• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.14 no.3
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• pp.287-306
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• 2002

The assessment of structural performance of transfer structures under potential seismic actions is presented. Various seismic assessment methodologies are used, with particular emphasis on the accurate modelling of the higher mode effects and the potential development of a soft storey effect in the mega-columns below the transfer plate (TP) level. Those methods include response spectrum analysis (RSA), manual calculation, pushover analysis (POA) and equivalent static load analysis (ESA). The capabilities and limitations of each method are highlighted. The paper aims, firstly, to determine the appropriate seismic assessment methodology for transfer structures using these different approaches, all of which can be undertaken with the resources generally available in a design office. Secondly, the paper highlights and discusses factors influencing the response behaviour of transfer structures, and finally provides a general indication of their seismic vulnerability. The representative Hong Kong building considered in this paper utilises a structural system with coupled shear walls and moment resisting portal-frames, above and below the TP, respectively. By adopting the wind load profile stipulated in the Code of Practice on Wind Effects: Hong Kong-1983, all the structural members are sized and detailed according to the British Standards BS8110 and the current local practices. The seismic displacement demand for the structure, when built on either rock or deep soil sites, was determined in a companion paper. The lateral load-displacement characteristic of the building, determined herein from manual calculation, has indicated that the poor ductility (brittle nature) of the mega-columns, due mainly to the high level of axial pre-compression as found from the analysis, cannot be effectively alleviated solely by increasing the quantity of confinement stirrups. The interstorey drift demands at lower and upper zones caused by seismic actions are found to be substantially higher than those arising from wind loads. The mega-columns supporting the TP and the coupling beams at higher zones are identified to be the most vulnerable components under seismic actions.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.8 no.5 s.39
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• pp.25-33
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• 2004

To evaluate the seismic capacity of a multistorey building structures in performance based seismic design, it is needed to convert MDOF model into equivalent SDOF model. This paper presents predictions for interstory drift of multistorey structures using method of converting a MDOF system into an equivalent SDOF model. The principal objective of this investigation is to evaluate appropriateness of converting method through performing nonlinear time history analysis of a multistory building structures and an equivalent SDOF model. Comparing the interstory drift of multistorey structures calculated by time history analysis and those evaluated by an equivalent SDOF model, the adequacy and the validity of converting method is verified. The conclusion of this study is following; A method of converting a MDOF system into an equivalent SDOF model through the nonlinear time history response analysis is valid. Inelastic first mode shapes are expected to be more accurate than elastic first mode shapes in obtaining interstory drift of multistorey structures from equivalent SDOF model.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 2014

In current seismic design code, steel moment frames are classified into ordinary, intermediate, and special moment frames. In the case of special moment frames which have large R-factor, economic design is possible by reducing the design lateral force. However, there is difficulty for practical application due to constraints such as strong column-weak beam requirement. This study evaluated if steel intermediate moment frame could maintain enough seismic capacity when the R-factor is increased from 4.5 to 6. As for the analytical models, steel moment frames of 3 and 5 stories were categorized into four performance groups according to seismic design category. Seismic performances of the frames were evaluated through the procedure based on FEMA P695. FEMA P695 utilizes nonlinear static analysis(pushover analysis) and nonlinear dynamic analysis(incremental dynamic analysis, IDA). In order to reflect the characteristics of Korean steel moment frames on the analytical model, the beam-column connection was modeled as weak panel zone where the collapse of panel zone was indirectly considered by checking its ultimate rotational angle after an analysis is done. The analysis result showed that the performance criteria required by FEMA P695 was satisfied when R-factor increased in all the soil conditions except $S_E$.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.195-215
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• 2016

