• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2011.02a
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• pp.304-310
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• 2011

The populations of major cities in Australia are increasing rapidly and facing an acute housing shortage. Traditional apartment procurement techniques involve lengthy lead-times and factory-based, or offsite manufactured (OSM) multi-storey apartment buildings may offer the opportunity to help fulfill the need by significantly reducing build times. Other advantages of OSM may include superior quality, low weight ratios, economies of scale achieved through repetition of prefabricated units, use on infill sites, sustainable design standards and better occupational health and safety. There are also positive labour and training implications, which may help to alleviate an industry-wide shortage of skills through use of semi-skilled labour. Previous uncertainties about the adoption of offsite due to the high capital costs and perception issues were generally based on pre-cast concrete structures, which are quite a different building type in terms of flexibility, construction, delivery and finishes. Identification of drivers and constraints assists in the determination of current industry status, allows for a benchmark to be established and future opportunities and directions for OSM to be determined.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.6
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• pp.983-1000
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• 2016

To date the engineering community has seen facade systems as non-structural elements with high aesthetic value and a barrier between the outdoor and indoor environments. The role of facades in energy use in a building has also been recognized and the industry is also witnessing the emergence of many energy efficient facade systems. This paper will focus on using exterior skin of the double skin facade system as a dissipative movable element during earthquake excitation. The main aim of this study is to investigate the potential of the facade system to act as a damper system to reduce earthquake-induced vibration of the primary structure. Unlike traditional mass dampers, which are usually placed at the top level of structures, the movable/smart double skin facade systems are distributed throughout the entire height of building structures. The outer skin is moveable and can act as a multi tuned mass dampers (MTMDs) that move and dissipate energy during strong earthquake motions. In this paper, using a three dimensional 10-storey building structure as the example, it is shown that with optimal choice of materials for stiffness and damping of brackets connecting the two skins, a substantial portion of earthquake induced vibration energy can be dissipated which leads to avoiding expensive ductile seismic designs. It is shown that the engineering demand parameters (EDPs) for a low-rise building structures subjected to moderate to severe earthquakes can be substantially reduced by introduction of a smart designed double skin system.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.247-258
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• 2023

Multiple pounding tuned rolling mass damper (MPTRMD) distributed in the cavity of voided slabs is proposed to passively control multi-story frame structures, which disperses the mass of the oscillator to multiple dampers so that the control device can be miniaturized without affecting the vibration control performance. The mechanism and the differential motion equations of the MPTRMD-controlled multi-degree-of-freedom system are derived based on the Lagrange principle. Afterward, this advanced RMD is applied to a simplified 20-floor steel frame to evaluate the seismic control performance in the numerical analysis. A four-storey frame structure equipped with MPTRMD is then taken for a shaking table test to verify its effectiveness of control performance. The pounding mechanism has been detailed studied numerically and experimentally as well. The numerical and experimental results show that the proposed damper is practically promising not only for its prominent control performance but also for its lightweight and space-saving. Additionally, the pounding mechanism influenced by the variable impact parameters exhibits a balance between the two effects of motional limitations and energy dissipation.

• Structural Monitoring and Maintenance
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• v.3 no.2
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• pp.175-194
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• 2016

Based on the change of traditional viscoelastic damper structure, a brand-new damper is designed to control simultaneously the translational vibration and the rotational vibration for platforms. Experimental study has been carried out on the mechanical properties of viscoelastic material and on its multi-dimensional seismic response control effect of viscoelastic damper. Three types of viscoelastic dampers with different shapes of viscoelastic material are designed to test the influence of excited frequency, strain amplitude and ambient temperature on the mechanical property parameters such as circular dissipation per unit, equivalent stiffness, loss factor and storage shear modulus. Then, shaking table tests are done on a group of single-storey platform systems containing one symmetric platform and three asymmetric platforms with different eccentric forms. Experimental results show that the simulation precision of the restoring force model is rather good for the shear deformation of viscoelastic damper and is also satisfied for the torsion deformation and combined deformations of viscoelastic damper. The shaking table tests have verified that the new-type viscoelastic damper is capable of mitigating the multi-dimensional seismic response of offshore platform.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.547-559
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• 2020

Buckling restrained braces (BRBs) were developed as an enhanced alternative to conventional braces by restraining their global buckling, thus allowing development of a stable quasi-symmetric hysteretic response. A wider adoption of buckling restrained braced frames is precluded due to proprietary character of most BRBs and the code requirement for experimental qualification. To overcome these problems, BRBs with capacities corresponding to typical steel multi-storey buildings in Romania were developed and experimentally tested in view of prequalification. The first part of this paper presents the results of the experimental program which included sub-assemblage tests on ten full-scale BRBs and uniaxial tests on components materials (steel and concrete). Two different solutions of the core were investigated: milled from a plate and fabricated from a square steel profile. The strength of the buckling restraining mechanism was also investigated. The influence of gravity loading on the unsymmetrical deformations in the two plastic segments of the core was assessed, and the response of the bolted connections was evaluated. The cyclic response of BRBs was evaluated with respect to a set of performance parameters, and recommendations for design were given.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.561-580
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• 2020

