Lateral Failure Mechanism of Volumetric Buildings

This thesis examines the failure mechanism of the volumetric buildings under lateral actions. Four systematic steps were undertaken, including (i) characterisation of volumetric buildings design, (ii) development of validated nonlinear numerical model, (iii) dynamic properties generalisation and (iv) investigation of failure mechanism of volumetric building under an incremental lateral action. This study yielded some significant outputs. For instance, useful preliminary design tool and mechanical model were developed to facilitate the existing engineering workflow, while the generalised dynamic response and structural weakness for volumetric buildings were also revealed to ensure a more robust and safer structural design for humanity.