Evaluation of the Methods Used to Calculate the Structural Damage Index for Reinforced Concrete Structures Exposed to Various Earthquakes

Abstract

This study deals with the structural evaluation and compression is made between the methods of calculating the damage index of a two-dimensional reinforced concrete structure. A three bay, ten storys frame was designed based on the specifications of the American Concrete Institute (ACI 318-19), the structure was analyzed by non-linear dynamic analysis method by exposing the frame to three different types of earthquakes using (ETABS Version 19.0.0) program. Several methods proposed by researchers were used for calculating the total damage indices of the structure, another method was suggested in the present work, there was convergence in the values calculated on the basis of the composite methods of physical and engineering variables compared with the methods that depend on engineering variables only, such as ductility or displacement. The damage indices based on physical variables only, such as the hysterical dissipated energy, was considered ineffective in representing the real damage, especially in the case of medium and large damages, and it is advisable to adopt more than one method to ensure the safety of the structure and not to rely on one method determined by a few variables in order to express the exact and actual damage in all aspects.