Behaviour of uni‐axially loaded concrete‐filled‐steel‐tube columns confined by external rings

Concrete‐filled‐steel‐tube (CFST) columns have been widely adopted for column construction of tall buildings due to its superior strength and ductility performance contributed by the composite action. However, this beneficial composite action cannot be fully developed at early elastic stage as steel dilates more than concrete and thereby causing imperfect interface bonding. Hence, it reduces the elastic strength and stiffness of the CFST columns. To resolve the problem, external confinement in the form of steel rings is proposed in this study to restrict the lateral dilation of concrete and steel at initial elastic stage. In this paper, CFST columns of various dimensions cast with normal‐strength or high‐strength concrete and installed with external steel rings were tested under uni‐axial compression. From the results, it was evident that (a) the external steel rings could restrict the lateral dilation of CFST columns and improve the interface bonding condition and (b) externally confined CFST columns had uni‐axial strength and stiffness larger than those of unconfined CFST columns. With the experimental results, an analytical model taking into account the confining effects of steel tube and rings has been developed to predict the uni‐axial strength of ring‐confined CFST columns. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Visko‐elastisches Verhalten von Holz‐Klebstoff‐Verbindungen unter zyklischer Zug‐Druck‐Belastung

Visco‐elastic behavior of bonded wood under cyclic tensile and compression loading In the present contribution, a test method is used to simulate the static, cyclic loading of adhesive joints due to swelling and shrinking of the wood and to demonstrate the plastic deformation in the low load range. For tensile shear specimens prepared from beech wood and bonded with three different adhesives (MUF, PRF, PUR), the elastic behavior under cyclic tensile and compression loading was investigated and the loss and storage of energy was determined. All tested adhesives showed viscose parts even at a very low load level of 3 MPa. At a load level of 7 MPa, the PRF joints revealed a more elastic behavior than the other. The increased loss energy determined for the PUR bonding indicates a softening of the adhesive joint.     

Berechnung von Holz‐Beton‐Verbunddecken

Evaluation of Timber Concrete Composite Slabs If timber and concrete acts together in a cross section, the carrying and deformation behaviour of this new composite section is affected by many influences e.g. geometry, material properties, connecting device, long‐term behaviour, etc. The advantages of this building method and an optimization of the cross sections only can be achieved, if these influences are known and can be taken into account in the structural design. For the proof of the short term behaviour different procedures, e. g. [1], are available. Regarding the long‐term behaviour of the timber concrete composite floors it becomes obvious that the rheological behaviour of timber concrete composite structures is not considered sufficiently by the design method in [1].     

Connection bridge effect on a DNA‐like two‐spiral‐up‐tower building

In the recent years, more and more great ideas about architectural design were inspired from bionics, that is, the China National Stadium, Taipei 101, and India Lotus Temple were first inspired from bird's nest, bamboo, and blooming lotus, respectively. However, being a feast to the eyes, those innovative architectures with complex structural behavior and unknown seismic performance are always being a challenge to structural engineers. Hereinafter, a DNA‐like high‐rise building with two separate spiral‐up towers was first outlined, in which each of the tower consist of an interior reinforced concrete core with inserted steel columns and an exterior composite frame made of steel beams and steel pipe–concrete columns. To study the influence of the connection bridges on the seismic performance under different level of earthquake excitation and torsional effect under gravity load, the load transfer mechanism of vertical force and lateral force was conducted, and a finite element model was built with parametrical studies. It can be concluded from the results from the parametrical studies that the drift angle was sharply decreased at the locations where the connection bridges combines two single towers, indicating that the lateral confinement effect of the connection bridges not only strengthen the whole structure but also leads to a discontinuity of the structural stiffness.     

