Multi-storey Buildings Research Articles

Determination of the moment–rotation relation of continuous timber–concrete composite floors based on the component method

Timber–concrete composite (TCC) combines the advantages of timber and reinforced concrete construction. In multi-storey buildings, the design of TCC floors is often governed by the deformation serviceability requirements. One way to improve deformation serviceability is through the design of continuous floor systems. However, the current practice of TCC slab systems is often limited to load-carrying as single-span beams. This paper presents an analytical model based on the component method for determining the moment–rotation relation of continuous TCC slabs in the range with negative bending moments. The investigations involve the development of load–displacement curves for the individual force-transmitting components, including timber and reinforced concrete, followed by their assembly into a component model. The model has been verified using finite element calculations and the results demonstrate that the moment–rotation relation of continuous TCC systems can be accurately captured. As the variability of the material properties strongly influences the stiffness of the joint and therefore the deformation and stresses in the TCC slab, a probabilistic analysis of the material parameters was performed using the Monte Carlo method. The probabilistic investigations show that the variability of the input parameters has a significant impact on the joint stiffness, with notable scattering observed in the moment–rotation relation, especially in the range of the cracking phase of the concrete. The results from the probabilistic investigations enable initial statements about the joint stiffness of continuous timber–concrete composite slabs in ranges with negative bending moments.

Evaluation of household electricity consumption in multi-apartment buildings for optimization of rooftop PV systems

Empowering citizen energy communities (CECs) to produce, self-consume and share renewable energy can enhance household energy efficiency, support the adoption of renewable energy sources, reduce energy consumption and supply tariffs, and increase independence from fossil fuels. This study analyzes actual electricity consumption data from 31 dwellings in typical five-story multi-apartment buildings in Riga, Latvia, considering the potential for rooftop solar energy systems within CECs. The novelty of this study lies in the detailed analysis of household electricity consumption data and characteristics (e.g., household size, population, etc.) to predict household load which is essential for the optimal design of a multi-apartment building scale PV system. We evaluate the suitability of typical multi story buildings for rooftop photovoltaic (PV) systems, aiming to determine the potential PV performance relative to final electricity consumption. The study utilizes PolySun computer simulation software. Our findings indicate that a rooftop PV system on a typical 5 story multi-apartment building (60 apartments) can cover up to 77% of annual electricity consumption. This analysis is based on hourly real electricity consumption data. The research outcomes can inform optimization of on-site energy storage to mitigate the impact of PV systems on the grid. The proposed solution is applicable in many Eastern European countries and in some Western European countries that were influenced by the Soviet Union in the latter half of the 20th century.These regions have a similar stock of panel-constructed multi-apartment residential buildings and share comparable climatic conditions.

A Review on Determination of Efficiency of Soil Parameters Below Multi-Storied Building

Abstract: The construction of high-rise structures is widely utilized in urban and semi-urban areas of developed and developing countries. These tall structures, including residential apartments, commercial, and semi-commercial spaces, are characterized by their efficient use of construction area relative to their footprint. During the structural analysis stage, significant characteristics such as vertical load, horizontal load, superstructure design, and foundation design are considered. However, prior to this stage, the larger construction area is planned by architecture. It is essential that this preliminary selection not only considers structural design configurations but also incorporates soil parameters, which should be assessed beforehand. This paper presents a review of past research on the aforementioned topics and draws conclusions based on the reviews. It is concluded that the location parameter, determined based on soil investigation reports, should be prioritized for the selection of the construction area's optimal Soil Bearing Capacity (SBC), ensuring the suitability of the soil for structural performance.

Radon Concentration Assessment in Urban Romanian Buildings: A Multistory Analysis

Radon (Rn 222) is a significant contributor to natural radiation exposure in residential environments such as single-family houses and multistory buildings. This study monitored radon activity concentration (RAC) in 455 apartments in 30 multistory buildings in Buzău, Romania. Integrated measurements of the RAC using CR-39 nuclear track detectors were conducted for a period of 3 to 4 months. The results revealed that the RAC varies between buildings, with an annual average between 33 and 77 Bq/m3. This variation may be attributed to poor ventilation and the chimney effect in common ventilation ducts, which may facilitate radon displacement vertically. Also, apartments with low occupancy or inadequate ventilation showed higher radon levels of up to 285 Bq/m3. The study highlights the potential risk of increased radon exposure in energy-efficient buildings due to poor ventilation, emphasizing the need for special attention to radon mitigation measures in building design. The results emphasize that the RAC is influenced by building characteristics, room use, and ventilation, with significant implications for health risks in urban residential environments.

