Facta Universitatis. Series: Architecture and Civil Engineering (Jan 2008)
Nonlinear seismic analysis of asymmetric in plan buildings
Abstract
In many buildings the centres of resistance do not coincide with the centres of mass. As a consequence, lateral base motion during an earthquake gives rise to torsional vibration of the structure. The inelastic seismic behaviour of asymmetric-plan buildings is considered using the histories of base shear and torque. The procedure to construct the base shear and torque (BST) surface of the system with an arbitrary number of resisting elements in the direction of asymmetry and of ground motion is proposed. The factors that determine the shape of the BST surface are the strength eccentricity, lateral and torsional capacity of the system and planwise distribution of strength. The BST surface contains most of information necessary to describe the inelastic properties of a system. However, the inelastic deformation cannot be computed unless a nonlinear static or dynamic analysis is performed.
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