SOFTENING EFFECTS ON THE SEISMIC RESPONSE OF NON-DUCTILE CONCRETE FRAMES

An approach for predicting the response of non-ductile reinforced concrete (RC) frames subjected to seismic loading is proposed. A beam-column element is developed based on component tests. The main characteristic of the developed element is its ability to represent the drop in the strength of non-ductile RC members after reaching the ultimate strength level. The term softening is used to define the reduction in the component strength capacity …