Performance Comparison Of The Ordinary And High Strength Steel Reinforced Concrete Frames Against Earthquakes

Abstract

Formations of collapse mechanisms under strong ground motions are not uncommon in RC frames. Failure mechanisms in ordinary RC frames can be prevented by adopting strong column weak beam philosophy. Limited flexural strength and lateral deformation capacity of the RC columns often results in the incipient of the failure mechanisms. Large inelasticity at the column base causes instability problem and structural safety is endangered. Furthermore, large residual deformations at the end of an earthquake event cannot be ruled out. A study on the performance of RC frames reinforced with high strength reinforcement in columns and ordinary reinforcements in beams revealed more steady performance as compared to ordinary RC frames. Experimental study on two bays three story frames reinforced with similar reinforcement pattern revealed more stable response at large lateral displacements. Simple replacement of ordinary steel in the column of RC frames and with the absence of yielding in columns passive frame mechanism can be demonstrated