• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.163-173
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• 2019

For Special Concentrically Braced Frame (SCBF), it is common that the damage concentrates at a certain story instead of spreading over all stories. Once the damage occurs, the soft-story mechanism is likely to take place and possibly to result in the failure of the whole system with more damage accumulation. In this study, we use a strongback column which is an additional structural component extending along the height of the building, to redistribute the excessive deformation of SCBF and activate more structural members to dissipate energy and thus avoid damage concentration and improve the seismic performance of SCBF. We tested one-third-scaled, three-story, double-story X SCBF specimens with static cyclic loading procedure. Three specimens, namely S73, S42 and S0, which represent different combinations of stiffness and strength factors ${\alpha}$ and ${\beta}$ for the strongback columns, were designed based on results of numerical simulations. Specimens S73 and S42 were the specimens with the strongback columns, and S0 is the specimen without the strongback column. Test results show that the deformation distribution of Specimen S73 is more uniform and more brace members in three stories perform nonlinearly. Comparing Drift Concentration Factor (DCF), we can observe 29% and 11% improvement in Specimen S73 and S42, respectively. This improvement increases the nonlinear demand of the third-story braces and reduces that of the first-story braces where the demand used to be excessive, and, therefore, postpones the rupture of the first-story braces and enhances the ductility and energy dissipation capacity of the whole SCBF system.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.143-149
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• 2019

In this study, a U-shape composite beam was developed to be effectively used for a steel parking lot which is 8m or lower in height. When the U-shape composite beam was applied to a steel parking lot, essential considerations were story-height and long-span. In addition, due to the mixed structural system with reinforced concrete and steel material, the U-shape composite beam needed to have a structural integrity and reliable performance over demand capacity. The main objective of this study was to investigate the performance of the structure consisting of the reinforced concrete (RC) slab and U-shape beam. A U-shape composite beam generally used at a parking lot served as a control specimen. Four specimens were tested under four-point bending. To calculate theoretical values, strain gauges were attached to rebar, steel plate, and concrete surface in the middle of the specimens. As the results, initial yielding strength of the control specimen occurred at the bottom of the U-shaped steel. After yielding, the specimen reached the maximum strength and the RC slab concrete was finally failed by concrete crush due to compressive stress. The structural performance such as flexural strength and ductility of the specimen with the increased beam depth was significantly improved in comparison with the control specimen. Furthermore, the design of the U-shape composite beam with the consideration of flexural strength and ductility was effective since the structural performance by a negative loading was relatively decreased but the ductile behavior was evidently improved.

• Journal of Hydrogen and New Energy
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.146-151
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• 2024

The demand for research on materials with excellent cryogenic strength and ductility has been increasing, particularly for applications such as liquid hydrogen (20 K) storage tanks. To effectively utilize liquid hydrogen, a system capable of maintaining and operating at 20 K is essential. Therefore, preliminary research and verification of the cooling system are crucial. In this study, a heat transfer analysis was conducted on a cooling system to meet the cryogenic environment requirements for cryogenic hydrogen chamber, which are conducted at liquid helium temperatures (4 K). The cooling mechanism in a helium cooling system was examined using numerical analysis. The numerical cooling trends were compared with experimentally obtained cooling results. The good agreement between numerical and experimental results suggests that the numerical approach developed in this study is applicable over a wide range of cryogenic systems.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.71-87
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• 2014

Interaction between closely-spaced buildings subject to earthquake induced strong ground motions, termed in the literature as "seismic pounding", occurs commonly during major seismic events in contemporary congested urban environments. Seismic pounding is not taken into account by current codes of practice and is rarely considered in practice at the design stage of new buildings constructed "in contact" with existing ones. Thus far, limited research work has been devoted to quantify the influence of slab-to-slab pounding on the inelastic seismic demands at critical locations of structural members in adjacent structures that are not aligned in series. In this respect, this paper considers a typical case study of a "new" reinforced concrete (R/C) EC8-compliant, torsionally sensitive, 7-story corner building constructed within a block, in bi-lateral contact with two existing R/C 5-story structures with same height floors. A non-linear local plasticity numerical model is developed and a series of non-linear time-history analyses is undertaken considering the corner building "in isolation" from the existing ones (no-pounding case), and in combination with the existing ones (pounding case). Numerical results are reported in terms of averages of ratios of peak inelastic rotation demands at all structural elements (beams, columns, shear walls) at each storey. It is shown that seismic pounding reduces on average the inelastic demands of the structural members at the lower floors of the 7-story building. However, the discrepancy in structural response of the entire block due to torsion-induced, bi-directionally seismic pounding is substantial as a result of the complex nonlinear dynamics of the coupled building block system.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.389-402
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• 2019

