SEAoNY November Seminar
Development, Validation and Application of Viscoelastic Coupling Damping for Enhanced Wind and Seismic Performance of High-Rise Buildings
November 13, 2018
6:15PM - 8:00PM
Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place
Presented By: Professor Constantin Christopoulos
As high-rise buildings are built taller and more slender, their dynamic behavior becomes an increasingly critical design consideration. Wind loads cause large vibrations which can be perceived by building occupants, while severe earthquakes can cause building damage. To address these design challenges engineers are increasingly turning to advanced damping technologies.
Viscoelastic Coupling Dampers (VCDs) have been engineered to improve the dynamic performance of tall Reinforced Concrete (RC) buildings for both wind storms and earthquakes. They are configured in place of RC coupling beams or outriggers in multi-story RC buildings and therefore do not use any architectural space. The VCDs exhibit an elastic restoring force as well as a viscous damping force under dynamic loading and when properly configured in the structural system, add supplemental viscous damping to all lateral modes of vibration mitigating both wind and seismic vibrations for a wide range of loading amplitudes. VCDs can also be configured with structural “fuse” elements in the connections, such that at a predefined load the steel connecting elements yield and exhibit a hysteretic response for extreme earthquake loading conditions. After an extreme earthquake, the connecting “fuse” elements can be inspected and if required repaired or replaced. This presentation summarizes the research and development that took place since 2003 at the University of Toronto in collaboration with Nippon Steel USA and Nippon Steel and Sumikin Engineering, including full-scale tests of the VCD. In addition, key results from studies on buildings incorporating the VCD ranging from a wind sensitive 66-story building in Toronto, to a performance-based seismic design of a 46-story building on the west coast and finally a 630-meter Megatall building in Southeast Asia will be presented.
Speaker Biography
Constantin Christopoulos, Ph.D., P.Eng., Professor and Canada Research Chair in Seismic Resilience of Infrastructure
Constantin Christopoulos is a Professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto. He is the author of more than 130 technical papers, of two textbooks that are used in graduate courses in numerous countries, and the co-inventor on several international patents.
Dr. Christopoulos is an associate member of the CSA-S16 Canadian Steel Code Committee, has been involved in a number of high-profile consulting projects involving the implementation of supplemental damping devices in structures, and has presented numerous lectures on advanced seismic engineering and damping systems with an emphasis on high-performance systems.
Over the past decade, his research at the University of Toronto has pioneered the development and implementation of self-centering structural systems such as braces and frames and rocking structures. His team has also developed advanced damping technologies such as viscoelastic coupling dampers and viscoelastic-plastic devices for both wind and seismic protection of high-rise buildings. He has also been supervising research over the past decade on the use of cast steel in seismic engineering applications, which has led to numerous developments that have been implemented in North America. Professor Christopoulos has also been active in transferring research into practice through two companies that he has co-founded, Cast Connex and Kinetica.
1.5 PDH Credits will be offered (pending)
Advanced registration closes 4:00pm November 12, 2018
Registration opens at 5:45pm. Seminar begins promptly at 6:15pm
For SEAoNY members, registration is $25 in advance or $35 at the door.
For non-members, registration is $40 in advance or $50 at the door.
For student members, registration is $5.
The event will take place at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place.
