A numerical study on P-delta effect in high-rise reinforced concrete buildings subjected to seismic excitation

Lateral displacement caused by main lateral loads such as earthquake, wind, and blast loadings is the key factor that controls the structural design of multistorey buildings and plays important roles in P-delta effect consideration. The present study aimed to evaluate the dynamic response of high rise reinforced concrete structures with P-delta effect. For this, five different frame structures were studied. They had four bays and similar floor plans, however, number of storeys varied as 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30. The nonlinear dynamic analysis was performed for all frame models. In the analysis, two cases were adopted. The first one was conducted with ignoring P-delta effect while in the second one, the P-delta effect was introduced for all. Three ground motion records, namely, 1979 Imperial Valley, 1987 Superstition-Hills, and 1992 Landers were utilized in the dynamic analysis. As a seismic hazard level, 10% probability of exceedance in 50-year period was taken into account. The results of the dynamic analysis showed that P-delta effect were more pronounced in the case of the structures having higher storeys. Moreover, the response of the case study structures having P-delta were influenced with the characteristic of the earthquakes used.