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Reinforced concrete coupled walls are a common lateral load resisting system used in multi-storey buildings. The effect of the coupling beams can improve seismic performance, but at the same time adds complexity to the design procedure. A case study coupled wall building is designed using Force-Based Design (FBD) and Direct Displacement-Based Design (DDBD) and in the case of the latter a step by step design example is provided. Distributed plasticity fibre-section beam element numerical models of the coupled walls are developed in which coupling beams are represented by diagonal truss elements and experimental results are used to confirm that this approach can provide a good representation of hysteretic behaviour. The accuracy of the two different design methods is then assessed by comparing the design predictions to the results of non-linear time-history analyses. It is shown that the DDBD approach gives an accurate prediction of inter-storey drift response. The FBD approach, in accordance with NZS1170.5 and NZS3101, is shown to include an impractical procedure for the assignment of coupling beam strengths and code equations for the calculation of coupling beam characteristics appear to include errors. Finally, the work highlights differences between the P-delta considerations that are made in FBD and DDBD, and shows that the code results are very sensitive to the way in which P-delta effects are accounted for.
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A non-destructive hardness testing method is being developed to determine plastic strain in steel elements that have been subjected to inelastic seismic loading. The focus of this study is on the active links of eccentrically braced frames (EBFs). The 2010/2011 Christchurch earthquake series, especially the very intense February 22 shaking, was the first earthquake worldwide to push complete EBF systems into their inelastic state, generating a moderate to high level of plastic strain in EBF active links for a range of buildings from 3 to 23 storeys in height. Plastic deformation was confined to the active links. This raised two important questions: 1) what was the extent of plastic deformation; and 2) what effect does that have to post-earthquake steel properties? To answer these questions a range of actions is being taken. A non-destructive hardness test method is being developed to determine a relationship between hardness and plastic strain inactive link beams. Active links from the earthquake affected, 23-storey Pacific Tower building in Christchurch has been hardness and material property tested to determine the changes in the steel, and cyclic testing of active links to defined levels of inelastic demand is underway. Test results to date show clear evidence that the hardness based method is able to give a good relationship between hardness measurements and plastic strain. This paper presents recent significant findings from this project. The principal of these is the discovery that hot rolled steel tested beams, all carry manufacturing induced plastic strains, in regions of the webs, of up to 5%.
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When a structure is excited by an earthquake ground motion the input energy may be reduced by inelastic action or by supplemental damping devices. If the seismic energy dissipation can be achieved by means of separate non-load bearing supplementary damping systems, the structure itself can remain elastic providing a continuing serviceability following the design level earthquake.
This paper illustrates the advantages of using added, or supplemental, damping in structures. The control system consists of passive friction dampers installed in the ground floor of the structure using tendons to transmit the damper forces to the other parts of the structure. The damping forces generated by the dampers are transferred to the structure by the tendons and horizontal links that oppose the inertial loads applied to the structure by the earthquake excitation. The dampers are ring spring friction devices consisting of inner and outer ring elements assembled to a form a spring interface. A four storey-two bay steel frame was used in the study.
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It is well recognised that the dynamic response of unreinforced masonry buildings with flexible timber diaphragms typically contains multiple dominant modes associated with the excitations of the diaphragms and the in-plane walls. Existing linear analysis methods for this type of structure commonly account for the multi-mode behaviour by assuming the independent vibrations of the in-plane loaded walls (in-plane walls) and the diaphragms. Specifically, the in-plane walls are considered to be rigid and the unmodified ground motion is assumed to be transmitted up the walls to the diaphragm ends. While this assumption may be appropriate for many low-rise unreinforced masonry buildings, neglecting the dynamic interaction between the diaphragms and the in-plane walls can lead to unreliable predictions of seismic demands. An alternative analysis approach is proposed in this paper, based on the mode properties of a system in which (1) the mass ratios between the diaphragms and the in-plane wall are the same at all levels, and (2) the periods of the diaphragms are the same at all levels. It is proposed that under these conditions, two modes are typically sufficient to obtain the peak seismic demands of the in-plane walls in elastically responding low-rise regular buildings. The applicability of the two-mode analysis approach is assessed for more general diaphragm configurations by sensitivity analysis, and the limitations are identified. The two-mode approach is then used to derive a response modification factor, which may be used in conjunction with a linear static procedure in the seismic assessment of buildings with flexible diaphragms.
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The recent series of damaging earthquakes in Christchurch, New Zealand has encouraged greater recognition of the post-earthquake economic impacts on New Zealand society and higher emphasis on low-damage earthquake resisting systems. Braced frames incorporating Buckling Restrained Braces (BRB) are seen as a significant contender for such a system.
This research project focuses on the development of a reliable design procedure and detailing requirements for a generic BRB system. To gauge the performance of the designed system and to ascertain the reliability of the developed procedure, a series of static and dynamic sub-assemblage tests on the BRB frame with two different brace connection configurations were performed. The results are presented and discussed herein.
