Evaluation of Asce/Sei 41-17 Nonlinear Procedures Using a Reinforced Concrete Building Case Study

The nonlinear modeling and acceptance criteria in the national ASCE/SEI 41-17 standard "Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings" were developed based on often limited field and laboratory data, as well as engineering judgement. These limitations influence the accuracy of the standard in assessing potential seismic damage and ensuing retrofit needs in buildings at risk of earthquake loading. Moreover, the Standard was shown to produce varying levels of conservatism and accuracy in seismic assessment by several studies. This study evaluates the accuracy of estimates of global and local behaviors of a full-scale reinforced concrete building using the nonlinear dynamic procedures of ASCE/SEI 41-17. The full-scale, four-story reinforced concrete building was experimentally tested on the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention (NIED)/E-Defense shaking table in Japan. The building was designed to modern Japanese seismic standards and satisfied most ACI 318-11 provisions for regions of high seismicity. Three-dimensional lumped-plasticity and fiber-type models were generated for the building by strictly following the nonlinear modeling dynamic analysis procedures of ASCE/SEI 41-17. Where the standard is silent on modeling details, efforts were made to apply most commonly used practices on the west coast of the United-States. This study is part of a larger NIST funded project aimed at using data from instrumented buildings subjected to real earthquakes or shaking table motions to assess the accuracy of the ASCE/SEI 41-17 Standard. The accuracy of the Standard procedures in estimating story drifts, base shears, and member damage levels were evaluated, by comparing computational results with experimental measurements and observed damage levels. The study indicated that the Standard's provisions resulted in reasonable match with experimental peak roof drifts, base shear, and acceleration responses of the building. However, the study highlighted several deficiencies, mainly with respect to the modeling parameters of reinforced concrete structural walls and beams.