Question 1

Q1.1: The document states "...the client would like to lease the lowermost and the uppermost two floor level of the structure as retail space." Does this mean the top floor of each tower equaling 2 floors, or the top 2 floors of each building equaling 4 floors top and bottom?

Accepted Answer

A: There are a total of 4 floors designated as retail space: floors f=1, f=2, f=n-1, and f=n. The floor designation is for both towers (i.e., floor f=1 consists of the bottom floor for both towers, even though they are not connected to each other). Figure 9, elevation A-A in the design guide is a helpful visual.

Question 2

Q1.2: Due to the absence of a geotechnical reference map to show the coastline of the bay, are we allowed to choose the location of the building in any area located in San Francisco city?

Accepted Answer

A: The location for the competition will be announced soon, but in the meantime you can go with downtown San Francisco.

Question 3

Q1.3: Is there a limit to how much we can scale the building model to the real life building for architectural purposes? Additionally, can we use this scale to factor our cost and revenue and so it is not based on the area of the model but of the real life building?

Accepted Answer

A: The building model can be scaled only for render purposes to show any aesthetic features of the building if it would be constructed in real life. However, for the cost and revenue, no scaling is allowed as the FABI is based on the area of the wooden model.

Question 4

Q1.4: Clarifications in previous years have said that architectural elements, like the building facade, and balconies, can extend beyond the structural building perimeter. In the architectural renders, is it possible to have enclosed, livable spaces, extend beyond the structural model's perimeter?

Accepted Answer

A: Facades and balconies are permitted to extend beyond the structural perimeter. However, livable spaces beyond the structural perimeter are not permitted.

Question 5

Q1.5: With a scaling factor of 1:96, the 3" structural floor height is increased to 24' in the architectural model. This height is sufficient to allow for the creation of lofted spaces. Is it permissible to include lofted spaces in the architectural design and renders so long as they follow the California Building and Fire Codes?

Accepted Answer

A: Any scaling factors considering the building to be a typical real life construction can be used (average height of stories is 14’ giving a scale of 1:56, not more than this). Yes, lofted spaces are permitted as long as they follow the California building and fire codes.

Question 6

Q1.6: The rules state that: "The client requests one tower to be for residential purposes while the other is to be for commercial use." Then states that: "The client has given you, the engineer and the designer, the ability to decide how the remaining stories in the building will be rented (residential, office, etc.)." Are we allowed to determine what uses each floor has or must we maintain only commercial on one tower and only residential on the other tower. Also, when the rules state: "The skybridges will be leased as a retail space" is it only the skybridge itself or the entire skybridge floor?

Accepted Answer

A: One tower has to be entirely commercial and the other residential. It is up to the engineer to decide on the assignment. Note that the lowermost and the two uppermost floor levels are retail spaces. All the sky bridges, and not the entire sky bridge floor, will be leased as retail space.

Question 7

Q1.7: In past competitions, it was clarified that the scale of the building in architectural renders was at the team's discretion. Clarification Q1.5 from the 2023 SDC instead suggests that the maximum building scale for the 2023 SDC can be no more than 1:56, giving a story height of 14 feet. Is this interpretation correct?

Accepted Answer

A: In Q1.5 we stated that any scaling factors considering the building to be a typical real life construction can be used. If the average height of a story is 14’, then the scaling factor would be 1:56, which is the average, not the maximum. Please select scaling factors that would yield “typical real life construction”.

Question 8

Q1.8: The scaling of 1:56, as said in previous clarification and the vertical (height): horizontal (length and breadth) dimension can offer just 1 residential apartment on a floor while in a realistic construction, it's observed to have at least 2 apartments on a floor.  So, should we stick with the beforementioned clarification, or can we proceed with increasing the ratio of horizontal dimension to vertical dimension (currently it is 14:3)?

Accepted Answer

A: Participants should stick to the provided ratio and follow the response from the previous clarification.

Question 9

Q6.1:"If the damping system is removed, the balsa wood structure, with all dead load weights attached, should be stable and firmly fixed to the base plate." For the damping device, will it have to be removed during the competition? How might we need to demonstrate that it is fully removable?

Accepted Answer

A: The damping device is not required to be designed to be removable during the competition. This section is meant to specify that damping devices should not affect the stability of the structure, rather as a supplemental element to assist in energy dissipation. It will be obvious if stability is compromised if damping devices were to be removed from the structure. Hence, in case SDC Chairs determine that the damping devices must be removed, it would benefit teams to design their devices in a way that extraction of the devices would be relatively straightforward and wouldn’t compromise the structural integrity of the tower.

