Reliability-based assessment of deteriorating steel moment resisting frames

One of the objectives in performance-based earthquake engineering is to quantify the seismic reliability of a structure due to future random earthquakes at a designated site. For that purpose, two performance evaluation processes that do incorporate the effect of aleatory and epistemic uncertainties are illustrated and used in order to calculate the reliability of different height Special Moment Resisting frames through two probabilistic-based measures. These two measures are the confidence levels for satisfying the desired performance levels at given hazard levels and mean annual frequency of exceeding a specified structural capacity.Analytical models are employed including panel zone and a comprehensive model for structural components that not only include strength and stiffness degradation in back bone curve, but also incorporate gradual deterioration of strength and stiffness under cyclic loading. Incremental dynamic analysis is then utilized to assess the structural dynamic behavior of the frames and to generate required data for performance based evaluations. This research is intended to contribute to the progress in improvement of the performance knowledge on seismic design and evaluation of special steel moment resisting frame structures.     

Fire after earthquake analysis of steel moment resisting frames

Fire following earthquake can cause substantially loss of life and property, added to the destruction already caused by the earthquake, and represents an important threat in seismic regions. On the other hand, even when no fire develops immediately after an earthquake, the possibility of later fires affecting the structure must be adequately taken into account, since the earthquake induced damages make the structure more vulnerable to fire effects than the undamaged one. The paper presents the evaluation of the fire resistance time for some unprotected steel moment resisting frames, in the hypothesis that they are already damaged by the earthquake, using advanced methods for earthquake and subsequent fire analysis, and using both standard and natural fire scenarios. Moderate and severe seismic actions are used for designing the steel structures. The influence of the damage level induced by the earthquake on the fire resistance is emphasized.     

Evaluating response modification factors of concentrically braced steel frames

Response modification factor is one of the seismic design parameters to consider nonlinear performance of building structures during strong earthquake. Relying on this, many seismic design codes led to reduce loads. The present paper tries to evaluate the response modification factors of conventional concentric braced frames (CBFs) as well as buckling restrained braced frames (BRBFs). Since, the response modification factor depends on ductility and overstrength, the static nonlinear analysis has been performed on building models including single and double bracing bays, multi-floors and different brace configurations (chevron V, invert V and X bracing). The CBFs and BRBFs values for factors such as ductility, overstrength, force reduction due to ductility and response modification have been assessed for all the buildings. The results showed that the response modification factors for BRBFs were higher than the CBFs one. It was found that the number of bracing bays and height of buildings have had greater effect on the response modification factors.     

Seismic performance evaluation of moment resisting frames using high performance steel

A new high quality steel material (SN) was developed by reducing the distribution at yield point. This steel material has an advantage of having accurate yield strength compared to regular steel materials (SS and SM). Therefore, by using SN steel, the collapse mechanism can be controlled as intended for design. SS, SM, and SN steel materials were tested, and variations of yield strengths were investigated. The effect of having dispersed yield strength was investigated by conducting experiments on 8 test specimens. Column to beam yield strength ratio was changed from intended column to beam yield strength ratio because of the difference between the specified minimum yield stress and the actual yield strength of the steel materials, and it affected the collapse mechanism and the overall behavior of the specimen. It was verified through static cyclic test and static pushover analysis that the seismic performance of buildings designed using SS and SM steel could be decreased by as much as 20% compared to using SN steel. It is observed that the provision of upper bound limit on yield point in SN steel is effective in securing seismic performance of steel buildings.     

Seismic performance of steel special moment resisting frames with different span arrangements

Span arrangement is a crucial parameter from the designer's perspective, since it directly affects the seismic performance and economy of design. However, previous studies have not paid sufficient attention to the evaluation of its effects. Thus three 10-story steel special moment resisting frames with different span arrangements are designed according to the procedures of Turkish seismic design codes which are very similar to allowable stress design and capacity design procedures provided in AISC Manual and Seismic Provisions for Structural Steel Buildings. With the chosen geometric properties, design earthquake load and seismic effective mass is kept constant for model frames which is thought to be convenient for comparison purposes. The buildings are analyzed with OPENSEES under 15 simulated ground motion records and seismic performance assessment is carried out for collapse prevention performance level according to nonlinear dynamic procedure of FEMA 356. SIMQKE program is utilized to simulate ground motions, mean spectrum of whose matches to 1.5 times the design spectrum resulting in an earthquake hazard level of 2% probability of exceedance in 50 years. The entire model frames are found to satisfy the acceptance criteria for collapse prevention performance level. Based on the results of the structural systems used in this study, model frame with span length to story height ratio of approximately 2 seems to maintain both performance and economy, while the ratio higher than 2.5 can result in relatively high deflections and high element plastic rotations in lower stories under infrequent earthquake loads which render the frame seismically vulnerable.     