Rehabilitation of historical unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings is a priority in many parts of the world, since those buildings are a living part of history and a testament of human achievement of the era of their construction. Many of these buildings are still operational; comprising brittle materials with no reinforcements, with spatially distributed mass and stiffness, they are not encompassed by current seismic assessment procedures that have been developed for other structural types. To facilitate the difficult task of selecting a proper rehabilitation strategy - often restricted by international treaties for non-invasiveness and reversibility of the intervention - and given the practical requirements for the buildings' intended reuse, this paper presents a practical procedure for assessment of seismic demands of URM buildings - mainly historical constructions that lack a well-defined diaphragm action. A key ingredient of the method is approximation of the spatial shape of lateral translation, ${\Phi}$, that the building assumes when subjected to a uniform field of lateral acceleration. Using ${\Phi}$ as a 3-D shape function, the dynamic response of the system is evaluated, using the concepts of SDOF approximation of continuous systems. This enables determination of the envelope of the developed deformations and the tendency for deformation and damage localization throughout the examined building for a given design earthquake scenario. Deformation demands are specified in terms of relative drift ratios referring to the in-plane and the out-of-plane seismic response of the building's structural elements. Drift ratio demands are compared with drift capacities associated with predefined performance limits. The accuracy of the introduced procedure is evaluated through (a) comparison of the response profiles with those obtained from detailed time-history dynamic analysis using a suite of ten strong ground motion records, five of which with near-field characteristics, and (b) evaluation of the performance assessment results with observations reported in reconnaissance reports of the field performance of two neoclassical torsionally-sensitive historical buildings, located in Thessaloniki, Greece, which survived a major earthquake in the past.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.789-830
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• 2015

The recent re-assessment of the seismic hazard in Europe led for many regions of low to moderate seismicity to an increase in the seismic demand. As a consequence, several modern unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings, constructed with reinforced concrete (RC) slabs that provide an efficient rigid diaphragm action, no longer satisfy the seismic design check and have been retrofitted by adding or replacing URM walls with RC walls. Of late, also several new construction projects have been conceived directly as buildings with both RC and URM walls. Despite the widespread use of such construction technique, very little is known about the seismic behaviour of mixed RC-URM wall structures and codes do not provide adequate support to designers. The aim of the paper is therefore to propose a displacement-based design methodology for the design of mixed RC-URM edifices and the retrofit of URM buildings by replacing or adding selected URM walls with RC ones. The article describes also two tools developed for estimating important quantities relevant for the displacement-based design of structures with both RC and URM walls. The tools are (i) a mechanical model based on the shear-flexure interaction between URM and RC walls and (ii) an elastic model for estimating the contribution of the RC slabs to the overturning moment capacity of the system. In the last part of the article the proposed design method is verified through nonlinear dynamic analyses of several case studies. These results show that the proposed design approach has the ability of controlling the displacement profile of the designed structures, avoiding concentration of deformations in one single storey, a typical feature of URM wall structures.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.713-723
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• 2017

Steel plate shear walls (SPSWs) are effective lateral systems which have high initial stiffness, appropriate ductility and energy dissipation capability. Recently, steel plate shear walls with low yield point strength (LYP), were introduced and they attracted the attention of designers. Structures with this new system, besides using less steel, are more stable. In the present study, the effects of plates with low yield strength on the seismic design parameters of steel frames with steel plate shear walls are investigated. For this purpose, a variety of this kind of structures with different heights including the 2, 5, 10, 14 and 18-story buildings are designed based on the AISC seismic provisions. The structures are modeled using ANSYS finite element software and subjected to monotonic lateral loading. Parameters such as ductility (${\mu}$), ductility reduction ($R_{\mu}$), over-strength (${\Omega}_0$), displacement amplification ($C_d$) and behavior factor (R) of these structures are evaluated by carrying out the pushover analysis. Analysis results indicate that the ductility, over-strength and behavior factors decrease by increasing the number of stories. Also, the displacement amplification factor decreases by increasing the number of stories. Finally, the results were compared with the suggestions provided in the AISC code for steel plate shear walls. The results indicate that the values for over-strength, behavior and displacement amplification factors of LYP steel plate shear wall systems, are larger than those proposed by the AISC code for typical steel plate shear wall systems.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.14 no.5
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• pp.411-424
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• 2018

This study explores the inelastic behavior of systems with flexible base. The use of a single degree of freedom system (ESDOF) with equivalent ductility to represent the response of flexible base systems is discussed. Two different equations to compute equivalent ductility are proposed, one which includes the contribution of rigid body components, and other based on the overstrength of the structure. In order to asses the accuracy of ESDOF approach with the proposed equations, the behavior of a 10-story regular building with reinforced concrete (RC) moment resisting frames is studied. Local and global ductility capacity and demands are used to study the modifications introduced by base flexibility. Three soil types are considered with shear wave velocities of 70, 100 and 250 m/s. Soil-foundation stiffness is included with a set of springs on the base (impedance functions). Capacity curves of the building are computed with pushover analysis. In addition, non linear time history analysis are used to asses the ductility demands. Results show that ductility capacity of the soil-structure system including rigid body components is reduced. Base flexibility does not modify neither yield and maximum base shear. Equivalent ductility estimated with the proposed equations is fits better the results of the numerical model than the one considering elastoplastic behavior. Modification of beams ductility demand due to base flexibility are not constant within the structure. Some elements experience reduced ductility demands while other elements experience increments when flexible base is considered. Soil structure interaction produces changes in the relation between yield strength reduction factor and structure ductility demand. These changes are dependent on the spectral shape and the period of the system with fixed and flexible base.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.13-21
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• 2017

