Framed structures. ductility and seismic response - General report

The purpose of this general report is to review the state-of-the art research works for ductility related to seismic response of framed structures. The required ductility is determined at the level of full structure behaviour, while the available ductility is obtained as local behaviour of node (joint panel, connections or member ends). The checking for ductility may be performed for monotonic or seismic loads. For monotonic loads, the push-over method is developed in simplified form proposed by Mazzolani and Piluso, on the basis of a rigid plastic global mechanism. The result is the required ductility. In the same way, a local plastic mechanism is used for determining the available ductility. For seismic loads, the differences between near-source and far-source earthquakes are emphasized, which induces some important modification on required ductility. The factors regarding seismic actions, such as velocity and cycling loading, reduce the available ductility. Finally using these results, the designer is able to verify if the available ductility is greater than the required ductility. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.