Probabilistic Calibration and Experimental Validation of the Seismic Design Criteria for One-Story Concrete Frames

This article investigates the seismic performance of one-story reinforced concrete structures for industrial buildings. To this aim, the seismic response of two structural prototypes, a cast-in-situ monolithic frame and a precast hinged frame, is compared for four different levels of translatory stiffness and seismic capacity. For these structures an incremental nonlinear dynamic analysis is performed within a Monte Carlo probabilistic simulation. The results obtained from the probabilistic analysis prove that precast structures have the same seismic capacity of the corresponding cast-in-situ structures and confirm the overall goodness of the design criteria proposed by Eurocode 8, even if a noteworthy dependency of the actual structural behavior from the prescribed response spectrum is pointed out.

The experimental verification of these theoretical results is searched for by means of pseudodynamic tests on full-scale structures. The results of these tests confirm the overall equivalence of the seismic behavior of precast and cast-in-situ structures. Moreover, two additional prototypes have been designed to investigate the seismic behavior of precast structures with roof elements placed side by side. The results of these further tests show that an effective horizontal diaphragm action can be activated even if the roof elements are not connected among them, and confirm the expected good seismic performance of these precast systems. Finally, the results of the experimental tests are compared with those obtained from nonlinear structural analyses. The good agreement between numerical and experimental results confirms the accuracy of the theoretical model and, with it, the results of the probabilistic investigation.     

Nonlinear Static and Dynamic Behavior of a 16-Story Torsionally Sensitive Building Designed According to Eurocodes

A 16-story building under construction in Bucharest has been designed according to the provisions of EC2 and EC8, using elastic spectral modal analysis. Considering that the building is torsionally sensitive in the nonlinear range, it was further checked and verified using nonlinear dynamic and static procedures, using a detailed space-frame model. Specifically, time-history analysis for seven different excitations, as well as respective inelastic static analysis taking into account torsional effects were performed. The results are examined regarding structural (global) and member (local) response and various issues concerning the adequacy of the original elastic design and the applicability of advanced analysis methods are discussed.