Nonlinear time history analysis of China Pavilion for Expo 2010 Shanghai China

Abstract

SUMMARYThe peculiar building style and special structural system of the National Hall of China Pavilion for Expo 2010 Shanghai is a long‐span and large cantilevered steel–concrete hybrid structure with a shape of an inverted trapezoid in elevation and local discontinuity of floor slabs in plan for esthetic and functional considerations. Because of these characteristics, the building is classified as an irregular and complex structure. To investigate the seismic behavior of the structure, a refined finite element model was established by using NosaCAD. To simulate the nonlinear behavior of the members, the fiber section model was chosen for compression‐flexure frame members, and nonlinear flat shell element was chosen for tube wall. Nonlinear analysis was carried out to study the seismic behavior of the structure under the minor and major earthquakes at the level of intensity 7. With the analysis, the deformations, internal forces and damage states of the structure were investigated. Analysis results show that there is no damage on structure under minor earthquake, the structural system has sufficient capacity and ductility to resist major earthquake, and seismic performance objective of no damage under minor earthquake and no collapse under major earthquake can be reached. The deformation of the structure is less than the limit of the Chinese code. The order and distribution of damages on components of the tubes are reasonable, which can dissipate some dynamic energy. Finally, weak points were identified, and some corresponding suggestions were put forward to improve the overall seismic performance of this structure. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.