Author(s)

P. P. Diotallevi & L. Landi

Abstract

The purpose of this work was to compare the non-linear pushover and dynamic methods of analysis. Pushover analyses of a RC building were performed considering different load distributions and incremental dynamic analyses were carried out considering a large number of earthquake motions. Then several simplified non-linear procedures based on the pushover analysis were applied in order to assess their capability in the prediction of the seismic demand. Keywords: non-linear dynamic analysis, pushover analysis, RC buildings, Eurocode 8, simplified non-linear methods. 1 Introduction In the practical design applications the evaluation of seismic response is usually based on linear elastic structural behaviour. However this approach may be not effective in limiting the damage levels of the buildings. To this purpose more accurate methods of analyses, which can predict the real behaviour under strong seismic actions, are required. The non-linear dynamic analysis is the most rigorous method, but it is still too complex for design use. The non-linear static pushover analysis seems to be a more rational method for estimating the lateral strength and the distribution of inelastic deformations. In the last years several simplified non-linear procedures [1] were developed in order to predict the seismic demand by using the results of pushover analysis. These methods were also implemented in recent guidelines [2, 3] based on the new performance-based engineering concepts. In the present research the pushover analysis was applied for studying the response of a RC building. Pushover analyses were performed considering different load distributions and incremental dynamic analyses were carried out

Keywords

non-linear dynamic analysis, pushover analysis, RC buildings, Eurocode 8, simplified non-linear methods.