Seismic capacity of typical high-rise buildings in Singapore

Pushover analysis is a simplified method to determine the lateral load capacity of buildings. However, recent studies have suggested that pushover analysis could underestimate the capacity by as much as 25%. Thus, this study uses dynamic collapse analysis to determine the overstrength of a 16-storey and a 25-storey building, which are typical in Singapore. The results are compared with previously performed pushover analyses to justify the adequacy of pushover analysis for determining the ultimate capacity of such buildings. It is found that the buildings in Singapore, which are not designed for earthquake loads, possess overstrength varying from 4 to 12 times the design strength depending on the type of building. Furthermore, the pushover analysis could underestimate the capacity of such buildings up to 14%. It is suggested that one may choose to adopt pushover analysis to evaluate the lateral load capacity of such high-rise buildings to err on the conservative side. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.