Aseismic behaviors of steel moment resisting frames with opening in beam web

Opening in beam web short away clear of beam-to-column connection is an effective method to improve the aseismic behaviors of steel moment resisting frames (MRFs). The pseudo-dynamic (PSD) test and the quasi-static test on the aseismic behaviors of full-size steel MRFs with opening in beam web are carried out. The PSD test shows that the tested frame can satisfy the design requirement and its stiffness isn’t weakened by the web opening. It can be judged from the strain distribution around the beam-to-column connection that the seismic energy is dissipated by local deformation in the weakened area of the beam due to the opening in the case of severe earthquake action, and the expected failure mode of a ductile frame (‘strong column but weak beam’ and ‘strong connection but weak component’) is reached. In the quasi-static test, the failure mode of the tested frame is in conformity with the judgement, i.e., Vierendeel mechanism is formed in weakened areas due to web opening and brittle weld fracture is avoided, which results in an improvement of the aseismic behaviors of steel MRF. Based on numerical analysis, the non-linear analysis model of steel MRF with opening in beam web is provided. Some experimental tests are numerically re-analyzed by applying the proposed model and the numerical results are in conformity with the test results, which verify the validity of the model. A 17-story steel MRF building, damaged during the Northridge earthquake and measured in detail after the earthquake, is selected as the studied case. Push-over analysis shows that the ultimate displacement of the modified building with web openings increases a lot due to the opening and the building’s ductility is improved greatly. Plastic hinge distribution in time-history analysis indicates that brittle weld fracture can be avoided in the frame including connection with opening and the maximum plastic zone moves to the weakened areas. It can be concluded that the aseismic behaviors of steel MRF are improved due to the opening in beam web.     

Seismic performance evaluation of steel moment resisting frames through incremental dynamic analysis

Earthquake hazards effect significant damage to structures and cause widespread failure throughout buildings. Moment resisting frames are widely used as lateral resisting systems when sufficient ductility is to be met. Generally three types of moment resisting frames are designed in practice namely Special, Intermediate and Ordinary Moment Frames, each of which has certain level of ductility. Comparative studies on the seismic performance of these three different types of structure are performed in this study. Analytical models of connections are employed including panel zone and beam to column joint model. Incremental dynamic analysis is then utilized to assess the structural dynamic behavior of the frames and to generate required data for performance based evaluations. Maximum annual probability of exceeding different limit states may reveal the superiority of a ductile structure in which a greater behavior factor is employed. Special moment resisting frames are expected to perform better once a certain level of ductility is to be met but the amount of superiority may be the subject of investigation especially from a performance based design standpoint.     

The modified dynamic‐based pushover analysis of steel moment resisting frames

A modified dynamic‐based pushover (MDP) analysis is proposed to properly consider the effects of higher modes and the nonlinear behavior of the structural systems. For this purpose, first, a dynamic‐based story force distribution (DSFD) load pattern is constructed using a linear dynamic analysis, either time history (THA) or response spectrum (RSA). Performing an initial pushover analysis with the DSFD load pattern, a nonlinearity modification factor (NMF) is calculated to modify the DSFD load pattern. The envelope of the peak responses of the structure obtained from 2 pushover analyses with the modified DSFD load pattern as well as the code suggested first mode load pattern are considered as the final demand parameters of the structural system. The efficiency of the proposed MDP procedure is investigated using the results of nonlinear THA besides some existing pushover procedures. For this purpose, the 2‐dimensional 9‐, 15‐, and 20‐story, SAC steel frame building models are considered for parametric studies using OpenSees program. The results indicate that the proposed MDP‐THA and MDP‐RSA methods can significantly improve the performance of the pushover analysis. Considering the accuracy and calculation efforts, the MDP‐RSA method is strongly suggested as an efficient and applicable method to estimate the nonlinear response demands of steel moment resisting frames.     

