Design Considerations for Precast Prestressed Concrete Building Structures in Seismic Areas Alfred A. Yee, P.E., Dr. Eng. President ‘Applied Technology Corporation Honolulu, Hawa Long-time PC! Professional Member Alfred A. Yee has been in engineering practice sinoe 1953, specializing in the design of precast and prestressed concrete siructures. Most of these structures have been located in the Pacific Rim — one of the most seismologically active areas in the world, In recognition of his innovative work in advancing concrete tech: ology, he was awarded an Honorary Dootorate Degree in engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in 1976, That same year Dr. Yee was elected to the prestigious National ‘Academy of Engineering. He obtained his bachelors degree in civil engi: neering from Rose-Hulman Insitute of Technology and his master's degree from Yale University. Dr. Yeo has lectured all over the world and is the author of numerous published papers incluging some that have appeared in the PCI JOURNAL. 0 Discusses the major design considerations necessary in the successful construction of precast, prestressed concrete building structures situated in seismic areas. The importance and interaction of stiffness, strength, toughness and, especially, fail-safe connections are emphasized. Such connections are needed not only to transfer loads but to provide continuity and overall monolithic behavior in the entire structure. Suggestions are given on how to increase the stiffness of the structure as well as advice on good and poor design practices. Examples of precast concrete buildings drawn from the author's 40 years design experience are shown and commented upon. detail and good judgment are tations be restrained in an earthquake necessary in designing precast, because they can cause both structural prestressed concrete structures in seis- and nonstructural damage to buildings mic areas, These ingredients, of and in severe cases can induce col- course, apply also to the design of all lapse. Shear walls combined with each types of structures, whether they are other through deep beams or deep wall made of concrete, steel! or composite girders or trusses to form giant mo. ‘materials, However, in the case of pre- ment frames is one good method to in- cast and prestressed concrete strue- crease the overall stiffness of a struc- tures, particular attention must be ture given to stiffness, strength and tough- Soft floors, seismic joints and ec: ness requirements, and especially to centricities (non-symmetry) in build: connection details. Their function is ing frames should be avoided regard- S ‘ound principles, attention to It is important that movements and r0- not only 10 transfer loads but to devel less whether they can be justified by ‘op continuity and monolithic behavior mathematical calculations. If seismic inthe entire structure Joints become absolutely necessary Strength, stiffness and toughness due to unusual structure size, itis sug- minimize second order effects result- gested that such joints be semi-re~ ing from drift, deflection and rotation, strained by a system of tension ties in PCI JOURNALcombination with the insertion of a ‘cushioning material between building components to reduce possible dam- ‘age from pounding action. ‘The purpose of this paper is to pre- sent the major design considerations that are required in the safe construc- tion of precast, prestressed concrete building structures situated in seismic areas. Another purpose of the paper is to present real life examples of build- ings that have withstood major earth- quakes and to discuss some of the de- sign features and practices that do and do not work well in seismic areas. A list of articles pertinent to this paper is given in References 1 to 12. ‘This paper is drawn from the au- thor's 40 years experience designing precast, prestressed concrete struc- tures, Most of these structures are situ ated in the Pacific Rim which is one of the most seismologically active areas in the world, ‘CONNECTION DETAILS ‘The single most important ingredi- cent in the design of precast concrete structures is the connection details. Connections between precast building elements such as columns, beams, slabs and shear walls must effectively integrate the individual structural components in full continuity with ‘each other so that the overall building structure behaves monolithically. In this manner, the structural analysis and behavior of a building frame ‘would be identical to that for a cast-in- place structure except that the framing system now uses precast concrete ‘components which are assembled t0- gether to act monolithicaly. Asan example, take the case of sim ple precast bearing wall panels