ON THE OPTIMUM SEISMIC LOADING OF MULTISTORY STRUCTURES

[n most of the present seismic codes, the distribution of the total seismic load relates somehow to the linear dynamic response of structures. However, this is in contradiction with the fact that structures need to undergo considerable amount of nonlinear inelastic deformation during earthquakes. This subject is discussed in detail in this paper. Models of multistorey buildings were designed according to several arbitrarily chosen loading patterns. These models were then subjected to a group of normalised earthquakes. Characteristics of nonlinear response of these models such as drift, ductility and p-delta effects are described and discussed, A new criterion for assessment of the adequacy of seismic loading pattern is developed. The results indicate that this criterion can be employed to determine the optimum loading pattern, and that such patterns may not necessarily coincide with those suggested by seismic codes