Seismic design and evaluation of self-centering modular rocking composite sandwich wall (SC-MRCSW) system

With rapid population growth worldwide and increasing urbanization, there is a growing demand for infrastructure that can be constructed quickly, while maintaining sustainability and resilience. In order to enhance the seismic resilience and constructability, this thesis introduces a novel self-centering modular rocking composite sandwich wall (SC-MRCSW) system. SC-MRCSW system consists of steel plates in-filled with concrete, where the steel plates are tied using steel bolts. The steel plates reduce the need for concrete formwork which significantly reduces the on-site constriction time, making SC-MRCSW system a highly efficient structural system for high rise application. To improve the performance of the SC-MRCSW, novel self-centering friction dampers are added to the system to ensure SC-MRCSW system can dissipate earthquake energy and self center after strong earthquake shaking. This makes SC-MRCSW system highly resilient. This thesis focuses on the seismic design of SC-MRCSW system. This is achieved using the novel Equivalent Energy Design Procedure (EEDP). Detailed numerical model of the SC-MRCSW system was developed to simulate the non-linear dynamic response of the system. The results show that SC-MRCSW system is able to achieve superior performance at different levels of earthquake shaking intensities. This thesis shows that the proposed SC-MRCSW system can be used as a reliable seismic force resisting system and can be designed efficiently using EEDP.