Japan sits in the Pacific Ring of Fire, where several continental and oceanic plates meet, making it highly susceptible to earthquakes and tidal waves. From the Great Kanto earthquake in 1923 to the Great East Japan earthquake in 2011, Japan has endured the devastating effects of natural disasters time and time again. The country experiences ap- proximately 1,500 earthquakes each year, driving the need for seismic resistant building design and construction. Approximately 25 million tons of steel is used for construction in Ja- pan every year. As a highly ductile material, steel can flex and deform to dissipate the seismic energy of an earthquake and compared to other building materials, has a higher strength-to-weight ratio. When the region of Saga kicked off plans to build a swimming stadium for the 2024 Japan Games, DAIZO Engineering was tasked with de- signing the stadium’s steel frame. Daizo’s founder and managing director, Hongbin Li moved from China to Japan in 2009 to pursue a master’s degree in Engineering from Ky- ushu University. After graduating, he began working for a structural design company in Nagasaki and began using Trimble’s BIM software, Tekla Structures, to create steel designs. Li set up DAIZO in 2015, first opening an office in China and then another in Japan. Today, the company employs 40 people in both coun- tries and has completed more than 100 projects in Japan, as well as 30 projects in Canada and the U.S. Designing an Earthquake Resistant Stadium in Ten Months with Constructible BIM
“I like the Japanese style of design and production of steel struc- tures,” said Li. “It’s extremely detailed and very demanding com- pared to other styles, but this is the design challenge that makes our work so interesting.” Overcoming Complex Design Challenges with Constructible BIM A 1,300-ton structure, the Saga Natatorium will have the capacity for 1,800 people and will include an Olympic-sized pool, diving pool and sub-pool, along with diving platforms. In addition to its location in a high-seismic area, the stadium’s biggest design challenges include complex ‘Y’ shaped exterior pillars. Due to their complexity, the pillars were difficult for the manufacturer to produce, making accuracy incredibly important. DAIZO detailed the pillars in Tekla Structures to ensure constructability of the stadium’s steel frame. The stadium is a combination of steel reinforced concrete (SRC) col- umns and a steel roof. Complex reinforcement holes, which required numerous design changes throughout, were needed in parts of the structure. By utilizing Tekla Structure’s intelligent connections, Di- azo’s engineers created connections at the SRC to steel frame nodes in the model that adapted automatically to varying and changing
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FEBRUARY 2021
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