• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.223-232
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• 2021

The spatial variation characteristics of seismic motions at the nuclear power plant's site and structures were analyzed using earthquake records obtained at the Fukushima nuclear power plant during the Great East Japan Earthquake. The ground responses amplified as they approached the soil surface from the lower rock surface, and the amplification occurred intensively at about 50 m near the ground. Due to the soil layer's nonlinear characteristics caused by the strong seismic motion, the ground's natural frequency derived from the response spectrum ratio appeared to be smaller than that calculated from the shear wave velocity profile. The spatial variation of the peak ground acceleration at the ground surface of the power plant site showed a significant difference of about 0.6 g at the maximum. As a result of comparing the response spectrums at the basement of the structure with the design response spectrum, there was a large variability by each power plant unit. The difference was more significant in the Fukushima Daiichi site record, which showed larger peak ground acceleration at the surface. The earthquake motions input to the basement of the structure amplified according to the structure's height. The natural frequency obtained from the recorded results was lower than that indicated in the previous research. Also, the floor response spectrum change according to the location at the same height was investigated. The vertical response on the foundation surface showed a significant difference in spectral acceleration depending on the location. The amplified response in the structure showed a different variability depending on the type of structure and the target frequency.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.681-697
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• 2015

Iran as one of the countries located on the Alpine-Himalayan seismic belt has recently experienced a few number of catastrophic earthquakes. A well-known index of how buildings are affected by earthquakes is through assessment of probable Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) and structures' response spectra. In this research, active faults around Kerman and Birjand, two major cities in eastern parts of Iran, have been considered. Seismic catalogues are gathered to categorize effects of surrounding faults on seismicity of the region. These catalogues were further refined with respect to time and space based on Knopoff-Gardner algorithm in order to increase statistical independency of events. Probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis (PSHA) has been estimated for each of cities regarding 50, 100, 200 and 500 years of structures' effective life-span. These results subsequently have been compared with Deterministic Seismic Hazard Analysis (DSHA). It has been observed that DSHA not necessarily suggests upper bound of PSHA results. Furthermore, based on spectral Ground Motion Prediction Equations (GMPEs), Uniform Hazard Spectra (UHS) and spectral acceleration were provided for 2% and 10% levels of probability of exceedance. The results show that increasing source-to-site distance leads to spectral acceleration reduction regarding each fault. In addition, the spectral acceleration rate of variation would increase if the source-to-site distance decreases.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.23-35
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• 2006

Equivalent linear analysis is widely used in estimating local seismic site effects. The soil behavior in the analysis is often assumed to be rate-independent and is not influenced by the seismic loading frequency. Laboratory results, however, indicate that cohesive soil behavior is greatly influenced by the loading frequency. A new equivalent linear analysis method that accounts for the loading frequency dependent soil behavior is developed and used to perform a series of one dimensional site response analyses. Results indicate that while frequency dependent shear modulus has limited influence on computed site response, frequency dependent soil damping greatly filters out high frequency components of the ground motion and thus results in lower response.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.341-363
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• 2013

Earthquake response calculation, parametric analysis and seismic parameter optimization of base-isolated structures are some critical issues for seismic design of base-isolated structures. To calculate the earthquake responses for such non-symmetric and non-classical damping linear systems and to implement the earthquake resistant design codes, a modified complex mode superposition design response spectrum method is put forward. Furthermore, to do parameter optimization for base-isolation structures, a graphical approach is proposed by analyzing the relationship between the base shear ratio of a seismic base-isolation floor to non-seismic base-isolation one and frequency ratio-damping ratio, as well as the relationship between the seismic base-isolation floor displacement and frequency ratio-damping ratio. In addition, the influences of mode number and site classification on the seismic base-isolation structure and corresponding optimum parameters are investigated. It is demonstrated that the modified complex mode superposition design response spectrum method is more precise and more convenient to engineering applications for utilizing the damping reduction factors and the design response spectrum, and the proposed graphical approach for parameter optimization of seismic base-isolation structures is compendious and feasible.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.49-54
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• 2009

The seismic slope stability is most often evaluated by the pseudo-static limit analysis, in which the earthquake loading is simplified as static inertial loads acting in horizontal and/or vertical directions. The transient loading is represented by constant acceleration via the pseudostatic coefficients. The result of a pseudostatic analysis is governed by the selection of the value of the pseudostatic coefficient. However, selection of the value is very difficult and often done in an ad hoc manner without a sound physical reasoning. In addition, the maximum acceleration is commonly estimated from the design guideline, which cannot accurately estimate the dynamic response of a slope. There is a need to perform a 2D dynamic analysis to properly define the dynamic response characteristics. This paper develops a new hybrid pseudostatic method that links the modified one-dimensional seismic site response analysis and the pseudostatic algorithm. The modified site response analysis adjusts the density of the layers to simulate the change in mass and weight of the layers of the slope with depth. Multiple analyses were performed at various locations within the slope to estimate the change in seismic response of the slope. The calculated peak acceleration profiles with depth from the developed procedure were compared to those by the two-dimensional analyses. Comparisons show that the two methods result in remarkable match. The calculated profiles are used to perform pseudostatic analysis. The results show that use of peak or a fraction of acceleration at the surface can seriously underestimate or overestimate the factor of safety, and that the proposed procedure significantly enhances the reliability of a standard procedure.

