RESEARCH ARTICLE
Improving the Seismic Response of Tall Buildings: From Diagrid to Megastructures and Mega-Subcontrol Systems
Diana Faiella1, Mario Argenziano1, Elena Mele1, *
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2022Volume: 16
Issue: Suppl 1, M4
E-location ID: e187483682201030
Publisher ID: e187483682201030
DOI: 10.2174/18748368-v16-e2201030
Article History:
Received Date: 04/08/2021Revision Received Date: 04/11/2021
Acceptance Date: 24/11/2021
Collection year: 23/06/2022
Electronic publication date: 2022
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode). This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Diagrid structures, widely used for the tall buildings of the third millennium, are characterized by a very effective behaviour in the elastic field due to the grid triangulation. In particular, under horizontal actions, axial forces and deformations mainly arise in the structural members of the diagrid, thus resulting in the reduction of the shear lag effect and racking deformations. The response to incremental horizontal actions beyond the plastic threshold, however, shows a poor plastic redistribution capacity, with consequent low values of global ductility, in spite of a significant design overstrength.
Objective:
In this paper, it is proposed to exploit the high elastic efficiency of the diagrid type and use a vibration control system, based on mass damping mechanism with large mass ratios, to reduce a priori the inelastic demands due to seismic actions.
Methods:
Starting from the analysis of the seismic behavior of archetype diagrid buildings, a case study is selected to assess the effectiveness of the proposed motion-based design approach. For this purpose, the diagrid is first transformed into a megastructure (MS) configuration by densifying the diagonal elements at the most stressed corner areas and transfer floors, suitably chosen. Then, the exterior mega-frame is detached from interior sub-structures, thus allowing for a relative motion between the two structural portions according to a “mega-sub-structure control system” (MSCS), which activates the mass damping mechanism.
Results:
Time-history analyses carried out on simplified lumped-mass models confirm the effectiveness of the proposed strategy in reducing the seismic response.
Conclusion:
Finally, the practical feasibility of the MSCS and engineering solutions for the relevant structural organization are discussed.
