• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.137-143
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• 2023

The use of Engineered Wood Systems (EWS), especially mass-timber, as a structural alternative or complement to steel and concrete is gaining interest and acceptance across different sectors of architecture, engineering, and construction, including in high-rise buildings. Focussing on the Australian context, this study examines the levels of adoption and barriers to using timber as a primary structural material in multi-storey buildings. Data collected from semi-structured interviews with stakeholders at the forefront of adoption in structural design, construction, and property development indicates that timber in multi-storey projects in Australia still faces industry-wide challenges. Designers' awareness and attitudes towards timber adoption are generally positive and suitable for flagship projects, including tall buildings, but for enduring and widespread impact, long-term investment in education within and outside the range of stakeholders already committed to promoting timber adoption is needed.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.269-282
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• 2015

Civil structures should be designed with the lowest cost and longest lifetime possible and without service failure. The efficient and sustainable use of materials in building design and construction has always been at the forefront for civil engineers and environmentalists. Timber is one of the best contenders for these purposes particularly in terms of aesthetics; fire protection; strength-to-weight ratio; acoustic properties and seismic resistance. In recent years, timber has been used in commercial and taller buildings due to these significant advantages. It should be noted that, since the launch of the modern building standards and codes, a number of different structural systems have been developed to stabilise steel or concrete multistorey buildings, however, structural analysis of high-rise and multi-storey timber frame buildings subjected to lateral loads has not yet been fully understood. Additionally, timber degradation can occur as a result of biological decay of the elements and overloading that can result in structural damage. In such structures, the deficient members and joints require strengthening in order to satisfy new code requirements; determine acceptable level of safety; and avoid brittle failure following earthquake actions. This paper investigates performance assessment and damage assessment of older multi-storey timber buildings. One approach is to retrofit the beams in order to increase the ductility of the frame. Experimental studies indicate that Sprayed Fibre Reinforced Polymer (SFRP) repairing/retrofitting not only updates the integrity of the joint, but also increases its strength; stiffness; and ductility in such a way that the joint remains elastic. Non-linear finite element analysis ('pushover') is carried out to study the behaviour of the structure subjected to simulated gravity and lateral loads. A new global index is re-assessed for damage assessment of the plain and SFRP-retrofitted frames using capacity curves obtained from pushover analysis. This study shows that the proposed method is suitable for structural damage assessment of aged timber buildings. Also SFRP retrofitting can potentially improve the performance and load carrying capacity of the structure.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.261-271
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• 2020

The 2020 National Building Code of Canada (NBC) and the 2021 International Building Code (IBC) both include Tall Wood Buildings (TWB) and are hailed as documents responsible for the proliferation of Mass Timber construction. Mass Timber construction is critical to reducing the carbon footprint of the construction industry; a sector acknowledged as being one of the greatest contributors of global annual CO₂ emissions. Origine, a 13-storey multi-residential building erected in 2017 in a previously unsuitable site, is currently the tallest all-wood building in North America. This article describes the challenges overcome by the designers and client as they engaged with code officials, building authorities, and fire-service representatives to demonstrate the life-safety performance of this innovative building. It also traces the development of the "Guide for Mass Timber Buildings of up to 12 Storeys" published in Quebec and how it has enabled other significant Tall Wood projects across North America.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.109-128
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• 2010

The expediency of using tubular composite steel and concrete columns of annular cross-sections in construction is discussed. The new type space framework with tubular composite columns of multi-storey buildings and its rigid beam-column joints are demonstrated. The features of interaction between the circular steel tube and spun concrete stress-strain states during the concentrical and eccentrical loading of tubular composite members are considered. The modeling of the bearing capacity of beam-columns of composite annular cross-sections is based on the concepts of bending with a concentrical force and compression with a bending moment. The comparison of modeling results for the composite cross-sections of beam-columns is analysed. The expediency of using these concepts for the limit state verification of beam-columns in the methods of the partial safety factors design (PSFD) legitimated in Europe and the load and resistance factors design (LRFD) used in other countries is presented and illustrated by a numerical example.