Evaluation of maximum seismic displacements of SDOF systems from their residual deformation

The post-earthquake performance level of structures provides a very important source of information both for probable rehabilitation procedures and determination of structural response to probable incoming aftershocks. This performance is described by the maximum deformation which is directly related to structural damage. On the basis of extensive parametric studies on single degree of freedom structures, empirical equations are constructed for a simple and effective determination of the maximum seismic deformation from residual displacements, which can be measured in-situ after strong seismic events. The proposed method is applied both to far-field and near-field ground motions. It is found that the measure of residual deformation can be effectively used to evaluate the post-earthquake performance level of structures. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.