Direct generation of floor design spectra (FDS) from uniform hazard spectra (UHS) — Part I: formulation of the method

Abstract

In most current building codes, seismic design of non-structural components (NSCs) is addressed through empirical equations that do not capture NSC response amplification due to tuning effects with higher and torsional modes of buildings and that neglect NSC damping. This work addresses these shortcomings and proposes a practical approach to generate acceleration NSC floor design spectra (FDS) in buildings directly from their corresponding uniform hazard spectra (UHS). The study is based on the linear seismic analysis of 27 reinforced concrete buildings located in Montréal, Canada, for which ambient vibration measurements (AVM) are used to determine their in situ three-dimensional dynamic characteristics. Pseudo acceleration floor response spectra (PA-FRS) are derived at every building floor for four different NSCs damping ratios. The calculated roof FRS are compared with the 5% damped UHS and a formulation is proposed to generate roof FDS for NSCs with 5% damping directly from the UHS.