18 research outputs found
Towards the âultimate earthquake-proofâ building: Development of an integrated low-damage system
The 2010â2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence has highlighted the
severe mismatch between societal expectations over the reality of seismic performance
of modern buildings. A paradigm shift in performance-based design criteria
and objectives towards damage-control or low-damage design philosophy and
technologies is urgently required. The increased awareness by the general public,
tenants, building owners, territorial authorities as well as (re)insurers, of the severe
socio-economic impacts of moderate-strong earthquakes in terms of damage/dollars/
downtime, has indeed stimulated and facilitated the wider acceptance and
implementation of cost-efficient damage-control (or low-damage) technologies.
The âbarâ has been raised significantly with the request to fast-track the development
of what the wider general public would hope, and somehow expect, to live
in, i.e. an âearthquake-proofâ building system, capable of sustaining the shaking of
a severe earthquake basically unscathed.
The paper provides an overview of recent advances through extensive research,
carried out at the University of Canterbury in the past decade towards the development
of a low-damage building system as a whole, within an integrated
performance-based framework, including the skeleton of the superstructure, the
non-structural components and the interaction with the soil/foundation system.
Examples of real on site-applications of such technology in New Zealand, using
concrete, timber (engineered wood), steel or a combination of these materials, and
featuring some of the latest innovative technical solutions developed in the laboratory
are presented as examples of successful transfer of performance-based seismic
design approach and advanced technology from theory to practice