A modified moment resisting connection for ductile steel frames (Numerical and experimental investigation)

The seismic behavior of steel moment resisting building systems are directly affected by the local behavior of beam to column connections. In welded connections, severe stress concentrations at the connection edge coupled with imperfections of the weld roots, may contribute to significant reduction of the seismic performance. In this study, a reduced plate section connection is proposed to shift the stress concentration from the connection face. With this aim, the authors propose drilled holes at cover plates to create an intentional weak point. Applying this method, the stress concentration at the weld roots is significantly diminished and the failure mechanism is altered from premature weld fracture to ductile plate yielding around the holes. This technique eliminates unfavorable local beam failures present in some similar methods and also forces the cover plate to behave as the replaceable fuse of the connection system. As it is revealed from the finite element and experimental investigations, the strength and ductility capacity of the considered connection type is significantly improved and the behavior of the connection seems to be far less dependant of the weld root quality. This might improve the structural reliability of the connection due to the guided failure mechanism.     

Effect of inverted-V bracing on retrofitting against progressive collapse of steel moment resisting frames

The effect of inverted-V bracing on enhancing progressive collapse resistance of steel Moment Resisting Frames (MRF) were investigated in this study. A series of nonlinear static and dynamic analyses were performed to determine the resistance of four generic MRFs retrofitted by ten inverted-V bracing element. These structures were subjected to an exterior column loss and had a different number of stories and span lengths in order to study the effect of these variations on the structural response. Both force-controlled and deformation-controlled actions were implemented to determine if the column loss would lead to a failure progression. Results showed that structural configuration affects the structural resistance against failure progression and hence the appropriate brace element to retrofit it. Also, it was shown that for the studied 4-story frames, by increasing the span length by 20%, the structural resistance decreases by 42% on average. Finally, it was observed that by decreasing the span length, the Dynamic Increase Factor (DIF) suggested by the UFC, will lead to underestimating the required cross-sectional area of the brace for strengthening the unbraced structures.     

Evaluating response modification factors of TADAS frames

The current paper tries to evaluate overstrength, ductility and response modification factors in special moment resisting frames with TADAS (triangular-plate added damping and stiffness) devices. For that matter, multi-story buildings were considered during the course of study. Further, OpenSees Software was applied to perform the static pushover analysis, the nonlinear incremental dynamic analysis as well as the linear dynamic analysis. In this research, seismic response modification factor for special moment resisting frames (SMRFs) with TADAS devices (T-SMRFs) and without them has been determined separately. The results showed that the response modification factors for T-SMRFs were higher than the SMRFs ones. It was also found that the number of stories of buildings has had greater effect on the response modification factors.     

Energy appproach in peformance‐based seismic design of steel moment resisting frames for basic safety objective

This study presents an energy approach to the performance‐based seismic design of steel moment resisting frames for the basic safety objective. The seismic demand is expressed in terms of hysteresis energy and its distribution along the height of the frame, based on an associated study. The resistance of a steel moment‐resisting frame to such demand is presented in the form of energy dissipation capacities of critical members, based on the previous experimental studies on full‐scale moment‐connections. An energy‐based design methodology is proposed for performance‐based earthquake resistant design. The proposed design method is examined using design examples and the results are discussed. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of infill configurations on seismic responses of steel self‐centering moment resisting frames

Steel self‐centering moment resisting frames (SC‐MRFs) have been validated experimentally as resilient structural systems, mainly highlighting the minimized residual drift responses but are prone to suffering high‐mode effects. In this paper, the influence of infill configurations on seismic responses of steel SC‐MRFs was first analyzed. A comparison of the previous experimental results was conducted to investigate the effect of infills on the residual drift of steel frames. In the numerical simulation, the infills were modeled as the equivalent strut diagonals, and the force–displacement of the infills was modeled using the combination of Elastic‐No Tension Material and Hysteretic Material offered by the OpenSees program. The seismic analyses of 3‐ and 9‐story SC‐MRFs with and without infills were carried out to analyze the effects of infills on the residual drift responses and high‐mode contribution under the selected ground motions. Finally, the different infill types and infill irregularities on the seismic responses were investigated to obtain general conclusions. The plastic deformations of columns and infills are also compared in the different cases of infill configurations. The results reveal that all infilled cases experience reduced peak‐story drift and force demands at the upper stories.     

