• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.386-400
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• 2022

Seismic fragility analysis, a part of seismic probabilistic risk assessment (SPRA), is commonly used to establish the relationship between a representative property of earthquakes and the failure probability of a structure, component, or system. Current guidelines on the SPRA of nuclear power plants (NPPs) used worldwide mainly reflect the earthquake characteristics of the western United States. However, different earthquake characteristics may have a significant impact on the seismic fragility of a structure. Given the concern, this study aimed to investigate the effects of earthquake characteristics on the seismic fragility of concrete containments housing the OPR-1000 reactor. Earthquake time histories were created from 30 ground motions (including those of the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake) by spectral matching to the site-specific response spectrum of Hanbit nuclear power plants in South Korea. Fragility curves of the containment structure were determined under the linear response history analysis using a lumped-mass stick model and 30 ground motions, and were compared in terms of earthquake characteristics. The results showed that the median capacity and high confidence of low probability of failure (HCLPF) tended to highly depend on the sustained maximum acceleration (SMA), and increase when using the time histories which have lower SMA compared with the others.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.30 no.1C
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• pp.65-76
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• 2010

Recent earthquake events revealed that severe seismic damages were concentrated mostly at sites composed of soil sediments rather than firm rock. This indicates that the site effects inducing the amplification of earthquake ground motion are associated mainly with the spatial distribution and dynamic properties of the soils overlying bedrock. In this study, an integrated GIS-based information system for geotechnical data was constructed to establish a regional counterplan against ground motions at a representative metropolitan area, Seoul, in Korea. To implement the GIS-based geotechnical information system for the Seoul area, existing geotechnical investigation data were collected in and around the study area and additionally a walkover site survey was carried out to acquire surface geo-knowledge data. For practical application of the geotechnical information system used to estimate the site effects at the area of interest, seismic zoning maps of geotechnical earthquake engineering parameters, such as the depth to bedrock and the site period, were created and presented as regional synthetic strategy for earthquake-induced hazards prediction. In addition, seismic zonation of site classification was also performed to determine the site amplification coefficients for seismic design at any site and administrative sub-unit in the Seoul area. Based on the case study on seismic zonations for Seoul, it was verified that the GIS-based geotechnical information system was very useful for the regional prediction of seismic hazards and also the decision support for seismic hazard mitigation particularly at the metropolitan area.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 2000.04a
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• pp.97-104
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• 2000

Evaluating a Review-Level Ground Motion is a key to efficiently perform Seismic Margin Assessment of nuclear power plants whose purpose is to determine a ground motion level for which a plant has high-confidence-of-a-low-probability of seismic-induced core damage and to identify any weaker-link components. In this study a method to obtain RLGMs is reviewed which is recommended by Electric Power Research Institute and implemented to be applied to Limerick site in eastern and central U. S as a case study. This method provides reasonable and site-specific RLGMs as minimum required plant HCLPF for SMA that meet a target mean seismic core-damage frequency based on seismic hazard results and generic values of uncertainty and randomness parameters of the core-damage fragility curves. In addition high-frequency RLGM is justifiably modified to reflect the increased seismic capacity of high-frequency components and spatial variation and incoherence of input ground motion on a basemat of large structures by establishing a method to obtain high0-frequency reduction factors according to EPRI guidelines.

• Proceedings of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea Conference
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• 1999.04a
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• pp.178-185
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• 1999

Minimum life-cycle cost helps to evaluate cost effectiveness of base-isolated bridges under specific condition. Life-cycle cost mainly consists of the initial construction cost and the expected damage cost. Damage cost estimation needs proper model of input ground motion failure probability evaluation method and limit states definition. We model the input ground motion as spectral density function compatible with the response spectra defined at each seismicity and site condition. Spectrum analysis and crossing theory is suitable for reseating calculation of failure probabilities in the process of cost minimization. Limit states of base-isolated bridges re defined for superstructure isolator and pier respectively The method is applied to both base-isolated bridges and conventional bridges under the same conditions to investigate cost effectiveness of base isolation in low and moderate seismic region. the results show that base-isolation of bridges are more effective in low and moderate seismic region and that the site effects on the economical efficiency may not be negligible in such a region.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.29 no.6
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• pp.689-707
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• 2008

This study presents a method to evaluate the seismic risk of an extradosed bridge with seismic isolators of lead rubber bearings (LRBs), and also to show the effectiveness of the LRB isolators on the extradosed bridge, which is one of the relatively flexible and lightly damped structures in terms of seismic risk. Initially, the seismic vulnerability of a structure is evaluated, and then the seismic hazard of a specific site is rated using an earthquake data set and seismic hazard maps in Korea. Then, the seismic risk of the structure is assessed. The nonlinear seismic analyses are carried out to consider plastic deformation of bridge columns and the nonlinear characteristics of soil foundation. To describe the nonlinear behaviour of a column, the ductility demand is adopted, and the moment-curvature relation of a column is assumed to be bilinear hysteretic. The fragility curves are represented as a log-normal distribution function for column damage, movement of superstructure, and cable yielding. And the seismic hazard at a specific site is estimated using the available seismic hazard maps. The results show that in seismically-isolated extradosed bridges under earthquakes, the effectiveness of the isolators is much more noticeable in the columns than the cables and girders.

• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.51-64
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• 2018

Korean peninsula is known to be far from the plate boundary and not to generate large-scale earthquakes. However, earthquakes recently occurred in Gyeongju (2016/09/12, $M_L=5.8$) and Pohang (2017/11/15, $M_L=5.4$). The interest in earthquake engineering has increased, and various studies are actively underway by recently events. However, the seismic station network in Korea is less dense than that of the western U.S., resulting in the lack of data for detailed analyses of earthquakes. Therefore, KMA (Korea Meteorological Administration) set up temporary seismic stations and recorded ground motions from aftershocks. In this study, characteristics of Pohang seismic propagation and generation of bedrock motion are analyzed through the aftershock ground motion records at both permanent and temporary stations, as well as through the collected geological structure and site information. As a result, the response at Mangcheon-Li shows evidences of basin effects from both geology structures and measured aftershock motions.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.161-171
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• 2017

Observed ground motions are composed of three factors such as, seismic source, attenuation, and site amplification effect. Among them, the site amplification characteristics should be considered significantly when estimating seismic source and attenuation characteristics with more confidence. The site effect is also necessary when estimating not only seismic hazard in seismic design engineering but also rock mechanical properties. This study uses the method of H/V spectral ratio of observed ground motion between target site and reference site called a reference site method. In addition to using the vertical Fourier spectrum of the reference site, we try out the horizontal Fourier spectrum as a new method in this study. We analyze H/V spectral ratio of six ground motions respectively, observed at four sites close to Yedang Reservoir. We then compare site amplification effects at each site using 3 kinds of seismic energies including S waves, Coda waves energy, and background noise. The results suggest that each site showed similar site amplification patterns in S waves and Coda waves energy. However, the site amplification of background noise shows much different characteristics from those of S waves and Coda wave energy, which suggests that the background noises at each site have their own developing mechanism. Each station shows its own characteristics of specific resonance frequency and site amplification properties in low, high and specific resonance frequency ranges. Comparison of the method used in this study to the others that used different methods can provide us with more information about the dynamic amplification of a site characteristics and site classification.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.1-11
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• 2007

This paper verifies the difference of the seismic behavior and seismic damage of the neighboring two reinforced concrete piers damaged by the 1995 Hyogoken Nanbu earthquake. The two piers were almost the same size, carrying slightly different dead load, and were provided with the same reinforcement arrangement except the amount of longitudinal reinforcement at the bottom portion of the piers. The pier with more reinforcement was completely collapsed due to this near field earthquake by shear failure at the longitudinal reinforcement cut-off while the other was only damaged at the bottom by flexure even though the longitudinal reinforcement cut-off was also existed at the mid height of the pier. According to the results of the pseudo dynamic test, the seismic damage was recognized to be greatly dependent on the ground motion characteristics even though the employed ground motions had the same peak acceleration. The severe damage was observed when the test employed the seismic wave that had strong influence to the longer period range compared to the initial natural period of the pier. On the other hand, based on the similar model experiment, the defect of gas-pressure welded splice of longitudinal reinforcement was revealed to save the piers against collapse due to the so-called fail-safe mechanism contrary to the intuitive opinion of some researchers. It was concluded that the primary cause of the collapse of the pier was the extremely strong intensity and peculiar characteristics of the earthquake motion according to both the site-specific and the structure-specific effects.

• Journal of the Korean earth science society
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.40-51
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• 2016

The problem has been pointed out that the domestic design response spectrum does not reflect site amplification, particularly in the high frequency bands, including the fact that site specific response spectrum from the observed ground motions appears relatively higher than design response spectrum. Among various methods, this study applied H/V spectral ratio of ground motion for estimating site amplification. This method, originated from S waves and Rayleigh waves, recently has been extended to Coda waves and background noise for estimating site amplification. For limited time of periods, 4 electric substation sites had operated seismic stations at two separate locations (bedrock and borehole) within each substation site. H/V spectral ratio of S wave, Coda wave, and background noise, was applied to 36 accelerations of 3 macro earthquakes (Odaesan, Jeju and Gongju earthquakes), larger than magnitude 3.4. observed simultaneously at each bedrock location within 4 electric substation sites. Site amplifications at the bedrock location of 4 sites were compared among S wave, Coda wave energy, and background noise, and then compared to the previous results from the borehole location data. The site classification was also tried using resonancy frequency information at each site and location. The results suggested that all the electric substation sites showed similar site amplification patterns among S wave, Coda wave, and background noise. Each station showed its own characteristics of site amplification property in low, high and specific resonance frequency ranges. Comparison of this study to other results using different method can give us much more information about dynamic amplification of domestic sites characteristics and site classification.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.250-255
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• 2017

When an earthquake occurs, it is necessary to evaluate the site-specific ground response while considering ground characteristics in seismic design. The design seismic force of Korean seismic design criteria is borrowed from the Uniform Building Code(UBC-1997). However, the criteria are based on the ground characteristics of the United States, which are different from the ground characteristics in Korea, and using them could cause over-or under-designing. Therefore, it is important to develop a proper design response spectrum for Korean ground characteristics. In this study, 158 ground sites in Korean urban areas were selected and compared to those in the western part of the United States, and their site-specific ground responses were analyzed. The classification standard in the seismic design criteria classifies the 158 sites into 37 sites, 107 sites, and 14 sites. Using 7 earthquake inputs, the criteria were compared for each group.The Korean design response spectrum underestimates the amplification of the short-period range and overestimates the amplification in the long-period range. There were large differences in the results of the and sites,which account for 77 percent of the 158 sites. Therefore, there is a need to modify the amplification factor in the Korean seismic criteria to properly reflect Korean ground characteristics.