• Wind and Structures
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.193-211
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• 2022

The present study focuses on aerodynamic parameters behaviors and control on the single and double side setback building models at the buildings mid-height. The study is conducted by computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. This study estimates the face wise pressure coefficient on single side setback buildings with a setback range of 20%-50% and double side setback buildings with setbacks ranging from 10%-25%. The polynomial fitted graphs from CFD data predict the Cp on different setback model faces within permissible limit ±13% error. The efficient model obtained according to the minimum drag, lift, and moment consideration for along and across wind conditions. The study guides the building tributary area doesn't control the drag, lift, and moment on setback type buildings. The setback distance takes a crucial role in that. The 20% double side setback model is highly efficient to regulate the moment for both along and across wind conditions. It reduces 17.5% compared to the 20% single side setback and 14% moment compared to the 10% double side setback models. The double side setback building is more efficient to control 4.2% moment than the single side setback building

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.385-396
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• 2017

The recent advancements in sensing technologies allow us to record measurements from target structures at multiple locations and with relatively high spatial resolution. Such measurements can be used to develop data-driven methodologies for condition assessment, control, and health monitoring of target structures. One of the state-of-the-art technologies, Fiber Optic Strain Sensors (FOSS), is developed at NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center, and is based on Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors. These strain sensors are accurate, lightweight, and can provide almost continuous strain-field measurements along the length of the fiber. The strain measurements can then be used for real-time shape-sensing and operational load-estimation of complex structural systems. While several works have demonstrated the successful implementation of FOSS on large-scale real-life aerospace structures (i.e., airplane wings), there is paucity of studies in the literature that have investigated the potential of extending the application of FOSS into civil structures (e.g., tall buildings, bridges, etc.). This work assesses the feasibility of using FOSS to predict operational loads (e.g., wind loads) on chain-like structures. A thorough investigation is performed using analytical, computational, and experimental models of a 4-story steel building test specimen, developed at the University of Southern California. This study provides guidelines on the implementation of the FOSS technology on building-like structures, addresses the associated technical challenges, and suggests potential modifications to a load-estimation algorithm, to achieve a robust methodology for predicting operational loads using strain-field measurements.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.249-259
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• 2017

The use of high-strength steels in construction of highrise and mega building structures can bring about many technological advantages from fabrication to erection. However, key design criteria such as local and lateral stability in current steel design specifications were developed based on tests of ordinary steels which have stress-strain characteristics very different from that of high strength steels. A series of tests on 800 MPa tensile strength steel (HSA800) members are summarized in this paper which were conducted to investigate the appropriateness of extrapolating current ordinary-steel based design criteria to high strength steels. 800 MPa I-shape beam specimens designed according to flange local buckling (FLB) criteria of the AISC Specification developed a sufficient strength for elastic design and a marginal rotation capacity for plastic design. It is shown that, without introducing distinct and significant yield plateau to the stress-strain property of high-strength steel, it is inherently difficult to achieve a high rotation capacity even if all the current stability limits are met. 800 MPa I-shape beam specimens with both low and high warping rigidity exhibited sufficient lateral torsional buckling (LTB) strength. HSA800 short-column specimens with various edge restraint exhibited sufficient local buckling strength under uniform compression and generally outperformed ordinary steel specimens. The experimental P-M strength was much higher than the AISC nominal P-M strength. The measured residual stresses indicated that the impact of residual stress on inelastic buckling of high-strength steel is less. Cyclic seismic test results showed that HSA800 members have the potential to be used as non-ductile members or members with limited ductility demand in seismic load resisting systems. Finally, recent applications of 800 MPa high strength steel to highrise and mega building structures in Korea are briefly presented.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2014.11a
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• pp.119-120
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• 2014

In this study, we looked into the method to establish fire growth rate by buildings use for growing fire at the beginning of a fire considering the characteristics of the combustibles in a performance-based design. Actual conditions survey and literature review were carried out for the fire load and exposed surface area of combustibles to establish design fire by domestic building use. As a results, a simplified prediction equation of fire growth rate which depends on fire load and weight of combustibles could be derived by calculating the relation between the fire load and the fire growth rate of an initial fire through investigation of combustibles by domestic building use.Also, as a result of analyzing the placement of combustibles and location of the ignition source, it was found that the influence of the materials of the combustibles and the materials of the combustibles adjacent to the ignition source is big. Though 4 different experiments were carried out for the evaluation, the result of comparing the findings with those of FGR model showed that the fire growth rate was similarly derived.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.7 no.4
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• pp.397-408
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• 2018

