Structural integrity tested

“In countries subject to seismic activity, building design, engineering and construction must be specifically tailored to withstand those unique environmental hazards and I think the world is teaching us about that,” says FRAMECAD Design Services Manager, Dr Darrin Bell.

“Just last year, the structural integrity of steel framed brick veneer homes was put under the spotlight in a series of large scale scientific tests simulating different kinds of earthquakes at different magnitudes, and the results went along way to reinforcing our belief that steel framing is the building material of choice”.

“Full scale shaking table tests simulated earthquakes up to magnitude 9 on the Richter scale, without causing any serious damage to the structure of the building.”

The tests were conducted using FRAMECAD framing by Professor Emad Gad at the University of Melbourne in collaboration with University of Auckland, BRANZ, the NZ Building Council and NASH.

Here’s a summary of their findings:

Up to magnitude 7

The house performed extremely well, with the maximum considered levels of shaking only causing minor cosmetic cracking to the plasterboard and brick veneer walls.

Up to magnitude 9

The house did not suffer any serious damage with no bricks being lost from the out-of-plane walls.

This is an extremely good performance given that the house had already been subjected to seven high-level earthquakes prior to this test.

Ken Watson, Executive Director of NASH (National Association of Steel Framed Housing Inc) was pleased to confirm that brick veneer construction with steel framing is a very robust form of construction and will withstand an earthquake over 4 times the maximum in Australia.

Sound building practices

According to Dr Darrin Bell, there are many advantages to light steel frame construction, “but I think its performance and durability and safety in a worst-case earthquake scenario poses thought/provoking questions about the kind of buildings we should design in earthquake prone areas.”

The results of the tests have been published in detail in Australian and New Zealand industry publications.

Click here for a detailed account of the testing

Tags : earthquake, magnitude 9