Highrise Buildings - Now Earthquake Protection with Warranty www.taylordevicesindia.com www.taylordesign.

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An earthquake is the most extreme condition that any building may be required to survive during its lifetime. To survive the natures might safely and surely also poses the greatest challenge to the architects and structural engineers. However the modern day computational power and the technological advances in the earthquake protection industry has made the solution once considered un-surmountable a reality. There are numerous companies specializing only in arthquake !rotection. Today most medium and high-rise buildings are following "ife-#afety $esign% more popularly referred as arthquake &esistant $esign for protection against earthquakes. However the awareness amongst people living in the seismic regions is increasing and they are now aware that for a small additional cost they can get a much higher arthquake !rotection for their buildings than what is mandatory as per the seismic codes. As the seismic codes are based on the "ife-#afety ' arthquake &esistant design so they are aiming to prevent a total building collapse in case of a ma(or earthquake% thereby saving lives. )or the user'owner of the property this implies that even an arthquake &esistant building does not provide any guarantee that it would be habitable for living ' doing business after a ma(or earthquake. The earthquake will structurally damage the building and incase the damage is above a threshold level there would be no option but to demolish and re-construct. The architects and structural consultants are therefore are no longer designing only to meet the government building code requirements but are going by the seismic performance criteria being demanded by their clients% in addition to the mandatory requirements of the building codes. *uilding codes are applicable to all buildings at large belonging to all strata of society and therefore the socio-economic conditions need to be carefully looked into before formulating them. )or this reason it is not possible to lay down the stringent earthquake safeguards as many would not simply be able to afford the associated cost. The risk assessment exercises by the ma(or insurance companies and financial institutions is another factor encouraging people to reduce risks by going in for the state-of-the-art earthquake protection technologies. *usinesses want to limit the threat to their employees as well as cover their business against losses due to earthquakes. The insurance companies world over are refusing to guarantee such losses unless the buildings which house these businesses adhere to enhanced safety standards. The reduced insurance premiums and financing at lower rates of interest more than compensates for the cost of enhanced earthquake protection in the long run. +ost earthquake protection devices come with a warranty of upto ,- years which can be further enhanced after a performance related test when the initial warranty period gets over. Typically the life of earthquake protection devices is greater than the life of the building per se. .n /nited #tates it is mandatory for the computer data centers mushrooming all over to be designed to withstand the severest of the earthquakes as they house the sensitive data of not one but many hundreds of businesses. The repercussions of not designing buildings to withstand earthquakes are grave. #imilarly the /# government has laid down very strict compliance criteria for seismic performance of hospitals0 they say 1you cannot have deaths due to building collapse in a place that is meant to treat earthquake victims2. 3arious government departments are also paying a great deal of attention on keeping essential infrastructure like public buildings% bridges and airports operational even in case of a ma(or earthquake. 1.mmediate 4ccupancy2 and 1)ully 4perational2 during and post a ma(or earthquake is the criteria that is spelt out for important structures. The architects and structural consultants are then asked to meet these criteria. This design concept is also known as !erformance *ased $esign. As the awareness and economic prosperity is increasing% more and more people want to reduce risks. 5ot to forget the urge of many upwardly mobile to live in high-rise buildings away from the pollution and noise with their balconies overlooking the cityscape giving them a sense of achievement% superiority and contentment after a tiring days work. However many have started to realize the peril of staying in a high-rise% they become more vulnerable to the seismic effects. 3ulnerability can be explained by taking the example of $ubai% 67 years back when high-rises didn8t exist% people use to only come to know of the earthquakes happening in .ran through 5ewspapers% now with numerous buildings 9storeys and more their have been instances when the buildings have undergone evacuation because of excessive

swaying even for medium intensity earthquakes happening in .ran. A ma(or earthquake will almost certainly cause great structural damage in buildings not incorporating the safe guards.

