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Experimental investigation on structural response of multi-story buildings subjected to differential settlement of its foundations

Wenxue Chen (Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada)
Adel Hanna (Department of Building, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Concordia University, Montreal, Canada)

International Journal of Structural Integrity

ISSN: 1757-9864

Article publication date: 11 January 2023

Issue publication date: 21 March 2023

107

Abstract

Purpose

This article aims to address an outstanding problem dealing with the structure of multi-story buildings subjected to differential settlement of the building's foundation.

Design/methodology/approach

Differential settlement between foundation units of multi-story structures has been responsible for causing damage to buildings and often catastrophic failure and loss of life. The dynamic changes in the loading conditions of the structure and the changes in the underlying ground due to environmental changes are causing this undesirable differential settlement, which is manifested in the form of additional stresses in beams, columns and distortion of the structure elements. This study presents the results of an experimental investigation on a prototype model of a multi-story building subjected to differential settlement of the building's foundation. The model is a four-floor aluminum structure, instrumented to measure the stresses induced in the structure elements due to the settlement of a center, edge and corner column, respectively, which represent the critical conditions of the structure.

Findings

The experimental results of this study can be used as a guideline for the design of structures.

Originality/value

The current study is the original research developed by the authors.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the support from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Concordia University. The authors appreciate assistance of the technical staff of the Structural Laboratory at the Concordia University.

Citation

Chen, W. and Hanna, A. (2023), "Experimental investigation on structural response of multi-story buildings subjected to differential settlement of its foundations", International Journal of Structural Integrity, Vol. 14 No. 2, pp. 204-228. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSI-09-2022-0115

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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