sup- porting precast concrete floor slabs. ‘The most effective system we have found uses composite in-place connee- tions 10 develop full continuity be- tween adjacent slab spans as well as the precast concrete wall pane] units. Fig. 10 illustrates a precast bearing ‘wall panel supporting a precast floor or roof slab. The joint detail is ar- ranged so that dimensional errors in construction would have little influ- cence on the structural integrity and performance of the composite system May-June 1991 ‘The precast floor slab panels are in- tegrated with a composite in-place structural concrete topping which pro- vides a uniform leveling surface and a horizontal structural diaphragm to re- sist seismic forces. ss such as electric, telephone and television con- duits can be buried within this top- ping. The precast concrete slab panels are detailed with extended reinforcing bars bent in a diagonal patter, criss- crossing over the precast bearing wall panels. Negative moment steel is added in the composite topping to de- velop continuity between adjacent slab spans. The precast concrete wall panel of the upper floor is integrated in full ‘continuity with that of the lower floor by means of grout-filled stee! sleeve mechanical connections. ‘This particular joint does not require 1 specified minimum bearing area be- tween the precast floor slab and wall panel in order to achieve adequate ver- tical support. The extended diagonal reinforcing steel from the ends of the precast concrete slab panels is de- signed to provide full shear resistance to the anticipated vertical dead and live loads on the slab span, Therefore, ‘no reliance is placed on the compres- GROUT-FILLED ‘STEEL SLEEVE CONNECTION EXTENDED DIAGONAL REINFORCING STEEL —/ A sion bearing area between the floor slab panel and the top of the precast wall panel afer this joint i in place. ‘The wall panel thickness or top of the wall need not be widened to pro- Vide support tolerance for the precast concrete slab, Negative moment steel Jn the topping not only develops full continuity between slab spans but also serves as a tie to resist horizontal ten- sion between the slab unit. In effect, the reinforcement prevents the slabs from pulling apart ever the wall sup- Port when the concrete undergoes vol- ume changes or if an earthquake oc- Tn the event that this particular joint is severely damaged during an earth- quake and the joint deteriorates such thatthe concrete in the top of the wall panel as well as the bearing ends of the slab panels are spalled off, the floor slab will not be in any danger of collapse. This is because the extended cverlapping diagonal bars in the bear ing ends of the slab are designed to fully resist anticipated vertical dead and live loads. No reliance is placed ‘on a bearing clement or shear in the concrete. Therefore tis detail is prac- tically speaking fail-safe. |+— PRECAST BEARING WALL PANEL ‘TUBES FOR GROUT |¢/msccnion COMPOSITE IN-SITU CONCRETE TOPPING \ PRECAST SLAB PANEL |= PRECAST BEARING WALL PANEL Fig. ta, Procast bearing wall panels suppor precast concrete slabs wih in place composite structural topping, “1. Fig. 1b. Precast slab panel erroneously manufactured short of wall suppor Fig. 1c, Extended enforcement slab panels agonal crossing over wall {oppose pro’de slab shear resistance, Supplementary negative nomen tel into topping area wl evelop fl conuly between adjacent compost lab sectors : ADDED CONTINUITY REINFORCEMENT > \CE CONCRETE 5, composite ip ae ecconcrere )) eemeREe? / Least meiace PRECAST / J / paecast concrete / | SGistg// BEAM rae! (a) INTERIOR BEAM (b) EXTERIOR BEAM CONNECTION CONNECTION Figs 28-26, Connection detail or interior and exterior beam. 2 Fig. 1b shows an actual project where the floor slab was erroneously manufactured short of its intended support on the precast wall panel, Al- though this mistake is undesirable, the extended reinforcing steel would pre vent a catastrophic failure in the event of an earthquake. Fig. le shows how the extended slab reinforcing bars are bent in a diagonal pattem, cris-crossing over the bearing wall panel. Added negative moment continuity steel is also shown. Once the composite concrete topping is placed and cured, adequate resistance in the slab shear support is ensured ‘even though the precast concrete slab did nor initially rest directly on the bearing wall panel Figs. 2a and 2b show a connection detail developing full continuity be- tween the precast concrete joists and beams, In Fig. 2a, a precast concrete soffit is utilized for a composite beam sup- porting the precast concrete joists. In- place concrete of the composite beam is also used to develop full bearing and continuity between the precast joists and beam