THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF TALL AND SPECIAL BUILDINGS

Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 23, 334349 (2014)

Published online 30 August 2012 in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/tal). DOI: 10.1002/tal.1040

Study on seismic performance of a super-tall steelconcrete

hybrid structure
Huanjun Jiang1,2, Bo Fu1,2*,, Laoer Liu3 and Xiaowei Yin1,2
2

1
State Key Laboratory of Disaster Reduction in Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
Research Institute of Structural Engineering and Disaster Reduction, Tongji University, Shanghai 200092, China
3
C&D Real Estate Group Limited Company, Xiamen 361001, China

SUMMARY
Many steelconcrete hybrid buildings have been built in China. The seismic performance of such hybrid
system is much more complicated than that of steel structure or reinforced concrete (RC) structure.
A steelconcrete hybrid frame-tube super-tall building structure with new type of shear walls to be built
in a district of seismic intensity 8 in China was studied for its structural complexity and irregularity. Both
model test and numerical simulation were applied to obtain the detailed knowledge of seismic performance
for this structure. First, a 1/30 scaled model structure was tested on the shaking table under different levels
of earthquakes. The failure process and mechanism of the model structure are presented here. Nonlinear
time-history analysis of the prototype structure was then conducted by using the software PERFORM-3D.
The dynamic characteristics, inter-story drift ratios and energy dissipation conditions are introduced. On
the basis of the comparison between the deformation demand and capacity of main structural components
at individual performance level under different earthquake level, the seismic performance at the member
level was also evaluated. Despite the structural complexity and code-exceeding height, both experimental
and analytical results indicate that the overall seismic performance of the structure meet the requirements
of the Chinese design code. Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Received 18 June 2012; Accepted 30 July 2012
KEY WORDS:

steelconcrete hybrid structure; shaking table test; seismic performance; super-tall building; PERFORM-3D;
nonlinear time-history analysis

1. INTRODUCTION
In recent years, a huge number of high-rise buildings have been constructed in Mainland China. A great
proportion of these tall buildings applied steelconcrete hybrid structure system such as steel frameconcrete core tube because of its unique priority in reducing construction cost and saving construction
time. However, since they are composed of components with different materials, steelconcrete hybrid
structures bring engineers and researchers new challenges in evaluating their performances under
earthquakes, especially for those with very complex structural system or that are extremely tall. To ensure
the safety and achieve performance-based seismic design of such structures, in-depth and systematical
investigation of their seismic performance is thus necessary (Tall Buildings Initiative, 2010).
At present, model test and numerical simulation are two principal and effective approaches to
predict the seismic performance of steelconcrete hybrid structures. It is universally acknowledged that
shaking table test has been an effective way to investigate the seismic performance of various structures,
including steelconcrete hybrid high-rise structures. Some shaking table tests have been carried out to
study the seismic performance of this type of structure in recent years. Liu and Qiu (2008) studied the
*Correspondence to: Bo Fu, Research Institute of Structural Engineering and Disaster Reduction, Tongji University,
Shanghai 200092, China.

E-mail: fubo2006_2006@126.com
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335

