A study on influencing factors for simplified seismic collapse risk assessment of steel moment-resisting frames with intermediate ductility

Purpose Mid-rise steel moment-resisting frames (MRFs) with intermediate ductility are a major part of conventional residential buildings in Iran. According to Iranian seismic design codes, in this resisting system, considering the strong-column/weak-beam (SCWB) criterion is not mandatory. Where a metal deck ceiling system is used, the composite action of a concrete slab and steel beams could change the collapse mechanism of the structure, especially in the MRFs with intermediate ductility. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of the composite action in the seismic collapse risk of this type of structures. Seismic collapse risk assessment can be carried out by using simplified pushover-based methods. In these methods, the cyclic deterioration of an equivalent single degree of freedom (ESDoF) system must be considered when the modified Ibarra–Medina–Krawinkler is used for nonlinear modeling of MRFs. Accordingly, a modified method is developed to use in simplified collapse risk assessment process. For these purposes, two mid-rise MRFs with intermediate ductility located in Tehran have been selected as case studies. The results confirm that the composite action is very effective in collapse risk value in the steel MRFs in which their SCWB ratio is less than 1. Moreover, the proposed approach of considering the cyclic deterioration of ESDoF systems increases the accuracy of the simplified collapse assessment approaches. Design/methodology/approach Identifying seismically vulnerable buildings to collapse requires using robust methods. These methods can be simplified based on pushover analysis methods. An attempt was made to apply one of these approaches for steel MRFs with intermediate ductility. In these frames, the composite action of a concrete slab and steel beams could change the collapse mechanism. Here, two MRFs were investigated in order to assess this effect on collapse risk value. This process was done by modifying the SPO2IDA method as a simplified collapse capacity evaluation approach by developing a relationship to consider the cyclic deterioration effects for the ESDoF systems. Findings The results showed that it is necessary to consider the slab effects in the analytical model in the collapse assessment process of MRFs with intermediate ductility, especially in the condition in which the SCWB ratios of the frame are less than 1. Furthermore, by utilizing the proposed method of considering the ESDoF cyclic deterioration, the error values of the SPO2IDA program were reduced significantly. Moreover, estimating the collapse risk parameters shows that the utilized simplified method presents suitable accuracy and could be an acceptable approach to collapse risk assessment of mid-rise steel MRFs. Originality/value The influence of the composite action in seismic collapse risk of MRFs with intermediate ductility is investigated. Also, a modified relationship is developed to consider the deterioration effects on the ESDoF parameters used in simplified collapse risk assessment process. Also, a framework is presented for utilized methodology.