Linear Analysis Rc Frame Deformations Under Earthquake Loading

Linear analyses are still widely used in engineering industry for design of new construction and seismic evaluation of existing buildings. The use of linear analysis methods in earthquake engineering is based on the premise that a substitute structure can be defined so its linear-elastic deformations are equal to those of the actual structure, which may have incursions in the nonlinear range of response. This thesis presents a parametric study of RC frame structures under earthquake loading. The purpose of the study was to determine if simple assumptions about the stiffness of the substitute structure would result in accurate estimates of deformation of a single-degree-of-freedom oscillator, which have been shown in previous studies to bound nonlinear deformations in RC frames.