seismic performance of a steel RC frame-shear wall tall building with steel transfer trusses located at a
higher level on the basis of shaking table test of a 1/25 scaled model. Han et al. (2009) conducted
shaking table tests of two 1/20 scaled 30-story structure consisted of composite frames and RC shear
walls. In the two composite frames, concrete-lled steel tubular (CFST) columns with circular and
square sections were used respectively. Zhou and Li (2010) carried out a 1/20 scaled model of a 25-story
steelconcrete composite high-rise building structure composed of steel frame and concrete tube. On
the other hand, signicant progress has also been made in the development and application of nonlinear
analysis programs for evaluating the seismic performance of steelconcrete hybrid structures.
In this study, a steelconcrete hybrid frame-tube super-tall building structure with new type of shear
walls, whose height exceeds the current Chinese design code, was used as the target hybrid structure.
At rst, a 1/30 scaled shaking table test was conducted. A thorough numerical simulation and
nonlinear time-history analysis was then performed by PERFORM-3D (Computer and Structures
Inc., 2006). The seismic performance of this structure was evaluated accordingly. The purpose of this
study is to provide a two-level, that is, structural level and member level, seismic performance
evaluation of this complex hybrid structure with new structural members through model test and
numerical analysis. Moreover, this paper aims to present elaborate and dependable steps about
numerical simulation of this type of structure.
2. STRUCTURE DESCRIPTION
Beijing Wealth Center (phase II) is a 61-story ofce building located in Chaoyang district, Beijing,
with a total structural height of 264 m (as shown in Figure 1). The building employs three parallel
structural systems, i.e. the steel-reinforced concrete (SRC) core tube, the SRC peripheral frame and
the outrigger steel trusses, which create interactions between the core tube and the outer frame, to resist
vertical and lateral loads. To strengthen the lateral stiffness of the X direction with much shorter
dimension, four steel outrigger trusses and two U-shaped steel belt trusses are installed at the 28th
and 44th oors, respectively. Circular CFST columns and steel beams compose the peripheral frame.
Without any big openings, oor plates form rigid diaphragms, linking the core tube and the outer
frame. The structural plan layouts of the typical oors and the strengthened oors are shown in
Figure 2. In the core tube walls, steel plates and steel braces are embedded below the 20th oor,
and RC trusses are arranged above the 20th oor. Steel beams and columns are embedded at the edges

Figure 1. Perspective view of the prototype structure.

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Y
X

(a)

(b)

Figure 2. Structural plan layout of oor: (a) typical oor and (b) strengthened oor.
of steel plates to effectively restrain the plates, which make the bearing capacity of steel plates fully
developed. The plan layout of steel plates and columns in the core tube is shown in Figure 3. The
embedded edge steel columns increase the exural carrying capacity of the shear wall signicantly
as well. In the X direction, since most of the shear walls are solid without openings, the strength of
resisting lateral force is enhanced considerably.

Figure 3. Plan layout of steel plates and columns in core tube.

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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The main characteristics of this structure are summarized as follows:

(1) The structural height of the building is 264 m, which is beyond the height limits specied in
Technical Specication for Concrete Structures of Tall Building (JGJ3-2002) (CMC, 2002).
(2) The strengthened oors result in vertical irregularity stipulated in Code for Seismic Design of
Buildings (GB50011-2010) (CMC, 2010).
(3) The new SRC shear walls reinforced by steel plate and steel truss are applied in the core tube.
Taking these irregularities and complexities into account, a thorough study of its seismic performance is required according to the Chinese design code. Shaking table model test was recommended
by the peer review committee to study the structural behavior and check the seismic performance of
the structure directly.

3. SHAKING TABLE TEST OF MODEL STRUCTURE

3.1. Model material
To meet the requirement of similitude theory, the model material is required to have relative low elastic
modulus and high density. In addition, the constitutive relationship of model material ought to be, to a
great extent, similar to the prototype material. Thus, on the basis of the above consideration and past
experiences, ne-aggregate concrete with ne wires was selected to simulate the RC components and
copper plates were chosen to model the steel members.
3.2. Model design
Based on the dynamic similitude theory, there are three controlling scaling factors, which are independent with each other. In addition, there are some other subordinate scaling factors, which can be derived
from the controlling factors. In this model test, the scaling factors of dimension, stress and acceleration
were selected to be the controlling factors. Considering the size and capacity of the shaking table, the
scaling factor of dimension Sl in this model was rstly chosen to be 1/30. The model was thus built with
a height of 9.1 m (Figure 4). Then, according to the test results of model material, the stress scaling
factor Ss was determined to be 0.22. Finally, the scaling factor of acceleration Sa was assigned to be
3.00. After the three controlling factors were dened, other typical scaling factors were obtained by
similitude relationship (as shown in Table 1).

Figure 4. Perspective view of model structure.

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Table 1. Typical scaling factors of the model.