Reinforced concrete walls and buckling restrained braces are effective structural elements that are used to resist seismic loads. In this paper, the behavior of the reinforced concrete walls coupled with buckling restrained braces is investigated. In such a system, there is not any conventional reinforced concrete coupling beam. The coupling action is provided only by buckling restrained braces that dissipate energy and also cause coupling forces in the wall piers. The studied structures are 10-, 20- and 30-story ones designed according to the ASCE, ACI-318 and AISC codes. Wall nonlinear model is then prepared using the fiber elements in PERFORM-3D software. The responses of the systems subjected to the forward directivity near-fault (NF) and ordinary far-fault (FF) ground motions at maximum considered earthquake (MCE) level are studied. The seismic responses of the structures corresponding to the inter-story drift demand, curvature ductility of wall piers, and coupling ratio of the walls are compared. On average, the results show that the inter-story drift ratio for the examined systems subjected to the far-fault events at MCE level is less than allowable value of 3%. Besides, incremental dynamic analysis is used to examine the considered systems. Results of studied systems show that, the taller the structures, the higher the probability of their collapse. Also, for a certain peak ground acceleration of 1 g, the probability of collapse under NF records is more than twice this probability under FF records.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.279-293
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• 2021

Most of the existing seismic codes for RC buildings consider only a scenario earthquake for analysis, often characterized by the response spectrum at the specified location. However, any real earthquake event often involves occurrences of multiple earthquakes within a few hours or days, possessing similar or even higher energy than the first earthquake. This critically impairs the rehabilitation measures thereby resulting in the accumulation of structural damages for subsequent earthquakes after the first earthquake. Also, the existing seismic provisions account for the non-linear response of an RC building frame implicitly by specifying a constant response modification factor (R) in a linear elastic design. However, the 'R' specified does not address the changes in structural configurations of RC moment-resisting frames (RC MRFs) viz., building height, number of bays present, bay width, irregularities arising out of mass and stiffness changes, etc. resulting in changed dynamic characteristics of the structural system. Hence, there is an imperative need to assess the seismic performance under sequential earthquake ground motions, considering the adequacy of code-specified 'R' in the representation of dynamic characteristics of RC buildings. Therefore, the present research is focused on the evaluation of the non-linear response of medium-rise 3D RC MRFs with and without vertical irregularities under bi-directional sequential earthquake ground motions using non-linear dynamic analysis. It is evident from the results that collapse probability increases, and 'R' reduces significantly for various RC MRFs subjected to sequential earthquakes, pronouncing the vulnerability and inadequacy of estimation of design base shear by code-specified 'R' under sequential earthquakes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.515-530
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• 2021

In a tall reinforced concrete (RC) core wall system subjected to strong ground motions, inelastic behavior near the base as well as mid-height of the wall is possible. Generally, the formation of plastic hinge in a core wall system may lead to extensive damage and significant repairing cost. A new configuration of core structures consisting of buckling restrained braced frames (BRBFs) and RC walls is an interesting idea in tall building seismic design. This concept can be used in the plan configuration of tall core wall systems. In this study, tall buildings with different configurations of combined core systems were designed and analyzed. Nonlinear time history analysis at severe earthquake level was performed and the results were compared for different configurations. The results demonstrate that using enough BRBFs can reduce the large curvature ductility demand at the base and mid-height of RC core wall systems and also can reduce the maximum inter-story drift ratio. For a better investigation of the structural behavior, the probabilistic approach can lead to in-depth insight. Therefore, incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) curves were calculated to assess the performance. Fragility curves at different limit states were then extracted and compared. Mean IDA curves demonstrate better behavior for a combined system, compared with conventional RC core wall systems. Collapse margin ratio for a RC core wall only system and RC core with enough BRBFs were almost 1.05 and 1.92 respectively. Therefore, it appears that using one RC core wall combined with enough BRBF core is an effective idea to achieve more confidence against tall building collapse and the results demonstrated the potential of the proposed system.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.51-58
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• 2008

