• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제4권5호
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• pp.557-585
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• 2013

The recent huge earthquake ground motion records in Japan result in the reconsideration of seismic design forces for nuclear power stations from the view point of seismological research. In addition, the seismic design force should be defined also from the view point of structural engineering. In this paper it is shown that one of the occurrence mechanisms of such large acceleration in recent seismic records (recorded in or near massive structures and not free-field ground motions) is due to the interaction between a massive building and its surrounding soil which induces amplification of local mode in the surface soil. Furthermore on-site investigation after earthquakes in the nuclear power stations reveals some damages of soil around the building (cracks, settlement and sand boiling). The influence of plastic behavior of soil is investigated in the context of interaction between the structure and the surrounding soil. Moreover the amplification property of the surface soil is investigated from the seismic records of the Suruga-gulf earthquake in 2009 and the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake in 2011. Two methods are introduced for the analysis of the non-stationary process of ground motions. It is shown that the non-stationary Fourier spectra can detect the temporal change of frequency contents of ground motions and the displacement profile integrated from its acceleration profile is useful to evaluate the seismic behavior of the building and the surrounding soil.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.1-16
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• 2020

This study presents an investigation of the dynamic interactions between a surface structure lying on two different soil deposits and a square-shaped buried structure embedded in the soil. To this end, a large number of numerical models are generated by using a well-known Finite Element Method software, i.e., OpenSEES. The interaction phenomenon is assumed to be affected by six different parameters. In the parametric study, these parameters are assumed to have various values in accordance with the engineering practices. A total of 1620 possible combinations of the parameter values are addressed in this study. 30 different numerical models are also generated as the 'free-field cases' to set a reference. The surface structure drift and acceleration amplifications are used as a measure to evaluate the dynamic interactions. The response (i.e., drifts and accelerations) amplifications are calculated as the ratio of the maximum surface structure response in any 'case' to the maximum surface structure response in corresponding free-field case. Variation of the response amplifications with any of the investigated parameters is addressed in this paper. The results obtained from the numerical analyses clearly reveal that the presence of a buried structure in the vicinity of a surface structure can cause both amplification and de-amplification of the surface structure responses, depending on the case parameters.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제8권5호
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• pp.663-674
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• 2015

Many seismically vulnerable regions in India and worldwide are located on deep soil deposits which extend to several hundred meters of depth. It has been well recognized that the earthquake shaking is altered by geological conditions at the location of building. As seismic waves propagates through uppermost layers of soil and rock, these layers serve as filter and they can increase the duration and amplitude of earthquake motion within narrow frequency bands. The amplification of these waves is largely controlled by mechanical properties of these layers, which are function of their stiffness and damping. Stiffness and damping are further influenced by soil type and thickness. In the current study, an attempt has been made to study the seismic site response of deep soils. Three hypothetical homogeneous soil models (e.g., soft soil, medium soil and hard soil) lying on bedrock are considered. Depth of half space is varied from 30 m to 2,000 m in this study. Controlled synthetic motions are used as input base motion. One dimensional equivalent linear ground response analyses are carried out using a computer package DEEPSOIL. Conventional approach of analysing up to 30 m depth has been found to be inadequate for deep soil sites. PGA values are observed to be higher for deeper soil profiles as compared to shallow soil profiles indicating that deeper soil profiles are more prone to liquefaction and other related seismic hazards under earthquake ground shaking. The study recommends to deal the deeper soil sections more carefully for estimating the amplification factors for seismic hazard assessment at the surface.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제3권3호
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• pp.189-206
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• 2011

Amplification based on empirical relations is widely used for seismic microzonation of urban centers. Amplifications are used to represent the site effects of a particular soil column. Many empirical correlations are available to estimate the amplification of seismic waves. These correlations are based on the ratio of shear wave velocity of foundation/rock to soil velocity or 30 m equivalent shear wave velocity ($Vs^{30}$) and are developed considering deep soil data. The aim of this work is to examine the applicability of available amplification relations in the literature for shallow engineering bedrock sites by carrying out site response studies. Shear wave velocity of thirteen sites having shallow engineering bedrock have been selected for the study. In these locations, the depth of engineering bedrock (> 760 ${\pm}$ 60 m/s) is matched with the drilled bore hole. Shear wave velocity (SWV) has been measured using Multichannel Analysis of Surface Wave survey. These sites are classified according to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP) classification system. Amplifications for an earthquake are arrived for these sites using empirical relations and measured SWV data. Site response analysis has been carried out in SHAKE using SWV and using synthetic and real earthquake data. Amplification from site response analysis and empirical relations are compared. Study shows that the amplification arrived using empirical relations does not match with the site response amplification. Site response amplification is much more than empirical values for same shear wave velocity.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.1-18
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• 2012

