Demountable Precast Concrete Frame–Building System for Seismic Regions: Conceptual Development: Fid-Bau Portal

Demountable Precast Concrete Frame–Building System for Seismic Regions: Conceptual Development

Dhakal, R. P

AbstractThe current generation of buildings was designed and built such that the final form of a building turns into a single or monolithic unit. As a result, these buildings are demolished either at the end of their life spans or when they become obsolete in function. Demolition of a building leads to irrecoverable wastage of nonrenewable building materials, which is against the philosophy of sustainable building design. This paper presents the concept of a next-generation building (NGB) system that incorporates sustainability into the process of building design and construction. A brief overview of the philosophy, development, implementation, and barriers of NGB systems is presented. Identifying a gap in the definition of flexibility of existing NGB systems, the concept of structural flexibility is introduced and added to the list of desirable features for future NGB systems. Furthermore, a demountable concrete building system suitable for seismic regions is introduced by applying the concepts of NGB systems. The proposed building structural system comprises standard precast-concrete building components and removable dry steel connections. The proposed building system was developed with the primary motives of demountability and structural flexibility at any stage during the life span of the building. Schematic details of the building structural system and possible dry steel connections between different building components of the proposed building system are reported. The process of demounting and dismantling building components from a two-story building structural system is pictorially presented. The structural flexibility of a proposed building system is also shown for two possible scenarios during the life span of a building. Also, key features of the proposed building system were evaluated against the technical requirements of NGB systems, and the results are presented herein. Finally, advantages of the proposed building system for seismic regions are summarized.