Separation between buildings to avoid pounding during earthquakes

This paper presents an analytical investigation on the required separations between adjacent buildings to avoid pounding during earthquakes. Five wall buildings, having 3, 6, 10, 15, and 25 storeys, were designed for three different seismic zones in Canada: Montreal, Vancouver, and Prince Rupert. For each zone, an ensemble of code compatible ground motions was identified. Nonlinear time-step dynamic analyses were performed to determine the …