Damping Ratios of the First Mode for the Seismic Analysis of Buildings
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 147, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper analyzed damping ratios inferred from 1,335 seismic responses recorded in 154 instrumented buildings in California. These values were inferred using a parametric system identification technique in the time domain, and subjected to a series of reliability screening tests to retain only high-quality data. The resulting damping ratios conformed a data set of 1,037 high-quality values inferred exclusively from the seismic response of buildings, a database several times larger than previous studies of damping inferred from seismic response. The data set was analyzed using a linear mixed-effects statistical model to account for the fact that many of the data points were clustered, because they came from damping ratios in the same building shaken by various earthquakes. It was shown that damping decreases with increasing building height, which is the factor that best explained the relatively large variance observed in the data. Contrary to some previous recommendations, it was found that once the variation with height is taken into account, the primary structural building material is not statistically significant in the damping ratio of buildings subjected to earthquakes. However, when including the combined material and lateral resistant system as a factor in the statistical model, an additional 6% of the variance was explained. Results showed that steel buildings with moment-resistant frames have, on average, a slightly higher damping ratio than those with steel braced frames. The amplitude dependency of damping showed that there was no significant correlation between damping ratio and the overall lateral deformation demand in the building as measured by the peak roof drift ratio for amplitudes typically observed during moderate earthquake motions once a minimum level of amplitude is exceeded.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code generated or used during the study are available from the corresponding author by request. All ground and structural motion records employed in this investigation are available at the Center for Engineering Strong Motion Data website (USGS, CGS, and ANSS 2015). Identified damping ratios are available upon request.
Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the Comisión Nacional de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica (CONICYT)—Becas Chile, the Blume Earthquake Engineering Center at Stanford University, and the Shaw Family Fund for the financial aid provided for this investigation. Ground and structural motions used in this investigation were obtained from the California Strong Motion Instrumentation Program of the California Geological Survey and from the United States Geological Survey. Efforts to install, operate, and maintain seismic instrumentation in buildings as well as to process and disseminate earthquake records by these organizations are gratefully acknowledged.
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Received: May 7, 2019
Accepted: Aug 10, 2020
Published online: Oct 24, 2020
Published in print: Jan 1, 2021
Discussion open until: Mar 24, 2021
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