Seismic loss assessment of typical RC frame-core tube tall buildings in China and US using the FEMA P-58 procedure

Abstract

Reinforced concrete (RC) frame-core tube buildings are widely constructed both in China and the United States (US). Their seismic performances greatly influence the economic loss of earthquakes. This study aims to compare the seismic losses of two typical RC frame-core tube tall buildings designed following the Chinese and the US seismic design codes. The prototype building is originally designed using the US seismic design codes, provided by the Tall Building Initiative (TBI) Project. Then the prototype building is redesigned according to the Chinese seismic design codes with the same design conditions and seismic hazard level. Detailed nonlinear finite element (FE) models are established for both designs. These models are used to evaluate their seismic responses at different earthquake intensities, including the service level earthquake (SLE), the design based earthquake (DBE) and the maximum considered earthquake (MCE). In addition, the collapse fragility functions of these two buildings are established using the incremental dynamic analysis (IDA). Subsequently, the seismic loss consequences (repair costs, repair workload, and casualties) of these two designs are calculated using the procedure proposed by FEMA P-58. The comparison shows that the Chinese design exhibits better seismic performances in most cases with smaller total repair cost, shorter repair time and a smaller number of casualties, except slightly longer repair time at the MCE level. For both designs, the repair cost of nonstructural components accounts for the majority of the total cost. The ceilings and elevators are the major causes of casualties at the MCE level.