Permanent deformations and strains in a shear building excited by a strong motion pulse

Examples of non-linear wave propagation in an elasto-plastic building are presented for excitation by pulses of strong ground motion characteristic of the near-field shaking near earthquake faults. Conditions that lead to the occurrence of permanent deformations in the building are investigated, and the amplitudes and wavelengths of incident pulses that lead to non-linear response are shown. Because the building can fail during the first passage of the incident wave pulse up and down the building (during a period that is shorter than the first natural period of the building), it is concluded that for the analysis and the design of structures in the near-field of earthquake shaking the wave propagation method of analysis must be used in place of the response spectrum method, which is based on the vibrational solution of the same governing equations.