In this paper, a design concept of post-tensioned precast bridge piers was proposed to improve seismic behavior of the bridge pier. Mild reinforcing bars are placed continuously along the height of the column. Prestressing tendons are also provided to obtain re-centering capability for seismic events. Arrangement of the axial steels to prevent buckling of rebars at plastic hinge region was suggested and enhanced seismic performance was verified by experiments. Moment-curvature analyses were performed to evaluate the effect of effective prestress on seismic behavior after verifying the calculation method by cyclic tests of the precast columns. A real bridge pier was designed to investigate the seismic performance according to different level of effective prestress. Level of effective prestress showed obvious effect on crushing displacement but negligible effect on lateral displacement at fracture of tendons and reinforcements.
Small-size buildings are not designed by professional structural engineers in Korea. Therefore, their seismic performance can not be exactly estimated because their member sizes and reinforcement may be over- or under-designed. A prescriptive design criteria for the small-size buildings exists, but it also provides over-designed structural members since structural analysis is not incorporated, so it is necessary to revise the prescriptive criteria. The goal of this study was to provide an information for the revision, which is seismic performance and capability of small-size reinforced concrete moment frame buildings. For the study, the state of existing small-size reinforce-concrete buildings such as member size and reinforcement was identified by investigating their structural drawings. Then, over-strength, ductility and response modification factor of the small-size reinforced concrete moment frame buildings were estimated by analytical approach along with seismic performance check. The result showed that they possess moderate over-strength and ductility, and may use slightly increased response modification factor.
Observations of the damages to high-rise reinforced concrete (RC) wall building structures caused by by recent earthquakes in Chile (Mw 8.8, February 2010) and New Zealand (February 2011, ML 6.3) have generally exceeded expectations. Firstly, this study estimated the seismic damage levels of 15-story RC box-type wall building structures using the analytical models calibrated by the results of a shaking table test on a 1:5 scale 10-story RC box-type wall building model. Then, the seismic fragility analysis of the prototype model was conducted by using the SAC/FEMA method and the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). To compensate for the uncertainties and variability of ground motion and its impacts on the prototype model, in the SAC/FEMA method, a total of 61 ground motion records were selected from 20 earthquakes, with a magnitude ranging from 5.9 to 8.8 and an epicentral distance ranging from 5 to 105km. In the IDA, a total of 11 ground motion records were used based on the uniform hazard response spectrum representing a return period of 2,475 years. As a result, the probabilities that the limits of the serviceability, damage control, and collapse prevention would be exceeded were as follows: from the SAC/FEMA method: 79%, 0.3%, and 0%, respectively; and from the IDA: 57%, 1.7%, and 0%, respectively.
In the case where a MR-damper is employed for vibration control, it is important to decide on how much control capacity should be assigned to it against structural capacities (strength and load, etc). This paper aims to present a MR-damper's control capacity suitable for the capacities of the structure which needs to be controlled. First, a two span bridge was built equipped with a MR-damper, which constitutes a two-span MR-damper control system. Then, inflicting an earthquake load on the system, a basic experiment was performed for vibration control, and a simulation was also carried out reflecting specific control conditions such as MR-damper and rubber bearing. The comparison of the results against each other proved their validity. Then, in order to calculate an optimal control capacity of the MR-damper, structural capacity was divided into eleven cases in total and simulated. For each case, an additional load of 30 KN was inflicted everytime, thereby increasingly strengthening structural capacity. As a result of the study, it was found that the control capacity of MR-damper of 30 KN was safely secured only with lumped mass of more than 150 KN(case 6). Therefore, it is concluded the MR-damper showed the best performance of control when it exerted its capacity at around 20% of structural capacity.
Earthquake event keeps increasing every year, and the recent cases of earthquake hazards invoke the necessity of seismic study in Korea, as geotechnical earthquake hazards, such as strong ground motion, liquefaction and landslides, are a significant threat to structures in industrial hub areas including coastal facilities. In this study, systemized framework of integrated assessment of earthquake-induced geotechnical hazard was established using advanced geospatial database. And a visible simulation of the framework was specifically conducted at two coastal facility areas in Incheon. First, the geospatial-grid information in the 3D domain were constructed with geostatistical interpolation method composed of multiple geospatial coverage mapping and 3D integration of geo-layer construction considering spatial outliers and geotechnical uncertainty. Second, the behavior of site-specific seismic responses were assessed by incorporating the depth to bedrock, mean shear wave velocity of the upper 30 m, and characteristic site period based on the geospatial-grid. Third, the normalized correlations between rock-outcrop accelerations and the maximum accelerations of each grid were determined considering the site-specific seismic response characteristics. Fourth, the potential damage due to liquefaction was estimated by combining the geospatial-grid and accelerations correlation grid based on the simplified liquefaction potential index evaluation method.
The objective of this study is to apply performance-based seismic design to high-rise apartment buildings in Korean considering collapse prevention level. The possible issues during its application were studied and the suggestions were made based on the findings from the performance-based seismic design of a building with typical residential multi-unit layout. The lateral-force-resisting system of the building is ordinary shear walls system with a code exception of height limit. In order to allow the exception, the serviceability and the stability of the ordinary shear wall structure need to be evaluated to confirm that it has the equivalent performance as the one designed under the Korean Building Code 2009. The structure was evaluated whether it satisfied its performance objectives to withstand Service Level and Maximum Considered Earthquake.