elements. Added con- tinuity reinforcement placed in the ‘composite structural topping is uti- lized to develop negative moment for the joists over the beam element. In Fig. 2b, a cast-in-place beam is used to support the precast concrete joists, In all cases, reinforcing steel and/or strands in the precast concrete joists are extended into the in-place or ‘composite beam elements to develop additional bearing and shear friction which may be necessary in the event that the precast joists are inadvertently manufactured too short. This type of joint has been used in thousands of building structures without one single instance of spalling, cracking or any other signs of distress. For developing fully continuous splices in reinforcing steel bars, me- chanical connections specially de. signed and tested are more reliable than conventional lapped splices as ‘commonly used in cast-in-place con- struction, Figs. 3a to 3e illustrate some of the more common types of mechan- ical connections. Fig. 3a is a steel sleeve connection that utilizes a special high strength POI JOURNALrout || -werauic||-THREADED||-coupter || -swaceD f matrix ||/ matrix “||{ coupter ||| wir COUPLER TAPERED, THREAL re" (a) (b) (c) (a) (e) REINFORCING ‘STEEL BAR OR ‘STRUCTURAL ‘STEEL PLATE (OR ANGLE, WELD wetp BUTT WELD — LAP WELD Figs. Ga-Ge. Typical mechanical connections. Fig. Sf Butt and lap weld connections STRUCTURAL TESTS ON FULL SIZE COL- UMNS WITH NMB SPLICE SLEEVES (Test Report NPD-024) TEST SPECIMEN ec| (CoB-48ksI/em* (Concrete) ReY=3,0k91“cm? Main rebar) {ie hoops) a 1 o200re Bt i ‘ame Fide ah -0ays095) ee DESIGN STRENGTH Fig. Gg. Summary of results of fests on full size columns with spice sleaves, Maystune 1994non-shrink cement grout matrix which forms a grout wedge anchoring the re- inforcing steel to the external sleeve. This type of mechanical connection hhas been tested extensively for repete- tive loads in both tension and com- pression and is widely used through- ‘out the world. Fig. 3b shows a splice connection utilizing a metallic matrix which en- ‘gages the deformations of the reinfore- ing steel bars to a serrated inner sur- face of the sleeves, Fig, 3c shows a threaded steel cou- pler engaging threads cut into the ends Of the reinforcing bars. In some cou- plers the surface deformations of the bars are used as threads which in turn ‘engage the coupler. In Fig. 34, the threaded coupler is tapered to accommodate the tapered threaded ends of the steel bars. By ta- pering the threaded ends of the steel bars, insertion into the threaded cou- pler is facilitated. In Fig. 3e, the ends of the reinfore- ing bars are engaged by a steel sleeve hydraulically swaged under pressure to the surface deformations of the re- inforeing bars. ‘Typical butt and lap welded connec- tions are shown in Fig. 3. Fig. 3¢ is taken from a report on repetitive loading tests on columns with splice sleeve connections using @ special grout. In this test the steel sleeves are located at the floor level of column-to-beam specimen. The as- sembly is loaded so that bending mo- ‘ments attain a maximum intensity in the specimen. The column-beam con- nection is then wracked repeatedly by a jacking arrangement to simulate seismic forces on a column-to-beam frame. Results of these tests show that the mechanical connections enabled the precast concrete to perform in both strength and ductility equal to that of monolithically cast columns with fully continuous reinforcing steel In Fig. 4 the connection details be- tween the column units and between the column and beam or girder units are illustrated. In this scheme a me- ‘chanical connection that can develop full continuity between reinforcing bars greatly enhances the flexibility in the column-to-column joint locations. ‘When these connections are combined “ ‘MECHANICAL CONNECTION (GROUT FILLED SLEEVE) IN-SITU CONCRETE Lp mecasr cones: ston ono MECHANICAL CONNECTION PRECAST CONCRETE COLUMN i-———gRour JoInT MECHANICAL CONNECTION (GROUT FILLED SLEEVE) [_enoursontr———“‘t=—s~™S™SCSY La Fig, 4. Typical precast concrete frame. GROUT JOINT FLOOR LEVEL BOUNDARY MEMBER REINFORCEMENT — HORIZONTAL SHEAR REINFORCEMENT- FLOOR LEVI CONFINEMENT 7 ORCEMENT —/ MECHANICAL lini Connecrions— Fig, 5, Precast concrete shear wail with boundary members. with adequate grouting in the joint connection shown in Fig. 4 is classi- area, the vertical precast concrete col- fied as a “blind” connection that can umn unit can be joined at the floor line achieve full continuity in the steel. A or at any other convenient location thin layer of grout inserted between along the height of the column to de- the column units, together with the ‘velop full continuity continuity provided in the reinforcing It should be