Variable

Equation

Scaling factor

Remark

Length
Elastic modulus
Stress
Strain
Density
Mass
Frequency
Acceleration

Sl
SE
Ss
Ss/SE
Ss/(SaSl)
S2s Sl =Sa
S0:5
S
0:5
l
a
Sa

1/30
0.34
0.22
0.66
2.24
8.30E-05
11.66
3.00

Controlling factor
Controlling factor

Controlling factor

3.3. Model installation

The formwork material applied in construction was foam plastics, which have good formability and
much less impact on the structural rigidity compared with concrete. The foam plastics were rstly
cut into some certain shapes to form the space needed by the components. Then, the wires were
colligated and the copper plates were xed. After the reliable connections were established, the ne
concrete was then poured and vibrated. The examination of component dimensions and horizontal
degrees was in the wake of construction.
3.4. Instruments and transducers
In this model, accelerometers were arranged at different heights, and displacement transducers and
strain gages were set at some complicated stress areas such as strengthened stories. There were a total
of 68 sensors installed on the model, including 39 accelerometers on 16 oors, 12 displacement
transducers on six oors and 17 strain gages on main structural members such as the outrigger trusses
and corner columns.
3.5. Seismic input
According to the Chinese code (CMC, 2010), structures built in seismic regions must sustain earthquakes of frequent, moderate and rare levels, whose probability of exceeding are 63.2, 10.0 and 2.0%
within 50 years of the design period. The earthquake intensity of Beijing is 8 and the peak ground
acceleration (PGA) corresponding to the three different levels is specied as 0.07 g, 0.2 g, and 0.4 g,
respectively. Four sets of earthquake ground motions, including one articial wave User3 and three
natural waves User1, User2 and El Centro 1940 wave, were used as seismic inputs. Their elastic acceleration spectrums with same PGA of 0.07 g are compared with the design spectrum specied in Chinese
code (CMC, 2010), which is shown in Figure 5. User1, User2 and User3 are all one-component ground
3.0
Code
User1

Acceleration(m/s2)

2.5

User2
2.0

User3
El Centro

1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
0

Period(s)

Figure 5. Comparison of spectrum acceleration.

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motions and were inputted in X or Y direction. The two-component El Centro wave was inputted in X
and Y directions simultaneously.
3.6. Test program
The test was conducted with three phases, representing frequent, moderate and rare earthquake of intensity
8, respectively. In each phase of the test, User1, User2, User3 and El Centro wave were successively input
in one or two directions. The duration of the ground motions was reduced into the 1/11.66 of the original
ones according to the similitude relationship. A summary of test wave inputs is listed in Table 2.
3.7. Damage condition
Under frequent earthquakes, no visible damage occurred. Under moderate earthquakes, there was still no
visual damage on the model. Under rare earthquakes, in the Y direction, the anges of some steel beams
buckled, and cracks occurred at the two ends of a few coupling beams (as shown in Figure 6). At the end
of the tests, in the X direction, the natural frequency of the model remained unchanged, whereas in the Y
direction, it was decreased by 19.4%, which indicates that no damages occurred in the members in the X
direction whereas damages occurred in the members in the Y direction. The different damage condition
and variation of natural frequency between the X and Y directions could be due to the effect of new SRC
shear walls. Because of the different layout of core walls in the X and Y directions, the strength resisting
the lateral force in the X direction is enhanced much more signicantly than that in the Y direction.
Even under rare earthquakes, the lateral stiffness as well as strength in the X direction did not deteriorate.
Furthermore, the seismic performance of the new SRC shear wall was proved to be good.

Table 2. Test program.

Peak ground acceleration (g)

Test
W1
F8G1X
F8G1Y
F8G2X
F8G2Y
F8G3X
F8G3Y
F8EXY
F8EYX
W2
B8G1X
B8G1Y
B8G2X
B8G2Y
B8G3X
B8G3Y
B8EXY
B8EYX
W3
R8G1X
R8G1Y
R8G2X
R8G2Y
R8G3X
R8G3Y
R8EXY
R8EYX
W4

Phase
White noise
Frequent 8

White noise
Moderate 8

White noise
Rare 8

Input
User 1
User 1
User 2
User 2
User 3
User 3
El Centro
El Centro
User 1
User 1
User 2
User 2
User 3
User 3
El Centro
El Centro
User 1
User 1
User 2
User 2
User 3
User 3
El Centro
El Centro

