Problems and solutions for the seismic protection of a very large prefabricated industrial building

Reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete prefabricated structures present typical conceptual problems in their use in seismic zones. The fundamental criticality consists of the absence of joints’ continuity associated with the need for assembly on site. This characteristic leads to: a greater lateral deformability, development of dissipative mechanisms only at the columns’ base and not at the beam-column nodes, the need to adopt suitable assembly schemes just in the base nodes. In reality, those characteristics that represent a criticality in the context of traditional design and construction lend themselves to the creation of special and efficient seismic-resistant configurations: the “continuity” of beam-column nodes can be obtained with the insertion of special connecting elements that achieve a total or partial transfer of moments, the connecting elements can be calibrated in their stiffness and can also be dissipative elements, the lateral deformability can be mitigated with the insertion of bracing systems or can be exploited with the insertion of special devices to create an efficient dissipative scheme. With reference to the problems and the outlined solutions, the seismic-resistant structural configurations, the construction solutions, the analysis methodologies used for the design and construction of a large prefabricated industrial building intended to house a paper mill are illustrated. The building, located in Italy, is one of the largest paper mill buildings in the world. It is now in a very advanced state of construction.