Evaluating the Seismic Performance of Eigenfrequency Optimized Concrete Moment Frame Buildings

Abstract eng:
The seismic performance of a 10-story building, designed using an eigenfrequency optimization procedure, is evaluated using Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering (PBEE). The optimization is carried out using a computationallyefficient topology optimization method for reinforced concrete (RC) moment resisting frames, wherein beam and column dimensions are determined by maximizing the natural frequency of the structure. The seismic performance of the optimized building is compared to a non-optimized building. Results show that the drift in the lower stories in the optimized building is reduced and drift demands follow a more uniform distribution over building height. Moreover, the collapse probability and expected casualties of the optimized building are lower. These improvements come without additional cost, because the buildings’ construction costs and annualized losses associated with seismic repairs are almost equal. These results demonstrate that maximizing natural frequency can be an effective design criterion for improving seismic performance of RC frames which is straightforward to implement and computationally efficient.

• Export as: BibTeX | MARC | MARCXML | DC | EndNote | NLM | RefWorks
• Add to your basket