Energy-based earthquake response analysis and design of reinforced concrete SDOF columns

Abstract

Earthquakes have claimed much more life and caused enormous financial damage in Turkey. It is the researchers’ motivation to understand the characteristic of the earthquakes and to find out how to build the structures those resist the earthquakes’ destructiveness. This study aims to develop two algorithms, (i) energy-based seismic analysis of the structures and (ii) determination of the energy dissipation capacities of the reinforced concrete columns. The seismic analysis of the structures was utilized by seismic input and plastic energy spectra. The energy spectra were directly derived from energy formulations. The energy demand spectra were established in terms of 4 different ductility level, 4 different site condition and 5 different intensity values. The energy dissipation capacities of the reinforced concrete members were determined by using constant amplitude reversed cyclic displacements. While assessing the amplitude levels, the member and the section performance limits were also cared. The computed energy dissipation values were also related to the cumulative damage occurrence of the critical section of the reinforced concrete member. The developed algorithms were combined in a proposed methodology for the earthquake resistant design of reinforced concrete precast buildings. The results of the energy-based design methodology were compared with the force- and displacement-based design methods and they were found satisfactory.