• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.433-447
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• 2024

During earthquakes, regular buildings perform better than irregular buildings. In general, seismic design codes define a regular building using estimates of Storey Stiffness and Storey Strength. At present, seismic design codes do not recommend a specific method to estimate these parameters. Consequently, any method described in the literature can be applied to estimate the aforementioned parameters. Nevertheless, research has demonstrated that storey stiffness and storey strength vary depending on the estimation method employed. As a result, the same building can be regular or irregular, depending on the method employed to estimate storey stiffness and storey strength. Hence, there is a need to identify the best method to estimate storey stiffness and storey strength. For this purpose, the study presents a qualitative and quantitative evaluation of nine approaches used to determine storey stiffness. Similarly, the study compares six approaches for estimating storey strength. Subsequently, the study identifies the best method to estimate storey stiffness and storey strength using results of 350 linear time history analyses and 245 nonlinear time history analyses, respectively. Based on the comparison, it is concluded that the Fundamental Lateral Translational Mode Shape Method and Isolated Storey Method - A Particular Case are the best methods to estimate storey stiffness and storey strength of low-to-mid rise buildings, respectively.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.7-17
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• 2017

In Chinese Design Codes, for super high-rise buildings with complex structural distribution, which are regarded as code-exceeding buildings, elasto-plastic time history analysis is needed to validate the requirement of "no collapse under rare earthquake". In this paper, a 117-story super high-rise building is discussed. It has a height of 597 m and a height-width ratio of 9.5, which have both exceeded the limitations stipulated by the Chinese Design Codes. Mega columns adopted in this structure have cross section area of about $45m^2$ at the bottom, which is infrequent in practical projects. NosaCAD and Perform-3D, both widely used in nonlinear analyses, were chosen in this study, with which two model were established and analyzed, respectively. Elasto-plastic time history analysis was conducted to look into its seismic behavior, emphasizing on the stress state and deformation abilities under intensive seismic excitation.From the comparisons on the results under rare earthquake obtained from NosaCAD and Perform-3D, the overall responses such as roof displacement, inter story drift, base shear and damage pattern of the whole structure from each software show agreement to an extent. Besides, the deformation of the structure is below the limitation of the Chinese Codes, the time sequence and distribution of damages on core tubes are reasonable, and can dissipate certain inputted energy, which indicates that the structure can meet the requirement of "no collapse under rare earthquake".

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.967-988
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• 2016

Due to the significant aerodynamic interference from sub-towers and surrounding tall buildings, the wind loads and dynamic responses on main tower of three-tower connected tall building typically change especially compared with those on the isolated single tall building. This paper addresses the wind load effects and equivalent static wind loads (ESWLs) of three-tower connected tall building based on measured synchronous surface pressures in a wind tunnel. The variations of the global shape coefficients and extremum wind loads of main tower structure with or without interference effect under different wind directions are studied, pointing out the deficiency of the traditional wind loads based on the load codes for the three-tower connected tall building. The ESWLs calculation method based on elastic restoring forces is proposed, which completely contains the quasi-static item, inertia item and the coupled effect between them. Then the wind-induced displacement and acceleration responses for main tower of three-tower connected tall building in the horizontal and torsional directions are investigated, subsequently the structural basal and floor ESWLs under different return periods, wind directions and damping ratios are studied. Finally, the action mechanism of interference effect on structural wind effects is investigated. Main conclusions can provide a sientific basis for the wind-resistant design of such three-tower connected tall building.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.197-212
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• 2005

Tall buildings under wind action usually oscillate simultaneously in the along-wind and across-wind directions as well as in torsional modes. While several procedures have been developed for predicting wind-induced loads and responses in along-wind direction, accurate analytical methods for estimating across-wind and torsional response have not been possible yet. Simplified empirical formulas for estimation of the across-wind dynamic responses of rectangular tall buildings are presented in this paper. Unlike established empirical formulas in codifications, the formulas proposed in this paper are developed based on simultaneous pressure measurements from a series of tall building models with various side and aspect ratios in a boundary layer wind tunnel. Comparisons of the across-wind responses determined by the proposed formulas and the results obtained from the wind tunnel tests as well as those estimated by two well-known wind loading codes are made to examine the applicability and accuracy of the proposed simplified formulas. It is shown through the comparisons that the proposed simplified formulas can be served as an alternative and useful tool for the design and analysis of wind effects on rectangular tall buildings.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.13 no.5
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• pp.433-449
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• 2010

Wind tunnel model tests were conducted for a residential apartment block located within the complex terrain of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). The test building is typical of medium-rise residential buildings in Hong Kong. The model study was conducted using modelling techniques and assumptions that are commonly used to predict design wind loads and pressures for buildings sited in regions of significant topography. Results for the building model with and without the surrounding topography were compared to investigate the effects of far-field and near-field topography on wind characteristics at the test building site and wind-induced external pressure coefficients at key locations on the building facade. The study also compared the wind tunnel test results to topographic multipliers and external pressure coefficients determined from nine international design standards. Differences between the external pressure coefficients stipulated in the various standards will be exacerbated when they are combined with the respective topographic multipliers.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.765-780
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• 2014

