Probabilistic damage evaluation of base-isolated reinforced concrete structures under near-fault pulse-like bidirectional seismic excitations

Abstract

In this article, seismic fragility of a base-isolated special Reinforced Concrete (RC) moment frame is investigated under near-fault pulse-type ground motion records. The vulnerability of the displacement-dominated performance of isolator devices to a likely vibration resonance caused by such records is the focus of the study. For this purpose, Lead-Rubber Bearings (LRBs) and Triple Friction Pendulum Bearings (TFPBs) are utilized to represent various isolator behaviorisms in different period ranges. The structures are modelled in three dimensions to account for the axial-bending-bending interaction in the isolator devices. The models are then subjected to IDAs under three sets of near-fault pulse-type ground motion records with different pulse periods. Four different damage states are considered and the IDA results are used for deriving fragilities that express probabilities of exceeding these states at various intensity levels. The study revealed that despite the amplifying effects of the employed records, using isolators is still feasible. That is, even for pulse periods near to the effective period of isolators, resonance has not led to higher failure probabilities in the isolated buildings compared to their fixed-base counterparts. Furthermore, at longer pulse periods, the gradual yielding behavior of TFPBs made them more effective than the LRBs. Results also disclosed that at lower intensities, damage of base-isolated structures is mainly caused due to excessive floor acceleration while at higher intensities the maximum inter-story drift plays the dominant role. This suggest these two response parameters to be alternatively used as the Engineering Demand Parameter (EDP) when defining damage states at the medium and high intensity levels.