• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.69 no.3
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• pp.293-306
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• 2019

In current seismic design codes, various elastic design acceleration spectra are defined considering different seismological and soil characteristics and are widely used tool for calculation of seismic loads acting on structures. Response spectrum analyses directly use the elastic design acceleration spectra whereas time history analyses use acceleration records of earthquakes whose acceleration spectra fit the design spectra of seismic codes. Due to the fact that obtaining coherent structural response quantities with the seismic design code considerations is a desired circumstance in dynamic analyses, the response spectra of earthquake records used in time history analyses had better fit to the design acceleration spectra of seismic codes. This paper evaluates structural response distributions of multi-story reinforced concrete frames obtained from nonlinear time history analyses which are performed by using the scaled earthquake records compatible with various elastic design spectra. Time domain scaling procedure is used while processing the response spectrum of real accelerograms to fit the design acceleration spectra. The elastic acceleration design spectra of Turkish Seismic Design Code 2007, Uniform Building Code 1997 and Eurocode 8 are considered as target spectra in the scaling procedure. Soil classes in different seismic codes are appropriately matched up with each other according to $V_{S30}$ values. The maximum roof displacements and the total base shears of considered frame structures are determined from nonlinear time history analyses using the scaled earthquake records and the results are presented by graphs and tables. Coherent structural response quantities reflecting the influence of elastic design spectra of various seismic codes are obtained.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.87 no.5
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• pp.405-418
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• 2023

This study focused on the effectiveness of seismic isolation technique in case of a reinforced concrete structure with soft story defined as the stiffness irregularity between adjacent stories. In this context, a seismically isolated 3-story reinforced concrete structure was analyzed by gradually increasing the first story height (3.0, 4.5, and 6.0 m). The seismic isolation system of the structure is assumed to be composed of lead rubber bearings (LRB). In the analyses, isolators were modeled by both deteriorating (temperature-dependent analyses) and non-deteriorating (bounding analyses) hysteretic representations. The deterioration in strength of isolator is due to temperature rise in the lead core during cyclic motion. The ground motion pairs used in bi-directional nonlinear dynamic analyses were selected and scaled according to codified procedures. In the analyses, different isolation periods (Tiso) and characteristic strength to weight ratios (Q/W) were considered in order to determine the sensitivity of structural response to the isolator properties. Response quantities under consideration are floor accelerations, and interstory drift ratios. Analyses results are compared for both hysteretic representations of LRBs. Results are also used to assess the significance of the ratio between the horizontal stiffnesses of soft story and isolation system. It is revealed that seismic isolation is a viable method to reduce structural damage in structures with soft story.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.51 no.2
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• pp.600-606
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• 2019

Studies on the application of the lead rubber bearing (LRB) isolation system to nuclear power plants are being carried out as one of the measures to improve seismic performance. Nuclear power plants with isolation systems require seismic probabilistic safety assessments, for which the seismic fragility of the structures, systems, and components needs be calculated, including for beyond design basis earthquakes. To this end, seismic response analyses are required, where it can be seen that the behaviors of the isolation system components govern the overall seismic response of an isolated plant. The numerical model of the LRB used in these seismic response analyses plays an important role, but in most cases, the extreme performance of the LRB has not been well studied. The current work therefore develops an extreme nonlinear numerical model that can express the seismic response of the LRB for beyond design basis earthquakes. A full-scale LRB was fabricated and dynamically tested with various input conditions, and test results confirmed that the developed numerical model better represents the behavior of the LRB over previous models. Subsequent seismic response analyses of isolated nuclear power plants using the model developed here are expected to provide more accurate results for seismic probabilistic safety assessments.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.103-118
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• 2017

In vertical seismic isolation (VSI), a building is partitioned intentionally by vertical layers into two dynamically different substructures for seismic response reduction. Initially, a 1-story frame was partitioned into two substructures, interconnected by viscous and visco-elastic links, and seismic responses of the original and the vertically isolated structures (VIS) were obtained, considering a large number of stiffness and mass ratios of substructures with respect to the original structure. Color contour graphs were defined for presentation and investigation of large amounts of output results. Dynamic characteristics of the isolated structures were studied by considering the non-classical damping of the system, and then the effects of viscous and visco-elastic link parameters on the modal damping ratios were discussed. On this basis, three states of mass isolation, interactional state, and control mass were differentiated. Response history analyses were performed by Runge-Kutta numerical method. In these analyses, interaction of isolation ratios and link parameters, on response control of VIS was studied and the appropriate ranges for link parameters as well as the optimal ranges for isolation ratios were suggested. Results show that by using the VSI technique, seismic response reduction up to 50% in flexible substructure and even more in stiff substructure is achievable.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.53 no.5
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• pp.957-979
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• 2015

The present paper investigates the influence of the orientation of the ground-motion reference axes, the seismic incident angle and the seismic intensity level on the inelastic response of asymmetric reinforced concrete buildings. A single storey asymmetric building is analyzed by nonlinear dynamic analyses under twenty bi-directional ground motions. The analyses are performed for many angles of incidence and four seismic intensity levels. Moreover three different pairs of the horizontal accelerograms corresponding to the input seismic motion are considered: a) the recorded accelerograms, b) the corresponding uncorrelated accelerograms, and c) the completely correlated accelerograms. The nonlinear response is evaluated by the overall structural damage index. The results of this study demonstrate that the inelastic seismic response depends on the orientation of the ground-motion reference axes, since the three individual pairs of accelerograms corresponding to the same ground motion (recorded, uncorrelated and completely correlated) can cause different structural damage level for the same incident angle. Furthermore, the use of the recorded accelerograms as seismic input does not always lead to the critical case of study. It is also shown that there is not a particular seismic incident angle or range of angles that leads to the maximum values of damage index regardless of the seismic intensity level or the ground-motion reference axes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.389-398
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• 2018

