Finite Element Study of Hyperstructure Systems with Modular Light-Frame Construction in High-Rise Buildings

To answer both the growth of the world’s urban population and the climate changes, new structural systems with high prefabrication levels and renewable materials need to be developed. A novel structural system that could enable the use of modular light-frame construction in high-rise buildings was modeled and analyzed. This system was achieved by having a hyperstructure carrying the loads of four-story light-frame superposed substructures. Two 20-story hyperstructures, one using glulam and another one using reinforced concrete, were designed according to the 2015 National Building Code of Canada and compared. A simplified model for the light-frame modules according to the CSA O86-19 was proposed. The interaction between both systems and the impact on the substructures were analyzed. The results of the response spectrum analysis and dynamic wind analysis show that, with a glulam hyperstructure, modules could be connected to the columns and the floors or only to the floors. With a concrete hyperstructure, the modules must be connected to the columns and the cores. For both systems, the design of shearwalls on the short side of the modules is governed by the lateral deformation imposed by seismic forces, while the design of shearwalls on the long side of the modules is governed by the vertical deformation of the primary beams under gravity loads. Standard shearwall assemblies are sufficient to resist the shear induced by gravitational, wind and seismic loads. The analysis indicates that the system could be viable, but more research should be especially performed on the connections between the substructures and the hyperstructure.

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