Deterioration-induced asymmetry-insensitive collapse behavior in low-rise torsionally-stiff buildings

Abstract

This study investigates a significant point in the collapse behavior of asymmetric torsionally-stiff buildings, which is ignored by seismic design codes. The aim is to show how the effect of asymmetry on the collapse capacity depends on the deterioration characteristics of structures. To this end, the collapse performance evaluation of low-rise moment-resisting frame buildings is performed according to the FEMA-P695 methodology, emphasizing the drawbacks of ignoring degrading properties of structures in the collapse assessment. Then, the importance of deterioration is measured by a novel criterion, which is able to resolve the deficiency of prior justifications for the effect of asymmetry on the collapse performance of structures. Accordingly, there is a limit state for the proposed measure above which we may have an asymmetry-insensitive collapse performance for low-rise torsionally-stiff buildings. A two-step verification process is employed to confirm the validity of the results.