Seismic response of mega buckling‐restrained braces subjected to fling‐step and forward‐directivity near‐fault ground motions

Special characteristics of earthquakes in the near‐fault regions caused failures for many modern‐engineered structures. Fling‐step and forward‐directivity are the main consequences of these earthquakes. High‐amplitude pulses at the beginning of the seismograph have been obviously presented in forward‐directivity sites. These pulses have high amount of seismic energy released in a very short time and caused higher demands for engineering structures. Fling‐step is generally characterized by a unidirectional large‐amplitude velocity pulse and a monotonic step in the displacement time history. These monotonic steps cause residual ground displacements that are associated with rupture mechanism. In this paper, the seismic performance of steel buckling‐restrained braced frames with mega configuration under near‐source excitation was investigated. Fourteen near‐fault records with forward‐directivity and fling‐step characteristics and seven far‐faults have been selected. Nonlinear time‐history analyses of 4‐story, 8‐story, 12‐story and 15‐story frames have been performed using OpenSees software. After comparing the results, it is shown that, for all frames subjected to the selected records, the maximum demand occurred in lower floors, and higher modes were not triggered. Near‐fault records imposed higher demands on the structures. The results for near‐fault records with fling‐step were very dispersed, and in some cases, these records were more damaging than others. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimum seismic design of steel framed‐tube and tube‐in‐tube tall buildings

The relatively large number of structural elements and the variety of design code requirements complicate the design process of tall buildings. This process is exacerbated when the target is to obtain the seismic code‐compliant optimal design with minimum weight. The present paper aims at providing a practical methodology for the optimal design of steel tall building structures considering the constraints imposed by typical building codes. The applicability of the proposed approach is demonstrated through the determination of the optimal seismic design for 20‐, 40‐, and 60‐story buildings with a framed tube as well as a tube‐in‐tube system. Such a design gives rise to a basis for the fair comparison of the behavior of the framed tube with that of the tube‐in‐tube system under applied loads. The optimal weight of the buildings with the tube‐in‐tube system turns out to be slightly less than that of the buildings with the conventional framed‐tube system.     

Large‐scale shaking table test on pile‐soil‐structure interaction on soft soils

The two large‐scale shaking table tests of tall buildings on soft soils in pile group foundations are performed to capture the effect of the seismic pile‐soil‐structure interaction (PSSI) on the dynamic responses of the pile, soil, and structure. The two different model conditions are observed, including a fixed‐base structure and a structure supported by 3‐by‐3 pile group foundation in soft soil, representing the situations excluding the soil‐structure interaction (SSI) and considering the SSI, respectively. In the tests, the superstructure is a tall building with 12‐story reinforced concrete frame. The pile‐soil‐structure system rests in a shear laminar soil container, which is designed to minimize the boundary effects during shaking table tests. The two models are subjected to various intensity seismic excitations of Shanghai bedrock waves, 1995 Kobe earthquake, and 1999 Chi‐Chi earthquake events. According to the experimental and analytical results, SSI systems have longer natural periods than the fixed‐base structure. In addition, soft soil has amplification effect under smaller seismic excitations and isolation effects under larger earthquake intensities. The strain amplitude at the top of pile is large, and the strain at the middle and tip is relatively small. Whereas the contact pressure is small at the top of pile and large at the middle and tip. From the dynamic responses of the superstructure, it is found that the PSSI amplifies the peak displacements and interstory drifts of the structures supported by pile group foundations by comparing with the fixed‐base structure. Whereas the peak acceleration and interstory shear force of the structure are reduced considering seismic PSSI. The results show that the seismic SSI is not always favorable, however, it may increase certain dynamic responses of the structure. Consequently, the seismic SSI should be considered reasonably, providing insight towards the rational seismic design of buildings rested on soft soils.     

Experimental study of across‐wind aerodynamic damping of super high‐rise buildings with aerodynamically modified square cross‐sections

Across‐wind aerodynamic damping ratios are determined from the wind‐induced acceleration responses of 10 aeroelastic models of square super high‐rise buildings in an urban flow condition (exposure category C in the Chinese code) using the random decrement technique. Moreover, the influences of amplitude‐dependent structural damping ratio on the estimation of aerodynamic damping ratio are discussed. The validity of estimated damping is examined through a comparison with previous research achievements. On the basis of the estimated results, the characteristics of the across‐wind aerodynamic damping ratios of modified square high‐rise buildings are studied. The effects of aerodynamically modified cross‐sections, such as chamfered, slotted and tapered cross‐section, on the across‐wind aerodynamic damping ratio are investigated. The results indicate that modifications of cross‐sections are not always effective in suppressing the aeroelastic effects of super high‐rise buildings. Low corner‐cut ratios (chamfer ratios from 5% to 20% and slot ratios from 5% to 10%) and low taper ratio (1%) significantly decrease the magnitudes of absolute aerodynamic damping ratios. However, large modifications of cross‐sections (slot ratio of 20% and taper ratios from 3% to 5%) increase wind‐induced responses by changing the aerodynamic damping ratios. According to the database, empirical aerodynamic damping function parameters are fitted for high‐rise buildings with aerodynamically modified square cross‐sections. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Acute effects of exposure to vapors of 3‐methyl‐1‐butanol in humans

