Problem and its Significance.

Reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete prefabricated structures present typical conceptual problems in their use in seismic zones. In particular, 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, the absence of dissipative mechanisms in the beam-column nodes, the possibility of developing dissipative zones (plastic hinges) only at the columns' base, the need to adopt suitable assembly schemes just in the base nodes.

Approach.

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. For example: the "continuity" of beam-column nodes can be obtained with the insertion of special connection elements that achieve a total or partial transfer of moments, the connection elements can be calibrated in their stiffness and can also be created as 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.

Results/Applications.

With reference to the presented problems and the outlined solutions, the paper illustrates 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. The building is located in Italy and it is one of the largest paper mill buildings in the world. The building is under construction and will be in a very advanced state of construction at the time of the conference.