Residual drift analyses of realistic self-centering concrete wall systems

To realise the full benefits of a self-centering seismic resilient system, the designer must ensure that the entire structure does indeed re-center following an earthquake. The idealised flag-shaped hysteresis response that is often used to define the cyclic behaviour of self-centering concrete systems seldom exists and the residual drift of a building subjected to an earthquake is dependent on the realistic cyclic hysteresis response as well as the dynamic loading history. Current methods that are used to ensure that re-centering is achieved during the design of self-centering concrete systems are presented, and a series of cyclic analyses are used to demonstrate the flaws in these current procedures, even when idealised hysteresis models were used. Furthermore, results are presented for 350 time-history analyses that were performed to investigate the expected residual drift of an example self-centering concrete wall system during an earthquake. Based upon the results of these time-history analyses it was concluded that due to dynamic shake-down the residual drifts at the conclusion of the ground motion were significantly less than the maximum possible residual drifts that were observed from the cyclic hysteresis response, and were below acceptable residual drift performance limits established for seismic resilient structures. To estimate the effect of the dynamic shakedown, a residual drift ratio was defined that can be implemented during the design process to ensure that residual drift performance targets are achieved for self-centering concrete wall systems.