A Multi Pier Macro MPM method for the seismic analysis of steel moment frames.

In this paper a novel approach named Multi Pier Macro MPM method is proposed for seismic analysis of steel moment frames. Based on the model an arbitrary multi-bay and multi-story moment frame is substituted by a single bay braced frame consists of two piers and two braces at each story. Piers are continuous and braces are pinned to piers. Both piers and braces are 1D truss elements. The axial, flexural and shear stiffness of the moment frame are provided by axial behavior of piers and braces. MPM method was benchmarked against four steel moment frames including two mid-rise and two high-rise buildings. The seismic responses of equivalent braced frames including maximum floor displacements and story drifts was compared with original moment frames responses as exact results, by means of Non-linear Static Procedure NSP and Non-linear Response History Analysis NL-RHA. NL-RHA was performed using twelve ground motion records scaled to Maximum Design Earthquake MDE and Maximum Considered Earthquake MCE hazard intensities. The results proved the simplified braced frame is able to estimate the seismic responses of mid and high-rise moment frame buildings with high accuracy meanwhile the analysis time and computational cost were limited remarkably. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]