Design of RC frames for pre-selected collapse mechanism and target displacement using energy-balance

In earthquake-prone countries, structures may be exposed to several seismic loads in any stage of building's life. It is expected that the structures designed by engineers will show ductile behaviour under the effect of vertical and lateral loads and remain stable without making a sudden collapse. In consequence of nonlinear behaviour, plastic hinges are expected to form in structural members which are under the effect of external loads. Earthquake input energy is dissipated in plastic hinges, so, structures behave ductile. In this study, total energy of RC frames is calculated and the energy based base shear force is determined by equating the total internal energy to the work done by external lateral design forces for pre-selected target displacement and collapse mechanism. Sections of RC frames are controlled if they can resist the calculated design lateral loads or not. If the capacity of the sections cannot withstand the external design loads, the design is rearranged and new sections are chosen. Beam and column sections that can resist the design loads securely are accepted as final sections of the energy based design methodology. Pre-selected target displacement for desired performance level is checked using the results of nonlinear analyses. The results of the presented design methodology in this study are compatible with the results of nonlinear analyses