SEISMIC BEHAVIOR OF SKY STEEL BRIDGES CONNECTING ADJACENT BUILDINGS

Abstract

Due to the limitation of land in the capitals with the increase of population, buildings are often built close to each other. In most cases, these buildings are separated without any structural connections or are connected only at the ground level. Accordingly, the seismic behavior of sky bridges linking two adjacent steel buildings is theoretically evaluated via numerous three-dimensional analyses. While the study focuses on the earthquake effects on internal forces induced in the bridge itself, the effects of the link presence on the global performance of the two buildings are also briefly addressed. About 300 three-dimensional models of the building and connecting bridge are developed and analysed using the response spectrum method. These models consider various controlling parameters such as bridge span, elevation, and end conditions; relative stiffness of the two buildings; as well as direction of ground motion excitation with respect to bridge axis. Results showed that the connections of the linking bridge have a significant effect on the overall dynamic response of the bridge in both longitudinal and transverse directions. Also, the linking bridge itself was found to be significantly affected, with varying of the buildings stiffness and it is direction of inertia.