Seismic analysis of inelastic moment-resisting frames part I: Modified force analogy method for end offsets

An analytical method of performing inelastic structural dynamic analysis based on the force analogy method to study real moment-resisting frames with plastic hinge offsets from member ends and rigid panel zones is proposed. New stiffness matrices used in the force analogy method for members with two ends being rigid are theoretically derived using the unit displacement method. Through static condensation, each term in the stiffness matrices is found to be modified simply through multiplying by a scale factor. This is an enhancement to the original force analogy method or other conventional methods, where the condensed form reduces the size of the structural problem by eliminating the unnecessary additional degrees of freedom that must be placed at the plastic hinges. But more importantly, this is a significant improvement on other conventional methods where the present inelastic analysis procedure is more of a theoretical nature rather than numerical. Numerical simulation for seismic analysis is performed on a single degree of freedom system, and the results show that plastic hinge end offsets have significant effects on the seismic response and therefore they should be carefully considered in dynamic analysis. The companion paper further discusses the influence of panel zone deformation on the dynamic response based on the method proposed in this part of the research. Copyright (C) 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.