Damage Index for Different Structural Systems Subjected to Recorded Earthquake Ground Motions

This study quantifies the damage index previously proposed by the writer (Rodriguez 2015) for different structural systems subjected to a set of earthquake ground motions recorded during 12 strong earthquakes in different countries. Damage spectra were also computed using this seismic damage index. This study revisits the previously proposed index and shows that this index can also be interpreted as a ratio of velocities in the structural system responding to the earthquake demand. In addition, this study gives a more general damage analysis interpretation than that of the previous study since damage spectra were computed to assess the damage potential of a given recorded earthquake ground motion for different types of earthquake-resisting systems. The results from the damage analysis are consistent with the findings from previous research: most structural wall buildings show satisfactory earthquake performance, whereas frame buildings frequently show severe damage and collapse.