Question 10

Q6.2: We assumed that the Damping Proposal is due the same day (12/16/2022) as the design proposal, however it's not clearly stated. We wanted to confirm that the due date for the damping proposal

Accepted Answer

A: The due date of the damping proposal will be announced to the teams soon. It will be on a separate date from the design proposal submission.

Question 11

Q7.1:In plan view, do the skybridges need to be centered between the two towers, or can the skybridges be placed at top/bottom between the towers in plan view? i.e., in elevation view, can the skybridges be staggered from each other?

Accepted Answer

A: The skybridges need to be centered between the two towers, i.e., they cannot be staggered from each other. This is further clarified in the Design Guide, Section 4, Floor Requirements.

Question 12

Q7.2:For the roof plate, it specifies that "no part of the roof plate is allowed to not land on the roof surface." However, the dimensions of the sky bridge make it so that it can’t fully attach to the roof. How are we supposed to attach the roof plate so that all parts land on the roof surface?

Accepted Answer

A: The roof plate needs to be touching the two towers and the skybridges. We will accept that there are minor areas where the roof plate will not be touching anything, however, it needs to be centered in the building and touching the skybridge and the two towers. Please click here to see  illustrative sketch (not drawn to scale).

Question 13

Q7.3: Can a curtain wall be used in the sky bridge? (For example gusset plates)

Accepted Answer

A: Curtain walls as non-structural elements should not be in the actual physical model but can be added in the architectural rendering. Furthermore, gusset plates are not curtain walls. Gusset plates are permitted but shall not be in contact with any wall members. A gusset plate shall be in contact with and glued to at least two frame members in contact. Each gusset plate shall fit in a 0.100 in. by 1 in. by 1 in. box. Also, each individual wall member in its final state attached to the model shall fit in a 0.100 in. by 3.000 in. by 11.000 in. box.

Question 14

Q7.4: For an area of dimensions 3.67*2.75 (in) with only cross (X) floor element. Are these dimensions valid rentable area?

Accepted Answer

A: Refer to Figure 12 in the Design Guide, especially to the top left X bracing orientation for the floor rentable area. For an area to be counted as rentable area, a span from any point perpendicular to a beam bordering the opening has to be 2.5 inches or less.

Question 15

Q7.5: Is there any restriction on how the sky bridges are connected to the towers? For example, does the skybridge have to be connected on the outside of the tower or can members of the bridge extend into the towers? Also, for the topmost skybridge since it must be between the top two floors, does that mean it should have 2 crosswalks between the towers (in floors n and n-1) or should it only have one?

Accepted Answer

A: There is no restriction on how to connect the sky bridges to other structural elements as long as you abide by the other rules mentioned in the “Design Guide”. The topmost skybridge has to have two crosswalks.

Question 16

Q7.6: Can we place members to define the roof of a skybride? For e.g. we keep a skybridge at F=10. Then its roof would be at F=11. Can we place any members in the skybridge area (central 3x3 sq. in) of F=11 which will act as its roof?

Accepted Answer

A: No, If you use the area on the roof of the skybridge, you will use it for your rentable area. So you are not allowed to put any members on the top of the skybridge as the roof is not counted as a rentable area!

Question 17

Q7.7: “A wall member shall span at least 1 in. vertically. Measured parallel to the plane of the base plate, one of the measured dimensions shall measure at least 1 in.”  Are we allowed to have triangular or diamond shaped shear walls or does having a vertex (part of shape will be 1in) violate this 1 in rule?

Accepted Answer

A: The measured dimensions parallel to the base plate must be a minimum of 1 in. A shape with a vertex would not meet those requirements. The wall member can be cut in any way as long as it fits the box dimensions of 0.100 in. by 3.000 in. by 11.000 and meets the minimum requirements mentioned in Section 7.3a.

Question 18

Q7.8: Are frame members allowed to be glued on any surface of the wall members? Is there any specification of frame to wall member connections that could result in violations?

Accepted Answer

A: Any member glued to a wall must meet the requirements of Section 7.4a. The glue can only be present at the fraying surface of the individual members. For example, the section states: “any members in contact must have glue between the faying surfaces of the two members.” In addition, “excess glue must be confined to 0.5 in. in any direction of the edge of any faying surface.” Each violation of the members’ connection will result in 3 added to V.

