A Method for Improving the Seismic Performance of RC Moment Frame Buildings

Abstract eng:
An optimization approach to determine the column and beam dimensions that optimize the seismic performance of a given RC Moment Frame building is introduced. The approach is based on eigenfrequency optimization using homogenization and it leads to the introduction of a highly efficient computational algorithm, which can run in consumerlevel computers and obtain results within minutes. A detailed example is provided for a 10 story building, whose seismic performance is analyzed in OpenSees using pushover and nonlinear response history analysis. The results show that, when compared with the traditional design which has columns and beams of uniform dimensions between stories, the overstrength and ductility are increased by 26% and 90%, respectively. Furthermore, the median results of the Nonlinear Time History Analysis show that interstory drifts have important reductions for the first six floors of the building, while in the four upper floors they increase only slightly. All these improvements are achieved without increasing the amount of material consumption, since the optimized building is constrained to use the same volume of concrete used in the traditional design.

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