World Engineering Congress 2007, Penang, Malaysia, 5 9 August 2007

SC_94
DEVELOPMENT OF THE MATHEMATICAL MODEL TO REPRESENT THE
PRECISE IDEALIZED CAPACITY CURVE
M. Seifi, W.A. Thanoon, F. Hejazi, M.S. Jaafar, J.Noorzaei
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Putra Malaysia, 43400,
Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia.
Email:mehrdadcivil@gmail.com

ABSTRACT
In analysis of the structures, one of the methods that have been gaining ground is the nonlinear static pushover
(NSP) analysis. The purpose of the pushover analysis is to assess the structural performance by estimating the
strength and deformation capacities and comparing these capacities with the demands at the corresponding
performance levels. Therefore, one of the most important achievements of NSP is capacity curve which
declares the relation between base shear force and lateral displacement of the control node. Based on FEMA356 curve, for finding the significant nonlinear parameters of structure, capacity curve should be replaced with
an idealized bilinear one.
In this paper a computational program which works under MATLAB environment for idealizing the capacity
curve with the bilinear one has been proposed, capable to calculate the effective lateral stiffness, post-yield
stiffness, and effective yield strength, of any type of the building. Based on FEMA-356 the line segments of this
idealized force-displacement curve shall be located by using an iterative graphical procedure to satisfy some of
the code criteria of replacement, simultaneously. This procedure is not exempt from error and also is timeconsuming. Therefore, this computational program is suggested as an alternative for estimating the bilinear
curve with negligible error and in minimum computational time. Also, it can be assumed as a platform of a
program for finding the capacity spectrum and performance point of structures.
Keywords: nonlinear static pushover, capacity curve, bilinear curve

INTRODUCTION
Major seismic events during the past decade, such as those occurring in Northridge, California ,1994; Kobe,
Japan ,1995; Turkey ,1999; Taiwan ,1999; and Central- Western India ,2001; have continued to demonstrate the
destructive power of earthquakes, with destruction of engineered buildings, as well as giving rise to great
economic losses. Conventional code design of earthquake-prone countries provides a pseudo-capacity to resist a
prescribed lateral force; this force level is substantially less than that to which a building may be subjected
during a postulated major earthquake. It is assumed that the structure will be able to withstand the major
earthquake ground motion by components yielding into the inelastic range, absorbing energy, and acting in a
ductile manner, as well as by a multitude of other actions and effects not explicitly considered in code
applications. Also, there are uncertainties concerning the seismic demand and seismic capacity of the structure.
Therefore, these codes do not provide a means to determine how the structure will actually perform under severe
earthquake conditions. This is the role of Performance-based Design.
Performance-based design (PBD) is a more general design philosophy in which the design criteria are expressed
in terms of achieving stated performance objectives when the structure is subjected to stated levels of seismic
hazard. Particularly, performance-based design refers to the methodology which involves determining the
capacity and demand spectra.
In other words, the purpose of PBD is to give a realistic assessment of how a structure will perform when
subjected to either particular or generalized earthquake ground motion. As a result, the need to improve seismic
performance of the built environment through the development of performance- oriented procedures and
guidelines has been repeatedly highlighted and thereupon, several documents are credited with laying the
foundation on performance-based design concepts: SEAOC Vision 2000; ATC 40; and FEMA 274 and 356;
Eurocode8 , throughout the world.[1-3]

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ISBN 978-983-41705-9-2 2007 FEIIC