Performance Control: New Elastic-Plastic Design Procedure for Earthquake Resisting Moment Frames

Abstract

Performance control (PC) is the ability to design a structure in such a way as to expect predetermined modes of response at certain stages of loading, extents of damage, and/or drift ratios. The primary purpose of this paper is to complement the existing literature on performance-based plastic design of moment frames. PC is, in fact, a new analytic performance-based elastic-plastic design method for ductile structures under seismic loading. It empowers the engineer to control the design rather than investigate design-related numerical output. Failure mechanisms and stability conditions are enforced rather than tested. Unlike traditional closed-form procedures, PC enables the designer to control the response of the structure at preselected performance stages such as before and at first yield, any fraction of the failure load, or specified drift ratios up to and including incipient collapse. It offers a simple design solution to a rather complex problem.