Effect of Ductility on Performance of Reinforced Concrete Portal Frame Loaded with Lateral Load

Abstract

Earthquake is a natural hazard which is inevitable. Ductility ensures large inelastic deformation without significant loss of strength. It has been proven that ductile detailed structures give better performance than non-ductile detailed structures. In India after Bhuj 2001 earthquake, there is a change in design practices and lots of emphasis are being on ductility based design. But majority of structures which are constructed before 2001, do not satisfy criteria of ductile detailing. Experiment is performed for performance evaluation of Reinforced Concrete (RC) portal frames under lateral loading. Out of two portal frames, one frame confirms ductility based criteria given in Indian seismic code and another frame is not satisfying the criteria for ductile detailing. Experiments are performed on these portal frames to evaluate its performance under lateral load. Nonlinear static analysis is carried out. Results obtained through experiments are compared with numerical study performed through commercially available software. Study also confirms that the ductile detailed structure gives better performance than the non-ductile loaded under lateral load.