Morteza e I 2011

THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF TALL AND SPECIAL BUILDINGS
Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. (2011)

Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI: 10.1002/tal.729
Plastic hinge length of reinforced concrete columns subjected

to both far-fault and near-fault ground motions having
forward directivity
Alireza Mortezaei1 and Hamid Reza Ronagh2*†

1
Civil Engineering Department, Engineering Faculty, Semnan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Semnan, Iran
2
School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
SUMMARY
In a strong earthquake, a standard reinforced concrete (RC) column may develop plastic deformations in
regions often termed as plastic hinge regions. A plastic hinge is basically an energy dampening device that
dampens energy through the plastic rotation of a rigid column connection, which triggers redistribution of
bending moments. The formation of a plastic hinge in an RC column in regions that experience inelastic
actions depends on the characteristics of the earthquakes as well as the column details. Recordings from
recent earthquakes have provided evidence that ground motions in the near field of a rupturing fault can
contain a large energy or ‘directivity’ pulse. A directivity pulse occurs when the propagation of the fault
proceeds at nearly the same rate as the shear wave velocity. This pulse is seen in the forward direction of
the rupture and can cause considerable damage during an earthquake, especially to structures with natural
periods that are close to those of the pulse. In the present paper, 1316 inelastic time-history analyses have
been performed to predict the nonlinear behaviour of RC columns under both far-fault and near-fault ground
motions. The effects of axial load, height over depth ratio and amount of longitudinal reinforcement, as well
as different characteristics of earthquakes, were evaluated analytically by finite element methods and the
results were compared with corresponding experimental data. Based on the results, simple expressions were
proposed that can be used to estimate plastic hinge length of RC columns subjected to both far-fault and
near-fault earthquakes that contain a forward-directivity effect. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Received 7 April 2011; Revised 2 July 2011; Accepted 20 September 2011
KEY WORDS: plastic hinge length; near-fault earthquake; dynamic analysis; RC buildings
1. INTRODUCTION
Recent earthquakes in Turkey (1999), Taiwan (1999), India (2001), Iran (2003), China (2008) and
Japan (2011) have caused considerable loss of life and extensive damage to structures.
The magnitudes of the forces induced in a structure for a given ground acceleration depend, among
other things, on the mass of the structure, the material and type of structure, and the damping, ductility
and energy dissipation capacity of the structure. By enhancing the ductility and the energy dissipation
capacity of a structure, the induced seismic forces can be reduced, leading to a more economical design
and lower probability of failure or collapse of the structure. Ductility can be broadly defined as the
ability of a structure or member to undergo inelastic deformations beyond the initial yield deformation
with no decrease in the load resistance. Since reinforced concrete (RC) is of relatively lower ductility
in compression and shear, dissipation of seismic energy is best achieved by flexural yielding. A frame
comprising flexural members, columns and connections that is designed and detailed to accommodate
reversible lateral displacements after the formation of plastic hinges without any decrease in strength is
*Correspondence to: Hamid Reza Ronagh, School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD
4072, Australia.
†
E-mail: h.ronagh@uq.edu.au
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

