The objective of the current study is to develop a simple formula to estimate the fundamental vibration period of tall buildings for using in equivalent lateral force analysis specified in building codes. The method based on Sturm-Liouville differential equation is presented here for estimating the fundamental period of natural vibration. The resulting equation, based on the continuum represent...

Hordes of tourists flock to Washington, D.C. every spring to see the cherry trees blossom. Once in the city, they must find their way to the Tidal Basin where the Japanese trees grow. Fortunately, a number of visual landmarks can help them to navigate. In 1910, the United States Congress passed The Height of Buildings Act, limiting the elevation of commercial and residential structures in D.C. ...

Civil engineering structures, such as tall buildings and long span bridges, are typically designed based on the principles of material and structural mechanics. Finite element model (FEM) analysis and wind tunnel tests of scaled models are often carried out to assist structural design (see, e.g., Penman et al. 1999). However, loading conditions in the real world are always much more complicated...

the construction of underground tunnel plays a more and more important role in the development of big cities. one of the most important problems caused by the construction of the tunnel is that underground excavation will cause large settlement of the ground and buildings. previous studied showed the difference between numerical and experimental results. in this study the case study of niyayesh...

Risk design optimization (RDO) is a competent approach for automated performance-based structural design by achieving a balance between safety and economy. Performance-based wind engineering (PBWE) is aimed at improving the life-cycle functionality of wind-sensitive structures, hence could be the very field RDO is tailor-made for. In this paper, we embed PBWE of tall buildings into RDO and tack...

A parametric formulation for preliminary design of tubed-system tall buildings is presented in which some optimality criteria and practical constraints are considered. Here, a minimum compliance optimization formulation, developed by other researchers, is applied to a framed-tube structure. The tube behavior is modeled as a cantilevered box beam. Independent variable in this problem is thicknes...

limitations in the design method used for the support systems of urban buildings make them vulnerable to damage by adjacent excavations. this paper examines a traditional system used to support excavation sites and adjacent buildings in which inclined struts are connected to the wall or foundation of the adjacent building. this method can be considered to be a type of shoring or underpinning. t...

On April 6, 2009, an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude struck central Italy with its epicentre near L'Aquila, at 42.3502° N, 13.3762°E. The earthquake damaged 3,000 to 11,000 buildings in the medieval city of L'Aquila. Several buildings totally collapsed, 308 people were killed. The post emergency phase till now is just at its beginning step. Conventional surveying techniques using high precision tot...