Inelastic performance of RC buildings subjected to near-source multi-component earthquakes

The inelastic behavioral characteristics of three RC buildings having 6-, 10- and 20-stories under near-source multi-component earthquake excitations are investigated. Ten earthquake records are used in the analysis to cover a wide range of vertical to horizontal spectral ratios. The performances of the buildings are evaluated through the roof displacements, the maximum story drift ratios and the maximum axial forces and strain ductility factors in the building members.Four analysis cases are considered for each earthquake including, one lateral earthquake component (X-case), two lateral earthquake components (XY-case), one lateral earthquake component accompanied with the vertical earthquake component (XZ-case) and two lateral earthquake components accompanied with the vertical earthquake component (XYZ-case). The results obtained in this study indicate that the multi-component effect of the earthquakes has a considerable effect on the axial forces and strain ductility factors of the building columns although it does not significantly affect the building lateral-deformation response. Keywords: 3-D analysis, Inelastic analysis, Multi-component earthquake, RC buildings, Vertical earthquak