The secondary alcohol 3‐methyl‐1‐butanol (3MB, isoamyl alcohol) is used, for example, as a solvent in a variety of applications and as a fragrance ingredient. It is also one of the microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs) found in indoor air. There are little data on acute effects. The aim of the study was to assess the acute effects of 3MB in humans. Thirty healthy volunteers (16 men and 14 women) were exposed in random order to 1 mg/m³ 3MB or clean air for 2 h at controlled conditions. Ratings with visual analogue scales revealed slightly increased perceptions of eye irritation (P = 0.048, Wilcoxon) and smell (P < 0.0001) compared with control exposure. The other ratings were not significantly affected (irritation in nose and throat, dyspnea, headache, fatigue, dizziness, nausea, and intoxication). No significant exposure‐related effects were found in blinking frequency, tear film break‐up time, vital staining of the eye, nasal lavage biomarkers, lung function, and nasal swelling. In conclusion, this study suggests that 3MB is not a causative factor for health effects in damp and moldy buildings.     

Analysis of outrigger‐braced reinforced concrete supertall buildings: Core‐supported and tube‐in‐tube lateral systems

This study is primarily focused on the approximate analysis of reinforced concrete outriggers which are commonly used in the design and construction of supertall buildings subject to distributed horizontal loads. Existing global analysis formulae that provide preliminary results for lateral deflections and moments are reviewed for two lateral load resisting systems, namely, core‐supported‐with‐outrigger (CSOR) system and less frequent tube‐in‐tube‐with‐outrigger (TTOR) system. These formulae are only applicable for CSOR and neglect the reverse rotation of the outrigger actually suffered due to the propping action from the outer columns and give rather high predictions of the deflections compared with advanced numerical finite element (FE) models. An improved model is proposed which overcomes this issue and provides more consistent results to FE predictions. The same can also be extended to TTOR. Several case studies are investigated to verify the accuracy of the proposed methodologies. The global analysis is followed by the local analysis of reinforced concrete outrigger beams using strut‐and‐tie modelling and non‐linear FE analysis to obtain optimized reinforcement layouts (reduction of quantities of reinforcement). The results highlight the different challenges in detailing such structural members which are heavily loaded (high congestion of reinforcement), and the behaviour at failure can be brittle.     

Structural response of vertically irregular tall moment‐resisting steel frames under pre‐ and post‐earthquake fire

Post‐earthquake fires (PEF) may result in a catastrophe in urban regions even worse than the earthquake itself. Most urban structures are not designed to resist two subsequent extreme loads such as earthquake and fire. Thus, these types of structures are too weak when subjected to the PEF loads. On the other hand, it is well understood that irregular building structures are more susceptible to sustain earthquake damage than regular buildings. Investigating irregular buildings can therefore be more important when there is a high possibility of PEF. While there are various irregularities, here, vertical irregularity is considered. The study is performed on one irregular seven‐story tall moment‐resisting steel frame designed based on the American Society of Civil Engineers code. The frame is firstly subjected to an earthquake load with the peak ground acceleration of 0.35 g and then is exposed to a generalized exponential fire curve. To make a comparison between the results, the PEF analysis is also performed for the regular frame. The results show that there is a marked difference between the PEF of the regular frame with that of the irregular frame. In addition, two types of failure—local and global—were observed during the analysis, where the local collapse is related to the deflection of beams, and the global collapse is pertained to the considerable movement of the columns. It is observed during the analysis that the irregular frames are more susceptible to collapse globally. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.