Hysteretic Energy Demands in Multi-Degree-of-Freedom Systems Subjected to Earthquakes

Reliable estimation of energy demands imposed on a structure by a design ground motion is a key component of energy-based design. Although several studies have been conducted to quantify the energy demands in single-degree-of-freedoms systems, few have focused on multi-degree-of-freedom systems. This study aims to build on the knowledge from previous studies on multi-degree-of-freedom systems with special focus on the distribution of hysteretic energy demands among the components of the structure. Nonlinear response history analyses conducted under ground motion sets representing three different hazard levels show that the total input and hysteretic energy demands of multi-degree-of-freedom systems can be accurately estimated from equivalent single-degree-of-freedom systems for low- and medium-rise buildings. The distribution of hysteretic energy demands over the height of the multistory structures has been shown to vary significantly from ground motion to ground motion. Analyses results also show that the relative strength of adjoining beams and columns has a significant influence on the hysteretic energy demand distribution. On the other hand, the energy distribution is relatively insensitive to the damping model used in the analysis of the multi-degree-of-freedom system.

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