A. MORTEZAEI AND H. R. RONAGH
Figure 1. Formation of plastic hinge in different locations.
known as a ductile moment-resisting frame. RC frames dissipate energy through flexural yielding at
one or more plastic hinges (Figure 1).
In conventional seismic design of RC structures, reinforcing bars are expected to yield in order
to dissipate energy while undergoing permanent post-yield deformations of steel reinforcing bars
leading to the crash of unconfined concrete. Determination of the plastic hinge length of framed
concrete structures and development of design procedures based on displacement capacities of the
members are important considerations that are yet to be fully investigated.
In this study, an attempt is made to establish a constitutive relationship for the plastic hinge length of
RC columns using over 1300 nonlinear time-history analyses. The results are reported herein.
2. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Research performed in the past decade has shown that pulse-type earthquake ground motions that
result from forward-directivity effects can cause significant damage to structures. These motions are
expected to force the structure into the inelastic range of response through multiple excursions. The
design of a structural system subjected to earthquake ground motions recognizes that plastic hinges
will form in frame members. The plastic hinge rotation and length of RC members are important
demand parameters in assessing the response and the extent damage of a structure subjected to
earthquake or other loads. Therefore, it is essential that the plastic hinge length of an RC member is
calculated in a consistent manner.
Although experimental tests of RC members provide valuable information about their behaviour,
these are normally expensive and time-consuming and require considerable human and physical
resources. By using dynamic nonlinear finite element (FE) analysis, it is possible, at comparatively
lower cost and effort, to predict the response of RC structures and members, e.g. plastic hinge length.
Using the wealth of recent ground motion data, this paper presents an analytical investigation on the
behaviour of RC columns, i.e. predicting the plastic hinge length, subjected to pulse-type ground
motions that result from forward-directivity effects.
In the following section, firstly, different techniques and models for calculating the plastic hinge
length of RC members are described. This is followed by past studies, characteristics of near-fault
ground motions, parametric studies, results, proposed design equations and conclusions drawn from
the study.
3. DEFINITION OF PLASTIC HINGE LENGTH
Plastic hinges are an extension of the ductile design concept used in building seismically resistant
structures. Energy is dissipated through the plastic deformation of specific zones at the end of a
member without affecting the rest of the structure. Numerous techniques and models are available to
estimate the plastic hinge length of RC members as described below.
Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. (2011)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
PLASTIC HINGE LENGTH OF RC COLUMNS
3.1. Analytical method

The moment–curvature characteristics of a given cross-section can represent the deformation properties
of an RC section. As can be seen from Figure 2, the schematic moment–curvature curve of an RC
member that fails after flexural yielding consists of three stages. Typically, point A indicates the
cracking point where the concrete starts to crack (fcr and Mcr). In the initial stages (M < Mcr), the
response is elastic and linear. With an increase in the applied moment, cracking of concrete reduces
the flexural rigidity of the section, the extent of which depends on the amount of reinforcement. At
the higher load level, corresponding to point B, the tension steel begins to yield (fy and My), which
is followed by the crushing of concrete at point C (fu and Mu). A large increase in curvature and
ductility normally occurs beyond the yield limit.
Rotation of a member can be determined from curvature distribution along the member
length. On the basis of the conventional structural engineering rules, the rotation (change of slope)
between any two points is equal to the area under the curvature diagram between these two points. This
is given by
ZB
θAB ¼ fdx (1)
A
where x is the distance of element dx from A. This equation can be applied whether elastic or inelastic
curvatures are involved.
The condition at the ultimate load stage of an RC member is shown in Figure 3. For values of
loads smaller than the yield moment, My, the curvature increases gradually from the free end of
the member (point A) to the support (point B). There is a large increase in curvature at first yield
of the tension steel. At the ultimate load stage, the curvature at the support increases suddenly, so
that it causes a large inelastic deformation. Since the concrete between the cracks can carry some
tension (tension-stiffening), the curvature fluctuates along the member length. Each of the peaks of
curvature corresponds to a crack location. The actual distribution of curvature at the ultimate load level
can be idealized into elastic and inelastic (plastic) regions (Figure 3c); thus the total rotation, θt, over
the member length can be divided into elastic, θe, and plastic, θp, rotations. The elastic rotation, θe,
(until yielding of steel) can be obtained using the curvature at yield (Equation (1)). According to
Equation (1), the plastic rotation can be determined, on each side of the critical section, as (Kheyroddin
and Mortezaei, 2008)
Figure 2. Qualitative moment–curvature relationship.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
Figure 3. Schematic curvature distribution along reinforced concrete (RC) member at ultimate stage:
(a) RC member, (b) bending moment diagram and (c) curvature diagram.
Zly
θp ¼ fðxÞ fy dx (2)
0
in which f(x) is the curvature at a distance x from the critical section at the ultimate load stage. The
yielding length, ly, is defined as the length of the member segment over which the maximum moment
exceeds the yield moment, My, or the distance between the critical section and the location where the
tension steel first yields (Figure 3).
The shaded area in Figure 3 is the plastic (inelastic) rotation, θp, which occurs in addition to the elastic
rotation of the plastic hinge at the ultimate load stage. The plastic hinge rotation can be determined
either by calculating the size of the shaded area or by an equivalent rectangle of height (fu – fy) and
width lp. By using Equation (2), the equivalent plastic hinge length, lp, can be defined as (Kheyroddin
and Mortezaei, 2008)
Zly h i
1
lp ¼ fðxÞ fy dx (3)
fu fy 0
Therefore, the value of plastic hinge rotation, θp, at the ultimate stage can be calculated using the
following well-known equation:

