Seismic performance of low-rise intermediate steel moment frame buildings in South Korea

Abstract

The seismic performance of low-rise intermediate steel moment frame buildings following design practices of South Korea was investigated and its benefit was presented in comparison with those of customary design practice in the United States. The major features in the design and construction practices in South Korea are that the entire frames of the building are designed to resist the lateral load and beam-to-column connections are fabricated in factories. In contrast, in the United States, only exterior frames resist the lateral load and the entire beam-to-column connections are welded at the construction site. To investigate the effects of distinctive design practices on seismic performance, the example buildings were designed and evaluated with the procedure in FEMA 355F. The effect of panel zone deformation in addition to story drift was considered in performance evaluation. The evaluation results showed that the seismic performance of the buildings designed in accordance with the practice in South Korea were not significantly different from those in the United States. Therefore, design and construction practices in South Korea are a competitive way for intermediate steel moment frame buildings.