Novel hybrid damping devices and design techniques for damage-avoidance

There is increased demand for higher density urban housing in New Zealand. While most of the housing stock responded well in the Canterbury earthquakes low to medium rise apartments buildings are subject to much higher demands and consequently suffered much more damage in Christchurch. This type of structure will be key to further economically sustainable and cost-effective development of major cities over the next 20 years. This project addressed both ?Building Better Cities and Communities? and ?Housing Affordability? by aiming to reduce the cost of damage by using resilient construction techniques. A key objective of this work is to not only develop new devices and systems, but also to put these solutions into a readily available, easily understood format for uptake. In other words, the results and details must be translated to engineering and construction industry members so that they can be used properly, effectively and as part of standard practice. The project aims to help reduce the cost premium of low-to-no-damage (L2ND) structures, particularly for medium-rise structures. This will result to economically sustainable, New Zealand developed solutions that enable L2ND structures for homes, businesses or mixed use.