• Journal of Ocean Engineering and Technology
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• v.19 no.1 s.62
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• pp.26-32
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• 2005

Recent earthquakes, measuring over a magnitude of 5.0, on the eastern coast of Korea, have aroused interest in earthquake analyses and the seismic design of caisson-type breakwaters. Most earthquake analysis methods, such as equivalent static analysis, response spectrum analysis, nonlinear analysis, and capacity analysis, are deterministic and have been used for seismic design and performance evaluation of coastal structures. However, deterministic methods are difficult for reflecting on one of the most important characteristics of earthquakes, i.e. the uncertainty of earthquakes. This paper presents results of probabilistic seismic hazard assessment(PSHA) of an actual caisson-type breakwater, considering uncertainties of earthquake occurrences and soil properties. First, the seismic vulnerability of a structure and the seismic hazard of the site are evaluated, using earthquake sets and a seismic hazard map; then, the seismic risk of the structure is assessed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.65 no.6
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• pp.771-784
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• 2018

This study aims to investigate the stochastic response of isolated and non-isolated highway bridges subjected to spatially varying earthquake ground motion model. This model includes wave passage, incoherence and site response effects. The wave passage effect is examined by using various wave velocities. The incoherency effect is investigated by considering the Harichandran and Vanmarcke coherency model. The site response effect is considered by selecting homogeneous firm, medium and soft soil types where the bridge supports are constructed. The ground motion is described by power spectral density function and applied to each support point. Triple concave friction pendulum (TCFP) bearing which is more effective than other seismic isolation systems is used for seismic isolation. To implement seismic isolation procedure, TCFP bearing devices are placed at each of the support points of the deck. In the analysis, the bridge selected is a five-span featuring cast-in-place concrete box girder superstructure supported on reinforced concrete columns. Foundation supported highway bridge is regarded as three regions and compared its different situation in the stochastic analysis. The stochastic analyses results show that spatially varying ground motion has important effects on the stochastic response of the isolated and non-isolated bridges as long span structures.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.435-448
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• 2018

In order to make reliable earthquake-resistant design of civil engineering structures, one of the most important considerations in a region with high seismicity is to pay attention to the local soil condition of regions. It is aimed in the current study at specifying dynamic soil characteristics of Kirikkale city center conducting the 1-D equivalent linear and non-linear site response analyses. Due to high vulnerability and seismicity of the city center of Kirikkale surrounded by active many faults, such as the North Anatolian Fault (NAF), the city of Kirikkale is classified as highly earthquake-prone city. The first effort to determine critical site response parameter is to perform the seismic hazard analyses of the region through the earthquake record catalogues. The moment magnitude of the city center is obtained as $M_w=7.0$ according to the recorded probability of exceedance of 10% in the last 50 years. Using the data from site tests, the 1-D equivalent linear (EL) and nonlinear site response analyses (NL) are performed with respect to the shear modulus reduction and damping ratio models proposed in literature. The important engineering parameters of the amplification ratio, predominant site period, peak ground acceleration (PGA) and spectral acceleration values are predicted. Except for the periods between the period of T=0.2-1.0 s, the results from the NL are obtained to be similar to the EL results. Lower spectral acceleration values are estimated in the locations of the city where the higher amplification ratio is attained or vice-versa. Construction of high-rise buildings with modal periods higher than T=1.0 s are obtained to be suitable for the city of Kirikkale. The buildings at the city center are recommended to be assessed with street survey rapid structural evaluation methods so as to mitigate seismic damages. The obtained contour maps in this study are estimated to be effective for visually characterizing the city in terms of the considered parameters.

• Journal of the Korean GEO-environmental Society
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.5-12
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• 2020

Vibration propagated from seismic sources has damping according to distance and amplification and reduction characteristic in different regions according to topography and geological structure. The vibration propagated from the seismic source to the bedrock is largely affected by the damping according to the separation distance, which can be simply estimated through the damping equation. However, it is important to grasp geological information by location because vibration estimation transmitted to the surface are affected by the natural period of the soil located above the bedrock. Geotechnical investigation data are needed to estimate the seismic intensity based on geological information. If there is no Vs profile, the standard penetration tests are mainly used to determine the soil parameters. The Integrated DB Center of National Geotechnical Information manages the geotechnical survey data performed on the domestic ground, and there is the standard penetration test information of 400,000 holes. In this study, the possibility of quantitation the amplification coefficient for each region was examined to calculated the physical interactive seismic intensity based on geotechnical information. At this time, the shear wave column diagram was generated from the SPT-N value and ground response analysis was performed in the target area. The site coefficients for each zone and the seismic intensity distribution for the seismic motion present a significant difference according to the analysis method and the regional setting.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.517-530
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• 2014

Seismic ground response analysis is one of the most important issues in geotechnical earthquake engineering. Conventional seismic site response and free field analysis of layered soils does not consider the effect of surcharge mass which may be present on the top layer. Surcharge mass may develop extra inertial force to the soil and, hence, significantly affect on the results of seismic ground response analysis. Methods of analysis of ground response may also be categorized into time domain and frequency domain concepts. Simplicity in developing analytical relations and accuracy in considering soil dynamic properties dependency to loading frequency are benefits of frequency domain analysis. In this part of the paper, seismic ground response is analyzed using transfer function method for soil layers considering surcharge mass on the top layer. Equation of motion, wave equation, is solved using amended boundary conditions which effectively take the impact of surcharge mass into account. A computer program is developed by MATLAB software based on the solution method developed for wave equation. Layered soils subjected to earthquake loading were numerically studied and solved especially by the computer program developed in this research. Results obtained were compared with those given by DEEP SOIL computer program. Such comparison showed the accuracy of the program developed in this study. Also in this part, the effects of geometrical and mechanical properties of soil layers and especially the impact of surcharge mass on transfer function are investigated using the current approach and the program developed. The efficiency and accuracy of the method developed here is shown through some worked examples and through comparison of the results obtained here with those given by other approaches. Discussions on the results obtained are presented throughout in this part.