noted that the mechani- steel by such connections, will result cal connection between column units in connected column units that act ccan be “blindly” executed; that monolithically as a fully continuous ‘cess openings are not needed, thus member. climinating the need for patching and In a “blind” connection, the me- grouting after the connection is in- chanical connection is basically a ta- stalled. The grout-filled steel sleeve _pered steel sleeve which envelops the PCI JOURNALends of the connecting reinforcing bars as shown in Fig. 3a. This sleeve is made large enough to allow reason- able tolerance for erection and is com- pleted by filling with a special grout to develop the required anchorage of the reinforcing steel ‘Threaded couplers or sleeves filled with metallic matrix can also be used ‘but these require access pockets to ex- ecute the connection and therefore cannot be considered as “blind” con- nections. These threaded couplers or metallic matrix sleeves have been used mainly for cast-in-place construction since the tolerances required would be extremely close and access to the sleeves must be provided before con- crete pouring. ‘The joint location between the pre- cast conerete beam and column can be at a point of highest moment adjacent to the column or at some distance away for convenience in precasting and erection. In the case of a horizon- tal joint, the joint area is cast-n-place to develop full continuity. The me- chanical connection is totally exposed before installation with in-place con- crete and, therefore, the reinforcing bars can be spliced by grout-filled sleeves, wel Fig. 6a, Overall view of Ramon Magsaysay Building, Manila, Philippines. May-June 1991 Welding is labor intensive and time ‘consuming. The heat generated from welding can cause damage to bond in the steel bars and cracking in the adja- ccent precast concrete. Furthermore, hhigh quality welding requires close su- pervision and inspection whereas me- chanical connectors using sleeves with ‘grout can be installed quickly and reli ably without the need for special skills and supervision. Grout-filled sleeves have sufficient built-in tolerances and can easily be installed at normal temperatures, thus avoiding any damage to the reinforc- ing steel or adjacent concrete. In situa- tions where epoxy coated reinforcing steel is used, grout-filled sleeves are particularly advantageous because no heat or damage to the epoxy would re- sult. Sleeves with a metallic matrix or threaded couplers are difficult to apply in precast concrete work since they ‘would require extreme precision in bar placement to have all corresponding reinforcing steel properly aligned. To develop continuity between the beam and column elements, the longi- tudinal steel in the connection must have sufficient anchorage in the col- umn. Equally important, confinement steel must envelop both the column Fig. 6. Lower portion of Ramon Magsaysay Building, Mania, Philippines. vertical steel and the horizontal bars of the beam or girder in the high moment region adjacent to the column, High strength concrete sufficiently plasti- cized to completely fill all void areas between the reinforcing steel and pre- ‘cast concrete contact surfaces will pro- duce a fully continuous joint integrat- ing the beam and the column in mono- lithic frame action. Fig. 5 shows the connection be- tween precast concrete shear wall pan- els with boundary members. The grouted joint between the precast Panel elements in combination with properly spaced mechanical connec tions to develop continuity in the rein- forcing steel can produce a shear wall frame acting monolithically through- out its height ‘The precast concrete shear wall re- inforcement is detailed in exactly the same way as a cast-in-place shear wall. Vertical wall sieel spaced regu- larly throughout the length of the wall panel is required to develop shear fric- tion along the entire contact face be- ‘tween the precast components. Bound- ary elements are detailed to provide the required tension and compression resistance as would be analyzed in a in-place structure. This 18-story (including basement) reinforced concrete structure ullizes precast, prestressed concrete joists and composite in-place floor slabs. The structural ‘system to resis lateral forces due to seismic or wind loads is a shear wall system, ‘The shear walls are symmetrically clustered about the center of the building, thus ‘eliminating eccentric forces. This building experienced severe earthquake forees in 41968 and 1972 (Richter Scale 7.2) and in July 1990 (Richter Scale 7.7) without suffering any structural damage.Fig. 7. Hotel Liwayway, Manila, Philppines. Wide columns and deep spandrel beams make up this shear