Recent seismic events occurred in Italy (Emilia-Romagna 2012, Abruzzo 2009) and worldwide (New Zealand 2010 and 2011) highlighted some of the weaknesses of precast concrete industrial buildings, especially those related to the connecting systems traditionally employed to fasten the cladding panels to the internal framing. In fact, one of the most commons fails it is possible to observe in such structural typologies is related to the out-of-plane collapse of the external walls due to the unsatisfactory behaviour of the connectors used to join the panels to the perimeter beams. In this work, the strengthening of a traditional industrial building, assumed as a case study, made by precast reinforced concrete is proposed by the adoption of a dual system allowing the reinforcement of the structure by acting both internally; by pendular columns and, externally, on the walls. In particular, traditional connections at the top of the walls are substituted by devices able to work as a slider with vertical axis while, the bottom of the walls is equipped with two or more hysteretic dampers working on the uplift of the cladding panels occurring under seismic actions. By means of this approach, the structure is stiffened; obtaining a reduction of the lateral drifts under serviceability limit states. In addition, its seismic behaviour is improved due to the additional source of energy dissipation represented by the dampers located at the base of the walls. The effectiveness of the suggested retrofitting approach has been checked by comparing the performance of the retrofitted structure with those of the structure unreinforced by means of both pushover and Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA) in terms of behaviour factor, assumed as a measure of the ductility capacity of the structure.

• Journal of the Earthquake Engineering Society of Korea
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.35-45
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• 2008

To investigate the effects of residual displacement, the structural responses of buckling-restrained braced frames (BRBF) and special moment-resisting frames (SMRF) were evaluated for design-based excitations following an application of initial residual drift. The initial residual drift was applied to the structure in two ways. The first way was to simply apply the same earthquake record to the structure twice, with an appropriate pause between applications to allow the structural response from the first record to return to zero. The second way to apply the initial residual drift was to apply a pushover to the structure until it arrives at the desired residual drift value. According to the analysis results, the initial residual drifts had a significant effect on the responses of steel BRBF and SMRF. The responses of BRBF were more highly dependent on the initial residual deformation than the responses of SMRF. Therefore, in order to minimize the post-event repair cost, a reduction of residual drift is required.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.6
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• pp.755-772
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• 2014

A simplistic approach towards evaluation of complete load deflection response of Reinforced Concrete (RC) flexural members under post fire (residual) scenario is presented in this paper. The cross-section of the RC flexural member is divided into a number of sectors. Thermal analysis is performed to determine the temperature distribution across the section, for given fire duration. Temperature-dependent stress-strain curves for concrete and steel are then utilized to perform a moment-curvature analysis. The moment-curvature relationships are obtained for beams exposed to different fire durations. These are then utilized to obtain the load-deflection plots following pushover analysis. Moreover one of the important issues of modeling the initial stiffness giving due consideration to stiffness degradation due to material degradation and thermal cracking has also been addressed in a rational manner. The approach is straightforward and can be easily programmed in spreadsheets. The presented approach has been validated against the experiments, available in literature, on RC beam subjected to different fire durations viz. 1hr, 1.5hrs and 2hrs. Complete load-deflection curves have been obtained and compared with experimentally reported counterparts. The results also show a good match with the results obtained using more complicated approaches such as those involving Finite element (FE) modeling and conducting a transient thermal stress analysis. Further evaluation of the beams during fire (at elevated temperatures) was performed and a comparison of the mechanical behavior of RC beams under post fire and during fire scenarios is made. Detailed formulations, assumptions and step by step approach are reported in the paper. Due to the simplicity and ease of implementation, this approach can be used for evaluation of global performance of fire affected structures.