With the frequent occurrence of seismic activity worldwide, the safety of building structures has become a growing concern. Especially in earthquake-prone regions, the seismic performance of buildings is directly related to the safety of people's lives and properties.
Modern wood structures and modern bamboo structures have shown excellent performance in earthquakes due to their unique physical properties and structural characteristics, becoming one of the hotspots for research in the field of construction. Explore the mysteries of building materials with altPlus.
Timber, earthquake-resistant
Why are wood-frame buildings so peculiarly earthquake-resistant？
Xie Lili, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and former director of the Institute of Engineering Mechanics of the China Earthquake Administration, pointed out that wood-framed buildings have a certain level of seismic performance mainly determined by their materials.
Natural wood is inherently softer and more flexible than masonry and steel, which allows it to withstand greater deformation.
©Think Wood
At the same time, natural wood is generally lighter, and the weight of the entire building is much lighter than that of masonry and steel. All of this favours earthquake resistance.
On 14 July 2009, Japanese and American scientists conducted a seismic test, a 6-storey all-wood structure seismic test.
They constructed a seven-storey timber-framed building on an experimental bench and created a new structural model by identifying the pressure points and pressures that the building would be subjected to during an earthquake, reinforcing the building's ability to withstand it, and then creating a man-made earthquake equivalent to a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter scale.
The earthquake shaking lasted for 40 seconds, and after the shaking was over, there was only minor damage to the building, which indicates that wood-framed buildings have a high resistance to strong earthquakes.
NHERI Tallwood ©Nicholas Kielbasa
Since then, the NHERI Tall Wood Project, a North American research organisation, and China have carried out seismic experiments on modern timber structures, further proving that modern timber buildings are conducive to earthquake resistance.
Bamboo, new potential
On 12 May 2008, a massive earthquake with a magnitude of 8.0 on the Richter scale occurred in Wenchuan, Sichuan Province. Brick-and-mortar walls collapsed, resulting in a large number of casualties.
Therefore, the most urgent matter is to develop new low-cost, rapidly assembled earthquake-resistant houses for resettling disaster victims.
Based on the knowledge of local bamboo resources and bamboo properties, the Institute of Modern Bamboo, Wood and Combined Structures of Hunan University has carried out a systematic research on bamboo structural technology and proposed a new structural system for modern bamboo houses.
In seismic design, the shear wall limbs can be assumed as cantilevered I-beams, in which the wall panels can be used as the webs of the I-beams to resist the shear force, and the wall end frames can be used as the flanges of the I-beams to resist the bending moment. In this way, the seismic effect can be better achieved.
Bamboo roof frame is the main load-bearing member in the light bamboo structure resettlement house, and its load-bearing capacity is related to the safety performance of the whole structure.
In order to verify the safety performance of the resettlement house, the group conducted a series of static tests.
The test results show that the lightweight bamboo roof frame has good working performance under the design load, and the average ultimate load capacity obtained from the test is about 1.7 times of the design load, and the bamboo roof frame has a large strength reserve.
At the same time, the group also carried out indoor air quality measurements and fire resistance limit evaluation, all in line with national standards.
In 2011, Chen Guo, Shan Bo, and Xiao Yan published “Experimental Study on the Seismic Performance of Lightweight Bamboo Structured Houses” which further proved the effectiveness of bamboo buildings in earthquake resistance.
In this paper, a single-storey bamboo house with a length, width and height of 3.66m x 2.44m x 2.6m was subjected to 34 conditions of simulated seismic shaking table tests.
Examination of the dynamic properties of the model and the changes in the dynamic properties before and after the seismic action, the response of the model under seismic action, and the damage mechanisms are examined.
The results show that bamboo houses exhibit extremely good seismic performance.
Minimal damage to modelled structures in seismic tests at 0.3g-0.4g.
Even in earthquakes of 0.5g or stronger, the level of damage still meets seismic requirements.Therefore, this study concludes that the modern bamboo houses of platform type can meet the 8 degree seismic defence requirements of the Chinese code.
Engineering Bamboo, sustainable construction
altPlus is focused in the design, development, and manufacturing of the worlds most advanced architectural building materials and systems utilising engineered bamboo. altPlus commitmtent to leadership and innovation in sturcural grade engineered bamboo materials.
The project is located in the Sandiequan Scenic Area of Lushan Mountain with lush forests.
In order to make the development beautifully integrated into the environment, the developer Huilong Group entrusted altPlus to design and construct a sustainable engineering bamboo building system, and in conjunction with CNA International Architecture Planning Company to take charge of the overall planning and design.
And we deliver a building system that represents the future potential of local, performance materials, sustainable living and quality of life.
Building Code References
Standard for design of timber structures
GB 50005-2017
Standard for Structural Composite Materials Evaluation, ASTM D 5456, Standard specification for evaluation of structural composite lumber products.
Architectual Structure
Services: Consultation, Detailed Design, Manufacturing and Supply, Installation, Operational Servicing
Materials：M Series™ EL10
The design team selected M Series™ LVB for use in beams, rafters, joist and select supporting columns, exposed and visible roof.
Exterior Finishes
Services: Consultation, Detailed Design, Manufacturing and Supply,Installation, Operational Servicing
Materials：Cladding, soffit and details: Arc e Screen™ , Decking: Nova Bambu®
In terms of texture, we use the special process to keep the original natural feel of the product. The original bamboo carbonised colour is the main colour, and other staining is customised according to the customer's needs.
Door System
Services: Consultation, Detailed Design, Manufacturing and Supply,Installation, Operational Servicing
Materials：EB Tek™
Every product is crafted with individually selected and finely finished strips of bamboo, manufactured to the highest quality timber (bamboo) doors, which matches and exceeds the standard and performance expected from traditional solid wood door industry, in the form of higher performance and sustainable engineered bamboo.
The fire resistance time of the product can reach 20 to 90 minutes, and it meets several international standards such as NFPA252 (2012) of the United States, which satisfies the visual aesthetics and protects the safety of life at the same time.
🌐 More Info: www.altPlus.xyz
📧 E-mail: connect@altplus.xyz
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