Maximum interstory drift and the distribution of this drift along the height of the structure are the main causes of structural and nonstructural damage in frame type buildings subjected to earthquake ground motions. Estimation of maximum interstory drift ratio is a good measure of the local response of buildings. Recent earthquakes have revealed the susceptibility of the existing building stock to near-fault ground motions characterized by a large, long-duration velocity pulse. In order to find rational solutions for the destructive effects of near fault ground motions, it is necessary to determine drift demands of buildings. Practical, applicable and accurate methods that define the system behavior by means of some key parameters are needed to assess the building performances quickly instead of detailed modeling and calculations. In this study, simple equations are proposed in order for the determination of the elastic interstory drift demand produced by near fault ground motions on regular and irregular steel frame structures. The proposed equations enable the prediction of maximum elastic ground story drift ratio of shear frames and the maximum elastic ground story drift ratio and maximum elastic interstory drift ratio of steel moment resisting frames. In addition, the effects of beam to column stiffness ratio, soft story factor, stiffness distribution coefficient, beam-to-column capacity ratio, seismic force reduction factor, ratio of pulse period to fundamental period, regular story height and number of stories on elastic and inelastic interstory drift demands are investigated in detail. An equation for the ratio of maximum inelastic interstory drift ratio to maximum elastic interstory drift ratio developed for a representative case is also presented.

Establishment of relationships for predicting the lateral drift demands of near-fault ground motions is one of the major challenges in earthquake engineering. Excessive lateral drifts caused by earthquake ground motions are the major causes of structural damage observed in structures. In this study, some of the fundamental characteristics of near-fault ground motions are examined. Response characteristics of elastic frame structures to near-fault ground motions are investigated. An approximate method for estimating the elastic ground story and interstory drifts for regular frame type structures is presented. Inelastic displacement demands imposed on elasto-plastic single degree of freedom (SDOF) systems subjected to near-fault ground are examined. Three equations for estimating the maximum lateral inelastic displacement demand from the maximum elastic displacement demand are established. Two of these equations relate the inelastic and elastic displacement demands through natural period and strength reduction factor. The third equation relates the inelastic and elastic displacement demands through the ratio of natural period to pulse period and the strength reduction factor. Efficiency of the natural period to pulse period ratio for estimating the inelastic displacement ratio is shown. Error statistics of the proposed equations are presented and compared with similar studies in the literature. According to the results, these equations can be used for quick and rough estimates of displacement demands imposed on regular elastic moment resisting frames and elasto-plastic single degree of systems.

This study focuses on non-ductile reinforced concrete (RC) frames built outside current practices. These structures are quite vulnerable to collapse during earthquakes. One option to retrofit buildings with poorly detailed RC columns is to construct full-height masonry infill walls to provide additional means to resist loads caused by gravity and increase lateral stiffness resulting in a reduction in drift demand. On the other hand, infill can cause reductions in drift capacity that offset the benefits of reductions in drift demand. Given these two opposing effects, this investigation addresses the following question: are poorly detailed RC frames with masonry infill walls any safer than similar RC frames without infill walls?