A NEW PERIOD-BASED DAMAGE INDEX FOR SEISMIC ASSESSMENT OF RC FRAMES AND ITS VERIFICATION

Nonlinear dynamic characteristics are appropriate indices to evaluate seismic behavior of damaged structures precisely. These characteristics reflect the effects of material properties, distribution of cracks and plastic hinges, construction quality and infill panels. Nonlinear characteristics may be extracted by some field tests like forced and/or ambient vibration methods. Recently a new damage index, based on nonlinear fundamental period of damaged structures, was represented by the authors to evaluate damage rate of reinforced concrete (RC) buildings after each moderate and/or severe earthquakes. This paper explains the procedure of finding the new period-based damage index and verifies the represented pattern of this damage index through some experimental data. This verification helps to trust and validate a pattern which estimates damage rates of RC buildings without modeling. As the proposed damage index is not depend on modeling, it could be more accurate than others, if it be calibrated using real data; because the modeling procedures which is depend on many known and unknown factors, could affect the results of analyses.

Keywords:

Period-Based Damage Index , Nonlinear Period , Reinforced Concrete Frames , Experimental Data , Seismic Behavior