CORRELATING GROUND MOTION INTENSITY MEASURES WITH STRUCTURAL ACCELERATIONS

Non-structural components (NSCs) are elements within the building that are unrelated to the lateral load-carrying system. The failure of NSCs during earthquakes can result in casualties, significant economic losses, disabled critical infrastructures, and loss of building functionality. The NSCs can be categorized into two primary groups: deformation-sensitive and acceleration-sensitive. The objective of this paper is to identify both ground-motion as well as structural characteristics, having the most significant influence on the structural accelerations for moment-resisting reinforced concrete frames (MRRCFs) spanning a wide range of fundamental periods (0.5-4.5 sec). The study investigates various ground motion characteristics, including peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV), peak ground displacement (PGD), cumulative absolute velocity (CAV), and Arias intensity (I_A). Additionally, the paper examines several structural characteristics, such as the structures' fundamental period, height, and weight. The conclusion, which is based on an extensive set of ~1,000 simulations of inelastic response analyses, is that the single most significant parameter affecting structural acceleration is the ground motion PGA. This conclusion is a valuable insight into the seismic design of acceleration-sensitive NSCs.