• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제51권3호
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• pp.433-446
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• 2014

The purpose of the research presented in this paper was to investigate the effectiveness of several conventional, multi-modal and adaptive pushover procedures. In particular, an extensive numerical study was performed considering eight RC frames characterized by a variable number of storeys and different properties in terms of regularity in elevation. The results of pushover analyses were compared with those of nonlinear dynamic analyses, which were carried out considering different earthquake records and increasing values of earthquake intensity. The study was performed with reference to base shear-top displacement curves and to different storey response parameters. The obtained results allowed a direct comparison between the pushover procedures, which in general were able to give a fairly good estimate of seismic demand with a tendency to better results for lower frames. The advanced procedures, in particular the multi-modal pushover, provided an improvement of the results, more evident for the irregular frames.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• 제51권4호
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• pp.531-546
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• 2014

In this paper the extension of a recently established energy-based pushover procedure in order to include the higher mode contributions to the seismic response of structures is presented and preliminary evaluated. The steps of the proposed methodology in its new formulation are quite similar to those of the well-known Modal Pushover Analysis. However, the determination of the properties of the 'modal' equivalent single-degree-of-freedom systems is achieved by a rationally founded energy-based concept. Firstly, the theoretical background and the assumptions of the proposed methodology are presented and briefly discussed. Secondly, the sequence of steps to be followed for its implementation along with the necessary equations is systematically presented. The accuracy of the methodology is evaluated by an extensive parametric study which shows that, in general, it provides better results compared to those produced by other similar procedures. In addition, the main shortcoming of the initial version of the methodology now seems to be mitigated to a large extent.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제10권6호
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• pp.1405-1428
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• 2016

Besides the complex instructions of guidance documents for seismic rehabilitation of existing buildings, some institutions have provided simple criteria in terms of simplified rehabilitations. ASCE 41-06 is one of documents that introduced a simple method for assessment of certain buildings that do not require advanced analytical procedures. Furthermore the New Zealand guideline has presented a simple lateral mechanism analysis that is a hand static analysis for determining the probable collapse mechanism, lateral strength and displacement capacity of the structure. The present study is focused on verifying the results of the simplified methods which is used by NZSEE and ASCE 41-06 in assessment of existing buildings. For this, three different special steel moment and braced frames are assessed under these two guidelines and the accuracy of the results is checked with the results of nonlinear static and dynamic analysis. After comparison of obtained results, suggestions are presented to improve seismic retrofit criteria.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• 제1권4호
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• pp.371-390
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• 2010

Historical buildings in seismically active regions are severely damaged by earthquakes, since they certainly were not designed by the original builders to withstand seismic effects. In particular the reports after major ground motions indicate that earthquake-induced pounding between buildings may lead to substantial damage or even collapse of colliding structures. The research on structural pounding during earthquakes has been recently much advanced, although most of the studies are conducted on simplified single degree of freedom systems. In this paper a detailed pounding-involved response analysis of three adjacent structures is performed, concerning the main bodies of the "Quinto Orazio Flacco" school. The construction includes a main masonry building, with an M-shaped plan, and a reinforced concrete building, separated from the masonry one and realized along its free perimeter. By the analysis of the capacity curves obtained by suitable pushover procedures performed separately for each building, it emerges that masonry and reinforced concrete buildings are vulnerable to earthquake-induced structural pounding in the longitudinal direction. In particular, due to the geometric configuration of the school, a special case of impact between the reinforced concrete structure and two parts of the masonry building occurs. In order to evaluate the pounding-involved response of three adjacent structures, in this paper a numerical procedure is proposed, programmed using MATLAB software. Both a non-linear viscoelastic model to simulate impact and an elastic-perfectly plastic approximation of the storey shear force-drift relation are assumed, differently from many commercial softwares which admit just one non-linearity.