Accurately Estimaion of Story Drifts of Stell Medium moment Frame Buldings, Considering Panel Zone Effects

In seismic design codes, the maximum real relative displacement due to nonlinear behavior of the structure is estimated from variation coefficient of the relative linear displacement multiplied by the coefficient of deflection amplification factor (Cd). This coefficient is obtained by considering nonlinear displacement of the members of the structure and depends on the lateral load-resisting system. The previous studies indicate that the panel zone can have a significant effect on the behavior of a frame, and in particular, its lateral displacement. Therefore, to predict the precise behavior of the frame, the effect of the panel zone should be considered, but this factor has not been included in the estimation of the Cd value so far. Therefore, the storey drifts are under-estimated. The main purpose of this study is to consider the effect of the panel zone on Cd for Intermediate Moment Resisting Steel Frames (IMRSF). In this regard, two buildings have been designed based on the Iranian seismic design codes in ETABS software. A 4-story building is designed twice, once by I-section columns, and the other by box section columns. The structure with IPE sections has an IMRSF and, a Concentric Bracing Frame (CBF) with conventional ductility in two main directions. However, the structure of the box section has an IMRSF in both directions. After designing the structures, a flexural frame was selected from both structures and was modeled in the OpenSees Software for two conditions: with and without modeling panel zones. Incremental Dynamic Analyses (IDA) has been performed for 46 ground motion records.
To determine a correction factor for Cd in order to consider the panel zone effects, the ratio of the nonlinear maximum drift that of the model without panel zone effects is calculated for each ground motion. The results of the analyses show that in general, considering the effect of the panel zone in the analytical model, leads to an increase in the maximum drift values and ignoring the effect of the panel zone in the structure with the I or Box sections, causes the displacement of the floors to be 28% and 16% less than actually estimated, respectively. This effect for the structure with IPE sections is greater than Box sections, for its smaller web thickness and thus lower thickness of the panel zone. Therefore, it can be concluded that the thickness of the panel zone plays a key role in the structural response. Finally, it is recommended to increase Cd coefficient of intermediate moment resisting frames as 1.28 and 1.16 for the structures with I-section and Box-sections in their columns, respectively.