These seismic parameters are recommended as reliable parameters of near-fault pulse-type motions related to damage potential of low-rise reinforced concrete structures. The results also reaffirm that the conventional and widely used parameter of Peak Ground Acceleration does not exhibit a good correlation with the structural damage.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.19 no.6
• /
• pp.445-457
• /
• 2020

An ultra-high voltage (UHV) transmission system has the advantages of low circuitry loss, high bulk capacity and long-distance transmission capabilities over conventional transmission systems, but it is easier for this system to cross fault rupture zones and become damaged during earthquakes. This paper experimentally and numerically investigates the seismic responses and collapse failure of a UHV transmission tower-line system crossing a fault. A 1:25 reduced-scale model is constructed and tested by using shaking tables to evaluate the influence of the forward-directivity and fling-step effects on the responses of suspension-type towers. Furthermore, the collapse failure tests of the system under specific cross-fault scenarios are carried out. The corresponding finite element (FE) model is established in ABAQUS software and verified based on the Tian-Ma-Qu material model. The results reveal that the seismic responses of the transmission system under the cross-fault scenario are larger than those under the near-fault scenario, and the permanent ground displacements in the fling-step ground motions tend to magnify the seismic responses of the fault-crossing transmission system. The critical collapse peak ground acceleration (PGA), failure mode and weak position determined by the model experiment and numerical simulation are in relatively good agreement. The sequential failure of the members in Segments 4 and 5 leads to the collapse of the entire model, whereas other segments basically remain in the intact state.

• Journal of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute of Korea
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.371-380
• /
• 2023

To calculate seismic fragility, it is important to select input earthquake ground motions that can properly express the characteristics of the target site. This study analyzed the seismic fragility of a single-degree-of-freedom (SDOF) model based on input earthquake ground motions in strong and low-to-moderate seismic regions. As a first step, a total of four sets of input earthquake ground motions were selected,: two sets measured near or far from overseas strong earthquake records and two sets exhibiting the characteristics of low-to-moderate earthquake regions in South Korea. A nonlinear SDOF model for three natural periods was applied to the target structure, and incremental dynamic analysis was used for fragility analysis. In addition, four damage states were defined, and seismic fragility results for each natural period of the nonlinear SDOF model for the four aforementioned input earthquake ground motion sets were obtained for each damage state.

• KCI Concrete Journal
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.3-9
• /
• 2001

Pseudo dynamic test for seven circular RC bridge piers has been carried out to investigate their seismic performance subjected to expected artificial earthquake motions. The objective of this experimental study is to investigate the hysteretic behavior of reinforced concrete bridge piers, which have been widely used for railway and urban transportation facilities. Important test parameters are confinement steel ratio, and input ground motion. The seismic behavior of circular RC bridge piers under artificial ground motions has been evaluated through displacement ductility, cumulative energy input, and dissipation capacity. It can be concluded that RC bridge piers designed in a limited ductile behavior provision of Eurocode 8 have been determined to show good seismic performance even under moderate artificial earthquakes.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.40 no.4
• /
• pp.489-500
• /
• 2011

The elastic seismic response of plan-asymmetric multi storey steel-frame buildings is investigated under earthquake loading with particular emphasis on forward-rupture directivity and fling records. Three asymmetric building systems are generated with different torsional stiffness and varying static eccentricity. The structural characteristic of these systems are designed according to UBC 97 code and their seismic responses subjected to a set of earthquake records are obtained from the response history analysis (RHA) as well as the linear static analysis (LSA). It is shown that, the elastic torsional response is influenced by the intensity of near-fault ground motions with different energy contents. In the extreme case of very strong earthquakes, the behaviour of torsionally stiff buildings and torsionally flexible buildings may differ substantially due to the fact that the displacement envelope of the deck depends on ground motion characteristics.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.56 no.5
• /
• pp.855-870
• /
• 2015

In this paper the effects of fling-step and forward-directivity on the seismic performance of steel eccentrically braced frames (EBFs) are addressed. Four EBFs with various numbers of stories (4-, 8-, 12- and 15-story) were designed for an area with high seismic hazard. Fourteen near-fault ground motions including seven with forward-directivity and seven with fling-step effects are selected to carry out nonlinear time history (NTH) analyses of the frames. Furthermore, seven more far-field records were selected for comparison. Findings from the study reveal that the median maximum links rotation of the frames subjected to three set of ground motions are in acceptable range and the links completely satisfy the requirement stated in FEMA 356 for LS performance level. The arrival of the velocity pulse in a near-fault record causes few significant plastic deformations, while many reversed inelastic cycles result in low-cycle fatigue damage in far-fault records. Near-fault records in some cases are more destructive and the results of these records are so dispersed, especially the records having fling-step effects.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.7 no.2
• /
• pp.141-157
• /
• 2014