Buckling restrained braces (BRBs) were developed as an enhanced alternative to conventional braces by restraining their global buckling, thus allowing development of a stable quasi-symmetric hysteretic response. A wider adoption of buckling restrained braced frames is precluded due to proprietary character of most BRBs and the code requirement for experimental qualification. To overcome these problems, BRBs with capacities corresponding to typical steel multi-storey buildings in Romania were developed and experimentally tested in view of prequalification. In the second part of this paper, a complex nonlinear numerical model for the tested BRBs was developed in the finite element environment Abaqus. The calibration of the numerical model was performed at both component (material models: steel, concrete, unbonding material) and member levels (loading, geometrical imperfections). Geometrically and materially nonlinear analyses including imperfections were performed on buckling restrained braces models under cyclic loading. The calibrated models were further used to perform a parametric study aiming at assessing the influence of the strength of the buckling restraining mechanism, concrete class of the infill material, mechanical properties of steel used for the core, self-weight loading, and frame effect on the cyclic response of buckling restrained braces.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.357-372
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• 2001

In this paper, cantilevered tall structures are treated as cantilever bars with varying cross-section for the analysis of their free longitudinal (or axial) vibrations. Using appropriate transformations, exact analytical solutions to determine the longitudinal natural frequencies and mode shapes for a one step non-uniform bar are derived by selecting suitable expressions, such as exponential functions, for the distributions of mass and axial stiffness. The frequency equation of a multi-step bar is established using the approach that combines the transfer matrix procedure or the recurrence formula and the closed-form solutions of one step bars, leading to a single frequency equation for any number of steps. The Ritz method is also applied to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes in the vertical direction for cantilevered tall structures with variably distributed stiffness and mass. The formulae proposed in this paper are simple and convenient for engineering applications. Numerical example shows that the fundamental longitudinal natural frequency and mode shape of a 27-storey building determined by the proposed methods are in good agreement with the corresponding measured data. It is also shown that the selected expressions are suitable for describing the distributions of axial stiffness and mass of typical tall buildings.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.5
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• pp.1255-1276
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• 2015

The importance of considering soil-structure interaction effect in the analysis and design of RC frame buildings is increasingly recognized but still not penetrated to the grass root level owing to various complexities involved. It is well established fact that the soil-structure interaction effect considerably influence the design of multi-storey buildings subjected to lateral seismic loads. The shear walls are often provided in such buildings to increase the lateral stability to resist seismic lateral loads. In the present work, the linear soil-structure analysis of a G+5 storey RC shear wall building frame resting on isolated column footings and supported by deformable soil is presented. The finite element modelling and analysis is carried out using ANSYS software under normal loads as well as under seismic loads. Various load combinations are considered as per IS-1893 (Part-1):2002. The interaction analysis is carried out with and without shear wall to investigate the effect of inclusion of shear wall on the total and differential settlements in the footings due to deformations in the soil mass. The frame and soil mass both are considered to behave in linear elastic manner. It is observed that the soil-structure interaction effect causes significant total and differential settlements in the footings. Maximum total settlement in footings occurs under vertical loads and inner footings settle more than outer footings creating a saucer shaped settlement profile of the footings. Each combination of seismic loads causes maximum differential settlement in one or more footings. Presence of shear wall decreases pulling/pushing effect of seismic forces on footings resulting in more stability to the structures.

• Advances in Computational Design
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2021

Failure of a Multi-storeyed reinforced concrete framed structure occurs when a primary vertical structural component is isolated or made fragile, due to artificial or natural hazards. Load carried by vertical component (column) is transferred to neighbouring columns in the structure, if the neighbouring column is incompetent of holding the extra load, this leads to the progressive failure of neighbouring members and finally to the failure of partial or whole structure. The collapsing system frequently seeks alternative load path in order to stay alive. One of the imperative features of collapse is that the final damage is not relative to the initial damage. In this paper, the effect on the column and beam adjacent to statically removed vertical element in terms of axial force, shear force and bending moment is investigated. Using Alternate load path method, numerical modelling of two dimensional one bay, two bay with variation in storey heights are analysed with FE model in order to obtain better understanding of failure mechanism of multi-storeyed reinforced concrete framed structure. The results indicate that the corner column is more susceptible to progressive collapse when compared to middle column, using this simplified methodology one can easily predict how the structure can be made to stay alive in case of sudden failure of any horizontal or vertical structural element before designing.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.26 no.5
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• pp.621-634
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• 2018

Flush end-plate (FEP) beam-to-column joints are commonly used for gravity load resisting parts in steel multi-storey buildings. However, in seismic resisting structures FEP joints should also provide rotation capacity consistent with the global structural displacements. The current version of EN1993-1-8 recommends a criterion aiming at controlling the thickness of the end-plate in order to avoid brittle failure of the connection, which has been developed for monotonic loading conditions assuming elastic-perfectly plastic behaviour of the connection's components in line with the theory of the component method. Hence, contrary to the design philosophy of the hierarchy of resistances implemented in EN1998-1, the over strength and the hardening of the plastic components are not directly accounted for. In light of these considerations, this paper describes and discusses the results obtained from parametric finite element simulations aiming at investigating the moment-rotation response of FEP joints under cyclic actions. The influence of bolt diameter, thickness of end-plate, number of bolt rows and shape of beam profile on the joint response is discussed and design requirements are proposed to enhance the ductility of the joints.