wall type structure capable of maintaining rigidity even after cracking under repeated loads. This picture, which shows that the hotel suffered only nonstructural damage on building's exterior, was taken shorty after the August 1968 earthquake which reached a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter Scale. STRUCTURAL FRAMING SYSTEMS In the overall performance of a structural concrete frame, primary consideration should be given to the development of stiffness, sirength and toughness. In the past, some design engineers believed that pure moment resistant frame systems were more desirable than shear wall systems for high rise buildings in seismic regions. The just fication for this philosophy is that mo- ‘ment resistant frames are flexible and therefore can move, deflect and absor’y more energy, thus reducing the re- quired calculated base shear forces. It was also thought that, in the case of shear wall structures, the base shear forces would be greatly increased due to the stiffness of such framing and therefore would be considered unde- sirable for seismic areas. However, our experiences during 6 the past 20 years have shown that flex ible building structures that incur ex- cessive deflection or rotation will suf- fer considerable damage in an earth (quake. This damage could result from repetetive stresses at the joints be- ‘ween framing members, which causes progressive deterioration in stiffness. ‘This, in tum, would cause a further in- ‘crease in deflections and rotations, re- sulting in considerable damage to no structural partitions, facades, utility lines, building contents and other building elements ~ including damage to the structural frame itself. With ps gressive joint deterioration, such building structures can become stati cally unstable and collapse complete ly, Increasing the lateral stiffness of the structure will result in a decrease in detrimental second order (P-Delta) effects and thus increase the critical load capacity and overall stability of the building, In the case of shear walls, these ele ments produce stiffness and, although they may crack under repeated loads, they are able to maintain a large de~ agree of their stiffness without the si nificant deterioration displayed by ‘moment frame structures. Earthquakes in the Philippines, Chile, Mexico and elsewhere have repeatedly confirmed the advantages of the stiff shear wall building frame concept. Figs. 6a and 6b show a high rise of- fice building in Manila which utilizes precast, prestressed concrete joists in- tegrated with a cast-in-place Structural topping. Connections of the joists are similar to that shown in Fig. 2b. The ‘main lateral resisting element is a cen- tal concrete shear wall core which was cast-in-place. Main vertical rein- forcing steel in the shear wall core was joined by mechanical connections using a metallic matrix. In August of 1968, this buil perienced a major earthquake with epicenter immediately east of Manila PCI JOURNALFig. 8. Cast-in-place reinforced concrete structure with sti upper floors and a soft moment frame ground floor showed partial collapse of the flexible floor columns. The photograph on left shows the overall building, while the View on the right shows @ closeup ofthe column failure at a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter ‘Scale. The only damage observed was cracking in the nonstructural conerete hollow block partitions of the toilet and stairwell areas. Some loosening of serews attaching metal partitions in the toilets were also noticed. ‘The exterior surface of the building is clad with marble slabs embedded to precast panels which in tum are com- positely attached to the building frame by extended reinforcing bars. No cracks or damage occurred on this fa cade despite reports from the night s curity personnel that the building did tundergo substantial accelerations and ‘movement during the earthquake. Other nearby buildings suffered se vere damage to both structural and nonstructural elements, In some i stances, partial or total collapse oc~ curred, resulting in a loss of more than 300 lives. Virtually all moment frame buildings of both structural steel or re- inforced concrete suffered major ‘May-June 1991 structural or nonstructural damage during the earthquake. Nonstructural elements, such as marble or stone claddings, nonbearing partitions, ceil- ings and utility ducts, were badly dam- aged or collapsed and required exten- sive repairs. During this earthquake in Manila, a hote! building structure (shown in Fig, 7) utilizing wide columns and deep spandrel beams demonstrated its eapa- bility of maintaining stiffness even after cracking under repeated loads. The inherent stiffness of the framing system