Question 19

Q7.9: We are requesting clarification for the sentence "An 18.00 in. by 18.00 in. square continuous wooden (Plywood or MDF) base plate will be used to attach the model to the shake table."  Is it permitted to laminate two pieces of plywood together (one on top of the other) to make up the required 0.25 inch to 0.5 inch thickness for the base plate? Furthermore, is it permitted to use dowel pins to connect two pieces of plywood together (one on top of the other) to make up the required 0.25 inch to 0.5 inch thickness for the base plate?

Accepted Answer

A: Lamination of two plywood plates to make up for the required thickness is accepted as long as there is no space (gap) between the two sheets. On the other hand, dowel pins are not accepted. However, the SLC strongly encourages the team to use a single 0.5-in thick plate if possible.

Question 20

Q7.10: The plywood we have acquired for our baseplates comes with a varnish coating. According to Rule 7.11, "the finish on all frame and wall members must be bare wood. Paint or coatings will not be allowed on any portion of the model. Burned surfaces from laser cutting are permitted."  We are wondering if the varnish coating on our plywood baseplate is acceptable, as it is not a frame/wall member and does not affect the performance of our structural model

Accepted Answer

A: Paint or coating is not allowed on any portion of the model no matter if it is baseplate or not!

Question 21

Q7.11: According to Section 7.4d, there are no restrictions on the length of the faying surface in connections between wall members. However, it remains unclear whether there is a faying surface limit when gluing wall members to frame members. For example, is it permissible to glue a frame member to the wall member along its entire vertical length?

Accepted Answer

A: Any member glued to a wall must meet the requirements of Section 7.4a. The glue can only be present at the fraying surface of the individual members. For example, the section states: “any members in contact must have glue between the faying surfaces of the two members.” In addition, “excess glue must be confined to 0.5 in. in any direction of the edge of any faying surface.” Each violation of the members’ connection will result in 3 added to V.

Question 22

Q8.1: It is stated that there are 2 different weight models specified for 2 different earthquake directions specified in the design guide. These loads are min. and max. values are certain, but the dead load weights to be installed in the mezzanine floors are not clearly expressed. Since we do not want to make any mistakes regarding this, we kindly ask you to indicate how much weight will be applied for the given two directions for different floor levels.

Accepted Answer

A: The floor dead loads are installed at specific floor levels only. The details can be found in section 8.3 of the ‘Official Rules’ and section 5 and 8 of ‘Design Guide’.

Question 23

Q8.2:In the design guide, it is stated that the accelerometer to be placed on the model will be fixed with the help of clamps. Since we could not find any clear information about the weight of the accelerometer and the clamp, we kindly ask you to share the accelerometer and the total clamp weight to be used in order to calculate the maximum displacement and acceleration values of the structural model.

Accepted Answer

A: Please refer to section 8.3b of the ‘Official rules’.

Question 24

Q8.3: Under section 8.3/8.4, the rules specify a 1/2 in. diameter rod to be inserted for dead load installation. In the 2022 rules, the length of the rod is specified as 20 in. long, however we were not able to find the length in this years' rule book. As the tower dimensions are different from 2022 to 2023, we were wondering what this years' 1/2 in. steel threaded rod length is

Accepted Answer

A: The rods that will be used in this year’s competition will have the same dimensions as the previous year: 0.5 inch diameter and 12 inch long.

Question 25

Q8.4: What are the specifications of the accelerometers to be used? What is their range? What is the sampling rate that will be used at the competition?

Accepted Answer

A: The teams don't have to bring their accelerometer. The SDC organizing committee will provide the accelerometer and perform the post-processing based on standard practice.

Question 26

Q8.5: Our team is wondering what specific Butterworth Filter parameters will be used to process the raw accelerometer data at the competition? Ex. What order, low/high frequencies will be used to filter the data?

Accepted Answer

A: A suitable low pass filter to remove noise from the obtained data will be used. The filter is calibrated based on the shake table and the same post processing will be used for all the teams.

Question 27

Q8.6: We are requesting for the names of the earthquake records associated with the ground motions (GM1 and GM2) and if possible, also the names of the station at which they were recorded.

Accepted Answer

A: The ground motions are artificial and not based on an actual earthquake event, therefore they do not have a corresponding recording station. The ground motions are based on the geographic location and the structural response of this year’s design challenge.

Question 28

Q11.1: Will the teams be allowed to work on the building model on day one of the competition? (to repair any damage that may occur to the model during transportation)

Accepted Answer

A: The teams will be able to work on the first day of the competition until we start the preliminary judging. Roughly the students have until 6 pm of that day to fix any damages that might occur from the transportation process. However, once we start the preliminary judging  the students are not allowed to touch the building.

