The effect of structural properties and ground motion variables on the global response of structural systems

摘要

The uncertainty in the seismic demand of a structure, corresponding to uncertainties in ground motion and in structural properties, needs to be properly characterised in a reliability analysis. In this study, the sensitivity of structural response to major uncertain variables is investigated using the variance-based method in order to determine which variables are most significant. The Sobol' decomposition, based on a Monte Carlo simulation, is used to decompose the variance of the response into contributions from the individual ground motion and structural properties as input variables. The formulation of a dynamic structural response using the random-vibration theory, based only on the frequency information of the excitation, can provide an important basis for analytical sensitivity analysis of a structural response. The results show that the uncertainties in ground motion are more significant than uncertainties in structural properties for global structural response, especially peak roof displacement and maximum inter-storey drift.