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The objections raised by researchers to the design provisions reported in Eurocode 8 make the efficient seismic performance of the eccentrically braced structures designed according to this code unlikely. Given the rationality and the number of the objections, this paper aims to summarize the criticism of researchers and report the opinion of the Authors. The objections raised to the design procedure of eccentrically braced structures regard aspects common to the design of steel structures and aspects specifically related to the design of eccentrically braced structures. The significance of these objections is also shown by means of exemplary cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the Theory of Plastic Mechanism Control (TPMC) is applied to the seismic design of dual systems composed by moment-resisting frames and Chevron braced frames. The application of TPMC is aimed at the design of dual systems able to guarantee, under seismic horizontal forces, the development of a collapse mechanism of global type. This design goal is of primary importance in seismic design of structures, because partial failure modes and soft-storey mechanisms have to be absolutely prevented due to the worsening of the energy dissipation capacity of structures and the resulting increase of the probability of failure during severe ground motions. With reference to the examined structural typology, diagonal and beam sections are assumed to be known quantities, because they are, respectively, designed to withstand the whole seismic actions and to withstand vertical loads and the net downward force resulting from the unbalanced axial forces acting in the diagonals. Conversely column sections are designed to assure the yielding of all the beam ends of moment-frames and the yielding and the buckling of tensile and compressed diagonals of the V-Braced part, respectively. In this work, a detailed designed example dealing with the application of TPMC to moment framechevron brace dual systems is provided with reference to an eight storey scheme and the design procedure is validated by means of non-linear static analyses aimed to check the actual pattern of yielding. The results of push-over analyses are compared with those obtained for the dual system designed according to Eurocode 8 provisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Theory of Plastic Mechanism Control (TPMC) has been recently extended to the case of Eccentrically Braced Frames (EBFs) with inverted Y-scheme, i.e., EBFs with vertical links. In this paper a further validation of the design procedure, based on TPMC, is provided by means of Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA) pointing out the fulfilment of the design goal, i.e., the development of a pattern of yielding consistent with the collapse mechanism of global type where all the links are yielded and all the beams are yielded at their ends while all the columns and the diagonal braces remain in elastic range with the only exception of the base sections of first storey columns. In particular, a study case is designed according to both TPMC and Eurocode 8 provisions and the corresponding seismic performances are investigated by both push-over and IDA analyses. The results show the different performances obtained in terms of pattern of yielding, maximum interstorey drift, link plastic rotation demand and sharing of the seismic base shear between the momentresisting part and the bracing part of the structural system. The seismic performance improvement obtained by means of TPMC, compared to Eurocode 8 provisions, is pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents average numerical results of 2128 nonlinear dynamic finite element (FE) analyses of lightweight acceleration-sensitive non-structural components (NSCs) attached to the floors of one-bay three-storey reinforced concrete (RC) primary structures (P-structures) with different eccentricity ratios. The investigated parameters include the NSC to P-structure vibration period ratio, peak ground acceleration, P-structure eccentricity ratio, and NSC damping ratio. Appropriate constitutive relationships were used to model the behaviour of the RC P-structures. The NSCs were modelled as vertical cantilevers fixed at their bases with masses on the free ends and varying lengths so as to match the vibration periods of the P-structures. Full dynamic interaction was considered between the NSCs and P-structures. A set of seven natural bi-directional ground motions were used to evaluate the seismic response of the NSCs. The numerical results show that the acceleration response of the NSCs depends on the investigated parameters. The accelerations of the NSCs attached to the flexible sides of the P-structures increased with the increase in peak ground acceleration and P-structure eccentricity ratio but decreased with the increase in NSC damping ratio. Comparison between the FE results and Eurocode 8 (EC8) predictions suggests that, under tuned conditions, EC8 provisions underestimate the seismic response of the NSCs mounted on the flexible sides of the plan-irregular RC P-structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modern codes for earthquake resistant building design require consideration of the so-called accidental design eccentricity, to account for torsional response caused by several factors not explicitly considered in design. This provision requires that the mass centres in the building floor be moved a certain percentage of the building's dimension (usually 5%) along both the x and y axes and in both positive and negative directions. If one considers also the spatial combinations of the two component motion in a dynamic analysis of the building, the number of required analyses and combinations increases substantially, causing a corresponding work load increase for practicing structural engineers. Another shortcoming of this code provision is that its introduction has been based primarily on elastic results from investigations of oversimplified, hence questionable, one story building models. This problem is addressed in the present paper using four groups of eccentric braced steel buildings, designed in accordance with Eurocodes 3 (steel) and 8 (earthquake design), with