Abstract:
Modern seismic codes try to avoid story mechanisms by applying strong column-weak
beam hierarchy. The structural design concerned with the failure mode control has been
mainly treated through simplified rules provided in seismic codes. With this respect,
the current strong column-weak beam design criterion presents a single value as the
acceptance limit of strength ratios for all moment frames, even though the inelastic
behavior of frames vary with many factors such as the height of frames. Studies have
also shown that the capacity of structures in one or another way is related to the values
of strong column-weak beam (SCWB) ratio. The relationship could be more biased if
slab contribution in the design and analysis of moment frames is improperly handled.
This is because the strong column-weak beam criterion can be highly affected by the
extent to which slab contribution in lateral load resistance is considered. The
contribution of slab in lateral load resistance is considered in this study both at the
design and analysis stages. Having the slab contribution in to consideration this thesis
work aims at studying the significance of increasing SCWB ratio in the means of
preventing story mechanism. In the meantime the relationship between the minimum
SCWB ratio provided by Eurocode 8 and the safety against collapse risks is studied.
For this purpose plane reinforced concrete moment frames are designed and detailed
according to the capacity design requirements of Eurocodes. The performance of the
structures is evaluated by means of compliance to damage limitation and deformation
capacity requirements of Eurocode 8. A nonlinear static analysis was performed on each
structure using SeismoStruct analysis software. From the results of the static pushover
analysis, capacity curves and the pattern of yielding and chord rotation hinges were
obtained. The results indicated that the current minimum SCWB capacity design
requirements in the Eurocodes provisions do not result in a collapse mechanism that
involves all stories of the building. As height of a structure increased, the benefit of
increasing the SCWB ratios decreased. For a given SCWB ratio, however, the taller
structures have a lower risk of collapse. Significant benefits in collapse performance
could be gained by increasing the minimum SCWB ratio beyond to 2.0.