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Purdue University

Detecting and Quantifying Damage in Buildings Using Earthquake Response Data and Capacity Curves

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>In the process of designing a building for seismic resistance, structural engineers design with the intent of preventing collapse while expecting inelastic behavior to occur in extreme strong ground motion events. Structural engineers rely on idealized mathematical models of the structural systems and nonlinear analysis methods to estimate the capacity of a building to resist the demand of strong earthquake ground motions. Compared to estimates and approximations based on numerical nonlinear analyses, a capacity curve constructed from actual building response data would be a more realistic representation of the behavior for the building. A method is presented on how capacity curves can be extracted from the response data of a building and how damage can be quantified using the hysteretic response and capacity curves in terms of stiffness degradation and ductility ratios either at an inter-story or fundamental mode resolution. The method is calibrated by implementation on numerical simulations and experimental models and applied to the historical response data of the 7-story hotel in Van Nuys, CA and the Imperial County Services Building in El Centro, CA.</p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Level thesis:degree_level
Dissertation
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Civil Engineering
Year
2013

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Dowgala, Jeffrey David
Contributors dc:contributor
  • Ayhan Irfanoglu
  • Shirley J. Dkye
  • Michael E. Kreger
  • Douglas E. Adams

Subjects

dc:subject × 6

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:docs.lib.purdue.edu:open_access_dissertations-1040

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Purdue University
Base URL
docs.lib.purdue.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Dowgala, Jeffrey David. Detecting and Quantifying Damage in Buildings Using Earthquake Response Data and Capacity Curves. Dissertation thesis, 2013. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/174