White noise

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Principal
direction

X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y

X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y

X
Y
X
Y
X
Y
X
Y

Direction X
Design

Achieve

0.050
0.210

0.244

0.210

0.198

0.210

0.208

0.210
0.180
0.050
0.600

0.199
0.160

0.600

0.637

0.600

0.600
0.510
0.050
1.200

0.583
0.408

1.200

1.132

1.200

1.241

1.200
1.020
0.050

1.225
1.080

Direction Y
Design

Achieve

0.050
0.210

0.268

0.210

0.299

0.210
0.180
0.210
0.050

0.237
0.196
0.238

0.600

0.722

0.600

0.638

0.600
0.510
0.600
0.050

0.582
0.620
0.704

1.200

0.956

1.200

1.158

1.200
1.020
1.200
0.050

0.989
0.768
1.057

0.773

1.134

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(a)

(b)

Figure 6. Damage patterns under rare earthquakes: (a) anges bulking of steel beam and (b) cracks on
the end of coupling beam.

4. NONLINEAR SIMULATION OF PROTOTYPE STRUCTURE

4.1. Constitutive relationship of constituent material
The structure is mainly made up of steel and concrete, whose constitutive relationships used in
PERFORM-3D is expatiated as follows:
(1) For the steel plate and reinforcement rebar, the simplied bilinear constitutive relationship was
adopted. The post-yielding stiffness ratio was taken as 0.01. The bilinear kinematic model was
selected to simulate their hysteretic behavior.
(2) The proposed constitutive relationships of concrete nowadays are relatively complicated; thus,
it is quite necessary to simplify them especially for bulky structures. Concrete used in this
structure can be classied into two categories: core concrete in circular CFST columns and
other common concrete. On one hand, it is universally acknowledged that the conning effect
on the compressive behavior of core concrete in circular CFST columns is very signicant,
making its constitutive model special. The constitutive model as shown in Figure 7(a) proposed
by Han (2000), which was developed by tting the experimental data, was thus adopted. Due
to the limit of PERFORM-3D program, the constitutive relationship curves have to be rst
converted into piecewise linear lines as shown in Figure 7(b) according to the conservation
of energy principle, so as to acquire the parameters of corresponding key points needed in
the procedure. On the other hand, the constitutive relationship given by Mander et al. (1988)
was applied here for the common concrete. To achieve more accurate analysis results, the

=0.637
=0.689

50

=0.912

40

=1.038
=1.056

30

=1.134

20

=1.330

Actual
Simplified

50

Stress(MPa)

Stress(MPa)

60

40
30
20
10

10
0
0.000

60

=0.554

70

0.005

0.010

0.015

0.020

0.025

0
0.000

0.005

0.010

0.015

Strain

Strain

(a)

(b)

0.020

0.025

Figure 7. Constitutive relationships of core concrete: (a) under different conning factors and
(b) simplied one.
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conned concrete constitutive relationship as shown in Figure 8(a) is adopted for the concrete
restrained by stirrup applied whereas the unconstrained concrete model as shown in Figure 8(b)
is for the remainder. The principle of simplication is identical with the concrete of circular
CFST columns.
4.2. Member modeling
The structure mainly consists of four types of members, beam, column, truss member and shear wall.
The detailing modeling information of them is as follows:
(1) For steel and RC beams with relative large span-to-depth ratio, exural deformation is the
controlling factor, thus only the nonlinear behavior of bending was considered and the
shearing behavior was regarded as elastic. Therefore, beams were simulated by plastic hinge
model and the assumption that exural plastic hinges occur only at the two ends of members
was adopted. For the coupling beams with the span-to-depth ratio less than 2.5, shear hinges
were added in order to simulate the nonlinear shear behavior simultaneously.
(2) With the same forming mechanism of plastic hinge of beams, columns were simulated by
plastic hinge model as well. There are generally two ways to dene plastic hinges in
PERFORM-3D. In the rst method, the cross-section is simulated by the ber model, and
the forcedeformation relationship at the cross-section level is derived automatically by the
program on the basis of the constitutive law for the constituent material. P-M-M interaction
can be considered for columns. In the second method, the forcedeformation skeleton curve
of the member is obtained with the aid of section designer program named Xtract and then
transformed into bilinear curve (as shown in Figure 9). The characteristic parameters of the
skeleton curve are recommended by FEMA356 (FEMA, 2000). It will cost much more
calculation efforts for the rst method than the second one. In this study the rst method
was applied for columns and the second method for beams.
(3) The truss members were simulated by nonlinear axial bars. Trilinear skeleton curve with
descending segment was applied.
(4) The core tubes were modeled by shear wall element specied in PERFORM-3D. Generally,
the shear wall element consists of vertical bers and concrete shear layer. The ber layers
were used to model the bending and axial loading behavior, and the concrete shear layer
takes the contribution of concrete to the shear strength into account. Moreover, there are also
shear walls with steel plates and braces in this structure. In order to simulate these composite
members, different solutions were applied. For the shear walls with steel plates, the effect of
steel plate was reected by increasing the steel ratio and the inclusion of shear material. For
the shear walls with braces, the brace was simulated by the nonlinear axial bar.

