Structural parameters approximation of existing symmetric-plan concrete buildings using finite element design and analysis program

Abstract

In the field of earthquake engineering and structural dynamics, the knowledge of the structure properties is very important. In this paper, the widely used SAP2000 program in the design and analysis of civil engineering structures is proposed to approximate the structural parameters of existing symmetric-plan concrete buildings. First, the existing building structure is designed in the program with respect to the real geometry and material properties. Also, an analytical model of the existing building is developed. Afterward, a modal analysis using SAP2000 program is performed. Then, the structural parameters can be approximated from the obtained results. To verify the precision of this method, the response of the analytical model developed in MATLAB is compared to the response of the real structure designed in SAP2000. The obtained results reveal that the proposed method can be used to approximate the structural parameters of existing symmetric plan concrete building with 97% precision.