Response of ten story, reinforced concrete model frames to simulated earthquakes

The object of this research was to study both elastic and inelastic response of reinforced concrete structures subjected to strong earthquake excitations. This was a part of continuing research supported by National Science Foundation, Grant ENV 7422962. In the experimental phase, test structures made up of ten-story, three-bay frame models (Fig. A.11) were subjected to simulated earthquake excitations on the University of Illinois Earthquake Simulator (Fig.1.1 and 3.1). Two identical test structures were subjected to different numbers and intensities of base motions ( Principal variables of these tests ). All the base motions were patterned after the El Centro-NS,I940 earthquake. The original earthquake time scale was compressed by a factor, k = 2.5 , in order to excite the test models in a way that would be compatible with the excitation of actual structures by real earthquakes. The design earthquake had a maximum base acceleration of 0.5g. Various aspects of the observed response were studied and interpreted. Several analytical methods and structural idealizations were evaluated by comparing the response calculated by them with the observed response of the test structures. A special formulation of a general method, “System Identification Parameters, (SIP)”, was used in an attempt to determine apparent member stiffness distributions at selected instants of a given response history.U of I Onlydissertatio