Massoud Sofi

Review of Techniques for Predicting the Fundamental Period of Multi-Storey Buildings: Effects of Nonstructural Components

The design of lateral load resisting elements of tall buildings in regions of low to moderate seismicity is normally governed by the requirements to meet inter-storey drift limit under wind load. The key objective of the design of tall buildings is to provide adequate lateral stiffness to the buildings to limit their lateral deflections and inter-storey drifts under the lateral load. The current design practice assumes that only the structural skeleton provides lateral resistance against wind load. Although the effects of nonstructural elements on the lateral stiffness are widely acknowledged, the effects are often ignored in the analysis of the buildings. This paper presents a state-of-the-art of review on the effects of nonstructural elements on the lateral deflections and inter-storey drifts of buildings at serviceability limit states. It was found that ignoring the nonstructural elements could significantly underestimate the lateral deflection for certain types of buildings. However, the shape and form of the lateral deflection in the overall building is not significantly affected by the nonstructural elements.

Modelling of nano-silica in cement paste

Recently published experimental evidence shows that nano-silica is a material that can be used to enhance the strength and durability characteristics of concrete. Engineered concrete at the nano-scale is achieved through the integration of nano-materials in suitable proportions and relevant mixing methods. Being a pozzolanic and reactive material along with nucleation effects and miniature particle size, nano-silica has been found to significantly improve the micro-structural characteristics of concrete making it denser and more uniform. The ongoing research work at the University of Melbourne is based on a novel modelling approach to further investigate the performance characteristics of nano-silica on cement paste at the micro-meter scale. The volumetric proportions of different phases present in concrete are computed considering hydration characteristics of cement and those of nanosilica. A Representative Volume Element (RVE) of the cement paste at micro scale is developed considering the hydrated gel as the matrix material while other phases present are integrated as randomly distributed spherical particles. Constitutive material models for these phases are assumed. The stress-strain relationship for the RVE is then generated using COMSOL Multiphysics software. The approach proposed in this paper is an initiation towards developing an acute and compressive model to predict the performance characteristics of nano-engineered concrete.

Effects of Interior Partition Walls on Natural Period of High Rise Buildings

In regions of low to moderate seismicity, serviceability limits states such as inter-story drift under wind load govern the design of the lateral load resisting structural systems of high rise buildings. The key objective in this regard is to provide adequate lateral stiffness to control lateral deflections and inter-story drifts. Current design practice assumes that the structural system alone provides lateral resistance against wind, the dominant load considered for countries like Australia. The contribution of nonstructural components (NSCs) such as interior partition walls on lateral stiffness is generally disregarded in the analysis of the buildings, even though it is commonly acknowledged that the NSCs play a significant role on the lateral stiffness of buildings. This technical note presents the results of a parametric study on the effects of NSCs, in particular, the effects of masonry interior partition walls on the fundamental period of buildings. The parameters considered in this study include: the number and length of walls, their material properties, the number of parallel moment resisting frames and the height of buildings. The results of this study indicate that interior walls can have significant effects on the lateral stiffness of buildings.