50

Actual

Simplified

60

Actual

Simplified

40

Stress(MPa)

Stress(MPa)

50
40
30
20

20
R

10

10
0
0.000

30

0.003

0.006

0.009

0.012

0.015

0
0.000 0.001 0.002 0.003 0.004 0.005 0.006

Strain

Strain

(a)

(b)

Figure 8. Constitutive relationships of common concrete: (a) conned concrete and (b) unconned
concrete.
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H. JIANG ET AL.
1500

Moment(kNm)

1200

900

600
Actural

300

Bilinearization

0
0.00

0.02

0.04

0.06

0.08

Curvature(1/m)

Figure 9. Simplied momentcurvature relationship.

4.3. Hysteretic model

For exural hinges and shear hinges, the Clough model considering the degradation of unloading
stiffness was adopted. The unloading stiffness is determined by the following equation:


a
Kr ar Ky m =y  Ky

(1)

where Ky refers to the initial stiffness; m and y represent the maximum deformation and yielding
deformation, respectively; Kr is the unloading stiffness corresponding to m; a is the reduction factor
of unloading stiffness, which was generally taken as 0.4 for RC members. To reect the main characteristics of shear behavior accurately, the modied Takeda model (Tohma and Hwang, 1987) was
applied for shear material.
In PERFORM-3D, the hysteretic model is obtained by adjusting the energy degradation factor and
unloading stiffness coefcient. By the denition specied in PERFORM-3D, the energy degradation
factor of every key point is calculated. The shape of the hysteretic curve is simulated by modifying
the unloading stiffness coefcient. The comparison of original hysteretic model with the modied
one used in PERFORM-3D is shown in Figure 10. Although the modied hysteretic curve cannot
agree exactly with the original one, they are equal in terms of energy dissipation.
4.4. Performance level of structural components
Deformation limits of structural components at different performance level were determined according
to FEMA356. The typical forcedeformation skeleton curve of a structural component is shown in

F
PERFORM-3D
Clough

PERFORM-3D
Modified Takeda

(a)

(b)

Figure 10. Comparison of hysteretic model: (a) Clough model and (b) modied Takeda model.
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Figure 11, where IO, LS and CP represent immediate occupancy, life safety and collapse prevention,
respectively. Table 3 lists the plastic deformation limits of exural hinge for CFST columns. Table 4
lists the plastic deformation limits of other structural components.
4.5. Whole structural model
The elastoplastic analytic model, which employs rigid oor assumption and lumped-mass method,
was constructed by PERFORM-3D (as shown in Figure 12). The coupling beams of the rst oor,
strengthened oors and the oors below the strengthened oors, with relative large depth, were
simulated by general wall element whereas the other coupling beams were modeled by beam element.
As the two ends of secondary beam are hinged and mainly resist vertical load, they were regarded as
elastic. P- effect was also included in the nonlinear time-history analysis.
4.6. Dynamic characteristics
The dynamic characteristics of the target structure are shown in Table 5. The mode shapes of the rst
four translational modes are shown in Figure 13. Both Table 5 and Figure 13 indicate that the
numerical analysis and the experimental results are in good agreement. In general, the period obtained
by numerical analysis is larger than the test result. According to the Chinese code (CMC, 2002), the
period ratio between the rst torsional mode and the rst translational mode should not be larger than
0.85 so as to prevent excessive structural torsion. Both numerical and experimental results demonstrate
that the period ratio of this structure meets this requirement.
F/Fy
b
a
C

1.0

IO

LS

CP
E

D
D

Figure 11. Forcedeformation skeleton curve.

