| Abstract: | The inelastic behaviour of eccentric single-storey building structures subjected to sinusoidal ground excitation is examined. The Kryloff-Bogoliuboff method is employed to provide approximate solutions in the amplitude-frequency domain. Structural resisting elements are assumed to exhibit bilinear hysteretic behaviour and coupled response is investigated in terms of both system response as well as individual element ductility requirements. In addition to demonstrating the well-known softening property inherent in yielding systems, the importance of the principal parameters governing coupled response is evaluated in a consistent parametric fashion. Within the context of earthquake resistant building design, the results indicate the absence of amplified response when torsional and translational frequencies are close, in contrast to the much emphasized observation of internal resonance for linear elastic structures. Equally important, structural elements located on the stiff edge of eccentric buildings are found to be only marginally affected by the magnitude of the eccentricity, thus indicating that seismic building codes which reduce design requirements for these elements underestimate actual behaviour substantially. |
