Earthquake Response of a Yielding Structures

The hysteresis law governing a class of yielding structures suitable for earthquake response studies is presented. This class includes the linear, the elastoplastic, and the bilinear hysteretic structures, in addition to a general yielding structure presented in a previous study. From an examination of the equation of motion for one degree of freedom structures of this type, it is found that it is the ratio of the earthquake acceleration strength to the yield level of the structure that measures the relative magnitude of the excitation. A typical yielding structure is subjected to an ensemble of artificial earthquakes. The results include averages and ranges of values of displacement spectra, energy input spectra, relative quantities of energy dissipated by yielding and viscous damping, and permanent set. The application of the results to the analysis of earthquake response is illustrated by examples.