1. Calculating the seismic parameters which have been defined especially for this purpose and can be obtained just from the time history of the recorded earthquake.
2. Investigating the direct effect of earthquake on different structures and obtaining their linear and nonlinear spectral responses.

At first, without considering the effect of earthquake on structures and just by calculating seismic parameters for ten destructive earthquakes, different characteristics of these destructive earthquakes are identified. Then the spectral response of structures to these earthquakes and the related damage indices have been obtained.

Earthquake seismic parameters used in this article are: the strong duration of the ground motion, the cumulative absolute velocity, the Fourier amplitude spectrum, the temporal power spectral density, the nth spectral moment, the root mean square of accelerations, the Arias intensity, the characteristic intensity, the central frequency, the shape factor, the median peak acceleration and the dominant period.

To investigate the damage potential of these earthquakes, absolute acceleration, relative displacement, input and hysteretic energy spectra for different ductility factors have been calculated and compared.

Then three types of concrete structures have been designed according to the Iranian Seismic Code (2800 Standard) [1] and then the Park & Ang damage indices [2] have been calculated and compared for these buildings. These three types of structures include a three-story (low rise), seven-story(mid rise) and ten-story(high rise) two-bay intermediate sway frame. Each span is 5m long.

Finally an investigation has been undertaken to find any relevant relationship between the earthquake seismic parameters and structural damage. The overall trend which is seen is that the amount of damage approximately increases as the amount of the Arias intensity, the characteristic intensity or the cumulative absolute velocity increases. Based on what is done, it is concluded that some earthquake seismic parameters such as the Arias intensity, the characteristic intensity and the cumulative absolute velocity give an appropriate estimation of the damage potential of earthquakes. Using these parameters and a Fourier acceleration amplitude spectrum, the severity of the earthquakes for different ranges of periods can be obtained with an acceptable approximation and as is shown, however the peak ground acceleration is not an appropriate parameter for estimation of earthquake damage potential.

This simplified method implies that within a few seconds after earthquake events, one could obtain an approximate estimate of the most severely damaged building types for rescue and relief team guidance.

1

Iranian code of practice for seismic resistant design of buildings, Standard No. 2800, 2nd edition, 1999.

2

M.S. Williams, and RG. Sexsmith. "Seismic Damage Indices for Concrete Structures: A State-of-the-Art Review", Earthquake Spectra, Vol.11, No. 2, May 1995. doi:10.1193/1.1585817

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