Core wall case study design for Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research/California Seismic Safety Commission

Abstract

Magnusson Klemencic Associates (MKA) performed the structural design for a sample building on behalf of the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center as part of the Tall Buildings Initiative. The research project is done on behalf of the California Seismic Safety Commission and the California Office of Emergency Services. The goal of the overall research project was to quantify and compare seismic performances and expected losses of three hypothetical, yet realistic, tall buildings in California. The sample building designed by MKA consists of a representative core wall building located in Los Angeles, CA. For the purposes of reporting, the building is called building 1. Building 1 is a 42-storey hotel tower. Two different designs for building 1 were performed, as summarized below: 1 Prescriptive provisions of the 2006 edition of the International Building Code: All prescriptive provisions of the building code were observed with one exception—the height limit. Capacity design principles were not employed. 2 Performance-based design (PBD): A PBD was performed according to the 2008 edition of the seismic design criteria published by the Los Angeles Tall Buildings Structural Design Council (LATBSDC), with the following exceptions: a The serviceability analysis was for an earthquake event with a 25-year return period, assuming 2·5% viscous damping. Only a limited number of elements were allowed to reach 120% of their capacity under the serviceability check. b The minimum base shear specified in the LATBSDC document was waived. The serviceability check in conjunction with design for wind forces determined the minimum strength of the lateral system. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.