Displacement-Based Method of Analysis for Regular Reinforced-Concrete Wall Buildings: Application to a Full-Scale 7-Story Building Slice Tested at UC–San Diego

Abstract

This paper describes a displacement-based method of analysis for the performance-based seismic design of regular buildings with reinforced-concrete bearing walls acting as the lateral-force resisting system. The method considers two performance levels: immediate occupancy (IO) and life safety (LS), each anchored at a specific seismic hazard level. It explicitly accounts for the combined effects of inelastic first mode of response, kinematic system overstrength, and higher modes of response. Quantification of these effects is required to capacity-protect the structure and to ensure the intended performance. As an example, the method is applied to a full-scale 7-story reinforced-concrete building slice, built and tested on the George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation Large Outdoor High-Performance Shake Table at the University of California–San Diego. The response of the test building largely verified the method discussed in this paper.