• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
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• v.12 no.3
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• pp.71-78
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• 2012

The dynamic behavior of spatial structures is different depending on the aspect ration of arch structure, as the rise-span ratio or open-angle, and these spatial structures show differently the character of seismic response in accordance with stiffness and connection of the lower support structures that are directly influenced by earthquake. Therefore, in this paper, dynamic analysis is conducted for seismic response of single layer arch structures by the influence of column's stiffness and connection, to reflect the different vertical and horizontal vibration mode of single layer arch structures. The vertical response of single layer arch structures is more influence by lower columns and the influence of column's connection rotational stiffness is not large, except to the hinged connections.

• Journal of KSNVE
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• v.7 no.5
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• pp.789-796
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• 1997

In this study a conventional rubber mount and a new form of base isolator made of steel spring coated with natural and articial rubber were manufactured and tested on a shaking table to investigate the capacity of reducing the vertical vibration of a building induced by subway train. The model structure used in the test is a 1/4 scaled steel structure, and a white noise input and train vibration records were used to check the effectiveness of the isolators. According to the results all three types of isolators turned out to perform effectively in reducing the acceleration and the natural rubber-coated one is ranked best among the isolators. However the vertical displacement of the model is increased due to the instolation of the bearings, and the safty against the lateral load induced by earthquake ground motion should be provided to be able to apply the system to the real buildings.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.6
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• pp.759-772
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• 2010

Seismic isolation is a well-known method to mitigate the earthquake effects on structures by increasing their fundamental natural periods at the expense of larger displacements in the structural system. In this paper, the seismic response of isolated and fixed base vertical, cylindrical, liquid storage tanks is investigated using a Finite Element Model (FEM), taking into account fluid-structure interaction effects. Three vertical, cylindrical tanks with different ratios of height to radius (H/R = 2.6, 1.0 and 0.3) are numerically analyzed and the results of response-history analysis, including base shear, overturning moment and free surface displacement are reported for isolated and non-isolated tanks. Isolated tanks equipped by lead rubber bearings isolators and the bearing are modeled by using a non-linear spring in FEM model. It is observed that the seismic isolation of liquid storage tanks is quite effective and the response of isolated tanks is significantly influenced by the system parameters such as their fundamental frequencies and the aspect ratio of the tanks. However, the base isolation does not significantly affect the surface wave height and even it can causes adverse effects on the free surface sloshing motion.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.635-655
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• 2016

The effects of reinforcement on the horizontal and vertical deformations of geosynthetic reinforced retaining walls are investigated under a well-known seismic load (San Jose earthquake, 1955). Retaining walls are designed with internal and external stability (with appropriate factor of safety) and deformation is chosen as the main parameter for describing the wall behavior under seismic load. Retaining walls with various heights (6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 meter) are optimized for geosynthetics arrangement, and modeled with a finite element method. The stress-strain behavior of the walls under a well-known loading type, which has been used by many previous researchers, is investigated. A comparison is made between the reinforced and non-reinforced systems to evaluate the effect of reinforcement on decreasing the deformation of the retaining walls. The results show that the reinforcement system significantly controls the deformation of the top and middle of the retaining walls, which are the critical points under dynamic loading. It is shown that the optimized reinforcement system in retaining walls under the studied seismic loading could decrease horizontal and vertical deformation up to 90% and 40% respectively.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.375-390
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• 2015

Staircase is a vertical transportation element commonly used in every multistoried structure. Inclined flights of staircase are usually casted monolithically with RC frame. The structural configuration of stairs generally introduces discontinuities into the typical regular reinforced concrete frame composed of beams and columns. Inclined position of flight transfers both vertical as well as horizontal forces in the frame. Under lateral loading, staircase in a multistory RC frame building develops truss action creating a local stiffening effect. In case of seismic event the stiff area around staircase attracts larger force. Therefore, special attention is required while modeling and analyzing the building with staircase. However, in general design practice, designers usually ignore the staircase while modeling either due to ignorance or to avoid complexity. A numerical study has been conducted to examine the effect of ignoring staircase in modeling and design of RC frame buildings while they are really present in structure, may be at different locations. Linear dynamic analysis is performed on nine separate building models to evaluate influence of staircase on dynamic characteristics of building, followed by nonlinear static analysis on the same models to access their seismic performance. It is observed that effect of ignoring staircase in modeling is severe and leads to unsafe structure. Effect of location and orientation of staircase is also important in determining seismic performance of RC frame buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.399-409
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• 2019

