Seismic and economic performance of a mid-rise cassette structure

In this article, a new structure called cassette structure is presented. A comparative analysis of seismic and economic performance of a cassette structure and a frame structure is conducted. An existing frame office building is selected and redesigned as a cassette structure to compare the performance of the two kinds of structures. Three-dimensional finite element models are built for the two prototype structures, where fiber elements are used to simulate plastic behavior. To assess the advantages fully, seismic analysis and economic analysis are performed. Eighteen Federal Emergency Management Agency recommended seismic records are used, and the roof displacement, story drift ratio, plastic hinges development, and Park–Ang damage index are compared. Furthermore, the material, template, transportation, and assembling costs are calculated based on Chinese quotas, and the overall economic impact is evaluated. In this case, all indexes show that the cassette structure has an obvious advantage over conventional frame structure.