| Abstract: | An inelastic substructure technique for the pseudodynamic test method is described. This technique requires testing of only a critical component of a multi-degree-of-freedom structure, while the remaining portion is modelled using standard inelastic analytical procedures. This is an economical method to investigate the seismic behaviour of a structure, provided a critical subassembly is found. This paper describes the development of a substructure algorithm which is verified with a numerically simulated test. The method was used to evaluate the seismic performance of moment-resisting steel frames. Modelling for an eight-storey, three-bay frame is discussed, and the boundary conditions between the analytical portion and the experimental component are evaluated. The results indicate that the selection of the critical subassembly was adequate and that the pseudodynamic response was significantly dependent on the behaviour of this experimental component. Furthermore, experimental results suggest that this information would have been difficult to obtain from quasi-static testing or from standard inelastic dynamic analysis. Therefore, this substructure pseudodynamic technique was an economical tool to investigate the seismic behaviour of ductile frames. |
