Effects of pounding on displacement demands in mid-rise RC buildings

Abstract

In this study, the effects of pounding on seismic behavior of mid-rise reinforced concrete (RC) adjacent buildings with insufficient separation distance were investigated. 5, 8, 10, 13 and 15-storey RC building models were created to represent mid-rise buildings. The nonlinear behavior properties of these models are reflected by plastic hinges defined at the column and beam ends. The buildings are modeled as a three dimensional (3D) column-beam frame system. Adjacent building models are derived, which are connected from floor to floor level using Kelvin contact elements. Total of 30 different adjacent building models were created with the use of buildings having different number of floors. The 0 m gaps reflect inadequate separation distance between adjacent buildings while the 5 m gap is used for the reference building without collision. In order to investigate the pounding effects between adjacent buildings, 22 real acceleration records compatible with TBEC-2018 were selected and scaled. Total of 660 3D nonlinear time history analyses were carried out and the roof displacement demands obtained from these analyses were compared for collision and without collision cases The outcomes of this study show that significant changes may occur in the building displacement demands due to the collision of the mid-rise RC neighboring buildings with insufficient seismic gap. Based on the findings obtained on significant number of adjacent building pairs with different period ratios, the displacement amplification factors (beta) are proposed for the mid-rise RC buildings.