prevented the collapse of the building. In another instance, a reinforced concrete structure with stiff upper floors and a soft ground floor moment frame (shown in Fig. 8) suffered a par- tial collapse due to the flexibility of the column beam framing system on the lower floor. A similar magnitude earthquake oc- curred in Manila in 1972 and the high rise office building shown in Fig. 6 again experienced only minor damage to the nonstructural concrete block walls In the devastating earthquake of July 16, 1990 (magnitude 7.7 on the Richter Scale epicenter north of Mani- la), at least 25 major buildings were heavily damaged in Manila, with a loss of 34 lives. Again, this high rise office building experienced only minor damage to the nonstructural concrete block walls in the toilet and stairwell areas. No other structural damage was observed. In 1970, a 38-story building using precast, prestressed concrete floor Slabs and precast concrete column-tree frames was built in Hawaii (see Figs. system comprised a east-in-plack shear core and precast concrete col- umn-tree frames. In addition 10 sup- porting vertical loads, the column-tree frames functioned as a main lateral re- a7UPPER ‘COLUMN REINFORCING Lower SPLICE SLEEVES Fig. Sa, Ala Moana Hotel, Honolulu, Hawall This 38-story, 1260,oom hotel was Fig, Se. Details for spicing upper and ‘constructed using cast-in-place shear walls with precast concrete moment ames _lower columns used in building Ala ‘supporting precast prestressed concrete floor siabs. Built in 1970, today the Moana Hotel, Honolulu, Hawai ‘building is in very good condition and has required minimal maintenance over the past 20 years. 48 PCI JOURNALAA Og Fig. 94. Ala Moana Hotel, Honolulu, Hawai. Solid precast concrete walls were applied to transverse and longitudinal facade to minimize drit between floors. ry May-June 1991(a) CANTILEVERED SHEAR WALL \—SHEAR WALL MOMENT FRAMES-<—x |. 5 aj MOMENT FRAMES (¢) SHEAR WALL - MOMENT FRAME COMBINATION (c) COMBINATION OF (a) & () Fig. 10, Schematic diagrams showing the interaction of shear wall and moment frames. CONCRETE ‘SHEAR WAI ay, LT] ie fff ree AT REST SEISMIC FORCE Fig. 11. Schematic concopt of soft floor action, sisting element in the longitudinal di- verse directions, solid precast concrete rection of the building while the shear panels were inserted at the end walls core primarily resisted the lateral and extreme ends of the longitudinal forces in the transverse direction. This facade (see Fig. 9d). structure, designed for Seismic Zone In most high rise buildings, shear I, experienced seismic forces of mag- walls combined with moment frames nitude 6.0 on the Richter Scale in are generally used to resist lateral April of 1973 without any visible forces. As shown in Fig. 10, a pure damage. shear wall i stiffer at the lower levels ‘The precast concrete column tree while a moment frame is stiffer at the frames were spliced at midheight with upper levels; the combination of these ‘grouted steel sleeves (see Figs. 9b and two elements can result in minimizing 9c). To minimize the drift and torsion- large deflections in both the upper and al effects in the longitudinal and trans- lower floor levels. 50 Fig. 11 illustrates that a soft floor can be particularly hazardous if itis located in the lowest floor of a build- ing where maximum lateral loads could occur under seismic conditions. ‘An actual example of this type of fail- ure is shown in Fig. 8, However, soft floors have been known to fail under seismic conditions even if located on upper story levels. If only the lower floors were to be stiffened with shear walls and then not continued at the upper levels, abrupt change in stiffness could result in the failure of the soft floor at the upper level where a sudden change of stiff ness occurs. Therefore, where prac cal, both shear walls and moment frames should run continuously throughout the entire building height without allowing such soft floors to occur. ‘A structural arrangement utilizing shear walls connected by deep girders ‘and columns (Where they are permit- ted architecturally) can create signifi ccant additional stiffness in the building frame. Tn Figs. 12a and 12b, a giant mo- ment frame system can be created by utilizing shear walls in combination with wall girders that are floor-to-floor in height. These wall girders could be used wherever permissible, such as at PCI JOURNALly where deep wall girders are inap- MECHANICAL ROOM propriate because of occupant access ELEVATOR PENTHOUSE: problems. ‘Architectural and functional consid- erations will determine the most ideal locations of these super diagonal ele- ‘ments. Generally, the roof area is free > FLOOR, from any functional restraints and - super