• Wind and Structures
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.201-251
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• 1999

Flexible structures may experience excessive levels of vibration under the action of wind, adversely affecting serviceability and occupant comfort. To ensure the functional performance of a structure, various design modifications are possible, ranging from alternative structural systems to the utilization of passive and active control devices. This paper presents an overview of state-of-the-art measures that reduce the structural response of buildings, including a summary of recent work in aerodynamic tailoring and a discussion of auxiliary damping devices for mitigating the wind-induced motion of structures. In addition, some discussion of the application of such devices to improve structural resistance to seismic events is also presented, concluding with detailed examples of the application of auxiliary damping devices in Australia, Canada, China, Japan, and the United States.

• Architectural research
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.53-61
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• 2022

Irregularities in the structure are crucial factors in screening structural vulnerability under extreme loadings. Numerical analyses were carried out considering wind and seismic loadings for four structures with discrete irregularity: continuous and discontinuous beams with varied story levels, and L-shaped irregular buildings. Structural responses such as maximum displacements, bending moments, axial forces, torsions, and story drifts are evaluated as per the criteria and limits defined by ACI 318. The outcomes indicate that the frame system with beam discontinuity on the upper half of the height exhibits the best structural performance. The results also indicate that the asymmetrical design of the L-shaped model makes it more susceptible to damage when subjected to strong lateral loading conditions.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.1115-1140
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• 2016

This paper proposes an extension of the Improved Forced Based Design procedure to 3D steel structures. The Improved Forced Based Design (IFBD) procedure consists of a more rational sequence of the design checks proposed in Eurocode 8 and involves a more realistic selection of the behaviour factor instead of selecting an empirical value based on the ductility class and lateral resisting system adopted. The design procedure was tested on a group of four 3D steel structures, composed by moment-resisting frames with three storeys height and the same plan configuration in all storeys. The plan configuration was defined in order to target lateral restrained or unrestrained systems as well as plan regular or irregular structures. The same group of structures was also designed according to the force-based process prescribed in Eurocode 8. The member sizes obtained through the two approaches were compared and the seismic performance was assessed through nonlinear static and time-history analyses. The limit states referred to structural and non-structural damage, considering the two levels design approach, which are the serviceability and the ultimate limit states, were examined. The results obtained reveal that the IFBD leads to more economical structures that still comply with the performance requirements prescribed in Eurocode 8.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.201-209
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• 2019

This paper presents a structural design of the "(Tentative Name) Toranomon Hills Residential Tower" which is currently under construction in Tokyo. The building is a reinforced concrete high-rise residential complex building with 54 stories above ground, 4 basement levels, and a building height of about 220 m. It is a requirement to provide the highest grade of residence in Japan, and in terms of the structural design, it is required to provide wide and comfortable spaces with high seismic performance. These requirements are satisfied by providing a total of 774 vibration control walls of two types. Also, to further improve the structural performance, steel fibers at the rate of 1.0vol% are provided in the ultra-high strength concrete used in the column members.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.59-74
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• 2022

This study introduces a general reliability-based, performance-based design framework to design frames regarding their uncertainties and user-defined design goals. The Iterative-R method extracted from the main framework can designate a proper R (i.e., response modification factor) satisfying the design goal regarding target reliability index and pre-defined probability of collapse. The proposed methodology is based on FEMA P-695 and can be used for all systems that FEMA P-695 applies. To exemplify the method, multiple three-dimensional, four-story steel special moment-resisting frames are considered. Closed-form relationships are fitted between frames' responses and the modeling parameters. Those fits are used to construct limit state functions to apply reliability analysis methods for design safety assessment and the selection of proper R. The frameworks' unique feature is to consider arbitrarily defined probability density functions of frames' modeling parameters with an insignificant analysis burden. This characteristic enables the alteration in those parameters' distributions to meet the design goal. Furthermore, with sensitivity analysis, the most impactful parameters are identifiable for possible improvements to meet the design goal. In the studied examples, it is revealed that a proper R for frames with different levels of uncertainties could be significantly different from suggested values in design codes, alarming the importance of considering the stochastic behavior of elements' nonlinear behavior.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.169-184
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• 2022

The importance of seismicity in developing countries and the strengthening of buildings is a topic of major importance. Therefore, the study of several solutions with the development of new technologies is of great importance to investigate the damage on retrofitted structures by using probabilistic methods. The Federal Emergency Management Agency considers three types of performance levels by considering different scenarios, intensity and duration. The selection and scaling of ground motions mainly depends on the aim of the study. Intensity-based assessments are the most common and compute the response of buildings for a specified seismic intensity. Assessments based on scenarios estimate the response of buildings to different earthquake scenarios. A risk-based assessment is considered as one of the most effective. This research represents a practical method for developing countries where exists many active faults, tall buildings and lack of good implementable approaches. Therefore, to achieve the main goal, two high-rise steel buildings have been modeled and assessed. The contribution of buckling-restrained braces in the elastic design of both buildings is firstly verified. In the nonlinear static range, both buildings presented repairable damage at the central top part and some life safety hinges at the bottom. The nonlinear incremental dynamic analysis was applied by 15 representative/scaled accelerograms to obtain levels of performance and fragility curves. The results shown that by using probabilistic methods, it is possible to estimate the probability of collapse of retrofitted buildings by buckling-restrained braces and tuned mass dampers, which are practical retrofitting options to protect existing structures against earthquakes.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.59-66
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• 2017