The experimental tests generated stable and near symmetrical hysteresis loops, which is a principal characteristic of a well performing BRB system, albeit with the occurrence of slack in the connections. The experimental test results shows that several improvements need to be made to the proposed design procedure and detailing as outlined throughout the paper; especially the procedural modification to prevent slack from occurring in the two different connection systems. It is envisaged that applications will typically involve use of proprietary braces, however these need to be applied in accordance with the New Zealand design procedure; and determining the appropriate procedure was a key part of this project.
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The seismic assessment of an existing building is often required, possibly due to a change in use, changes in legislation (as recently occurred in New Zealand), for insurance purposes or to permit continued occupancy following a major earthquake. This discussion paper explores three ways in which Building Information Modelling (BIM) could assist in the assessment and mitigation of seismic risk: (i) BIM could provide valuable data on characteristics of both structural and non-structural elements within a building to permit a reliable and holistic seismic risk assessment to be undertaken; (ii) administer a self-diagnosis process utilising damage information received from structural health monitoring technologies prior to and following an earthquake, thus reducing the need for potentially dangerous and time-consuming physical post-earthquake inspections; and (iii) enabling realisation of an emergency management hub within a building management system for implementing control processes to monitor and eventually shutdown damaged mechanical services (e.g. gas pipes) following an earthquake, thus limiting the negative consequences of earthquake induced damage. By providing a leading-edge discussion of these three subjects, with reference to building damage observed in previous earthquakes, important directions for research in BIM are identified that promise to provide a more effective means of seismic risk assessment and mitigation.
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In this paper, representative ground motion ensembles for several major earthquake scenarios in New Zealand are developed. Cases considered include representative ground motions for the occurrence of Alpine, Hope and Porters Pass earthquakes in Christchurch city, and the occurrence of Wellington, Wairarapa and Ohariu fault ruptures in Wellington city. For each considered scenario rupture, ensembles of 20 and 7 ground motions are selected using the generalized conditional intensity measure (GCIM) approach, ensuring that the ground motion ensembles represent both the mean and distribution of ground motion intensity which such scenarios could impose. These scenario-based ground motion sets can be used to complement ground motions which are often selected in conjunction with probabilistic seismic hazard analysis, in order to understand the performance of structures for the question “what if this fault ruptures?”
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Composite steel-concrete construction uses steel and concrete together to provide the possibility of a system with better performance, and/or lower cost, than using either material alone. This paper firstly subjectively evaluates the advantages and disadvantages of a number of composite concrete filled tubular (CFT) column-connection systems proposed/used around the world in terms of their likely acceptance in moment frames in New Zealand. Then, the cost of a conventional one-way moment-resisting steel frame system is compared with a similarly behaving frame using rectangular concrete filled steel tubular (CFT) columns. It is shown for these studies conducted on one-way frames that composite CFT column construction with beam end-plate connections is generally more expensive than conventional steel column construction.
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Floor diaphragms form a critical component of seismic resistant buildings, but unfortunately, in the main their analysis and design in New Zealand leaves much to be desired. No worse example exists than the CTV Building in Christchurch. Despite the critical importance of diaphragms, there is a paucity of code provisions and design guidance relating to them.
Using generic examples, the author describes a number of common diaphragm design deficiencies. These include diaphragms where valid load paths do not exist; diaphragms where the floors are not properly connected to the lateral load resisting elements, diaphragms that lack adequate flexural capacity and where re-entrant corners are not properly accounted for, and transfer diaphragms into which the reactions from the walls above cannot be properly introduced or transmitted.
Three main types of seismic diaphragm action are discussed – ‘inertial,’ ‘transfer’ and ‘compatibility.’ These are, respectively, the direct inertial load on a floor that must be carried back to the lateral load resisting elements, the transfer forces that occur when major changes in floor area and lateral load resisting structure occur between storeys, and the compatibility forces that must exist to force compatible displacements between incompatible elements, such as shear walls or braced frames and moment frames, or as a result of redistribution.
The author presents a simple Truss Method that allows complex diaphragms to be analysed for multiple load cases, providing accurate force distributions without the multiple models that conventional strut and tie methods would require. Being a type of strut and tie method, the Truss Method is compliant with requirements in NZS3101:2006 [1] to use strut and tie models for the analysis and design of certain aspects of diaphragm behaviour.
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Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings are the most common target for seismic risk mitigation programmes, due to their long history of poor seismic performance. While seismic risk mitigation must make use of sound engineering methodologies, good public policy is at the heart of successful programmes. Past URM seismic risk mitigation efforts on the west coast of the United States are summarized herein, as valuable insights have been gained from both successful and unsuccessful programmes. Programme details such as compliance deadlines, retrofit design techniques, and retrofit/demolition rates are provided for cities throughout California, Oregon and Washington states, and the overall observed effectiveness of mandatory versus non-mandatory seismic strengthening programmes is discussed.