diagonal frames easily could be GEDERS placed in this location to enhance the lateral stiffness of the building. ELEVATOR Eccentricities in the framing system CORES. should be avoided wherever possible regardless of justification by structural calculations and detailing. Eccentrici- BEAMS — ie = —cotumns—} ties generally produce exaggerated i ‘movements that can be damaging. In- 7 | deed, many buildings with even mod- (a) GIANT MOMENT (b) GIANT MOMENT ‘erate eccentricities have suffered total FRAME SYSTEM FRAME SYSTEM collapse during earthquakes. Deflec- tions, drift and rotations should be Fig. 12, Schematic elevations of giant moment frame system: ‘minimized in every instance since they are the prime cause of damage and failure in building frames and non- structural elements, Furthermore, @ symmetrical building would favor ‘economical precast concrete construc- tion due to the uniformity in produc tion and erection of the precast con- crete components Seismic joints (Fig. 17a) between building units should be avoided wherever possible since separate building units have different periods of vibration and under seismic activity tend to pound against each other at the joint areas. Considerable damage in seismic joint areas due to pounding of separate building units was witnessed in the 1985 Mexico City earthquake ig. 18). In many cases, total building collapse was directly caused by this Fig, 19, Relative sifness of shear walls connected with deep wall grders (giant ‘moment frames), pounding, mechanical room and elevator room frame. The deep wall girders at the By eliminating seismic joints and floor levels. As shown in Fig. 13, roof level are also used to support me- developing full continuity between when shear walls are coupled together chanical equipment rooms. building frame units, pounding can be with deep wall girders the resulting _An effective and cost beneficial lat- prevented. However, in eliminating deflections are minimized consider- eral shear resisting framing system seismic joints, floor areas now become ably. could be attained by the use of super relatively large and the question of Fig. 14 shows a coupled shear wall diagonals as shown in Fig. 16. These shrinkage effects and floor slab re- system utilized in the building shown super diagonals couple the internal straints causing problems of slab and in Fig. 6. The vertical shear walls of shear walls with the exterior column wall cracking is of major concern. In the elevator cores are joined together frame to generate maximum resistance most instances, these problems can be at the roof penthouse level to enhance and stiffness against lateral and over- solved by the addition of continuous the stiffness of the building tuming forces. The super diagonal can reinforcing stee! in both directions to In Fig. 15, shear walls located at the extend several floors vertically from handle the shrinkage effects. end walls of the building are joined to- each level in order to generate the To reduce shrinkage stresses, these gether with deep wall girders at the most efficient height to span ratio. large floor areas can also be cast in roof level to form a giant moment Super diagonals can be used effective- smaller sections to establish temporary. ‘May-June 1901 51shrinkage control joints which are then connected structurally after along pe- riod of curing and drying time during construction. One method of connect- ing the smaller cast sections at the shrinkage control joints is shown in Fig. 19. In other instances, however, the floor area may be so large that seismic (expansion) joints become absolutely necessary. In this instance, the width ofthe joint should be sufficient 10 pre- vent contact between the separate framing units. However, in the case of an extended period of seismic activity, resonance may build up considerable movement beyond the magnitude of the joint separation provided and se- vere damage may result. Installation of a tension tie system in combination with a suitable cushoning material be- tween building units could be consi ered @ partial solution in preventing potential damage from pounding, ac ig. 20), In this regard, it is again important to emphasize the need for structural stiffness in the separate framing units since higher stiffness coefficients will reduce the degree of lateral movement and thus reduce the difficulty in devel- ‘oping a manageable seismic joint. The stiffness can be increased substantially by using shear walls, giant moment frames or super diagonal systems. CONCLUDING REMARKS For precast concrete construction in seismic areas, all joints between pre- ‘cast concrete units should develop full continuity and toughness. Floor slab ‘and beam units utilizing composite in- place