Semi-active vibration control via a magnetorheological damper and active disturbance rejection control

This work provides an alternative for the semi-active vibration control problem via state feedback plus an active disturbance rejection control (K-ADRC) for a multistory building structure equipped with one magnetorheological damper (MRD) located between the ground and the first story. This control law introduces a disturbance observer (DOB) to estimate the total disturbance in real time, produced by the earthquake perturbation, unmodeled dynamics, and parametric uncertainties, and then cancel their effect using a part of the control signal. Moreover, using a diffeomorphism, the K-ADRC provides a proportional derivative (PD) controller designed to improve internal stability. A prominent feature of the active disturbance rejection control (ADRC) algorithm is that the value of the DOB gain is selected according to the system bandwidth. The stability of the system is verified via Lyapunov analysis. Moreover, the building structure model and the MRD are accomplished by incorporating a nonlinearity state that represents the hysteresis effect to perform real behavior in addition to assuming that acceleration is the only available measurement of building structures. Thus, integral filters are provided based on the appropriate cut-off frequency to estimate displacement and velocity, avoiding bias, offset, and phase shifts. Experimental results from a reduced-scale two-story building prototype demonstrate that the proposed K-ADRC is promising for real applications, and it has better performance than the state feedback (K) and the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) control techniques.

Efficient Multi-floor Indoor Mapping with A Versatile Rotating LiDAR System

Abstract. Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) technology has provided an impactful way to capture 3D environmental map. However, consistent mapping in sensing-degenerated and perceptually-limited scenes (e.g. multi-story buildings) or under high dynamic sensor motion (e.g. rotating platform) remains a significant challenge. To this end, an efficient multi-floor indoor mapping system is proposed in this paper utilizing a versatile rotating LiDAR platform. In the front end, measurements from motor, IMU and LiDAR are tightly integrated to track the fast motion state of system, based on iterative Error State Kalman Filter (ESKF). Then linear and planar features are extracted from the point cloud map voxelized with adaptive resolutions. A sliding-window-based batch optimization is performed to simultaneously optimize the states of local frames with reference to the map consistency. In the experiments, we investigated the influence of rotating speed on the mapping performance as well as the superiority of rotating mechanism when compared to standard LiDAR setup. Moreover, comparative studies with one of the SOTA work, FAST-LIO2, have shown the competitive mapping results in multi-floor indoor environments.

Needs of Deaf People Using Elevators: Identification of Accessibility and Safety Requirements

As urbanization and population growth continue, cities concentrate an increasing amount of people, energy, and economy. Multi-story buildings enable densification, requiring vertical transport for access to upper floors. This is crucial for people with disabilities, who may face barriers in the built environment. Elevators are essential for accessibility, allowing everyone, including people with disabilities, to comfortably access multi-story buildings. However, barriers to inclusivity remain, often subtle and hard to define. This paper highlights one such example, focusing on elevator use by individuals with varying degrees of hearing loss. Currently, they cannot establish one-to-one communication with the outside world if trapped in an elevator. Under EN standards, this issue stems from alarm system requirements that lack effective alternatives to voice communication. Based on this evidence, the research was carried out in two steps, with the aim of understanding the needs of deaf individuals when using elevators by directly involving them in the study. First, a questionnaire conducted in Italy collected information regarding the safety and usability of elevators. Second, a test campaign involving both deaf and normal-hearing participants was carried out to quantify the severity of the issue and evaluate potential solutions to address the identified challenges. The conclusions indicate that current alarm systems in elevators are inadequate for individuals with hearing impairments, and effective alternatives must be implemented.

Modal analysis and seismic optimization of multi-storey gymnasium frame

In order to improve the seismic resistance capacity of the multi-storey gymnasium frame, based on the finite element analysis method, the dynamic response characteristics were analyzed, and the natural frequencies and vibration modes were obtained. Based on the results of the modal analysis, different reinforcement methods were proposed for verification. Under the excitation conditions of Borego waves, the vibration responses of different nodes in initial model were obtained. Modal verification was carried out by using two methods of shear strengthening and support rod strengthening respectively. The analysis results show that the bearing capacity of the single-span frame is insufficient, the lateral stiffness is small, and it is prone to cause severe torsional vibration damage. It can also be known that the seismic resistance capacity of the support rods reinforcement is more balanced in different directions. It can not only effectively improve the lateral stiffness and bearing capacity of the structure, but also improve the seismic performance of the main structure through the energy dissipation of component yield, which is more suitable for multi-story buildings.

