Developments and Implementations of Low-Damage Structural Systems for Precast Concrete Buildings: Raising the Bar To Meet Societal Expectations

Abstract eng:
Earthquake Engineering is facing an extraordinary challenging era, the ultimate target being set at increasingly higher levels by the demanding expectations of our modern society. The Canterbury earthquakes sequence in 2010-2011 has, amongst other recent earthquake events, confirmed a fundamental mismatch between societal expectations over the reality of seismic performance of modern buildings. By and large, with some unfortunate exceptions, modern multistorey reinforced and precast concrete buildings performed as expected from a technical point of view, considering the intensity of the shaking they were subjected to [1]. In accordance to capacity design principles, plastic hinges developed in beams allowing for a ductile beam-sway mechanism to develop and the building to stand. Nevertheless, in many cases, these buildings were deemed too expensive to be repaired and were consequently demolished. Targeting life-safety is clearly not enough in modern society and a paradigm shift towards damagecontrol design philosophy and technologies is required [2]. A delicate but direct question is being raised: is ductility-based design philosophy becoming obsolete and does it really imply irreparable damage? This paper will discuss motivations, issues and, more importantly, cost-effective engineering solutions to design precast concrete buildings capable of sustaining low-level of damage and thus limited business interruption after a design-level earthquake. Focus will be given to the extensive research and developments on jointed ductile connections based on controlled rocking & dissipating systems for precast concrete structures [3]. An overview of recent on-site applications of low-damage or damage-control structural systems, featuring some of the latest technical solutions developed in the laboratory and including proposals for the rebuild of Christchurch, will be provided as successful examples of practical implementation of performance-based seismic design theory and technology. In conclusion, suggestions and opportunities to incorporate some of these concepts into the design and construction of more traditional precast concrete systems for industrial buildings, as commonly used in the European practice, will be presented.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket