SummaryThe standard response spectrum analysis (RSA) procedure prescribed in various design codes is commonly used by practicing engineers to determine the seismic demands for structural design purpose. In this procedure, the elastic force demands of all significant vibration modes are first combined and then reduced by a response modification factor (R) to get the inelastic design demands. Recent studies, however, have shown that the response of higher vibration modes may experience much lower level of nonlinearity, and therefore, it may not be appropriate to Over last few decades, the structural design against earthquakes has passed through a continuous process of evolution. The story that started from a simple mass-proportional lateral load resisted by elastic action has now evolved into an explicit consideration of design earthquakes applied to the detailed nonlinear finite-element models. The exponential growth in computational power in recent years is continuously narrowing the industryacademia gap by providing the cutting-edge research and technology to practicing engineers at their doorstep. As a result, the structural designers nowadays are equipped with far more aids and tools compared to a couple of decades ago. Moreover, recent advancements in nonlinear modeling techniques have also opened a whole new research area dealing with constructing computer models with close-to-real behaviors. With such a range of options available, the choice of modeling scheme and the analysis procedure for design decision making often becomes a matter of "the more the sweat; the more the reward" for designer. However, this is not a complete depiction of this story. If on one side, these advancements are bringing more sophistication to design process (in terms of better structural idealization and faster numerical solvers), they are also making the process complex, extra skill-demanding, and sometimes unnecessarily intricate. From design point-of-view, the real purpose of structural analysis is not merely to simulate the detailed 3D models and compute design demands, but also to understand the complex structural behavior. This understanding may not always guaranteed by complicated modeling techniques or analysis procedures and faster numerical solvers. In fact, it can be more effectively developed using convenient methods capable of simplifying and clearly explaining the complex response in terms of its components. This insight should then help in devising the most efficient design scheme in terms of reduction in cost, time, effort, and other
Abstract. For a quick performance evaluation of existing buildings under an anticipated ground shaking, the nonlinear static analysis procedures (NSPs) are always an attractive option for practicing engineers. Compared to these NSPs, the detailed nonlinear response history analysis (NLRHA) for a sophisticated 3D finite element model requires far more computational and modeling effort. Sometimes the seismic performance evaluation of a large number of buildings is required in order to assess the seismic vulnerability and loss estimation for a particular study area. The applications and relative accuracy of various available NSPs become even more relevant in such scenarios. Over last several decades, the NSPs have passed through a series of proposed modifications and improvements which kept the interest awakened among practicing engineers and academicians. This paper is a review of all such improvements and provides a brief account of various approaches in the NSPs, their inherent assumptions, sources of uncertainties, limitations and associated challenges.
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