and without accidental eccentricities considered. The results indicate that although accidental design eccentricities can lead to somewhat reduced inelastic response demands, the benefit is not significant from a practical point of view. This leads to suggestions that accidental design eccentricities should probably be abolished or perhaps replaced by a simpler and more effective design provision, at least for torsionally stiff buildings that constitute the vast majority of buildings encountered in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some model building codes stipulate that the design displacement of a building can be computed using the elastic static analysis results multiplied by the deflection amplification factor, Cd. This approach for estimating the design displacement is essential and appealing in structural engineering practice when nonlinear response history analysis (NRHA) is not required. Furthermore, building codes stipulate the consideration of accidental torsion effects using accidental eccentricity, whether the buildings are symmetric-plan, or asymmetric-plan. In some model building codes, the accidental eccentricity is further amplified by the torsional amplification factor Ax in order to minimize the discrepancy between statically and dynamically estimated responses. Therefore, this warrants exploration of the reliability of statically estimated design displacements in accordance with the building code requirements. This study uses the discrepancy curves as a way of assessing the reliability of the design displacement estimates resulting from the factors Cd and Ax. The discrepancy curves show the exceedance probabilities of the differences between the statically estimated design displacements and NRHA results. The discrepancy curves of 3-story, 9-story, and 20-story example buildings are investigated in this study. The example buildings are steel special moment frames with frequency ratios equal to 0.7, 1.0, 1.3, and 1.6, as well as existing eccentricity ratios ranging from 0% to 30%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the effectiveness of three nonlinear static methods for the prediction of the dynamic response of in-plan irregular buildings. The methods considered are the method suggested in Eurocode 8, a method previously proposed by some of the authors and based on corrective eccentricities and a new method in which two pushover analyses are considered, one with lateral forces applied to the centres of mass of the floors and the other with only translational response. The numerical analyses are carried out on a set of refined models of reinforced concrete framed buildings. The response predicted by the nonlinear static analyses is compared to that provided by nonlinear dynamic analyses. The effectiveness of the nonlinear static methods is evaluated in terms of absolute and interstorey displacements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time history analyses have been preferred commonly in earthquake engineering area to determine earthquake performances of structures in recent years. Advances in computer technology and structural analysis have led to common usage of time history analyses. Eurocode 8 allows the use of real earthquake records as an input for linear and nonlinear time history analyses of structures. However, real earthquake records with the desired characteristics sometimes may not be found, for example depending on soil classes, in this case artificial and synthetic earthquake records can be used for seismic analyses rather than real records. Selected earthquake records should be scaled to a code design spectrum to reduce record to record variability in structural responses of considered structures. So, scaling of earthquake records is one of the most important procedures of time history analyses. In this paper, four real earthquake records are scaled to Eurocode 8 design spectrums by using SESCAP (Selection and Scaling Program) based on time domain scaling method and developed by using MATLAB, GUI software, and then scaled and real earthquake records are used for linear time history analyses of a six-storied building. This building is modeled as spatial by SAP2000 software. The objectives of this study are to put basic procedures and criteria of selecting and scaling earthquake records in a nutshell, and to compare the effects of scaled earthquake records on structural response with the effects of real earthquake records on structural response in terms of record to record variability of structural response. Seismic analysis results of building show that record to record variability of structural response caused by scaled earthquake records are fewer than ones caused by real earthquake records [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the seismic response of lightweight acceleration-sensitive non-structural components (NSCs) mounted on irregular reinforced concrete (RC) primary structures (P-structures) using non-linear dynamic finite element (FE) analysis. The aim of this paper is to study the influence of NSC to P-structure vibration period ratio, peak ground acceleration, NSC to P-structure height ratio, and P-structure torsional behaviour on the seismic response of the NSCs. Representative constitutive models were used to simulate the behaviour of the RC P-structures. The NSCs were modelled as vertical cantilevers fixed at their bases with masses on the free ends and varying lengths so as to match the frequencies of the P-structures. Full dynamic interaction is considered between the NSCs and P-structures. A set of 21 natural and artificial earthquake records were used to evaluate the seismic response of the NSCs. The numerical results indicate that the behaviour of the NSCs is significantly influenced by the investigated parameters. Comparison between the FE results and Eurocode (EC8) predictions suggests that EC8 underestimates the response of NSCs mounted on the flexible sides of irregular RC P-structures when the fundamental periods and heights of the NSCs match those of the P-structures. The perceived cause of this discrepancy is that EC8 does not take into account the amplification in the dynamic response of NSCs induced by the torsional behaviour of RC P-structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]