Seismic performance evaluation of steel building systems in Canada

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Steel Building Systems (SBS) are prevalent in low-rise construction in North America. They account for approximately 50% of the total non-residential low-rise construction. SBS are cost effective, durable, expedited for construction scheduling, easy to expand and fully customizable for owners' needs. They are built in a variety of locations with a wide range of applications. In Canada, the National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) (NRCC, 2010) and handbook of steel construction (CSA-S16, 2009) do not consider SBS as one of the pre-qualified seismic force resisting systems. Designers typically follow the American design code (ASCE 7, 2010) where the buildings are designed as Ordinary Moment Resisting Frame. The design approach for Ordinary Moment Resisting Frame requires the member to remain compact, hence able to achieve stable energy dissipation. However, most SBS use non-compact structural members. The ability of using non-compact members as part of the Ordinary Moment Resisting Frame has not been verified analytically or experimentally. This leads to a knowledge gap for the seismic design of SBS in Canada. The proposed research will investigate the seismic design approaches for SBS in Canada. Nonlinear time history dynamic analyses of building systems will be carried out following an approach adopted from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) P695 Quantification of Building Seismic Performance Factors (FEMA, 2009). Input earthquake records will be scaled to the site specific uniform hazard spectra for four representative cities in Canada, namely Vancouver, Calgary, Quebec City, and Halifax. The outcome of the research will provide a detailed understanding of the seismic performance of SBS in Canada. The analysis results will be further used to develop robust seismic design guidelines for SBS in high seismic zones in Canada and worldwide.