Application of Combination Methods to Estimating Building Separations in Taiwan

Abstract

The combination method implied in the formula used to evaluate the building separation to avoid seismic pounding in current Taiwan Building Code (TBC) is the absolute sum (ABS) method. However, it was demonstrated that the ABS method is not satisfactory. In this study, the seismic pounding risk of buildings is used as an indicator to demonstrate the validity of application of various combination methods to the formula in the pounding related provisions of TBC. The result shows that the building separations based on these combination methods generally provide relatively conservative estimate due to an overestimate property line setback.