Seismic damageability assessment of R/C buildings in eastern U.S.

In the eastern United States, reinforced concrete building structures, medium- to high-rise construction, are usually designed for gravity loads only. A damage evaluation was done in this study for typical structures of medium height using inelastic dynamic analysis and artificially simulated earthquake motion. An empirical relation was developed to provide quick assessment for the expected damage in medium-high, reinforced concrete structures. The paper presents the methodology used for this evaluation, including the simulation of artificial ground motion from eastern United States data, and describes the major factors influencing damageability.