Energy Based Seismic Assessment of Degrading Systems

Modern seismic design philosophy states that §buildings should be designed not only for life safety§but also for damage control. To accomplish these dual§objectives, design guidelines have been revised to§construct structures with predictable seismic§performance. Structural damage under seismic loading§is dependent on many factors as maximum displacement,§dissipated energy during seismic response, number of§yield excursions and low-cycle fatigue. The complex§damage behavior of structural systems subjected to§ground motions can only be assessed when all of these§factors are considered interactively. This book§focuses on the assessment of energy dissipation§characteristics of structural systems through§experimental low-cycle fatigue data. Based on these§findings, an energy-based hysteresis and a damage§model are developed. These models are then used to§predict the seismic damage when structural systems§are exposed to actual ground motions. The simple§procedure introduced at the end of the book is deemed§to be a guideline for the structural engineers and§academicians who have been experiencing a new era in§seismic design philosophy: performance-based §engineering.