Seismic performance of high-rise special truss moment frames with multiple Vierendeel ductile segments and high panel aspect ratios

Special truss moment frames (STMFs) are often adopted as the lateral force-resisting systems in structures, in which the inelastic activity is mostly accommodated in the special segments of truss girders. Current design standards permit the use of STMFs in buildings if the maximum height is less than 48.8 m and the aspect ratio of single Vierendeel panel is limited to 1.5. The present study is focused on the influence of multiple Vierendeel panels and the higher aspect ratios of special segments on the seismic performance of STMFs. Both nonlinear static and dynamic analyses are conducted on 12 numbers of low- to high-rise STMFs to assess their lateral strengths, yield mechanisms, energy dissipation potential, and drift response under seismic loadings. Forty scaled ground motions representing the design-basis earthquake and the maximum-considered earthquake hazard levels have been considered in the nonlinear dynamic analyses. Analysis results showed that STMFs having the special segments of the higher aspect ratio and the multiple Vierendeel panels exhibited the desired yield mechanisms and satisfied the acceptance criteria. It is recommended that the limiting values of the panel aspect ratio and the overall height of STMFs should be considered as 2.5 and 65.0 m, respectively.