Structural performance and economics of tall high strength RC buildings in seismic regions

Abstract

For a multitude of economic and societal considerations, high rise structures are on the increase. This in turn promotes the use of high strength materials to reduce column size and construction times. Whereas design guidance and engineering understanding of high strength RC structures under static loading is well‐developed, little work has been undertaken on the economics of whole buildings and their performance under earthquake loading. In this paper, 10 buildings of 24 stories are designed and detailed according to modern seismic codes. The buildings are all nominally equivalent, using a stiffness equivalence criterion and its derivatives. The cost of construction is compared in terms of steel, concrete and formwork. The static inelastic response of the buildings is also assessed, followed by a full nonlinear dynamic analysis of all buildings using three earthquake records at the design acceleration and twice the design value. Comprehensive assessment of the static and dynamic results is undertaken. It is concluded that the cost increase is mainly due to the steel, whilst significant member reductions may be availed of by using high strength concrete. The behaviour of high strength concrete structures is not inferior to that of normal strength materials. Indeed, it is observed that lower levels of overstrength can be achieved in high strength materials than in their normal strength counterparts, mainly due to the over‐reinforcement of the latter to resist vertical forces. Recommendations on the use of equivalent cracked stiffness for period calculation in design, and also effective periods for use in displacement‐based design, are given. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Design of high‐strength concrete members: state‐of‐the‐art

“…The influence of the difference between plastic hinge length assumed in the analysis and the gauge length used in the measurement of stress–strain relations of concrete is also considered in the analysis. Laogan & Elnashai142 designed and detailed 10 buildings of 24 storeys according to modern seismic codes. They found that significant member reductions may be achieved by using HSC.…”

Seismic performance and cost‐effectiveness of high‐rise buildings with increasing concrete strength

“…The verified modeling approach and material models adopted in the present study were employed in several research projects covering multi‐story buildings, complex bridges and HSC structures (e.g. Laogan and Elnashai, ; Mwafy et al ., ; Jeong et al ., ).…”

“…Few information is available in the literature on the interrelationship between the economics and seismic performance of high‐rise buildings (e.g. Laogan and Elnashai, ; Wong and Harris, ). In the present study, the profit from salable area after deducting all expenses incurred in the construction, including the cost of land, is estimated for the reference buildings relative to building M1.…”

“…Although the engineering understanding of the performance of high‐strength materials is well developed, little information is available on the relationship between the economics and performance of high‐strength high‐rise buildings under earthquake loading, which controls the design of a wide range of tall buildings (e.g. Laogan and Elnashai, ). Moreover, current seismic design provisions such as ASCE 07‐10 () were developed on the basis of extensive observations from previous earthquakes and test results for structures designed using normal strength material.…”

Cost-Benefit Analysis of Applying SM570 Steel to Tall Buildings in Taiwan

“…For the ease of construction, it is recommended to use high strength construction materials. The structural performance and economic effects were then evaluated for high-strength RC tall buildings in seismic regions [1]. Optimization techniques were also applied to reduce the cost and CO 2 emission of SRC columns in tall buildings [2].…”