SECED - Society for Earthquake and Civil Engineering Dynamics

Young Engineers Conference - 2010

A comparison of displacement-based and force-based design applied to an

unbounded post-tensioned precast concrete frame building
1 2
Juan Carlos León Agüero and Timothy Sullivan
1
European School for Advanced Studies in Reduction of Seismic Risk,
ROSE School, IUSS Pavia, Italy
Email: jcarlosleon20@gmail.com
2
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Structural Engineering, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy

ABSTRACT

Developments in the research of precast concrete structures for seismic areas, initially under the PRESSS
program, have resulted in innovative types of ductile beam – column connections for precast frame systems.
This “hybrid” technology can control the response of a structure during the design level earthquake to specified
displacement limits whilst sustaining negligible residual deformations.
In this research project the use of hybrid technology is analytically applied to an existing six storey building
constructed in Costa Rica by the Holcim Group company, and seismic design is undertaken using a simple
force based design (FBD) code approach as well as and the recently developed direct displacement based
design (DBD) methodology. The Direct DBD method is applied for two different proportions of pre-stressing to
mild-reinforcement resistance in the joints. Two FBD solutions are also developed; one in which beam
strengths match the analysis requirements and a second more practical solution in which the beams are given
constant strength, implying that the beams in the upper storeys possess excess strength.
The seismic design methods are compared by considering the differences in required strengths and the amount
of reinforcing steel required. In addition, the performance of the design methods is gauged through non-linear
time-history (NLTH) analyses using spectrum compatible records. The NLTH analysis results suggest that the
Direct DBD method can provide an effective means of controlling the seismic response of structures. For the
case study structure examined, the force-based analyses were not able to accurately predict the displacement
response, but the storey drifts recorded were still acceptable. An interesting observation is that even though
storey drifts in upper levels may be reduced when beams are provided excess strength over the upper storeys of
the building, the storey drifts in the lower storeys may actually be amplified. This behaviour should be
investigated further as part of future research.

Keywords: Precast Frame; Residual, Hybrid Connection; Direct Displacement Based Design;