Due to the increasing rates of urbanisation and the ever growing urban population, it is inferable that the demand on multi-story construction industry will continue to increase. In Australia, having an urban population of approximately 21 million, equivalent to 90% of the total population, the...

Modular building construction is an emerging trend in the construction industry. During the course of road transportation of the modular unit of a building, vehicular vibrations on the truck-trailer may cause damage to components that are attached to the unit. The amount of dynamic loading...

Highlights A method is developed to predict the service stiffness of floor diaphragms in modular buildings. The influence of diaphragm flexibility on the seismic response of modular buildings is presented. Performance-based methods for the seismic design of diaphragm connections in modular buildings are discussed. Abstract

In this paper, the characteristic requirements for inter-module connections with regard to structural and functional needs are identified and presented. An overview into few key aspects regarding multi-story modular building construction is also discussed.

Modular buildings are those built using prefabricated volumetric units called modules. Due to modules being connected to each other at discrete locations, discontinuous structural systems are formed, where diaphragm discontinuity is a key issue and could result in diaphragms that are flexible. Multi-story modular buildings...