Distribution of load effects and reliability of reinforced concrete frames: intact and with columns removed

abstract: The design of reinforced concrete (RC) frames is made on a member-by-member basis. Similarly, in the literature, the reliability of RC beams and columns is often studied in isolation from the rest of the structure. Yet, in the construction of regular frames, symmetry and regularity are often exploited, resulting in the same design for each element type. This is despite of different load effects on different parts of the structure, which leads to significant variations in the failure probability of the elements. Hence, in this paper, we investigate the reliability of members and the distribution of load effects in regular RC frame buildings, considering intact and column loss cases, where symmetry is lost. Results show that the ratios of normal-to-bending loads change significantly along building height, and this has a significant impact on reliability of individual columns.

Influence of near-fault characteristics on inelastic response of multi-storey building with intensity measurement analysis

This study is presented to achieve three objectives: (1) to compare between the inelastic responses of buildings under near and far fault excitations, (2) to investigate the effect of the pulse to structural period ratio, and (3) to evaluate a set of intensity measurements (IMs) in terms of near fault (NF) earthquakes. A real reinforced concrete building with 35 storeys is analysed in the scope of the first and second objectives, whereas the third objective involves three general-frame buildings consisting of 6, 13, and 20 storeys. Results show that the NF excitation can drive the building to exceed its life safety performance level. Furthermore, the accuracy of the IM highly depends on the vibration period of the building and the function used to calculate the IM.