Table 3. Plastic deformation limits of exural hinge for circular CFST columns (rad).
Section

IO

LS

CP

D1500
D1400
D1300

0.004
0.004
0.004

0.006
0.006
0.006

0.007
0.008
0.009

Table 4. Plastic deformation limit of other components (rad).

Component type
Flexural hinge of prole steel beam
Flexural hinge of RC beam
Flexural hinge of coupling beam
Shear hinge of coupling beam
Compressive bar (square steel tube-hollow)
Compressive bar (square steel tube-concrete lled)
Compressive bar (I-shaped)
Tensile bar
Flexural deformation of wall panel
Shear deformation of wall panel

IO

LS

CP

0.25y
0.01
0.0075
0.006
0.25C
0.25C
0.25C
0.25T
0.003
0.004

2y
0.02
0.015
0.015
1C
4C
5C
7T
0.006
0.006

3y
0.025
0.022
0.02
2C
6C
7C
9T
0.009
0.0075

y is the corresponding rotational angle when steel beam yields; C is the corresponding deformation when the
brace compressively buckles; and T is the corresponding deformation when brace yields under tension.
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(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 12. Analytic model by PERFORM-3D: (a) axonometric view, (b) core tube, (c) front view and
(d) side view.
Table 5. Characteristics of the rst six natural vibration modes.
Mode number

Period by PERFORM-3D (s)

5.319
4.355
3.264
1.431
1.386
1.062
Period by test (s)
5.128
4.098
2.571
1.712
1.323
1.208
Vibration form
Translation in Translation in Torsion Translation in Translation in Torsion
X direction
Y direction
Y direction
X direction

70

Test
PERFORM-3D

70

Test
PERFORM-3D

70

Test
PERFORM-3D

60

60

50

50

50

50

40

40

40

40

30

60

Story

30

Story

60

Story

Story

70

30

30

20

20

20

20

10

10

10

10

0
0.0

0.5

1.0

0
0.0

0.5

1.0

Test
PERFORM-3D

0
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

0
-1.0 -0.5 0.0 0.5 1.0

Amplitude

Amplitude

Amplitude

Amplitude

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

Figure 13. Mode shapes: (a) rst mode, (b) second mode, (c) fourth mode and (d) fth mode.
4.7. Performance evaluation
After the modeling of the prototype structure, nonlinear time-history analysis was conducted with the
aid of PERFORM-3D. The seismic inputs used in the numerical analysis were identical with the
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shaking table tests. In this study, the seismic performance of the target structure is evaluated at two
levels, structure level and member level.
First, the performance at the structure level was studied. As inter-story drift ratio is a signicant and
commonly used index in evaluating the seismic performance of structures, Tables 6 and 7 present the
maximum inter-story drift ratios of the structure under different ground motions. The results show that
the maximum inter-story drift ratio of the four ground motions is 1/665 in X direction and 1/790 in Y
direction under frequent earthquakes. Both of them are less than the maximum allowable limit of 1/500
specied in the Chinese code (CMC, 2010). Similarly, under rare earthquakes, the maximum
inter-story drift ratio in X and Y directions is 1/131 and 1/144, respectively, which are within the limit
of 1/100. Figure 14 shows the inter-story drift ratio envelope curves under different earthquake levels.
The calculated results indicate that inter-story drift ratios of most oors change smoothly, whereas
those of the oors close to strengthened layers change sharply.
The numerical analysis results demonstrate that the responses of the structure in the X direction are
the largest under El Centro wave and the responses in the Y direction are the largest under User2
wave. Figure 15 shows energy scale maps of the structure, which can directly provide the information
of energy dissipation and indirectly indicate the seismic performance of the structure at the structure
level. Under frequent earthquakes, the dissipated energy consists of strain energy and damping
energy, which indicates that the structure is still in elastic phrase. Under moderate earthquakes, the
inelastic energy in the X direction is 2.5% of the total dissipated energy and in the Y direction
16.1%, which indicates that the nonlinear responses in the Y direction are much larger than in the
X direction. Under rare earthquakes, the inelastic energy in the X direction is 9.1% of the total
dissipated energy and in the Y direction 28.8%, which indicates that the structure is slightly damaged
in the X direction and is moderately damaged in the Y direction. The analytical results agree well with
the experimental results as shown above. It can be concluded that the structure has a good seismic
performance at the structural level.
Second, the behavior of components was analyzed. The maximum demand-to-capacity ratio of each
type of structural component is listed in Table 8. Under frequent and moderate earthquakes, all the
components excluding some coupling beams in the core tube are still at IO stage. Some coupling
beams in Y direction come into the stage of LS under moderate earthquakes. Under rare earthquakes,
some coupling beams in Y direction reach at CP stage; some beams in the peripheral frame in X
direction arrive at LS stage and some beams in Y direction develop into CP stage; some members in
the truss in X direction step into LS stage, and all the CFST columns and shear walls remain at IO
stage. It also can be concluded that the input seismic energy is mainly dissipated by coupling
beams and steel beams in the peripheral frame when the structure goes into inelastic stage. There is
considerable safety margin for the structure to prevent collapse under rare earthquakes.

