Human Comfort Assessment of Buildings Considering the Effect of the Masonry Infills and the Soil-Structure Interaction

Abstract

The increase in slenderness of building projects has been crucial for reducing the natural frequency values, causing excessive vibration problems. Two other important aspects, generally disregarded in the current design practice are related to the effects of the masonry infills and the soil-structure interaction. This research work aims to develop an analysis methodology to evaluate the human comfort of buildings subjected to the wind nondeterministic dynamic actions. This way, the dynamic behavior of a 16-storey reinforced concrete building, 48 m high and dimensions of 15.0 m by 14.2 m is investigated. Numerical models with different characteristics were developed to obtain a more realistic representation of the system, based on the Finite Element Method (FEM), through the use of the ANSYS program. The results have indicated relevant quantitative differences when the dynamic structural response of the building was analysed, such as the significant reduction on the horizontal translational displacements and peak acceleration values, when the effects of the masonry infills and the soil-structure interaction were considered.