Many building codes use the empirical equation to determine fundamental period of vibration where in effect of length, width and the stiffness of the building is not explicitly accounted for. In the present study, ANN models are developed in three categories, varying the number of input parameters in each category. Input parameters are chosen to represent mass, stiffness and geometry of the buildings indirectly. Total numbers of 206 buildings are analyzed out of which, data set of 142 buildings is used to develop these models. It is demonstrated through developed ANN models that geometry of the building and the sizes of the columns are significant parameters in the dynamic analysis of building frames. The testing dataset of these three models is used to obtain the empirical relationship between the height of the building and fundamental period of vibration and compared with the similar equations proposed by other researchers. Experiments are conducted on Mild Steel frames using uniaxial shake table. It is seen that the values obtained through the ANN models are close to the experimental values. The validity of ANN technique is verified by experimental values.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.44 no.3
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• pp.249-260
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• 2012

Main focus of the combined nuclear research activities at Aachen University (RWTH) and the Research Center J$\ddot{u}$lich (J$\ddot{U}$LICH) is the experimental and analytical investigation of containment phenomena and processes. We are deeply convinced that reliable simulations for operation, design basis and beyond-design basis accidents of nuclear power plants need the application of so-called lumped-parameter (LP) based codes as well as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) codes in an indispensable manner. The LP code being used at our institutions is the GRS code COCOSYS and the CFD tool is ANSYS CFX mostly used in German nuclear research. Both codes are applied for safety analyses especially of beyond design accidents. Focal point of the work is containment thermal-hydraulics, but source term relevant investigations for aerosol and iodine behavior are performed as well. To increase the capability of COCOSYS and CFX detailed models for specific features, e.g. recombiner behavior including chimney effect, building condenser, and wall condensation are developed and validated against facilities at different scales. The close connection between analytical and experimental activities is notable and identifying feature of the RWTH/J$\ddot{U}$LICH activities.

• Journal of Korean Society of Steel Construction
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.51-57
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• 2003

Current steel-framed building design codes are based on theoretical and experimental researches on the conventional structural steel. However, the yield phenomenon of austenitic stainless steel, which is characterized by continuous yielding, is quite different from that of conventional structural steel. The offset strength, which should determine the design strength, may affect the limits of width-thickness ratio of current design codes. Stub column test results showed that the limits of width-thickness ratio satisfied both ASD and LRFD codes when 0.2% offset strength was regarded as design strength. In addition, the local buckling strengths of all stainless steel stub columns did not decrease rapidly compared with those of conventional structural steel columns, even though the width-thickness ratio exceeded the design limit.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.32 no.6
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• pp.705-724
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• 2009

The two major widely used building design code documents of reinforced concrete structures are the ACI 318-05 and Eurocode for the Design of Concrete Structures EC2. Therefore, a thorough comparative analysis of the provisions of these codes is required to confirm their validity and identify discrepancies in either code. In this context, provisions of flexural computations would be particularly attractive for detailed comparison. The provisions of safety concepts, design assumptions, cross-sectional moment capacity, ductility, minimum and maximum reinforcement ratios, and load safety factors of both the ACI 318-05 and EC2 is conducted with parametric analysis. In order to conduct the comparison successfully, the parameters and procedures of EC2 were reformatted and defined in terms of those of ACI 318-05. This paper concluded that although the adopted rationale and methodology of computing the design strength is significantly different between the two codes, the overall EC2 flexural provisions are slightly more conservative with a little of practical difference than those of ACI 318-05. In addition, for the limit of maximum reinforcement ratio, EC2 assures higher sectional ductility than ACI 318-05. Overall, EC2 provisions provide a higher safety factor than those of ACI 318-05 for low values of Live/Dead load ratios. As the ratio increases the difference between the two codes decreases and becomes almost negligible for ratios higher than 4.

• Journal of the Regional Association of Architectural Institute of Korea
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.89-96
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to categorize Commercial area by identifying characteristics of blocks and coding them in order to segment use zoning in Commercial area. The study was conducted as follows. Data from building register, cadastral map, statistics annual report are utilized to identify the physical environment of the block. four types used as code under the physical environment classification code which are classification code of physical environment, detail usage, volume ratio, and height type are set, and combine the classification codes sorted by the four types of code. Through the physical environment classification codes, there are currently 37 different block characteristics of the Old downtown Commercial area. Diversity is not reflected. There are only Central commercial area of regulations in Old downtown commercial areas that are uniformly managed. For the renewal, management and development that can occur in the near future, it is necessary to segment of use district in the commercial area. Consider the current situation and future development direction for the management of sustainable commercial areas. Management is required using physical environment classification codes. It is meaningful that it can be maintained, managed and developed in accordance with the characteristics of each block.