Development of hysteretic energy compatible endurance time excitations and its application

Abstract The aim of this study is to develop a new simulation procedure of endurance time excitations in which hysteretic energy compatibility is included. Existing methods for simulating excitations consider only amplitude and frequency content of motions and disregard parameters related to cumulative damage of structures. Hysteretic energy consistency, as a cumulative damage-related parameter, is included in the process. The proposed method is applied to generate new excitations. Efficiency of the proposed method is examined in two ways: (1) comparing damage spectra of simulated excitations with recorded ground motions; (2) applying simulated excitations in seismic assessment of three concrete special moment frame structures. Results show considerable compatibility of damage spectra with time history analysis as compared to previous excitations and, therefore, imply an improvement in the simulation process. In the second examination, engineering demand parameters in terms of maximum values and distribution of responses over structural height are predicted by the endurance time analysis and, then, are compared with incremental dynamic analysis results. These comparisons show that the endurance time method can successfully predict seismic demands of structures using the new generated excitations in comparison with existing ones. Finally, it is deduced from results that the proposed method can be employed as an alternative simulation approach for new applications.