• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.52 no.12
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• pp.2918-2927
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• 2020

This paper proposes a simplified elastic-plastic analysis procedure using the penalty factors presented in the Code Case N-779 for strain-based fatigue assessment of nuclear safety class 1 components under severe seismic loads such as safety shutdown earthquake and beyond design-basis earthquake. First, a simplified elastic-plastic analysis procedure for strain-based fatigue assessment of nuclear safety class 1 components under the severe seismic loads was proposed based on the analysis result for the simplified elastic-plastic analysis procedure in the Code Case N-779 and the stress categories corresponding to normal operation and seismic loads. Second, total strain amplitude was calculated directly by performing finite element cyclic elastic-plastic seismic analysis for a hot leg nozzle in pressurizer surge line subject to combined loading including deadweight, pressure, seismic inertia load, and seismic anchor motion, as well as was derived indirectly by applying the proposed analysis procedure to the finite element elastic stress analysis result for each load. Third, strain-based fatigue assessment was implemented by applying the strain-based fatigue acceptance criteria in the ASME B&PV Code, Sec. III, Subsec. NB, Article NB-3200 and by using the total strain amplitude values calculated. Last, the total strain amplitude and the fatigue assessment result corresponding to the simplified elastic-plastic analysis were compared with those using the finite element elastic-plastic seismic analysis results. As a result of the comparison, it was identified that the proposed analysis procedure can derive reasonable and conservative results.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.307-323
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• 2016

The nonlinear behaviors of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) frame structure are investigated by numerical simulation method with 3-D finite fiber elements. The dynamic characteristics and the seismic performance of the RAC frame structure are analyzed and validated with the shaking table test results. Specifically, the natural frequency and the typical responses (e.g., storey deformation, capacity curve, etc.) from Model 1 (exclusion of strain rate effect) and Model 2 (inclusion of strain rate effect) are analyzed and compared. It is revealed that Model 2 is more likely to provide a better match between the numerical simulation and the shaking table test as key attributes of seismic behaviors of the frame structure are captured by this model. For the purpose to examine how seismic behaviors of the RAC frame structure vary under different strain rates in a real seismic situation, a numerical simulation is performed by varying the strain rate. The storey displacement response and the base shear for the RAC frame structure under different strain rates are investigated and analyzed. It is implied that the structural behavior of the RAC frame structure is significantly influenced by the strain rate effect. On one hand, the storey displacements vary slightly in the trend of decreasing with the increasing strain rate. On the other hand, the base shear of the RAC frame structure under dynamic loading conditions increases with gradually increasing amplitude of the strain rate.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.7
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• pp.2550-2563
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• 2022

This study performed a precise dynamic finite element time history elastic-plastic seismic analysis considering the welds, which have been not considered in design stage, on the nuclear components subjected to severe seismic loadings such as beyond-design basis earthquakes for sustainable nuclear power plants. First, the dynamic finite element elastic-plastic seismic analysis was performed for a general design practice that does not take into account the welds of the pressurizer surge line system, one of safety class I components in nuclear power plants, and then the reference values for the accumulated equivalent plastic strain, equivalent plastic strain, and von Mises effective stress were set. Second, the dynamic finite element elastic-plastic seismic analyses were performed for the case of considering only the mechanical strength over-mismatch of the welds as well as for the case of considering both the strength over-mismatch and welding residual strain. Third, the effects of the strength over-mismatch and welding residual strain were analyzed by comparing the finite element analysis results with the reference values. As a result of the comparison, it was found that not considering the strength over-mismatch may lead to conservative assessment results, whereas not considering the welding residual strain may be non-conservative.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.10a
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• pp.91-98
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• 1999

In this study a modified ground strain model is developed for an equivalent earthquake load and is applied to the seismic analysis of buried pipelines, The ground strain can be obtained using the ratio of a maximum ground velocity to a wave propagation velocity. To reflect soil conditions and seismic characteristics the wave propagation velocity is evaluated by a proposed dispersion curve based on wave energy distribution. In order to verify the procedures the observed earthquake data and the results of this study are compared. For the application of an equivalent earthquake load to the seismic analysis the buried pipelines are modeled using the beam theory. the results of the analyses are compared with those of a dynamic analysis code and those obtained from the response displacement method. Finally various parametric studies considering different soil conditions and seismic loads are examined.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.169-181
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• 2019

Seismic performance of ordinary reinforced concrete shear wall systems commonly used in high-rise residential buildings is evaluated. Three types of shear walls exceeding 60m in height are designed by performance-based seismic design. Then, incremental dynamic analysis is performed collapse probability is assessed in accordance with the procedure of FEMA P695. As a result, story drift, plastic rotation, and compressive strain are observed to be major failure modes, but shear failure occur little. Collapse probability and collapse margin ratio of performance groups do not meet requirement of FEMA P695. It is observed that critical wall elements fail due to excessive compressive strain. Therefore, the compressive strain of concrete at the boundary area of the shear wall needs to be evaluated with more conservative acceptance criteria.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.85 no.6
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• pp.781-791
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• 2023

