• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.557-566
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• 2019

The evaluation of the seismic hazard for a given site is to estimate the seismic ground motion at the surface. This is the result of the combination of the action of the seismic source, which generates seismic waves, the propagation of these waves between the source and the site, and site local conditions. The aim of this work is to evaluate the sensitivity of dynamic response of extended structures to spatial variable ground motions (SVGM). All factors of spatial variability of ground motion are considered, especially local site effect. In this paper, a method is presented to simulate spatially varying earthquake ground motions. The scheme for generating spatially varying ground motions is established for spatial locations on the ground surface with varying site conditions. In this proposed method, two steps are necessary. Firstly, the base rock motions are assumed to have the same intensity and are modelled with a filtered Tajimi-Kanai power spectral density function. An empirical coherency loss model is used to define spatial variable seismic ground motions at the base rock. In the second step, power spectral density function of ground motion on surface is derived by considering site amplification effect based on the one dimensional seismic wave propagation theory. Several dynamics analysis of a curved viaduct to various cases of spatially varying seismic ground motions are performed. For comparison, responses to uniform ground motion, to spatial ground motions without considering local site effect, to spatial ground motions with considering coherency loss, phase delay and local site effects are also calculated. The results showed that the generated seismic signals are strongly conditioned by the local site effect. In the same sense, the dynamic response of the viaduct is very sensitive of the variation of local geological conditions of the site. The effect of neglecting local site effect in dynamic analysis gives rise to a significant underestimation of the seismic demand of the structure.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.36 no.10
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• pp.41-56
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• 2020

For the rapid and accurate warning, the system requires not only the sufficient number of seismometers but also the appropriate detection technique of sensor data. Instead of installing new seismometers, on-board accelerometers of the train could be utilized as alternatives. However, the data from on-board accelerometers includes train vibrations and the response of embankment site by earthquake, which are different from earthquakes measured from the seismometer. This study suggests signal analysis technique to detect earthquake from the on-board accelerometer data. The virtual on-board accelerometer data including the response of embankment site, obtained from site response analysis method, has been constructed. The constructed data has been analyzed using short time Fourier transform (STFT) and wavelet transform (WT). STFT method provides better performance to detect long-period earthquake whereas WT method is more available to detect short-period earthquake.

• 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.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.17 no.1 s.50
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• pp.1-13
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• 2007

In order to evaluate the local site effects at two town fortress areas in Korea where stone parapets were col-lapsed by historical earthquakes, site characteristics were assessed using site investigations such as borehole drillings and seismic tests. Equivalent-linear site response analyses were conducted based on the shear ways velocity ($V_s$) profiles and geotechnical characteristics determined from site investigations. The study sites are categorized as site classes C and B according to the mean $V_s$ to 30 m ranging from 500 to 850 m/s, and their site periods are distributed in the short period range of 0.06 to 0.16 sec, which contains the natural period of fortress wall and stone parapet. From the results of site response analyses in the study areas, for site class C indicating most of site conditions, contrary to site class B, the short-period (0.1-0.5 sec) and mid-period (0.4-2.0 sec) site coefficients, $F_a$ and $F_v$ specified in the Korean seismic design guide, underestimate the ground motion in short-period band and overestimate the ground motion in mid-period band, respectively, due to the high amplification in short period range, which represent the site-specific seismic response characteristics. These site-specific response characteristics indicate the potential of resonance in fortress walls during earthquake and furthermore could strongly affect the collapse of parapets resulted from seismic events in historical records.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.20 no.1 s.69
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• pp.101-106
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• 2005

When a underground structure is constructed at the site composed of soft soil, the behavior of a underground structure Is much affected by the motion of soft soil. Therefore, the effect of soil-structure interaction is an important consideration in the design of a underground structure such as tunnel at the site composed of soft soil. This paper presents the results of the study on dynamic response of tunnel structures and soil-structure interaction effects. The computer program SASSI was used in seismic analysis of tunnel structures because it is more capable of analyzing dynamic response or structures considering soil-structure interaction. As regards the results, the flexibility of surrounding soil affects dynamic response characteristics of tunnel structures and response of tunnel structures can be amplified.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2003.03a
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• pp.69-76
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• 2003