Modern seismic codes rely on performance-based seismic design methodology which requires that the structures withstand inelastic deformation. Many studies have focused on the inelastic deformation ratio evaluation (ratio between the inelastic and elastic maximum lateral displacement demands) for various inelastic spectra. This paper investigates the inelastic response spectra through the ductility demand ${\mu}$, the yield strength reduction factor $R_y$, and the inelastic deformation ratio. They depend on the vibration period T, the post-to-preyield stiffness ratio ${\alpha}$, the peak ground acceleration (PGA), and the normalized yield strength coefficient ${\eta}$ (ratio of yield strength coefficient divided by the PGA). A new inelastic deformation ratio $C_{\eta}$ is defined; it is related to the capacity curve (pushover curve) through the coefficient (${\eta}$) and the ratio (${\alpha}$) that are used as control parameters. A set of 140 real ground motions is selected. The structures are bilinear inelastic single degree of freedom systems (SDOF). The sensitivity of the resulting inelastic deformation ratio mean values is discussed for different levels of normalized yield strength coefficient. The influence of vibration period T, post-to-preyield stiffness ratio ${\alpha}$, normalized yield strength coefficient ${\eta}$, earthquake magnitude, ruptures distance (i.e., to fault rupture) and site conditions is also investigated. A regression analysis leads to simplified expressions of this inelastic deformation ratio. These simplified equations estimate the inelastic deformation ratio for structures, which is a key parameter for design or evaluation. The results show that, for a given level of normalized yield strength coefficient, these inelastic displacement ratios become non sensitive to none of the rupture distance, the earthquake magnitude or the site class. Furthermore, they show that the post-to-preyield stiffness has a negligible effect on the inelastic deformation ratio if the normalized yield strength coefficient is greater than unity.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.42 no.4
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• pp.501-511
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• 2022

Earthquake Resistant Design Philosophy seeks (a) no damage, (b) no significant structural damage, and (c) significant structural damage but no collapse of normal buildings, under minor, moderate and severe levels of earthquake shaking, respectively. A procedure is proposed for seismic design of low-rise reinforced concrete special moment frame buildings, which is consistent with this philosophy; buildings are designed to be ductile through appropriate sizing and reinforcement detailing, such that they resist severe level of earthquake shaking without collapse. Nonlinear analyses of study buildings are used to determine quantitatively (a) ranges of design parameters required to assure the required deformability in normal buildings to resist the severe level of earthquake shaking, (b) four specific limit states that represent the start of different structural damage states, and (c) levels of minor and moderate earthquake shakings stated in the philosophy along with an extreme level of earthquake shaking associated with the structural damage state of no collapse. The four limits of structural damage states and the three levels of earthquake shaking identified are shown to be consistent with the performance-based design guidelines available in literature. Finally, nonlinear analyses results are used to confirm the efficacy of the proposed procedure.

• International Journal of High-Rise Buildings
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.21-33
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• 2014

The tied braced frame (TBF) system was developed to achieve uniform seismic inelastic demand along the height of multi-storey eccentrically braced steel frames. A modular tied braced frame (M-TBF) configuration has been recently proposed to reach the same objective while reducing the large axial force demand imposed on the vertical tie members connecting the link beams together in TBFs. M-TBFs may however experience variations in storey drifts at levels where the ties have been removed to form the modules. In this paper, the possibility of reducing the discontinuity in displacement response of a 16-storey M-TBF structure by introducing energy dissipating (ED) devices between the modules is examined. Two M-TBF configurations are investigated: an M-TBF with two 8-storey modules and an M-TBF with four 4-storey modules. Three types of ED devices are studied: friction dampers (FD), buckling restrained bracing (BRB) members and self-centering energy dissipative (SCED) members. The ED devices were sized such that no additional force demand was imposed on the discontinuous tie members. Nonlinear response history analysis showed that all three ED systems can be used to reduce discontinuities in storey drifts of M-TBFs. The BRB members experienced the smallest peak deformations whereas minimum residual deformations were obtained with the SCED devices.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.727-745
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• 2018

The design criteria and the corresponding performance levels characterize the response of extended stiffened end-plate beam-to-column joints. In order to guarantee a ductile behavior, hierarchy criteria should be adopted to enforce the plastic deformations in the ductile components of the joint. However, the effectiveness of thesecriteria can be impaired if the actual resistance of the end-plate material largely differs from the design value due to the potential activation of brittle failure modes of the bolt rows (e.g., occurrence of failure mode 3 in the place of mode 1 per bolt row). Also the number and the position of bolt rows directly affect the joint response. The presence of a bolt row in the center of the connection does not improve the strength of the joint under both gravity, wind and seismic loading, but it can modify the damage pattern of ductile connections, reducing the gap opening between the end-plate and the column face. On the other hand, the presence of a central bolt row can influence the capacity of the joint to resist the catenary actions developing under a column loss scenario, thus improving the joint robustness. Aiming at investigating the influence of these features on both the cyclic behavior and the response under column loss, a wide range of finite element analyses (FEAs) were performed and the main results are described and discussed in this paper.