Table 6. Maximum inter-story drift ratio in X direction.

Seismic wave
El Centro
User1
User2
User3
Average

Frequent

Moderate

Rare

1/665
1/867
1/741
1/795
1/760

1/241
1/315
1/274
1/290
1/277

1/131
1/178
1/144
1/144
1/148

Table 7. Maximum inter-story drift ratio in Y direction.

Seismic wave
El Centro
User1
User2
User3
Average

Frequent

Moderate

Rare

1/885
1/1273
1/790
1/1019
1/961

1/319
1/449
1/329
1/389
1/365

1/189
1/224
1/144
1/197
1/184

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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H. JIANG ET AL.

60

60

50

50

50

40

40

40

30
User1

20

User3
Average

0.001

User1
User3
Average

Inter-Story Drift Ratio

0.001

(c)

50

50

50

40

40

40

User1

20

User2

User3

10

El Centro

User3

10

El Centro

El Centro

Average

0.0025

User1

30

User2

User3

0
0.0000

30
20

User2

10

Story

60

User1

Average

0
0.000

0.0050

Inter-Story Drift Ratio

0.0050

(b)
60

20

0.0025

Inter-Story Drift Ratio

60

Story

Story

0
0.0000

0.002

Inter-Story Drift Ratio

(a)

30

User1
User2
User3
El Centro
Average

10

El Centro

0
0.000

0.002

30
20

User2

10

El Centro

0
0.000

30
20

User2

10

Story

60

Story

Story

346

0.005

0
0.000

0.010

Inter-Story Drift Ratio

(d)

Average

0.005

0.010

Inter-Story Drift Ratio

(e)

(f)

Figure 14. Inter-story drift ratio envelope curve under different earthquake levels: (a) frequent earthquake
(X direction), (b) frequent earthquake (Y direction), (c) moderate earthquake (X direction), (d) moderate
earthquake (Y direction), (e) rare earthquake (X direction) and (f) rare earthquake (Y direction).

80
60
40
20

100

Energy Ratio(%)

100

Energy Ratio(%)

Energy Ratio(%)

100

80
60
40
20

80
60
40

Kinetic energy

20

Strain energy
0

10

20

30

10

Time(s)

30

(c)

40
20

10

20

Time(s)

(d)

30

Energy Ratio(%)

Energy Ratio(%)

60

30

80
60
40
20

10

20

Time(s)

(e)

30

Modal damping energy

Alpha-M viscous energy
Beta-K viscous energy

100

100

80

20

Time(s)

(b)

100

10

Time(s)

(a)
Energy Ratio(%)

20

80

Energy in fluid dampers

60

Dissipated inelastic energy

40
20

10

20

30

Time(s)

(f)