Analytical probabilistic vulnerability analysis requires extensive computing effort as a result of the randomness in both input motion and response characteristics. In this study, a new methodology whereby a set of vulnerability curves are derived based on the fundamental response quantities of stiffness, strength and ductility is presented. A response database of coefficients describing lognormal vulnerability relationships is constructed by employing aclosed-form solution for a generalized single-degree-of-freedom system. Once the three fundamental quantities of a wide range of structural systems are defined, the vulnerability curves for various limit states can be derived without recourse to further simulation. Examples of application are given and demonstrate the extreme efficiency of the proposed approach in deriving vulnerability relationships.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.287-306
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• 2002

The assessment of structural performance of transfer structures under potential seismic actions is presented. Various seismic assessment methodologies are used, with particular emphasis on the accurate modelling of the higher mode effects and the potential development of a soft storey effect in the mega-columns below the transfer plate (TP) level. Those methods include response spectrum analysis (RSA), manual calculation, pushover analysis (POA) and equivalent static load analysis (ESA). The capabilities and limitations of each method are highlighted. The paper aims, firstly, to determine the appropriate seismic assessment methodology for transfer structures using these different approaches, all of which can be undertaken with the resources generally available in a design office. Secondly, the paper highlights and discusses factors influencing the response behaviour of transfer structures, and finally provides a general indication of their seismic vulnerability. The representative Hong Kong building considered in this paper utilises a structural system with coupled shear walls and moment resisting portal-frames, above and below the TP, respectively. By adopting the wind load profile stipulated in the Code of Practice on Wind Effects: Hong Kong-1983, all the structural members are sized and detailed according to the British Standards BS8110 and the current local practices. The seismic displacement demand for the structure, when built on either rock or deep soil sites, was determined in a companion paper. The lateral load-displacement characteristic of the building, determined herein from manual calculation, has indicated that the poor ductility (brittle nature) of the mega-columns, due mainly to the high level of axial pre-compression as found from the analysis, cannot be effectively alleviated solely by increasing the quantity of confinement stirrups. The interstorey drift demands at lower and upper zones caused by seismic actions are found to be substantially higher than those arising from wind loads. The mega-columns supporting the TP and the coupling beams at higher zones are identified to be the most vulnerable components under seismic actions.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.3
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• pp.517-538
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• 2016

This paper presents a probabilistic fragility analysis for two groups of bridges: simply supported and integral bridges. Comparisons are based on the seismic fragility of the bridges subjected to accelerograms of two seismic sources. Three-dimensional finite-element models of the bridges were created for each set of bridge samples, considering the nonlinear behaviour of critical bridge components. When the seismic hazard in the site is controlled by a few seismic sources, it is important to quantify separately the contribution of each fault to the structure vulnerability. In this study, seismic records come from earthquakes that originated in strike-slip and reverse faulting mechanisms. The influence of the earthquake mechanism on the seismic vulnerability of the bridges was analysed by considering the displacement ductility of the piers. An in-depth parametric study was conducted to evaluate the sensitivity of the bridges' seismic responses to variations of structural parameters. The analysis showed that uncertainties related to the presence of lap splices in columns and superstructure type in terms of integral or simply supported spans should be considered in the fragility analysis of the bridge system. Finally, the fragility curves determine the conditional probabilities that a specific structural demand will reach or exceed the structural capacity by considering peak ground acceleration (PGA) and acceleration spectrum intensity (ASI). The results also show that the simply supported bridges perform consistently better from a seismic perspective than integral bridges and focal mechanism of the earthquakes plays an important role in the seismic fragility analysis of highway bridges.