Question 29

Q11.2: Will there be an address to be delivered by SLC EERI after the model is delivered to the USA by cargo? Will there be a place where the model will be kept until our team comes to America?

Accepted Answer

A: Yes, dedicated space with a mailing address will be provided. The details will be provided soon.

Question 30

Q11.3: We would like to know if we need to have a chapter by the time we submit the proposal. This is the first time that a team from *** University will participate in the Seismic Design Competition. We do not have a chapter yet and we haven't been approved for the chapter. We were a bit worried that it would disqualify us. Do we need to have a chapter by the time we submit the proposal ?

Accepted Answer

A: No, you do not need to have the student chapter officially established. We understand that it takes time to establish the chapter, and you are actively working on getting the approval for an official chapter. We welcome your participation and encourage you to follow up with EERI about your student chapter status.

Question 31

Q12.1: Are the dimensions for the skybridges denoted as 'outside-to-outside'? Or center-to-center? Or inside-to-inside? Or does it not matter too much?

Accepted Answer

A: The dimensions of any skybridge needs to be on the same level as the floor it exists on. Furthermore, the minimum and maximum clear distance between the skybridges needs to be maintained as mentioned in the design guide. They will be measured with the level of the floor. If you maintain the horizontal level of the skybridge with the floor with no members higher or lower, then it should be fine.

Question 32

Q12.2: For the steel angles that will be clamped with the base plate and shake table in figure 17 of the design guide, will we have to provide the angles ourselves or will it be provided during the competition?

Accepted Answer

A: The teams don't have to bring the steel angles. The SDC organizing committee will provide them.

Question 33

Q12.3: It says that “There are no restrictions on how each member is cut as long as it is able to fit in the box in its final state before any glue is applied.” It also says that each Wall member must span one inch. Triangular walls can fit both of these requirements. They can span more than one inch vertically (design guy does not mention that every part of it has to) and can fit within the box. A clarification says that triangular members are not allowed however. Can we cut 1” tall rectangle walls with a triangular shape on top (all parts will span 1” vertically but will still have triangular shape on top?)

Accepted Answer

A: Any shape that has a minimum vertical height of 1” at all horizontal points and has a minimum horizontal dimension of 1” will satisfy the requirement. The example shape described in the question will satisfy the requirement provided it has a minimum horizontal dimension of 1”.

Question 34

Q12.4: We would like to know if there are any limitations regarding the depth of the notchings at the base plate.

Accepted Answer

A: No limitations as long as the surface remains flat and smooth. Typically, teams notch the entire thickness to get a bigger surface area.

Question 35

Q12.5: We would like to know if we need to manufacture and make our own deadloads following the characteristics given , or they will be provided at the competition?

Accepted Answer

A: Dead loads are provided at the competition.

Question 36

Q12.6: In the wall member section, figure 3 states that the maximum wall member dimensions are 3" x 0.1" x 11", and also states in the paragraph above that the member has to fit in a box with these dimensions. Does that mean a wall member can 3" as it states in figure 3, or it has to be less than 3"?

Accepted Answer

A: The wall member can be a maximum of 3” as shown in Figure 3 of the Design Guide.

Question 37

Q13.1: The rubric says an excellent proposal should discuss "the cost of implementing the damper in a real building"; does a "real building" mean our physical model or its hypothetical real-life, full-scale counterpart?

Accepted Answer

A: If your damper was inspired from an existing damper implemented in a real building, then provide a cost of implementing the damper, if available. However, if your damper is unique and wasn’t implemented before, please provide a prediction of how much it will cost to implement a hypothetical real-life, full scale counterpart.

Milestone	Date / Deadline
Interest Form	Friday, November 4, 2022
Rules Released	Saturday, October 29, 2022
Proposal Submission	Friday, December 16, 2022
Damping Proposal Submission	Tuesday, January 31, 2023
Final Registration Deadline	TBD
Floor Area Calculations and Performance Predictions Submission	TBD

2023 Seismic Design Competition

2023 Undergraduate Seismic Design Competition

Announcements

Rules & Competition Documents

Rules

Additional Helpful Documents

Requirements & Rubrics

Ground Motions

Forms

Important Dates

Clarifications

1. Introduction

6. Design Proposals and Damping Device Approval Process

7. Structural Model

8. Strong Ground Motion Testing

11. Judging and Appeals

12. Design Guide

13. Damping Proposal Requirements

Sponsors

Results

Top 9 Proposals (in alphabetical order)

Full Results

Summary

Full Scores