Reduction in Floor Impact Noise Using Resilient Pads Composed of Machining Scraps.

Floor impact noise is a significant social concern to secure a quiescent living space for multi-story building residents in South Korea. The floating floor, consisting of a concrete structure on resilient pads, is a specifically designed system to minimize noise transmission. This floating structure employs polymeric pads as the resilient materials. In this study, we investigated the utilization of helically shaped machining scraps as a resilient material for an alternative approach to floor noise reduction. The dynamic elastic modulus and loss factor of the scrap pads were measured using the vibration test method. The scrap pads exhibited a low dynamic elastic modulus and a high loss factor compared to the polymeric pads. Heavyweight impact sound experiments in an actual building were conducted to evaluate the noise reduction performance. The proposed pads showed excellent performance on the reduction in the structure-borne vibration of the concrete slab and resulting sound generation. The analytical model was used to simulate the response of the floating floor structure, enabling a parametric study to examine the effects of the resilient layer viscoelastic properties. Both experimental and analytical evidence confirmed that the proposed scrap pads contribute to the development of sustainable solutions for the minimization of floor impact noise.

Attention-based hybrid network for structural nonlinear response prediction under long-period earthquake

To develop structures that can respond to severe seismic events, models and tools are essential for quickly and precisely assessing and controlling the structure's performance. Long-period ground motions may pose potentially significant hazards to the safety of high-rise buildings located in basins or alluvial plains. However, traditional regression-based methods and pure data-driven machine learning methods are insufficient to address this problem of response prediction, which is characterized by non-stationarity, nonlinearity, and scarcity of samples. To tackle this issue, we propose a novel semi-explicit physics-informed deep learning method. The method incorporates the physical information into the model, thereby achieving better prediction accuracy. Through numerical and experimental validations, including hysteresis experimental data, the actual seismic response record of a six-story hotel, as well as data from single-degree-of-freedom structures across various periods and multi-story buildings in Los Angeles, Seattle, and Boston, we verified the proposed method significantly outperforms traditional regression-based methods and data-driven machine learning methods in terms of accuracy, efficiency, and robustness.

Experimental Study on Seismic Performance Evaluation of a Multi-Story Steel Building Model with Rolling-Type Seismic Base Isolation

Critical structures such as hospitals, high-precision manufacturing facilities, telecommunications centers, and fire stations, especially, need to maintain their functionality even during severe earthquakes. In this sense, seismic isolation technology serves as a vital design method for preserving their functionality. Seismic isolators, also known as earthquake isolation systems, are used to reduce the effects of earthquakes on buildings by isolating them from the ground they are located on. By ensuring that less acceleration and force demand is transmitted to the superstructure, both the building and the equipment and the devices in the building are prevented from being damaged by earthquakes. This experimental study aims to conduct vibration tests on a small-scale multi-story steel-building model equipped with a specially designed rolling-type seismic base isolation system. The relationship between the test model and the prototype was achieved by frequency simulation. The tests will be performed on a shake table under six different earthquake accelerations to examine the model’s dynamic behavior. The primary goal is to evaluate the isolation performance of the rolling-type seismic base isolator under seismic loads, with a focus on recording the vibrations at the top of the test building. It has been observed that the isolator placed at the base of the building significantly reduced the peak acceleration and displacement values of the floor motion. Under the most severe earthquake record applied to the shake table, the acceleration at the top of the building with the isolator was found to be reduced by approximately 50%, compared to the non-isolated case.

Pengembangan Mesh Network Sebagai Ekspansi Protokol LoRaWAN di Politeknik Negeri Malang

In realizing a smart campus, Politeknik Negeri Malang (Polinema) has implemented digital technology in its learning and administrative processes with the goal of improving efficiency, speed, and operational ease. One of the key areas being developed is the Internet of Things (IoT), which is expected to function autonomously to support various campus activities. However, the main challenges in IoT implementation are the limitations in communication range and device power consumption, which cause issues in sensor and actuator data transmission, especially when data cannot be optimally received between nodes. To address these challenges, Polinema is ex-ploring the application of LoRaWAN technology. Although LoRaWAN is effective, it experiences a decline in data transmission quality when the sender and receiver are located in multi-story buildings, which can lead to delays, packet loss, or other disruptions. As a solution, the use of a Mesh Network is proposed to enhance the range and stability of data transmission. This study collected data using RSSI, SNR, and delay parameters in the civil engineering building at Polinema, with sensor data visualized through Grafana. The results show that the system can be well-integrated without conflicts between WiFi and LoRa. The average transmission time was approximately 29 seconds, with no packet loss detected. Additionally, changing the transmission method to confirmed uplink was necessary to maintain data integrity, while adjusting transmis-sion intervals was crucial to avoid scheduling issues. These findings indicate that implementing a Mesh Network as an extension of the LoRaWAN protocol can significantly improve the perfor-mance of IoT systems in Polinema’s indoor environment.

