Control of Structural Seismic Damage in Prefabricated Reinforced Concrete Frames through Hybrid-Selfcentering Connections

Abstract

Current seismic design philosophy of industrial structures in Chile aims at the protection of life and continuity of operation in the industry. The compliance with these requirements allows controlling structural damage based on resistance criteria, without detecting the failure mode or specifying its location in the event of a major seismic event. In this paper, we discuss the application of an innovative technique for controlling the structural damage in prefabricated reinforced concrete frames, which are founded on granular soils. This technique is applied in the construction of the Forest and Paper Pulp Plant Concepción. This is done by incorporating hybrid post-tensioned joints in precast columns of the project, and this approach aims to control energy dissipation in the union and maintain the initial stiffness of the system. Using a nonlinear dynamic analysis with 2D Ruaumoko software, potential performance in traditional design versus innovative design is compared. The analysis is performed for various Chilean representative seismic records and different types of soils. The results indicate that the structure with the traditional design could suffer displacement in the roof of the order of 40 cm, moving heavily into the inelastic range, with residual deformations and concentrating the damage generation of plastic hinges at the ends of the columns and some beams not designed for ductility. In contrast, the use of self-centering hybrid joints causes the structure to recover its original position, without the presence of remnant deformations.