Ductility considerations in seismic design of reinforced concrete framebuildings according to the Eurocode 8

The Eurocode 8 included three ductility classes: ductility class high (DC H), ductility class medium (DC M) and ductility class low(DC L). The aim of the present work is to give a full analysis of the implication during the design stage of the ductility class for the reinforced concreteframe structures regarding the Eurocode 8. To carry out the proposed study, a regular RC frame building has been designed in different hazard seismic zones for the three ductility classes according to the seismic design rules mentioned in Eurocode 8. In the end, nonlinear pushover analysis was used to assess the design of the frames. The results show that DC M has a high performance close to DC H, even in the high hazard seismic zones, and the cost of DC M frame is close to the costs of DC H frame, which could be less, if the workmanship is included, because DC H will cost more for the workmanship according to its complexity of the detailing.