Pushover Analysis of R/C Setback Building

Abstract

: Pushover analysis is a nonlinear static analysis used mainly for seismic evaluation of framed building. The behaviour of a multi-storey framed building during strong earthquake motions depends on the distribution of mass, stiffness, and strength in both the horizontal and vertical planes of the building. In multi-storeyed framed buildings, damage from earthquake ground motion generally initiates at locations of structural weaknesses present in the lateral load resisting frames. Further, these weaknesses tend to accentuate and concentrate the structural damage through plastification that eventually leads to complete collapse. In some cases, these weaknesses may be created by discontinuities in stiffness, strength or mass between adjacent storeys. Such discontinuities between storeys are often associated with sudden variations in the frame geometry along the height.
There are many examples of failure of buildings in past earthquakes due to such vertical discontinuities. Irregular configurations either in plan or elevation were often recognised as one of the main causes of failure during past earthquakes. A common type of vertical geometrical irregularity in building structures arises from abrupt reduction of the lateral dimension of the building at specific levels of the elevation. This building category is known as the setback building.