Title: Development of post-tensioned self-centring structures for earthquake resistance

Authors: Chung-Che Chou; Jun-Hen Chen

Addresses: Civil Engineering Department, National Taiwan University, 1, Sec. 4, Roosevelt Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan. ' Federal Engineering Consultant Inc., 12F-2, 41, Sec. 2, Hsin-Hai Rd., Taipei 10617, Taiwan

Abstract: A three-story frame was designed for earthquake resistance by using post-tensioned (PT) columns and beams. Two interior connections, representing the first floor column and beam sizes, were tested under cyclic loading to evaluate the effects of energy dissipation and PT load and on the seismic behaviour. A full-scale one-story two-bay specimen frame, which was a substructure of the three-story PT building, was then built and tested. This paper presents experimental results of the connections and the frame and analytical simulations for the frame subassembly. Time-history analyses of the three-story PT building subjected to the design basis earthquake (DBE) and the maximum considered earthquake (MCE) were conducted to investigate seismic demands of the proposed frame. These tests confirmed the self-centring responses of the connections and the frame. Inelastic time history analyses of the three-story prototype building showed that the proposed frame system can achieve seismic demands under MCE level ground motions.

Keywords: post-tensioned structures; earthquake resistance; self-centring frames; cyclic loading tests; inelastic dynamic analysis; energy dissipation; simulation; seismic demands; three-story buildings; ground motions; earthquakes; structural engineering.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2012.045039

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2012 Vol.3 No.1/2, pp.4 - 17

Published online: 20 Aug 2014 *

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