EFFICIENT MODE SUPERPOSITION ALGORITHM FOR SEISMIC ANALYSIS OF NONLINEAR STRUCTURES

A step-by-step integration method is proposed to compute within the framework of the conventional mode superposition technique the response of bilinear hysteretic structures subjected to earthquake ground motions. The method is computationally efficient because only a few modes are needed to obtain an accurate estimate of such a response, and because it does not require the use of excessively small time steps to avoid problems of accuracy or stability. It is developed on the basis that the non-linear terms in the equations of motion for non-linear systems may be considered as additional external forces, and the fact that by doing so such equations of motion can be interpreted as the equations of motion of an equivalent linear system, excited by a modified ground motion. These linear equations are then subjected to a conventional modal decomposition and transformed, as with linear systems, into a set of independent differential equations, each representing the system's response in one of its modes of vibration. To increase the efficiency of the method and account properly for the participation of higher modes, these independent equations are solved using the Nigam-Jennings technique in conjunction with the so-called mode acceleration method. The accuracy and efficiency of the method is verified by means of a comparative study with solutions obtained with a conventional direct integration method. In this comparative study, including only a few modes, the proposed method accurately predicts the seismic response of three two-dimensional frame structures, but requiring only, on an average, about 47 per cent less computer time than when the direct integration method is used.