DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-PERFORMANCE SEISMIC FORCE-RESISTING SYSTEMS FOR MID-RISE STEEL BUILDINGS

SUMMARY
The objective of this project is to significantly improve the performance of mid-rise steel buildings under seismic loads by reducing or eliminating both damage to main structural elements and residual deformations. In this way, not only is life safety provided, but there is also a significant reduction in the cost of structural repairs after an earthquake, as well as in the disruption of building activities due to those repairs. The system being developed aims to achieve these goals through the use of post-tensioning and energy dissipation technologies. Research to date has been primarily numerical, targeted at defining the system and demonstrating its feasibility. Future work will include both further analytical evaluation and experimental validation of the proposed system. The end objective of this project is to put forward recommendations for the implementation of the system that could be used by practicing design engineers.

PUBLICATIONS
Wiebe, L., Christopoulos, C., and Pampanin, S. (2007). “Seismic Response of Self-Centering Base-Rocking Steel Structures.” Proceedings of the Ninth Canadian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Ottawa, Canada.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
With the support of the G.J. Jackson Fellowship, Lydell Wiebe completed his first year of graduate studies in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto. He then spent a year in Pavia, Italy, at the European School for Advanced Studies in Reduction of Seismic Risk (ROSE School), from which he received his MSc. He has since returned to the University of Toronto, where he is currently working toward his PhD. Lydell can be contacted at wiebe@ecf.utoronto.ca.