Seismic Performance of Infilled RC Frames by Pseudo-Optimization Method

Abstract

In the present situation, most of the structures are made of Reinforced Concrete (RC) because of readily available raw materials, expertise, and most cost-effective construction. Any building/infrastructure located in seismic zone III or higher has to follow the ductile detailing procedure outlined by IS 13920 (2016) to resist the seismic effects. As earthquakes are highly unpredictable, it is the role of the structural engineer to take care of seismic effects while designing a multi-storey building. The main concept behind earthquake resistant design of structures is to utilize the ductile capability of the materials and the structural members. However, the linear behavior cannot capture the performance of the structure beyond its yield limit and hence, nonlinear analysis is commonly used. On the other hand, nonlinear analysis can be computationally expensive and time-consuming. Hence, the objective of the present study is to optimize the analysis and seismic design by applying pseudo optimization technique. The technique makes use of existing linear structural analysis models with some improvements in the design process based on modal energy. The pseudo optimized design is a three-step procedure that is cost-effective and time-saving. It can be easily implemented by practitioners in their structural design without much of a disruption in the existing workflow. In the current research, finite element model based structural analysis software is used to model and analyze the building. To evaluate its seismic performance pushover analysis is done. The study highlights the merits of the pseudo optimization technique through the application of the methodology. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.