Assessment of Material Strength Implications on Seismic Design of Tall Buildings through Collapse Analysis

Abstract

High-strength materials are widely utilized in multi-story buildings with shear walls to effectively utilize floor areas and control lateral drifts. To investigate the impacts of high-strength concrete on the seismic design coefficients of shear wall-supported structures, five different designs of 60-story buildings with varying concrete strength are considered. The reference structures are designed and detailed such that they have very close periods of vibration. The large number of inelastic analyses performed at different intensity levels using twenty earthquake records and detailed fiber-based simulation models enabled the effective verification of the seismic design coefficients. The results reflect the enhanced profits and safety margins of shear wall-supported structures with increasing concrete strength. There is a possibility for increasing the design coefficients, which has several economic advantages. This systematic study provides practical insights into the seismic response of high-strength shear wall-supported tall buildings at different performance limit states and enables the verification of essential coefficients used in seismic design.