A Damage Model for Practical Seismic Design that Accounts for Low Cycle Fatigue

The structural properties of a structure deteriorate when deformations reach the range of inelastic behavior. A possible consequence of deterioration of the hysteretic behavior of a structure is failure of critical elements at deformation levels that are significantly smaller than its ultimate deformation capacity. Seismic design methodologies that account for low cycle fatigue can be formulated using the concept of target ductility. The practical use of one such methodology requires the consideration of simple low cycle fatigue models that consider the severity of repeated loading through a normalized plastic energy parameter. The inconsistencies inherent to the use of such indices can be corrected through simple empirical rules derived from an understanding of the effect of the history of energy dissipation in the assessment of the level of structural damage.