Noniterative optimization procedure for seismic weakening and damping of inelastic structures

Previous research has shown that weakening of inelastic structures can limit the maximum response accelerations they experience during ground motions, but may lead to an increase in the displacements (or interstory drifts). Added damping by using fluid viscous devices, on the other hand, reduces the interstory drifts and has no significant effect on total accelerations, when structures behave inelastically. The weakening and damping technique, thus, limits the total acceleration due to the weakening, and reduces the interstory drifts by adding damping, and hence addresses the two main causes for both structural and nonstructural damage in buildings. Optimal weakening and damping, which is the subject of this paper, involves the determination of the optimal locations and amount of weakening of the structural components as well as the optimal locations and magnitudes of added dampers. Weakening of the structure might create stability issues in the building that can be automatically considered, if active control theory is used for design. Based on a nonlinear active control procedure, control forces are calculated and implemented using equivalent passive dampers and weakening elements in order to achieve the closest effects. The methodology is applied to a case study of an eight-story nonlinear building tested using a set of ground motions corresponding to different hazard levels. Results show that the optimal design leads to a reduction of both peak interstory drifts and peak total accelerations.