Renovation Strategies for Energy Conservation in Multi-Story Residential Buildings in Turkey

Renovation Strategies for Energy Conservation in Multi-Story Residential Buildings in Turkey

Noise reduction and visual disturbance performances of horizontal facade profiles for a multi-story high-rise apartment building

This paper simulates the noise reduction performance of horizontal profiles installed on the façade to reduce the external noise in high-rise residential buildings. The simulation used commercial software based on the ray tracing method and evaluated the performance by modeling a representative rectangular-shaped 30-story apartment building in South Korea. The simulation assumed a four-lane road traffic noise source parallel to the front of the apartment. The key simulation values were cited from configurations derived in previous studies. The sound absorption points were set at the center of each living room on every floor, and windows facing the road were considered for ventilation, being set to be partially open. Horizontal profiles for noise reduction were placed on the exterior of the building, starting from the 20th floor, with protrusion height and vertical spacing as variables. These profiles were combined with noise barriers to assess their impact. As a result, it was confirmed that the noise barrier only reduced the noise in the lower floors, while the horizontal profiles on the upper part of the building could also reduce noise in the upper floors. Additionally, the paper discusses the visual disturbance of the horizontal facade profiles visible from the living rooms.

OR-LIM: Observability-aware robust LiDAR-inertial-mapping under high dynamic sensor motion

Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) technology has provided an impactful way to capture 3D data. However, consistent mapping in sensing-degenerated and perceptually-limited scenes (e.g. multi-story buildings) or under high dynamic sensor motion (e.g. rotating platform) remains a significant challenge. In this paper, we present OR-LIM, a novel observability-aware LiDAR-inertial-mapping system. Essentially, it combines a robust real-time LiDAR-inertial-odometry (LIO) module with an efficient surfel-map-smoothing (SMS) module that seamlessly optimizes the sensor poses and scene geometry at the same time. To improve robustness, the planar surfels are hierarchically generated and grown from point cloud maps to provide reliable correspondences for fixed-lag optimization. Moreover, the normals of surfels are analyzed for the observability evaluation of each frame. To maintain global consistency, a factor graph is utilized integrating the information from IMU propagation, LIO as well as the SMS. The system is extensively tested on the datasets collected by a low-cost multi-beam LiDAR (MBL) mounted on a rotating platform. The experiments with various settings of sensor motion, conducted on complex multi-story buildings and large-scale outdoor scenes, demonstrate the superior performance of our system over multiple state-of-the-art methods. The improvement of point accuracy reaches 3.39–13.6 % with an average 8.71 % outdoor and correspondingly 1.89–15.88 % with 9.09 % indoor, with reference to the collected Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) map.

Structural System and Computational Dynamic Model of a Life-Saving Multi-Storey Building with a Kinematic Seismic Isolation System

Introduction. In design of a life-saving multi-storey building, a seismic isolation system in the form of the kinematic supports is used to ensure the seismic resistance and reduce the seismic loads. The structural system, the computational dynamic model and the results of the intermediate in-situ tests of a life-saving multi-storey building with a kinematic seismic isolation system being built in Grozny have been analysed in the article.Materials and Methods. The research included modeling and computation of the structural system of a building with a kinematic seismic isolation system. In-situ tests were carried out to confirm the working capacity of the seismic isolation system connections.Results. A multi-storey life-saving building was designed according to a frame-core wall structure, where the vertical load-bearing elements were core walls, columns and connections between the columns in the form of the stiffening diaphragms. The high-rise part of a building was designed using a kinematic seismic isolation system consisting of the seismic isolating concrete-filled steel tubular supports. The results of the calculations of the main and specific load combinations and internal forces in the load-bearing structures have been presented.Discussion and Conclusion. The research has shown that the use of the developed structural system of seismic isolation with kinematic supports makes it possible to reduce the seismic loads and the total weight of a building and at the same time to increase its mechanical reliability and safety. The conducted intermediate in-situ tests have confirmed the working capacity of the joints connecting the supports with the monolithic reinforced concrete structures of a building, which makes it possible to implement the kinematic seismic isolation supports into the construction industry practices.