The seismic isolation system makes a structure isolated from ground motions to protect the structure from seismic events. Seismic isolation techniques have been implemented in full-scale buildings and bridges because of their simplicity, economic effectiveness, inherent stability and reliability. As for the responses of an isolated structure due to seismic events, it is well known that the most uncertain aspects are the seismic loading itself and structural properties. Due to the randomness of earthquakes and uncertainty of structures, seismic response distributions of an isolated structure are needed when evaluating the seismic fragility assessment (or probabilistic seismic safety assessment) of an isolated structure. Seismic response time histories are useful and often essential elements in its design or evaluation stage. Thus, a large number of non-linear dynamic analyses should be performed to evaluate the seismic performance of an isolated structure. However, it is a monumental task to gather the design or evaluation information of the isolated structure from too many seismic analyses, which is impractical. In this paper, a new methodology that can evaluate the seismic fragility assessment of an isolated structure is proposed by using stochastic response database, which is a device that can estimate the seismic response distributions of an isolated structure without any seismic response analyses. The seismic fragility assessment of the isolated nuclear power plant is performed using the proposed methodology. The proposed methodology is able to evaluate the seismic performance of isolated structures effectively and reduce the computational efforts tremendously.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.53 no.2
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• pp.355-372
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• 2015

This paper identifies the effects of infill wall existence and arrangement in the seismic response of steel frame structures. The methodology followed was based on the utilisation of overall seismic response indicators that distil the complexity of structural response in a single value hence enabling their straightforward comparative and statistical post process. The overall structure damage index after Park/Ang ($OSDI_{PA}$) and the maximum inter-story drift ratio (MISDR) have been selected as widely utilized structural seismic response parameters in contemporary state of art. In this respect a set of 225 Greek antiseismic code (EAK) spectrum compatible artificial accelerograms have been created and a series of non-linear dynamic analyses have been executed. Data were obtained through nonlinear dynamic analyses carried on an indicative steel frame structure with 5 different infill wall topologies. Results indicated the significant overall contribution of infill walls with a reduction that ranged 35-47% of the maximum and 74-81% of the average recorded $OSDI_{PA}$ values followed by an overall reduction of 64-67% and 58-61% for the respective maximum and average recorded MISDR values demonstrating the relative benefits of infill walls presence overall as well as localised with similar reductions observed in 1st level damage indicators.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.725-742
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• 2015

Tuned mass dampers (TMD) are devices employed in vibration control since the beginning of the twentieth century. However, their implementation for controlling the seismic response in civil structures is more recent. While the efficiency of TMD on structures under far-field earthquakes has been demonstrated, the convenience of its employment against near-fault earthquakes is still under discussion. In this context, the study of this type of device is raised, not as an alternative to the seismic isolation, which is clearly a better choice for new buildings, but rather as an improvement in the structural safety of existing buildings. Seismic records with an impulsive character have been registered in the vicinity of faults that cause seismic events. In this paper, the ability of TMD to control the response of structures that experience inelastic deformations and eventually reach collapse subject to the action of such earthquakes is studied. The results of a series of nonlinear dynamic analyses are presented. These analyses are performed on a numerical model of a structure under the action of near-fault earthquakes. The structure analyzed in this study is a steel frame which behaves as a single degree of freedom (SDOF) system. TMD with different mass values are added on the numerical model of the structure, and the TMD performance is evaluated by comparing the response of the structure with and without the control device.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.283-295
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• 2019

During the seismic performance assessment of existing buildings, staircases are generally not taken into account as structural members but as dead load. Staircases, as secondary structural members, not only serve for connecting successive floors but also provide considerable amount of strength and stiffness to the building which can modify its seismic behaviour considerably. In this parametric study, the influence of staircases on the seismic response of substandard RC frame buildings which differ in number of storey and span, presence of staircase and its position has been examined. Modal Analyses and bi-directional Non-Linear Time History Analyses (NLTHA) were conducted to compare several engineering demand parameters (EDPs) such as inter-storey drift ratio (ISDR), floor accelerations, modal properties, member shear forces and plastic hinge distribution. Additionally, short column effect, variation in shear forces of columns that are attached to the staircase slab, failure and deformation in staircase models have also been investigated. As the staircase was considered in the analytical model, a different damage pattern can be developed especially in the structural components close to staircase.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.447-470
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• 2014

Numerical simulation of the non-linear behavior of (RC) structural walls subjected to severe earthquake ground motions requires a reliable modeling approach that includes important material characteristics and behavioral response features. The objective of this paper is to optimize a simplified method for the assessment of the seismic response and damage development analyses of an RC structural wall building using macro-element model. The first stage of this study investigates effectiveness and ability of the macro-element model in predicting the flexural nonlinear response of the specimen based on previous experimental test results conducted in UCLA. The sensitivity of the predicted wall responses to changes in model parameters is also assessed. The macro-element model is next used to examine the dynamic behavior of the structural wall building-all the way from elastic behavior to global instability, by applying an approximate Incremental Dynamic Analysis (IDA), based on Uncoupled Modal Response History Analysis (UMRHA), setting up nonlinear single degree of freedom systems. Finally, the identification of the global stiffness decrease as a function of a damage variable is carried out by means of this simplified methodology. Responses are compared at various locations on the structural wall by conducting static and dynamic pushover analyses for accurate estimation of seismic performance of the structure using macro-element model. Results obtained with the numerical model for rectangular wall cross sections compare favorably with experimental responses for flexural capacity, stiffness, and deformability. Overall, the model is qualified for safety assessment and design of earthquake resistant structures with structural walls.