Piloti-type building is one of typical vertical atypical buildings. These buildings can fail by weak-story or flexible-story mechanism on the first story. They should be designed by taking into account the special seismic load, but those less than six stories are not required to confirm the seismic performance from structural engineers in Korea. For this reason, small-size pilloti-type RC buildings need to be checked for seismic performance. Based on this background, this study performed nonlinear dynamic analysis using the PERFORM-3D for small-size pilloti-type RC buildings and assessed their seismic performance. Examples are two through four story buildings with and without walls in the first story. The walls and columns in the first story satisfied the target performance in the basic of flexural behavior due to quite a large size and reinforcement. However, wall shear demands exceed shear strength in some buildings. When designed for KBC2009, wall shear strength exceed shear demand in some buildings, but still does not in others. Consequently, wall shear must be carefully checked in both existing and new small-size pilloti-type RC buildings.
Damages of large embankment dams by recent strong earthquakes in the world highlight the importance of seismic security of dams. Some of recent dam construction projects for water storage and hydropower are located in highly seismic zone, hence the seismic performance evaluation is an important issue. While state-of-the-art numerical analysis technology is generally utilized in practice for seismic performance evaluation of large dams, physical modeling is also carried out where new construction technology is involved or numerical analysis technology cannot simulate the behavior appropriately. Geotechnical centrifuge modeling is widely adopted in earthquake engineering to simulate the seismic behavior of large earth structures, but sometimes it can’t be applied for large embankment dams due to various limitations. This study proposes a dynamic centrifuge testing method for large embankment dams and evaluated its applicability. Scaling relations for a case which model scale and g-level are different could be derived considering the stress conditions and predominant period of the structure, which is equivalent to previously suggested scaling relations. The scaling principles and testing method could be verified by modified modeling of models using a model at different acceleration levels. Finally, its applicability was examined by centrifuge tests for an embankment dam in Korea.
Reinforced concrete shear walls with deficient reinforcement details are tested under cyclic loading. The deficiency of reinforcement details includes insufficient splice length in U-stirrups at the ends of horizontal reinforcement and boundary column dowel bars found in existing low- to mid-rise Korean buildings designed non-seismically. Three test specimens have rectangular, babel and flanged sections, respectively. Flexure- and shear-controlled models for reinforced concrete shear walls specified in ASCE/SEI 41-13 are compared with the flexural and shear components of force-displacement relation extracted separately from the top displacement of the specimen based on the displacement data measured at diverse locations. Modification of the shear wall models in ASCE/SEI 41-13 is proposed in order to account for the effect of bar slip, cracking loads in flexure and shear. The proposed modification shows better approximation of the test results compared to the original models.
To investigate earthquake responses of structures with basements affected by soil deposits, centrifuge tests were performed using an in-flight earthquake simulator. The test specimen was composed of a single-degree-of-freedom structure model, a basement and sub-soil deposits in a centrifuge container. The test parameters were the dynamic period of the structure model, boundary conditions of the basement, existence of soil deposits, centrifugal acceleration level, and type and level of input earthquake accelerations. When soil deposits did not exist, the earthquake responses of the structures with fixed basement were significantly greater than those of the structure without basement. Also, the earthquake responses of the structures with the fixed basement surrounded by soil deposits were amplified, but the amplifications were smaller than those of the structures without basement. The earthquake responses of the structures with the half-embedded basement in the soil deposits were greater than those estimated by the fixed base model using the measured free-field ground motion. The test showed that the basement and the soil deposit should be simultaneously considered in the numerical analysis model, and the stiffness of the half-embedded was not effective.
Korea is part of a region of low to moderate seismicity located inside the Eurasian plate with bedrock located at depths less than 30 m. However, the spectral acceleration obtained from site response analyses based on the geologic conditions of inland areas of the Korean peninsula are significantly different from the current Korean seismic code. Therefore, suitable site classification scheme and design response spectra based on local site conditions in the Korean peninsula are required to produce reliable estimates of earthquake ground motion. In this study, site-specific response analyses were performed at more than 300 sites with at least 100 sites at each site categories of SC, SD, and SE as defined in the current seismic code in Korea. The process of creating a huge database of input parameters - such as shear wave velocity profiles, normalized shear modulus reduction curves, damping curves, and input earthquake motions - for site response analyses were described. The response spectra and site coefficients obtained from site response analyses were compared with those proposed for the site categories in the current code. Problems with the current seismic design code were subsequently discussed, and the development and verifications of new site classification system and corresponding design response spectra are detailed in companion papers (II-development of new site categories and design response spectra and III-Verifications)
In the companion paper (I – Database and Site Response Analyses), site-specific response analyses were performed at more than 300 domestic sites. In this study, a new site classification system and design response spectra are proposed using results of the site-specific response analyses. Depth to bedrock (H) and average shear wave velocity of soil above the bedrock (VS,Soil) were adopted as parameters to classify the sites into sub-categories because these two factors mostly affect site amplification, especially for shallow bedrock region. The 20 m of depth to bedrock was selected as the initial parameter for site classification based on the trend of site coefficients obtained from the site-specific response analyses. The sites having less than 20 m of depth to bedrock (H1 sites) are sub-divided into two site classes using 260 m/s of VS,Soil while the sites having greater than 20 m of depth to bedrock (H2 sites) are sub-divided into two site classes at VS,Soil equal to 180 m/s. The integration interval of 0.4 ~ 1.5 sec period range was adopted to calculate the long-period site coefficients (Fv) for reflecting the amplification characteristics of Korean geological condition. In addition, the frequency distribution of depth to bedrock reported for Korean sites was also considered in calculating the site coefficients for H2 sites to incorporate sites having greater than 30 m of depth to bedrock. The relationships between the site coefficients and rock shaking intensity were proposed and then subsequently compared with the site coefficients of similar site classes suggested in other codes.
In the companion papers (I, II), site-specific response analyses were performed at more than 300 domestic sites and a new site classification system and design response spectra (DRS) were proposed using the results of the site-specific response analyses. In this paper, the proposed site classification system and the design response spectra are compared with those in other seismic codes and verified by different methods. Firstly, the design response spectra are compared with the design response spectra in Eurocode 8, KBC 2016 and MOCT 1997 to estimate quantitative differences and general trends. Secondly, site-specific response analyses are carried out using VS-profiles obtained using field seismic tests and the results are compared with the proposed DRS in order to reduce the uncertainty in using the SPT-N value in site-specific response analyses in the companion paper (I). In addition, site coefficients from real earthquake records measured in Korean peninsula are used to compare with the proposed site coefficients. Finally, dynamic centrifuge tests are also performed to simulate the representative Korean site conditions, such as shallow depth to bedrock and short-period amplification characteristics. The overall results showed that the proposed site classification system and design response spectra reasonably represented the site amplification characteristic of shallow bedrock condition in Korea.
Seismic performance evaluation of existing building usually needs much time and man power, especially in case of nonlinear analysis. Many data interaction steps for model transfer are needed and engineers should spend much time with simple works like data entry. Those time-consuming steps could be reduced by applying computerized and automated modules. In this study, computational platform for seismic performance evaluation was made with several computerized modules. StrAuto and floor load transfer module offers a path that can transfer most linear model data to nonlinear analysis model so that engineers can avoid a lot of repetitive work for input information for the nonlinear analysis model. And the new nonlinear property generator also helps to get the nonlinear data easily by importing data from structural design program. To evaluate the effect of developed modules on each stages, seismic performance evaluation of example building was carried out and the lead time was used for the quantitative evaluation.