The Conditional Mean Spectrum represents a powerful link between the seismic hazard information and the selection of strong ground motion records at a particular site. The scope of the paper is to apply for the city of Bucharest for the first time the method to obtain the Conditional Mean Spectrum (CMS) presented by Baker (2011) and to select, on the basis of the CMS, a suite of strong ground motions for performing elastic and inelastic dynamic analyses of buildings and structures with fundamental periods of vibration in the vicinity of 1.0 s. The major seismic hazard for Bucharest and for most of Southern and Eastern Romania is dominated by the Vrancea subcrustal seismic source. The ground motion prediction equation developed for subduction-type earthquakes and soil conditions by Youngs et al. (1997) is used for the computation of the Uniform Hazard Spectrum (UHS) and the CMS. The disaggregation of seismic hazard is then performed in order to determine the mean causal values of magnitude and source-to-site distance for a particular spectral ordinate (for a spectral period T = 1.0 s in this study). The spectral period of 1.0 s is considered to be representative for the new stock of residential and office reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in Bucharest. The differences between the Uniform Hazard Spectrum (UHS) and the Conditional Mean Spectrum (CMS) are discussed taking into account the scarcity of ground motions recorded in the region of Bucharest and the frequency content characteristics of the recorded data. Moreover, a record selection based on the criteria proposed by Baker and Cornell (2006) and Baker (2011) is performed using a dataset consisting of strong ground motions recorded during seven Vrancea seismic events.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.54 no.1
• /
• pp.169-188
• /
• 2015

This study presents the effects of the spatial variation of ground motions in a hard rock site on the seismic responses of a base-isolated nuclear power plant (BI-NPP). Three structural models were studied for the BI-NPP supported by different number of lead rubber bearing (LRB) base isolators with different base mat dimensions. The seismic responses of the BI-NPP were analyzed and investigated under the uniform and spatial varying excitation of El Centro ground motion. In addition, the rotational degrees of freedom (DOFs) of the base mat nodes were taken to consider the flexural behavior of the base mat on the seismic responses under both uniform and spatial varying excitation. Finally, the seismic response results for all the analysis cases of the BI-NPP were investigated in terms of the vibration periods and mode shapes, lateral displacements, and base shear forces. The analysis results indicate that: (1) considering the flexural behavior of the base mat has a negligible effect on the lateral displacements of base isolators regardless of the number of the isolators or the type of excitation used; (2) considering the spatial variation of ground motions has a substantial influence on the lateral displacements of base isolators and the NPP stick model; (3) the ground motion spatial variation effect is more prominent on lateral displacements than base shear forces, particularly with increasing numbers of base isolators and neglecting flexural behavior of the base mat.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.361-377
• /
• 2018

In this paper, an alternative reliability-based methodology is developed and implemented on the safety evaluation of structures subjected to seismic loading. To effectively elaborate the approach, structures are represented by finite elements and seismic loading is applied in time domain. The accuracy of the proposed reliability-based methodology is verified using Monte Carlo Simulation. It is confirmed that the presented approach provides adequate accuracy in calculating structural reliability. The efficiency and robustness in problems related to performance-based seismic design are verified. A structure designed by experts satisfying all post-Northridge seismic design requirements is studied. Rigidities related to beam-to-column connections are incorporated. The structure is excited by three suites of ground motions representing three performance levels: immediate occupancy, life safety, and collapse prevention. Using this methodology, it is demonstrated that only hundreds of deterministic finite element analyses are required for extracting reliability information. Several advantages are documented with respect to Monte Carlo Simulation. To showcase an applicability extension of the proposed reliability-based methodology, structural risk is calculated using simulated ground motions generated via the broadband platform developed by the Southern California Earthquake Center. It is validated the accuracy of the broadband platform in terms of structural reliability. Based on the results documented in this paper, a very solid, sound, and precise reliability-based methodology is proved to be acceptable for safety evaluation of structures excited by seismic loading.