)or enabling the architects and structural consultants to undertake !erformance *ased $esign the client would have to spell out two parameters i.e. !eak arthquake .ntensity and !erceived $istance of the building from the earthquake epicenter. Typically a :.- magnitude earthquake with its epicenter -7-677 ;ms away is considered good protection criteria. #ome may contend with having their buildings designed to resist upto :.- magnitude earthquake on the &ichter scale where as another person would demand a structural performance even in the case of a magnitude <.7 earthquake simply because he'she is not willing to accept the associated risk that the earthquake damage may expose him to. The structural consultant then selects an appropriate set of 1earthquake time-histories2 recorded from earlier earthquakes and designs the structure by undertaking 1Time-History Analysis2 such that the inter-storey displacements always stay in the elastic range% thereby implying 5o'.nsignificant structural damage even during a ma(or earthquake. *uildings not employing advanced earthquake protection will most certainly sustain high degree of structural damage as t he only way the earthquake energy can be absorbed by any building is by way of causing some damage. =hen a building is sub(ected to a ma(or quake% energy is absorbed by cracking of concrete and elongation of steel beyond the elastic limits. This damage to the structural members if beyond a threshold level can be dangerous. There does exists another way of absorbing earthquake energy i.e. $ampers. The most efficient and cost effective way to achieve energy dissipation in buildings is by using arthquake $ampers. $ampers are mechanical devices that look some what like huge shock absorbers. $ampers function is to absorb and dissipate the energy supplied by the ground movement during an earthquake so that the building remains unharmed% their functioning is also akin to shock absorbers. =henever the building is in motion during a earthquake tremor they help in restricting the building from swaying excessively and thereby preventing structural damage. The earthquake energy absorbed by these dampers gets converted into heat which is then dissipated into the atmosphere. $ampers thus work to absorb earthquake shocks ensuring that the structural members i.e. beam and columns remain unharmed. There are four types of dampers i.e. 3iscoelastic% )riction% +etallic >ield and )luid 3iscous. +any companies specializing in the field are making a bee-line for establishing operations in .ndia. .ndia?s success story of economic growth and the pro(ections for the immediate future% coupled with the heightened seismic activity in the region over the past few years% has led many to look at .ndia as a attractive market destination. )or low-rise buildings base isolation technique is also extremely popular. .n *ase-.solation the structure above ground is separated from the foundation by inserting rollers'pads between the foundation and the building. These isolators allow the structure to move independently of the shifting ground below% thereby effectively isolating it from the ground motion. *ase .solation is however not appropriate for all buildings and is suitable for only low rise buildings upto 9-, storeys that have a much larger spread than its height. $ampers on the other hand are most suitable for high-rise buildings and are in extensive use the world over. High-rises also happen to be the most susceptible to earthquakes. 4ver the years )luid 3iscous $ampers have come out as clear leaders in seismic applications. +any hundreds of pro(ects have incorporated the technology and the count is increasing by the day. The cost effect for )luid 3iscous $ampers is in the range of &s. 6-7 to 977 per square foot% other types cost less however do not come with associated warranties. $ampers manufactured by Taylor $evices have a performance warranty of ,- years which can be further enhanced after testing0 however their life is considerably more as they are designed to last more than the building. $ampers can be installed in existing and new buildings with ease. This makes them extremely versatile for retrofit pro(ects i.e. buildings that need to be seismically upgraded to meet the &evised #eismic @odes. .n .ndia the #eismic @ode .#-6<A, was last revised in the year 9779 after valuable lessons learnt during the Bu(arat earthquake. There are many who desire their building also needs to be upgraded to the revised standards. $ampers are ideally suited for this (ob as it requires minimal civil construction works and the (ob can be easily undertaken with the building being simultaneously in use. .ncase of new buildings by installing arthquake $ampers you can achieve a protection level much higher than the arthquake &esistant' "ife #afety design. .n most structures% the $ampers stay hidden in partition walls and inconspicuous locations and% therefore% are not visible to occupants. However there are many architects who have used the diagonal% A and 3 placing of the dampers to give an aesthetic appearance. #ilvertie @entre in *ei(ing is presently the tallest building in @hina and towers :, storeys. .t has dampers installed to counter the adverse earthquake and wind effects so as to preserve the structural integrity. As for the seismic susceptibility% *ei(ing can be compared to .ndian #eismic Cones , D E. There are many propagandists of high-rises who time and again have written about converting the .ndian cityscape to resemble those of Hong ;ong% #ingapore and $ubai. .t is important for them to realize that all of these cities fall in the 5on-#eismic regions and therefore the architects and structural consultants there only take into account the wind effects while designing structures. .ndia on the other hand falls

in the seismic belt and therefore should be compared only to cities in Fapan% Taiwan% @hina% /#A G #an Andres fault lineH etc. .n all of these countries there exist stringent guidelines for tall buildings% it is yet to be seen how and with which regulations the authorities in .ndia confront this issue. #ome of the other high-profile buildings incorporating dampers are #ky-bridge of !etronas tower +alaysia% F& Tokai #hin >okohama station in Fapan% Fan-&on &itz building in Taiwan% :I storey !ark Hyatt hotel in @hicago% >erba *uena tower in #an )rancisco% -- storey Torre +ayor in +exico% which also happened to win the award for the best seismically engineered structure in 977- after the structural engineers monitored the building performance during and post an real life earthquake of magnitude I.: on the &ichter scale which hit (ust off the coast of @olima% +exico GFanuary 96% 977,H. #ubstantial #haking was felt in +exico @ity% but Torre +ayor performed without a scratch. There are hundreds in the list of buildings incorporating dampers ranging from single storey to the highest that the world has seen% a Boogle search would bring forth hundreds on your screen. )luid 3iscous $amping technology is also used to protect bridges. =hen used in bridges the orifice of the giant shock absorbers is substantially reduced so as to get what is known as #hock Transmission /nit G#T/H. #T/s are very widely used in all types of bridge construction as they not only help in protecting bridges from seismic effects but also reduce costs by facilitate load sharing amongst various sub and super structure components. #utong @hang(iang river bridge which also happens to be the worlds longest cable stayed bridge uses these devices extensively and so does 5an(ing , rd @rossing bridge which has the title of the second largest cable stayed bridge to its credit. A glance at the photographs' rendering of these bridges cannot but take our minds to the striking similarity to the *andra-=orli sea-link. .t is to be seen as to what safety standards the Bovernment insists on this pro(ect. The metro pro(ects in #eattle and Taiwan also make extensive use of this technology i.e. #eattle @entral "ink "ight &ail and Taiwan High #peed &ail0 however we do not come across this technology being used in $elhi which lies in #eismic Cone-.3. Taylor $evices are the leading manufacturers of )luid 3iscous $ampers for the earthquake protection of buildings and #hock Transmission /nits for protection of bridges and flyovers.