Seismic response of steel frame buildings to near-source ground motions

Simulated ground motions from the MW 6·7 Northridge earthquake and a simulated MW 7·0 Elysian Park event are generated over a large grid of sites and used as input to mathematical models of six-storey and 20-storey steel-frame buildings. Purpose of the study is to quantify effects of strong near-source ground motion on frame buildings of different height and strength (UBC vs. Japanese design) and with welded connections prone to fracture. Best performance is achieved by the six-storey building which meets the stronger Japanese design provisions. The detrimental effect of connection fracture is significant, especially for the larger earthquake.