An Accurate Numerical Model Simulating Hysteretic Behavior of Reinforced Concrete Columns Irrespective of Types of Loading Protocols

In older reinforced concrete (RC) buildings, columns are fragile elements that can induce collapse of entire buildings during earthquakes. An accurate assessment of the seismic vulnerability of RC buildings using nonlinear response history analyses requires an accurate numerical model. The peak-oriented hysteretic rule is often used in existing numerical models to simulate the hysteretic behavior of RC members, with predefined backbone curves and cyclic deterioration. A monotonic backbone curve is commonly constructed from a cyclic envelope. Because cyclic envelope varies according to loading protocols, particularly in a softening branch, it is difficult to obtain a unique backbone curve irrespective of loading protocols. In addition, cyclic deterioration parameters irrespective of loading protocols cannot be found because these parameters are estimated with respect to the backbone curves. Modeling parameters of existing numerical models can also vary with respect to loading protocol. The objective of this study is to propose a loading protocol-independent numerical model that does not require estimates of modeling parameters specifically tuned for a certain loading protocol. The accuracy of the proposed model is verified by comparing the simulated and measured cyclic curves of different sets of identical RC column specimens under various loading protocols.

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