Seismic Performance Assessment of Shear Critical Reinforced Concrete Frame Structures
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Date
2024-10
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
A substantial number of currently operating buildings are built as per requirements of older
codes that are without proper seismic provisions that ensure ductility. These structures
may be susceptible to exhibit a catastrophic shear failure if an important seismic load is
imposed. However, most analyses of reinforced concrete frames commonly ignore shear
effects. This simplification may lead to significant errors and may result in severely
unconservative and unsafe calculation of strength and ductility.
In this study the seismic performance of a shear critical frame was investigated through
finite element analysis using Vector 2, Seismostruct and ETABS. After the analyses the
results were examined using experimental data from a laboratory test carried by Kien Vinh
Duong, Shamim A. Sheikh, and Frank J. Vecchio at the University of Toronto. The
accuracy of various finite element software in predicting shear critical behavior was
scrutinized. Finaly a proposal for steps to be followed to improve the results of one of the
most commonly used structural analysis software was set forth, and its outputs were
verified against experimental data.
The results show the difficulties in seismic performance assessment of shear critical
structures, particularly while using the widely used commercial structural analysis
software. The educational and speciality software, namely Vector 2 and Seismostruct, gave
more accurate results. The widely used software required the foresight to predict possible
shear critical failure of the structure. This indicates that the standard user might get a
misleading result if not aware of possible shear critical mechanism. A proposal was set
forth for the performance assessment of shear critical structures for practitioners utilizing
a widely use software, ETABS. The proposal describes the details followed in generating
accurate user defined shear hinges with the aid of a free supportive software. Results show
that the steps proposed showed a considerable improvement in the accuracy of the finite
element analysis when compared to experimental data.
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Keywords
nonlinear analysis, pushover, shear, shear hinge, reinforced concrete, frame structure, fiber model, Vector 2, Seismostruct, ETABS