Lateral pressure plays a significant role in the stress-strain relationship of compressed concrete. Concrete's internal cracking resistance, ultimate strain, and axial strength are improved by confinement. This phenomenon influences the nonlinear behavior of reinforced concrete columns. Utilizing behavior factors to predict the nonlinear seismic responses of structures is prevalent in seismic codes, and this factor plays a vital role in the seismic responses of structures. This study aims to evaluate the confining action on the behavior factor of reinforced concrete moment resisting frames (RCMRFs) with shear walls (SWRCMRFs). To this end, a diverse range of mid-rise SW-RCMRFs was initially designed based on the Iranian national building code criteria. Second, the stress-strain curve of each element was modeled twice, both with and without the confinement phenomenon. Each frame was then subjected to pushover analysis. Finally, the analytical behavior factors of these frames were computed and compared to the Iranian seismic code behavior factor. The results demonstrate that confining action increased the behavior factors of SW-RCMRFs by 7-12%.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.541-557
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• 2016

Prefabricated bridge substructures provide new possibility for designers in terms of efficiency of creativity, fast construction, geometry control and cost. Even though prefabricated bridge columns are widely adopted as a substructure system in the bridge construction project recently, lack of deeper understanding of the seismic behavior of prefabricated bridge substructures cause much concern on their performance in high seismic zones. In this paper, experimental research works are presented to verify enhanced design concepts of prefabricated bridge piers. Integration of precast segments was done with continuity of axial prestressing tendons and mild reinforcing bars throughout the construction joints. Cyclic tests were conducted to investigate the effects of the design parameters on seismic performance. An analytical method for moment-curvature analysis of prefabricated bridge columns is conducted in this study. The method is validated through comparison with experimental results and the fiber model analysis. A parametric study is conducted to observe the seismic behavior of prefabricated bridge columns using the analytical study based on strain compatibility method. The effects of continuity of axial steel and tendon, and initial prestressing level on the load-displacement response characteristics, i.e., the strain of axial mild steels and posttensioned tendon at fracture and concrete crushing strain at the extreme compression fiber are investigated. The analytical study shows the layout of axial mild steels and posttensioned tendons in this experiment is the optimized arrangement for seismic performance.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.417-438
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• 2013

This study was concerned on the application of a hybrid approach for analyzing the buried pipelines deformations subjected to earthquakes. Nonlinear time-history analysis of Finite Element (FE) model of buried pipelines, which was modeled using laboratory data, has been performed via selected earthquakes. In order to verify the FE model with experiments, a statistical test was done which demonstrated a good conformity. Then, the FE model was developed and the optimum intersection angle of pipeline and fault was obtained via genetic algorithm. Transient seismic strain of buried pipeline in the optimum intersection angle of pipeline and fault was investigated considering the pipes diameter, the distance of pipes from fault, the soil friction angles and seismic response duration of buried pipelines. Also, a two-layer perceptron Artificial Neural Network (ANN) was trained using results of FE model, and a nonlinear relationship was obtained to predict the bending strain of buried pipelines based on the pipes diameter, intersection angles of the pipelines and fault, the soil friction angles, distance of pipes from the fault, and seismic response duration; whereas it contains a wide range of initial input data without any requirement to laboratory measurements.

• Proceedings of the Korean Geotechical Society Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.709-716
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• 2003

Flexible pipes (corrugated polyethylene pipes) are normally used for underground power distribution grids. In this paper, dynamic analysis was carried out through FEM in order to investigate the structural behaviour of pipes subjected to seismic loads. The burial depth and the number of pipes were major parameters in the numerical analysis to determine the response of pipes. The results show that the displacement of pipes under given conditions are all satisfactory in comparison of the allowable strain criteria -maximum 3.5 %.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.443-456
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• 2021

Structural design of the vertical displacements and shear strains in the earth fill (EF) dams has great importance in the structural engineering problems. Moreover, far fault earthquakes have significant seismic effects on seismic damage performance of EF dams like the near fault earthquakes. For this reason, three dimensional (3D) earthquake damage performance of Oroville dam is assessed considering different far-fault ground motions in this study. Oroville Dam was built in United States of America-California and its height is 234.7 m (770 ft.). 3D model of Oroville dam is modelled using FLAC3D software based on finite difference approach. In order to represent interaction condition between discrete surfaces, special interface elements are used between dam body and foundation. Non-reflecting seismic boundary conditions (free field and quiet) are defined to the main surfaces of the dam for the nonlinear seismic analyses. 6 different far-fault ground motions are taken into account for the full reservoir condition of Oroville dam. According to nonlinear seismic analysis results, the effects of far-fault ground motions on the nonlinear seismic settlement and shear strain behaviour of Oroville EF dam are determined and evaluated in detail. It is clearly seen that far-fault earthquakes have very significant seismic effects on the settlement-shear strain behaviour of EF dams and these earthquakes create vital important seismic damages on the swelling behaviour of dam body surface. Moreover, it is proposed that far-fault ground motions should not be ignored while modelling EF dams.