Dominion House Seismic Upgrade, Suva, Fiji

Project: Dominion House Seismic Upgrade

Client: Engineered Designs, Fiji

Dominion House is a 9 storey RC frame commercial building in Suva, Fiji. The building owners initiated a seismic evaluation and upgrade program. An initial evaluation indicated that an extensive system of added dampers was required to ensure that the seismic performance of the building was satisfactory.

Compusoft were engaged to carry out a review of this evaluation. Through a series of non-linear time-history analyses and a study of structural detailing, Compusoft demonstrated that the performance of the building was satisfactory and that installation of added dampers was not necessary.

The project required the development of a finite element model of the existing multi-storey building, including beam and column plastic hinge regions. Sample non-linear time-history earthquake analyses were conducted and guidance on analysis techniques was provided.