Numercally estimated response of two different designed dual RC systems

Displacement Based Design methods have become a possible alternative to the traditional concept of the force based design, generally adopted in seismic codes. However, the performance assessment for new design methods can seldom be entirely carried out through experimental testing of real specimens. Experimental results are the base on which representative numerical models can be set up. Once available and validated these may be employed to asses the performance of the design method at study. This work is related to the estimation of the performance of two reinforced concrete systems, differently designed; the first according to a Displacement Based Design method, the other according to the force based design of Eurocode 8. Each system is a dual structure composed of a frame part working in parallel to coupled shear walls. A composed structure, assembled from the two dual systems working in parallel, has been experimentally tested with the pseudodynamic technique and allowed for the calibration of a numerical model of the global type, based on beam-column fibre elements. The model was used to study numerically the response of two new structures, the first entirely composed of elements designed according to the displacement based design, the second to the force based design of Eurocode 8. Each structure has been analyzed for ten different natural accelerograms, selected to have a mean pseudoacceleration spectrum similar to the Eurocode 8 one. The results in terms of global and local damage indexes for the two structures are compared and constitutes the base for the assessment of the DBD viability.