Томографический измеритель концентрации метана на приземных трассах

Using a prototype of a remote lidar created in the laboratory for measuring methane concentration, a study of the distribution of methane along a route ~ 2.25 km long was carried out in order to localize gas emissions and control leaks in unfavorable areas. The lidar prototype, operating at a wavelength of 1653 nm, included a powerful Raman amplifier and made it possible to measure the distance to the reflection point with an accuracy of no worse than 50 meters. The lidar scanned the track, starting from short distances and ending with measurements along the entire measured track. The route included a near zone with modern multi-storey buildings without gas infrastructure, a middle zone with multi-storey buildings and gas infrastructure, as well as an extended forest area ending with a busy highway with heavy traffic. That is, it was possible to assess the contribution of each zone to the background methane concentration along the route. Observations were carried out during the winter-spring period and were carried out at different times of the day under weather conditions that were recorded. Processing of the results showed a significantly different contribution of each zone to the average concentration on the route. The contribution of the middle zone with multi-storey buildings equipped with gas infrastructure turned out to be especially large, which suggests a possible gas leak from the gas distribution system in this area. On average, the background concentration of methane on this route repeated the value measured in 2023 during the same seasonal period in 2023.

Wood-based policies as a driver for the climate transition

Abstract In the context of global accelerating urbanization, the total floor area of buildings is expected to double by 2060, with a significant impact on the environment. While cities made consistent progress towards increasing energy efficiency, accounting for, and reducing embodied emissions for new and renovated constructions represents one critical priority for mitigating this impact and reaching genuine carbon neutrality. Wood is a renewable and carbon-positive material, which can have a meaningful contribution to changing paradigms on net-zero carbon ambitions of cities, but still faces the challenge of an immature integration into urban development policy framework. Through the Horizon 2020 “Build-in-Wood” project we addressed the challenge of translating novel wood building systems, pilots, wood value chains for the construction of multi-storey wood buildings, and promising practices into policy. As a result, we formulate transferable lessons learned, recommendations, and criteria that can serve as guidance for municipalities and policymakers who aim to channel their efforts toward creating a more sustainable built environment by prioritizing wood, either implicitly or explicitly. We achieved this by working on understanding the real needs of cities and territories, the drivers, and the key entry points and preconditions for new policies supporting multi-storey wood buildings and genuine carbon neutrality. Specifically, the findings are based on the close collaboration with seven affiliated cities (Early Adopter Cities in Europe), outlining and integrating the results of (i)Multi-criterial urban planning, strategic and regulatory context analysis, (ii)Participatory and co-design approaches implemented with their local stakeholder ecosystem from the wood construction value chains and (iii)Research of different best practice policies at national, regional and local level from different parts of the globe, that incentives through informative, financial, research or regulatory instruments building with wood. The entire process is presented in the form of a Build-in-Wood Policy Catalogue [1], offering insights on working with Early Adopter Cities and guidance for improving policy, governance, and the decision-making process for subnational governments. The research was not intended to be exhaustive in documenting all existing policies because of the field’s dynamics, but rather to provide an overview and understanding of different policy instruments’ applicability and potential impact.

Seismic analysis of R.C Multi-Story Buildings Controlled by Tuned Mass Dampers

Seismic analysis of R.C Multi-Story Buildings Controlled by Tuned Mass Dampers

Sustainable multi-story building design utilizing recycled marble and ceramic waste

This study explores the design of a multi-story structure utilizing recycled waste materials. Locally produced materials from recycled sources were used for making concrete and bricks. The design of a 10-story building was carried out using ETABS software. In the process, 10% of the cement in the concrete was replaced with waste marble powder (WMP), while the bricks were made by replacing 12% of clay with waste ceramic powder and 15% with waste brick powder. The materials were developed in a laboratory, adhering to ASTM standards, and their properties were input into the software for analysis and design. The results were compared to a structure made with traditional materials. The analysis showed that using recycled materials led to the conservation of 164 tons of cement and 475 cubic meters of fertile clay while maintaining the required stability standards as per building codes. The design also prevented the release of 148 tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and reduced the energy demands associated with cement production. Additionally, the building utilizing waste materials was found to be Rs. 5.8 million more economical than one made with conventional materials.