Figure 15. Energy scale map of different stages: (a) frequent earthquake of El Centro wave (X direction),
(b) moderate earthquake of El Centro wave (X direction), (c) rare earthquake of El Centro wave
(X direction), (d) frequent earthquake of User2 wave (Y direction), (e) moderate earthquake of User2
wave (Y direction) and (f) rare earthquake of User2 wave (Y direction).
Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 23, 334349 (2014)

DOI: 10.1002/tal

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Y direction

X direction

Frequent
Moderate
Rare
Frequent
Moderate
Rare

Direction of input
ground motion

0.797

0.203
0.551

0.234
0.595

0.669

0.082
0.205
0.365
0.049
0.106
0.201

CP

LS

IO

IO

Beam in
peripheral frame

CFST
column

0.204
0.569

0.144
0.266
0.450

IO

0.975

LS

Truss member

0.064
0.072
0.224
0.063
0.509

IO

0.693

LS

Flexural
hinge

0.036
0.053
0.326
0.048

IO

0.428

LS

Shearing
hinge

Coupling beam

Table 8. Maximum deformation demand-to-capacity ratios of main components.

0.857

CP

0.080
0.147
0.267
0.122
0.284
0.668

IO

Flexural
deformation

0.070
0.199
0.350
0.185
0.358
0.444

IO

Shear
deformation

Shear wall

SEISMIC PERFORMANCE OF A SUPER-TALL STEELCONCRETE HYBRID STRUCTURE

347

Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 23, 334349 (2014)

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348

H. JIANG ET AL.

5. CONCLUSIONS
Beijing Wealth Center (phase II) is a super-tall building adopting the steelconcrete hybrid structure
with new type of shear walls and code-exceeding height. To ensure its safety under earthquake, both
shaking table test and nonlinear time-history analysis were carried out. A series of ground motions
simulating frequent, moderate and rare earthquakes of intensity 8 were adopted to investigate the
seismic performance of the structure. The following conclusions can be drawn:
(1) The maximum inter-story drift ratios of the structure under frequent earthquakes and rare
earthquakes are less than the allowable limits specied in Chinese seismic design code.
(2) The nonlinear responses as well as the damage in the Y direction are much larger than those in
the X direction, mainly because of the different layout of core walls in the X and Y directions
and the effect of new type of shear walls.
(3) The nonlinear analysis results show that when the structure is subjected to rare earthquakes, the
input seismic energy is mainly dissipated through the plastic deformation of coupling beams
and steel beams in the peripheral frame. The primary vertical members, CFST columns and core
walls, are still at the performance level of immediate occupancy under rare earthquakes. The
mechanism of energy dissipation is satisfactory.
(4) The overall seismic performance of the target structure is good and meets the requirement
specied by Chinese seismic design code.
(5) Although the seismic performance of the new type of shear wall is proved to be good by this
study, as there are few studies on the new type of shear wall with embedded steel plate and
truss, the design of such members in this structure is relatively conservative and the shear
wall in this structure has such large strength as well as stiffness that it cannot fully develop its
capacity under rare earthquakes. The seismic performance of this type of SRC shear wall should
be further studied.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are grateful for the support from National Natural Science Foundation of China under
grant no. 51078272, the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities, the owner of the
building and MCC Capital Engineering & Research Incorporation Limited.

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Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 23, 334349 (2014)

DOI: 10.1002/tal

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349

AUTHORS BIOGRAPHIES
Huanjun Jiang is a professor in Structural Engineering at Research Institute of Structural Engineering
and Disaster Reduction, Tongji University. He received his Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from
Tongji University in China in 1999. His research interests include reinforced concrete structures,
steel-concrete composite structures, and performance-based seismic design of building structures.
Bo Fu is a PhD candidate of Research Institute of Structural Engineering and Disaster Reduction, Tongji
University. His research interests include seismic performance assessment of high-rise buildings.
Laoer Liu received his Master degree in structural engineering from Tongji University in China in 2011.
His research interests include seismic performance assessment of high-rise buildings.
Xiaowei Yin is a PhD candidate of Research Institute of Structural Engineering and Disaster Reduction,
Tongji University. Her research interests include seismic performance assessment of high-rise buildings.

Copyright 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 23, 334349 (2014)

DOI: 10.1002/tal