Near-field ground motions exhibit special characteristics that are different from ordinary far-field ground motions. This paper first briefly examines the characteristics of near-field ground motions associated with fault directivity and fling-step effects. Then evaluation of near-field ground motions by inelatstic response spectrum analysis is performed and analyzed. As a result, ductility demand in near-field ground motions is larger in hanging wall than in foot wall in long period regions. Also in long period regions ductility demand in soil site is larger than that in rock site.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.17 no.5
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• pp.209-217
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• 2013

In order to verify the reliability of numerical site response analysis program, both soil free-field and base rock input motions should be provided. Beside the field earthquake motion records, the most effective testing method for obtaining the above motions is the dynamic geotechnical centrifuge test. However, need is to verify if the motion recorded at the base of the soil model container in the centrifuge facility is the true base rock input motion or not. In this paper, the appropriate input motion measurement method for the verification of seismic response analysis is examined by dynamic geotechnical centrifuge test and using three-dimensional finite difference analysis results. From the results, it appears that the ESB (equivalent shear beam) model container distorts downward the propagating wave with larger magnitude of centrifugal acceleration and base rock input motion. Thus, the distortion makes the measurement of the base rock outcrop motion difficult which is essential for extracting the base rock incident motion. However, the base rock outcrop motion generated by using deconvolution method is free from the distortion effect of centrifugal acceleration.

• 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.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.67-77
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• 2017

Oil storage tanks are vital life-line structures, suffered significant damages during past earthquakes. In this study, a numerical model for an unanchored vertical vaulted-type tank was established by ANSYS software, including the tank-liquid coupling, nonlinear uplift and slip effect between the tank bottom and foundation. Four actual earthquakes recorded at different soil sites were selected as input to study the dynamic characteristics of the tank by nonlinear time-history dynamic analysis, including the elephant-foot buckling, the liquid sloshing, the uplift and slip at the bottom. The results demonstrate that, obvious elephant-foot deformation and buckling failure occurred near the bottom of the tank wall under the seismic input of Class-I and Class-IV sites. The local buckling failure appeared at the location close to the elephant-foot because the axial compressive stress exceeded the allowable critical stress. Under the seismic input of Class-IV site, significant nonlinear uplift and slip occurred at the tank bottom. Large amplitude vertical sloshing with a long period occurred on the free surface of the liquid under the seismic wave record at Class-III site. The seismic properties of the storage tank were affected by site class and should be considered in the seismic design of large tanks. Effective measures should be taken to reduce the seismic response of storage tanks, and ensure the safety of tanks.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.10 no.2 s.48
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• pp.51-62
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• 2006

In the companion paper (I-Problem Statements of the Current Seismic Design Code), the current Korean seismic design code is required to be modified considering site characteristics in Korea for the reliable estimation of site amplification. In this paper, three site classification methods based on the mean shear wave velocity of the top 30m $V_{S30}$, fundamental site periods $(T_G)$ and bedrock depth were investigated and compared with each other to determine the best classification system. Not enough of a difference in the standard deviation of site coefficients $(F_a\;and\;F_v)$ to determine the best system, and neither is the difference between the average spectral accelerations and the design response spectrum of each system. However, the amplification range of RRS values based on $T_G$ were definitely concentrated on a narrow band than other classification system. It means that sites which have a similar behavior during earthquake will be classified as the same site category at the site classification system based on $T_G$. The regression curves between site coefficients and $T_G$ described the effect of soil non linearity well as the rock shaking intensity increases than the current method based on $V_{S30}$. Furthermore, it is unambiguous to determine sue category based on $T_G$ when the site investigation is performed to shallower depth less than 30m, whereas the current $V_{S30}$ is usually calculated fallaciously by extrapolating the $V_s$ of bedrock to 30m. From the results of this study, new site classification system based on $T_G$ was recommended for legions of shallow bedrock depth in Korea.