Influence of the scaling technique and seismic location on the dynamic response of reinforced concrete buildings subjected to a maximum considered earthquake.

Performance-based design establishes performance objectives in terms of earthquake intensities. Damage limit states depend on the building demands in the nonlinear range of behavior when subjecting the structure to a suite of seismic records. Most of world databases have strong-motions recorded from small- and moderate-magnitude earthquakes that need to be scaled when studying the expected building performance under maximum considered earthquake. Scaling accelerograms is a frequent activity in nonlinear analysis of structures, and different techniques based on several intensity measures have been used, without a general consensus to select the most appropriate scaling methodology. This study shows the variability in the seismic performance assessment of reinforced concrete buildings of different heights, symmetrical in plan and regular in elevation, on four seismic zones, when using scaled accelerograms for a maximum considered earthquake, assumed for a return period of Tr = 2500 years. Ten methodologies frequently used in the literature are analyzed to evaluate inter-story drift ratio and floor acceleration demands of buildings subjected to a suite of near-, medium- and far-fault interplate earthquakes. The results show different expected damage limit states as a function of the scaling technique used. Additionally, some scaling techniques consistently generate higher seismic demands regardless of the seismic location of the buildings, whereas another group produces quite similar demands. Moreover, a building could be placed in the slight damage limit state or in a zone of extensive damage depending on the scaling technique used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]