A Study on Large-Scale Simulation of a 20-Story Steel Building Structure

Abstract

The differences in seismic responses in highly nonlinear ranges among various analytical models are not clear. These include such as frame models, and detailed Finite Element Method (FEM) models microscopically reproducing the individual components’ shapes are not clear structures. In this study, the dynamic response of a detailed FEM model is compared to those of frame models. The FEM model was made to reproduce a building’s shape as precisely as possible and analyzed by LS-DYNA that is commercial FE code equipped explicit method. The frame model was macroscopically composed of beam elements. Two frame models were considered; in one model, the P-delta effect was considered, and in the other model, it was neglected. The differences between those frame models and the detailed FEM model in highly non-linear ranges was investigated. As a result, it was assured that the frame model that neglected the P-delta effect tend to underestimate the deflection in these ranges, while the residual deflection of the frame model that considered the P-delta effect was larger than that of the detailed FEM model because of stiffness degradation.