This paper presents the experimental investigations on the seismic performance of a peculiar steel-concrete vertical hybrid structural system referred to as steel truss-RC tubular column hybrid structure. It is typically applied as the supporting structural system to house air-cooled condensers in thermal power plants (TPPs). Firstly, pseudo-dynamic tests (PDTs) are performed on a scaled substructure to investigate the seismic performance of this hybrid structure under different hazard levels. The deformation performance, deterioration behavior and energy dissipation characteristics are analyzed. Then, a cyclic loading test is conducted after the final loading case of PDTs to verify the ultimate seismic resistant capacity of this hybrid structure. Finally, the failure mechanism is discussed through mechanical analysis based on the test results. The research results indicate that the steel truss-RC tubular column hybrid structure is an anti-seismic structural system with single-fortification line. RC tubular columns are the main energy dissipated components. The truss-to-column connections are the structural weak parts. In general, it has good ductile performance to satisfy the seismic design requirements in high-intensity earthquake regions.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.491-503
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• 2021

Shallow tunnels are vulnerable to earthquakes, and shallow ground is usually inhomogeneous. Based on the limit equilibrium method and variational principle, a solution for the seismic collapse mechanism of shallow tunnel in inhomogeneous ground is presented. And the finite difference method is employed to compare with the analytical solution. It shows that the analytical results are conservative when the horizontal and vertical stresses equal the static earth pressure and zero at vault section, respectively. The safety factor of shallow tunnel changes greatly during an earthquake. Hence, the cyclic loading characteristics should be considered to evaluate tunnel stability. And the curve sliding surface agrees with the numerical simulation and previous studies. To save time and ensure accuracy, the curve sliding surface with 2 undetermined constants is a good choice to analyze shallow tunnel stability. Parameter analysis demonstrates that the horizontal semiaxis, acceleration, ground cohesion and homogeneity affect tunnel stability greatly, and the horizontal semiaxis, vertical semiaxis, tunnel depth and ground homogeneity have obvious influence on tunnel sliding surface. It concludes that the most applicable approaches to enhance tunnel stability are reducing the horizontal semiaxis, strengthening cohesion and setting the tunnel into good ground.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.41-54
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• 2023

The use of a skirt, a vertical projection attached to the footing, is a recently developed method to increase the bearing capacity of soils and reduce foundation settlements. Most of the studies were focused on vertical skirted circular footings resting on clay while neglecting the rigidity and inclination of skirts. This study employs finite element limit analysis to investigate the bearing capacity enhancement of flexible and rigid inclined skirts in cohesionless soils. The results indicate that the bearing capacity initially improves with an increase in the skirt inclination but subsequently decreases for both flexible and rigid skirts. However, the rigid skirt exhibits more apparent optimum skirt inclination and bearing capacity enhancement than the flexible one, owing to differences in their failure mechanisms. Furthermore, the bearing capacity of the inclined skirted foundation increases with the skirt length, footing depth, and internal friction angle of the soil. In the case of rigid skirts, the bearing capacity increases linearly with skirt length, while for flexible skirts, it reaches a stable value at a certain skirt length. The efficiency of the flexible footing reduces as the footing depth and soil internal friction angle increase. Conversely, the efficiency of the rigid skirt decreases only with an increase in the depth of the footing. The paper also presents a detailed analysis of various failure patterns, highlighting the behaviour of inclined skirted footings. Additionally, nonlinear regression equations are provided to quantify and predict the bearing capacity enhancement with the inclined skirts.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.88 no.3
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• pp.263-271
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• 2023

Base isolation is a widely used technique for the seismic control of structures as it reduces the structural seismic demand. However, displacement of the isolation layer is not economically feasible in congested urban areas. To resolve the issue, an innovative system is proposed here to isolate both horizontally at the base and vertically in the upper portion of the structure. A simplified linear three degree-of-freedom (3DOF) model of the system that considers the mass and stiffness ratios of the substructure has been introduced and analyzed in MATLAB by spectrum analysis. The 3DOF model results revealed that, when the period of the soft substructure reaches 2.5 times that of the stiff substructure, the isolation and the lower substructure responses decrease by 65% and 51%, respectively. Time-history analysis of a MDOF system at three frequency ratios under a wide range of ground motions indicated that, at the expense of accepting a certain large drift by the soft substructure in the upper portion of the structure, base isolation displacement can be decreased by 10%.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.3
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• pp.257-270
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• 2023

In this study, the feasibility and applicability of a friction damper with a vertical installation scheme are investigated. This device is composed of a steel section and two friction hinges at both ends which dissipate seismic energy. Due to its small width and vertical installation scheme, the proposed damper can minimize the interference with architectural functions. To evaluate the performance of the proposed damper, its mechanical behavior is theoretically evaluated and the required formulas for the yield strength and elastic stiffness are derived. The theoretical formulas are verified by establishing the analytical model of the damper in the SAP2000 software and comparing their results. To further investigate the performance of the developed damper, the provided analytical model is applied to a 4-story reinforced concrete (RC) structure and its performance is evaluated before and after retrofit under the Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) hazard level. The seismic performance is thoroughly evaluated in terms of maximum interstory drift ratio, displacement time history, residual displacement, and energy dissipation. The results show that the proposed damper can be efficiently used to protect the structure against seismic loads.