Assessment of First Generation Performance-Based Seismic Design Methods: Case Study of a 4-Story Reinforced Concrete Special Moment Frame Building

The anticipated performance of a 4-story reinforced concrete (RC) building designed in accordance with ASCE/SEI 7, is assessed using ASCE/SEI 41. Engineering practitioners employing the performance-based seismic engineering philosophy are increasingly using ASCE/SEI 41, as the "first generation" performance-based seismic design principle, to justify the adequacy of the seismic performance of new buildings. However, ASCE/SEI 41 was developed to assess the structural performance of existing buildings. In order to compare the anticipated structural performance between ASCE 7 and ASCE 41, the seismic performance of an ASCE/SEI 7 code-compliant 4-story special RC moment frame building is assessed based on the four evaluation methodologies defined in the Tier 3 analysis of ASCE/SEI 41 for the collapse prevention structural performance level. The assessment results show that the ASCE/SEI 7 code-compliant building does not meet the collapse prevention performance level requirements in ASCE/SEI 41 for the columns in the first story when linear analyses are employed.