Height-Wise Distribution of Peak Horizontal Floor Acceleration (PHFA)

Abstract eng:
Peak Horizontal Floor Acceleration (PHFA) has often been used to estimate the vulnerability of acceleration sensitive nonstructural elements. To estimate the force imposed on nonstructural elements such as architectural, mechanical and electrical components, PHFA is assumed to vary along the height of building. Since the value of PHFA at a particular level of building depends on its dynamic properties; the level of nonlinearity induced; and the ground excitation intensity, the PHFA cannot be formulated as a function of height without considering these aspects. In this study, the distribution of absolute acceleration amplification factor Ω (PHFA normalized by peak ground acceleration) along the height of buildings with different dynamic parameters is developed through Nonlinear Time History Dynamic Analyses (NTHDA). A total of five 2D steel moment-resisting frame buildings are considered. An ensemble of 28 different ground motions recorded on four soil types are used as earthquake excitation input for NTHDA. Resulting distributions are compared with code-recommendations, then a simplified distribution of Ω is proposed. Although simplified, the suggested distribution shows promising results in estimating the vulnerability of rigid acceleration sensitive nonstructural components.

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