基于等效结构应力的钢框架焊接梁柱节点低周疲劳评估

在地震作用下钢框架梁柱焊接节点会发生低周疲劳现象,进而导致结构发生破坏。本文基于等效结构应力法提出一种高层钢框架梁柱焊接节点低周疲劳评估方法。首先,结合有限元多尺度模拟方法,建立包含翼缘及腹板焊缝细节的钢框架梁柱焊接节点多尺度模型。其次,利用不同单元尺寸多尺度模型,验证结构应力的网格不敏感特性,进而通过等效结构应力法评估钢框架梁柱焊接节点的疲劳寿命。结果表明,采用等效结构应力法可消除网格的敏感性,在往复荷载作用下,靠近工艺孔焊缝应力水平高于远离工艺孔焊缝,翼缘中心焊缝寿命最低,裂纹最先产生于翼缘焊缝中心处,评估方法为实际工程提供技术支持。     

Performance evaluation of different types of steel moment resisting frames subjected to strong ground motion through incremental dynamic analysis

Comparative studies on seismic performance for various types of steel moment resisting frames subjected to near field and far field earthquakes are performed through Incremental dynamic analysis (IDA) method in this study. Near field earthquake has a pulse like effects on the structures. It imports immediate force in very short duration to buildings. Therefore, destructive effects of surge energy are not negligible. Four intensity indices are used, namely, peak acceleration (PGA), spectral acceleration at the structure??s first-mode period (S_a(T₁, 5%)), spectral acceleration at the structure??s nth effective-mode period (S_a(T_n, 5%)) and the Spectral velocity at the structure??s first-mode period (S_v(T₁, 5%)). Numerical results illustrate that the intensity measure parameters related to ground velocity and the higher mode-related parameters present better correlation with the seismic responses of near source ground motion for given systems. The higher mode-related parameters are more suitable for tall systems subjected to near field earthquakes. Moreover, the chosen parameters S_a(T_n, 5%) and S_v(T₁, 5%) of near-fault impulsive ground motions enhance the performance of intensity measure of corresponding conventional parameters, i.e. S_a(T₁, 5%). A comparison for the special and intermediate steel moment resisting frames is made as regard to performance using IDA method. A more efficient performance is observed for the special moment resisting frames compare to intermediate ones.     

Progressive collapse resisting capacity of moment frames with viscous dampers

In this paper, the effect of viscous dampers on reducing progressive collapse potential of steel moment frames was evaluated by nonlinear dynamic analysis. Parametric studies were conducted first to evaluate the effects of dampers installed in a steel beam‐column subassembly with varying natural period and yield strength on the reduction of progressive collapse potential. Then 15‐story moment‐resisting frames with three different span lengths were designed with and without viscous dampers, and the effect of viscous dampers was investigated by nonlinear dynamic analysis. According to the parametric study, the vertical displacement generally decreased as the damping ratio of the system increased, and the dampers were effective in both the elastic and the elasto‐plastic systems. It was also observed that the effect of the damper increased as the natural period of the structure increased and the strength ratio decreased. The analysis results of 15‐story analysis model structures showed that the viscous dampers, originally designed to reduce earthquake‐induced vibration, were effective in reducing vertical displacement of the structures caused by sudden removal of a first‐story column, and the effect was more predominant in the structure with longer span length. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hysteretic energy response of steel moment‐resisting frames with vertical mass irregularities

Dynamic analyses were carried out to study the seismic response of high‐rise steel moment‐resisting frames in 16‐storey buildings. The frames are intentionally designed using three different design procedures: strength‐controlled design, strong column–weak beam controlled design, and drift‐controlled design. The seismic performances of the so‐designed frames with vertical mass irregularities were discussed in view of drift ratio, plastic hinge rotation, hysteretic energy input and stress demand. A demand curve of hysteretic energy inputs was also presented with two earthquake levels in peak ground accelerations for a future design application. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Drift control in moment resisting steel frame structures

This paper presents the development of a design methodology for the control of interstory drift caused by equivalent static earthquake loads in tall moment resisting steel frame structures. The methodology captures the flexural and shear drift modes through approximate behavior-based equations and attempts to minimize the total weight of the structural system with due consideration given to both strength and stiffness requirements. The methodology presented is part of an effort to develop a computer-based design support system for the conceptual design of steel frame structures. This design support system, ‘Building Engineering and Reasoning Tool’ (BERT), together with the application of the drift control methodology, are discussed in a companion paper.     

Displacement-restraint bracing for seismic retrofit of steel moment frames

This paper presents a seismic retrofit method using wire rope (cable) bracing for steel moment-resisting frames. The retrofitted frame using the proposed bracing system exhibits ductile behavior and maintains seismic energy dissipation capacity to the same extent as the original bare frame. The bracing member does not act for small and medium vibration amplitudes. For large vibration amplitudes, the bracing member acts and restrains unacceptably large story drift. This retrofit method prevents an increase in the column compression force resulting from the brace action. Cyclic loading test results of the portal frames reveal fundamental characteristics of the proposed bracing system. Seismic response analyses are also conducted for the three-story moment-resisting frames. The effectiveness of the retrofit method is discussed in light of these test and analysis results.