The spatial variation of ground motion in Kolkata Metropolitan District (KMD) has been estimated by generating synthetic ground motion considering the point source model coupled with site response analysis. The most vulnerable source was identified from regional seismotectonic map for an area of about 350 km radius around Kolkata. The rock level acceleration time histories at 121 borehole locations in Kolkata for the vulnerable source, Eocene Hinge Zone, due to maximum credible earthquake (MCE) moment magnitude 6.2 were generated by synthetic ground motion model. Soil investigation data of 121 boreholes were collected from the report of Soil Data Bank Project, Jadavpur University, Kolkata. Surface level ground motion parameters were determined using SHAKE2000 software. The results are presented in the form of peak ground acceleration (PGA) at rock level and ground surface, amplification factor, and the response spectra at the ground surface for frequency 1.5 Hz, 3 Hz, 5 Hz and 10 Hz and 5% damping ratio. Site response study shows higher PGA in comparison with rock level acceleration. Maximum amplification in some portion in KMD area is found to be as high as 3.0 times compared to rock level.

• 한국지반환경공학회 논문집
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• 제10권7호
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• pp.135-141
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• 2009

지진원 및 구조물과 지반상호간의 동적 특성을 보다 신뢰성 있게 도출하기 위해 지반의 증폭특성은 반드시 고려되어야하는 요소이다. 지반증폭 특성을 분석할 때 여러 가지 방법이 제시되어 있으나 본 연구에서는 Nakamura(1989)에 의해 제시된 방법을 적용하였다. 본 방법은 얕은 지반의 상시미동의 표면파 특성을 이해하기 위해 제시되어 한계점이 존재하나 근래에 와서 S파 등에 적용되어 지반의 동적인 증폭 특성연구에 많이 이용되고 있다. 일반적으로 S파가 이용되고 있으나 본 연구에서는 지진파 에너지인 Coda 파에 새로이 적용하였다. 최근 국내에 설치된 지진 관측기에 관측된 5개 지진(규모 3.6-5.1)의 약 60 여개의 관측자료를 이용하여 지진관측소 각각 지반의 동적인 증폭 특성을 분석하였다. 관측소마다 저진동수, 고진동수 및 우월주파수가 서로 다른 증폭특성을 보여주었다. 본 연구 결과 관측지반진동에서 지반 고유의 증폭특성을 제거하면 지진원 변수를 보다 신뢰성 있게 도출할 수 있다.

• 한국농공학회논문집
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.51-61
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• 2005

In this study, borehole records were analyzed to verify the amplification of seismic motion at the soft reclaimed ground before and after the main event of the 1995 Hyogoken Nambu Earthquake at Port Island, Japan. From the analysis, it was shown that the amplification of seismic motion occurred near the soft ground surface (within 30 m below) where confining stress is low. Moreover, it was found that recovery of dynamic soil stiffness at the liquefied ground began gradually 3 hours after the liquefaction and completed in 10 days, when the ground exhibited the same seismic motion characteristics as those before the liquefaction.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• 제9권2호
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• pp.125-144
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• 2015

This paper presents the probabilistic seismic microzonation of densely populated Kolkata city, situated on the world's largest delta island with very soft alluvial soil deposit. At first probabilistic seismic hazard analysis of Kolkata city was carried out at bedrock level and then ground motion amplification due to sedimentary deposit was computed using one dimensional (1D) wave propagation analysis SHAKE2000. Different maps like fundamental frequency, amplification at fundamental frequency, peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV), peak ground displacement (PGD), maximum response spectral acceleration at different time period bands are developed for variety of end users, structural and geotechnical engineers, land use planners, emergency managers and awareness of general public. The probabilistically predicted PGA at bedrock level is 0.12 g for 50% exceedance in 50 years and maximum PGA at surface level it varies from 0.095 g to 0.18 g for same probability of exceedance. The scenario of simulated ground motion revealed that Kolkata city is very much prone to damage during earthquake.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제22권4호
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• pp.373-386
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• 2022

The development of performance-based design methodologies requires a reasonable definition of a displacement-response spectrum. Although ground motions are known to be significantly affected by the resonant-like amplification behavior caused by multiple wave reflections within the surface soil, such a soil-resonance effect is seldom explicitly considered in current-displacement spectral models. In this study, an analytical approach is developed for the construction of displacement-response spectra by considering the soil-resonance effect. For this purpose, a simple and rational equation is proposed for the response spectral ratio at the site fundamental period (SRTg) to represent the soil-resonance effect based on wave multiple reflection theory. In addition, a bilinear model is adopted to construct the soil displacement-response spectra. The proposed model is verified by comparing its results with those obtained from actual observations and SHAKE analyses. The results show that the proposed model can lead to very good estimations of SRTg for harmonic incident seismic waves and lead to reasonable estimations of SRTg and soil displacement-response spectra for earthquakes with a relatively large magnitude, which are generally considered for seismic design, particularly in high-seismicity regions.

• 한국지진공학회논문집
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• 제25권5호
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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.