In a recent tragic fire incident, the Plasco Tower collapsed after an intense outburst of fire lasting for three and a half hours and claiming the lives of 16 firefighters and 6 civilians. This paper will present continuing collaborative work between Hong Kong Polytechnic University and Queen's University in Canada to model the progressive collapse of the tower. The fire started at the 10th floor and was observed to have travelled along the floor horizontally and through the staircase and windows vertically. Plasco Tower was steel structure and all the steel sections were fabricated by welding standard European channel or angle profiles and no fire protection was applied. Four internal columns carried the loads transferred by the primary beams, and box columns were constructed along the perimeter of the building as a braced tube for resisting seismic loading. OpenSees fibre-based sections and displacement-based beam-column elements are used to model the frames, while shell elements are used for the reinforced concrete floor slabs. The thermal properties and elevated temperature mechanical properties are as recommended in the Eurocodes. The results in this preliminarily analysis are based on rough estimations of the structure's configuration. The ongoing work looks at modeling the Plasco Tower based on the most accurate findings from reviewing many photographs and collected data.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.323-337
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• 2019

Wind tunnel testing technique has been established as a powerful experimental method for predicting wind-induced loads on high-rise buildings. Accurate assessment of the design wind load combinations for tall buildings on the basis of wind tunnel tests is an extremely important and complicated issue. The traditional design practice for determining wind load combinations relies partly on subjective judgments and lacks a systematic and reliable method of evaluating critical load cases. This paper presents a novel optimization-based framework for determining wind tunnel derived load cases for the structural design of wind sensitive tall buildings. The peak factor is used to predict the expected maximum resultant responses from the correlated three-dimensional wind loads measured at each wind angle. An optimized convex hull is further developed to serve as the design envelope in which the peak values of the resultant responses at any azimuth angle are enclosed to represent the critical wind load cases. Furthermore, the appropriate number of load cases used for design purposes can be predicted based on a set of Pareto solutions. One 30-story building example is used to illustrate the effectiveness and practical application of the proposed optimization-based technique for the evaluation of peak resultant wind-induced load cases.

• Wind and Structures
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.445-460
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• 2023

Accurate estimation of modal parameters (i.e., natural frequency, damping ratio) of tall buildings is of great importance to their structural design, structural health monitoring, vibration control, and state assessment. Based on the combination of variational mode decomposition, smoothed discrete energy separation algorithm-1, and Half-cycle energy operator (VMD-SH), this paper presents a method for structural modal parameter estimation. The variational mode decomposition is proved to be effective and reliable for decomposing the mixed-signal with low frequencies and damping ratios, and the validity of both smoothed discrete energy separation algorithm-1 and Half-cycle energy operator in the modal identification of a single modal system is verified. By incorporating these techniques, the VMD-SH method is able to accurately identify and extract the various modes present in a signal, providing improved insights into its underlying structure and behavior. Subsequently, a numerical study of a four-story frame structure is conducted using the Newmark-β method, and it is found that the relative errors of natural frequency and damping ratio estimated by the presented method are much smaller than those by traditional methods, validating the effectiveness and accuracy of the combined method for the modal identification of the multi-modal system. Furthermore, the presented method is employed to estimate modal parameters of a full-scale tall building utilizing acceleration responses. The identified results verify the applicability and accuracy of the presented VMD-SH method in field measurements. The study demonstrates the effectiveness and robustness of the proposed VMD-SH method in accurately estimating modal parameters of tall buildings from acceleration response data.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2013

This paper reviews the recent developments in fire engineering and the design approaches which are being used in the UK, compared with traditional prescriptive solutions. The research background which has underpinned this is briefly summarised, and the benefits of these more advanced methods are discussed. The focus is on structural fire engineering, but some consideration of modelling fires is also included. Some of the more commonly used design tools are discussed, together with the relative benefits they offer. The use of these more advanced approaches is then outlined in the context of which building types might be most suitable, and a number of case studies are included to illustrate this. Likely future developments are also discussed.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.1 no.3
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• pp.11-19
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• 1997

In this paper, an efficient dynamic analysis method of a building structure with viscoelastic dampers is proposed. Viscoelastic dampers are used for the purpose of controlling vibration of buildings. The matrix condensation technlque based on the rigid diaphragm assumption is not readily applicable for building structures with viscoelastic dampers. An improved procedure for damping matrix condensation is employed in the proposed method to increase the efficiency of analysis. Efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method are verified through analysis of an example structure.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.203-214
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• 2018

Deflection control in tall buildings is a challenging issue. Connecting of the towers is an interesting idea for architects as well as structural engineers. In this paper, two reinforced concrete core-wall towers are connected by a truss bridge with buckling restrained braces. The buildings are 40 and 60-story. The effect of the location of the bridge is investigated. Response spectrum analysis of the linear models is used to obtain the design demands and the systems are designed according to the reliable codes. Then, nonlinear time history analysis at maximum considered earthquake is performed to assess the seismic responses of the systems subjected to far-field and near-field record sets. Fiber elements are used for the reinforced concrete walls. On average, the inter-story drift ratio demand will be minimized when the bridge is approximately located at a height equal to 0.825 times the total height of the building. Besides, because of whipping effects, maximum roof acceleration demand is approximately two times the peak ground acceleration. Plasticity extends near the base and also in major areas of the walls subjected to the seismic loads.