Seismic Loss Estimation of Steel Special Moment Frames Designed According to Different Analysis Methods

In current seismic design standards such as ASCE/SEI 7, three seismic load analysis methods are permitted to design structures, which are equivalent lateral force (ELF) procedure, modal response spectrum analysis (RSA), and response history analysis (RHA). The aim of this study was to conduct seismic loss estimation to investigate the impact of using ELF and RSA on the seismic loss. For this purpose, 4- and 12-story regular steel special moment frames (SMFs) were repeatedly designed using ELF and RSA. The expected annual losses for 4- and 12-story SMF buildings designed using the RSA were 30% and 23% higher than those of corresponding buildings designed using the ELF. The main cause of larger seismic loss in RSA buildings was attributed to lateral stiffness less than ELF buildings. More significant damage occurred in RSA buildings during frequent earthquakes, which was main contribution on the increase in the seismic loss.