concrete topping and jointing can develop horizontal diaphragm ac tion and fail-safe connections to resist seismie forces. With the availability of reliable me- chanical splicing devices, precast con- crete shear wall, slab, column, beam and girder components can be in- stalled at any convenient location in a structure to develop full continuity and monolithic frame action, The strue- tural analysis for precast concrete con- struction would be identical to that of ‘a cast-in-place concrete structure. Stiffness in the overall framing sys- tem is necessary to insure against 2 PENTHOUSE MACHINE ROOM. ELEVATOR CORES ELEVATION GIANT MOMENT FRAME Fig. 14, Giant moment frame ut jad in Ramon Magsaysay Building, Manila, Philippines. The structure is 18 stories high (including the basement) structural and nonstructural building damage by minimizing drift, deflec- tion and rotation, To develop framing stiffness, shear wall elements are ex- tremely important. When these shear ‘wall panels are integrated with deep ‘wall girders to produce giant moment frames, the stiffness in the structure is greatly enhanced. Super diagonal frames can also be an effective method to develop stiffness in the building frame. These frames can be used where access or functional re- ‘quirements require more open space in a floor plan. In seismic areas, the existence of soft floors in the framing system can Tead to severe damage or collapse. Fe- centricities (non-symmetry) in the framing system should be avoided, re- ‘gardless of mathematical justifications ‘and structural detailing. Seismic joints between building units should be avoided wherever pos- sible in order to prevent pounding damage. If such joints become neces. sary due to the overall size of the structure, tension ties in combination ‘with a cushioning material can be in: cluded in the seismic joint design to reduce possible damage due to pound- ing action PCI JOURNALGIANT MOMENT FRAME ELEVATION Fig. 15. Giant moment frames utilized in the Municipal Office Building, Oily and County of Honolulu, Hawaii i E --Seismic yoinr (a) BUILDING WITH SEISMIC JOINTS (b) BUILDING WITHOUT SEISMIC JOINTS. Fig, 16. Super diagonal rame systom Fig. 17, Bullding with selami6 joints (op) and buldlng without, Seismic joints (bottom), 53—2" TEMPORARY JOINT ‘TUBES FOR MIRE LATH (GROUT INJECTION. “STAY IN PLACE” ‘1st POUR, \ // FORM 2nd POUR “STEEL SLEEVES AND JOINT TO BE GROUTED SLABS OR BEAMS — ‘AFTER SHRINKAGE (OF SLABS AND BEAMS TAKE PLACE ‘lace joint detail for shrinkage contro ' }+——TENSION TIES IN COMBINATION WITHA CUSHIONING MATERIAL ‘TO ABSORB IMPACT Fig. 20, Proposed dolail for reducing damage due To pounding action at selemve joints. May-June 1991 10. REFERENCES Englekith, Robert E., “Overview of PCI Workshop on Effective Use of Precast Concrete for Seismic Resis: tance,” PCI JOURNAL, V. 31, No. 6, [November-December 1986, pp. 48-58. Englekirk, Robert E., "An Analytical Approach wo Establishing the Seismic Resistance Available in Precast Con- crete Prame Structures,” PCI JOUR. NAL, V. 34, No. 1, January-February 1989, pp. 92-101 Englekirk, Robert E., “Seismic Design Considerations for Precast Concrete Multistory Buildings,” PCI JOUR. NAL, V. 35, No. 3, May-June 1990, pp. 40-51 Fintel, Mark, “Ductile Shear Walls in Earthquake Resistant Multistory Buildings,” ACI Journal, Proceedings YV.71, No. 6, June 1974, pp. 296-30 FFintel, Mark, “Performance of Precast Concrete Structures During Rumanian Earthquake of March 4, 1977," PCL JOURNAL, V. 22, No. 2, March-April 1977, pp. 10-15. Fintel, Mark, “Modern Concrete Struc- tures Survive Romanian Earthquake,” Civil Engineering —ASCE, V. 48, No. 10, October 1978, pp. 80-81 Fintl, Mark, “Performance of Precast and Prestressed Conerete in Mexico Earthquake,” PCI JOURNAL, V. 31, No. 1, January-February 1986, pp. 18- 42, (See also Discussion in November- December 1986 PCI JOURNAL, pp. 143-148) Hawkins, Neil M., "State of the Art Report on Seismic Resistance of Pre stressed and Precast Concrete Struc tures,” PCI JOURNAL: V. 22, No. 6, November-December 1977, pp. 80: 10, and V. 23, No. 1, January-Febru- ary 1978, pp. 40-58, Hawkins, Neil M, “Precast Concrete Connections.” Proceedings, US-PRC Workshop, 1981, pp. 28-42. Iverson, James K., “First Impressions ‘of Earthquake Damage in San Francis: 0 Area,” PCI JOURNAL, V. 34, No. 6, November-December 1989, pp. 108-126, Scanlon, Andrew, and Kianoush, Reza M,, "Behavior of Large Panel Precast Coupled Wall Systems Subjected to Earthquake Loading,” PCI JOUR NAL, V. 38, No. 5, September-Octo- ber 1988, pp. 124-151 Seckin, M..and Fu, H. C.,"Beam-Col- tuma Connections in Precast Rein forced Concrete Construction,” ACT Structural Journal, V.87, No, 3, May: June 1990, pp. 252-261