θp ¼ fu fy lp ¼ fp lp ¼ b′ fp ly (4)
where fu and fy are the curvatures at the ultimate load and yield load, respectively, and lp is the
equivalent length of the plastic hinge over which the plastic curvature, (fp = fu – fy), is assumed
to be constant. Equation (4) results in the same area as the actual plastic curvature distribution
DOI: 10.1002/tal
(shaded area in Figure 3c). The dimensionless factor, b′, is a shape factor or curvature distri-
bution factor for the curvature diagram near the support and is less than 1. It may be called a
reduction factor applied to the yielding length over which the steel reinforcement yields, so that
b′ ly = lp.
3.2. Experimental method

Beam tip displacement test data from reversed cyclic loading of beam–column joint specimens
have been used to determine the real plastic hinge lengths (Park and Paulay, 1975). From force–
displacement and moment–curvature test results, bilinear elastic perfectly plastic models have
been used to obtain the yield and ultimate values of fy, fu, Δy and Δu. In order to determine
the equivalent bilinear curve for the test results, the area under the curve (force–displacement
or moment–curvature) is calculated, and a line having the initial slope of the curve is then drawn
through the origin. Next, a horizontal line is drawn such that the area under the two lines is equal
to the area under the original curve. The yield displacement/curvature is then defined as the point
of intersection between the two lines, and the ultimate value is considered as the maximum
value of the displacement/curvature in the inelastic range. Equations (5) and (6) can be solved
to determine the value of lp.
Δp ¼ Δu Δy (5)
l lp

p
Δp ¼ f u f y 1 0:5 (6)
l l
where Δy and Δu represent the yield and the ultimate beam tip displacement from test data,
respectively.
3.3. Empirical methods

Empirical equations can also be used to estimate lp for RC members. Numerous models are available.
Many of these models consider a proportional increase of lp with an increase of member length, depth
and longitudinal reinforcement dimensions. Some popular expressions to estimate the plastic hinge
length are presented in the next section.
4. PAST STUDIES
The plastic hinge length, lp, of RC members depends on a number of parameters, including the
definition of yielding and ultimate curvatures, section geometry, material properties, compression
and tension reinforcement, transverse reinforcement, cracking and tension-stiffening, the stress–strain
curve for the concrete in tension and compression, the stress–strain curve for steel, bond-slip
characteristics between concrete and the reinforcing steel, support conditions and the magnitude and
type of loading, axial force, width of the loading plate, influence of shear, and the presence of column
as well as different characteristics of earthquakes. The steel type and the concrete strength affect
the shape of moment–curvature, and consequently these factors influence the yielded length and
distribution of curvature in the yielded zone.
General expressions for the plastic hinge length, lp, are valid at loads above the yielding loads,
provided lp and f(x) are known at these loading stages (Equation (3)). Both lp and f(x) are functions
of the material and sectional properties as well as the loading history. Due to the complexity of
the problem, simplified procedures have been defined for practical purposes (Yan and Au, 2010,
Mortezaei et al. 2009). In this section, some popular expressions for the calculation of plastic hinge
length are presented.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
4.1. Baker
To investigate the moment–curvature relationship of beams and columns, Baker (1956) conducted 94
beam/column tests under the auspices of Comite Euro-International du Beton (CEB) in the 1960s. The
main test variables included concrete strength, yield strength or amount of tension reinforcement,
amount of compression reinforcement, single or double concentrated loads and axial load. On the basis
of the test results, Baker (1956) proposed the following equation to calculate the lp:
z 0:25
lp ¼ k1 k2 k3 d (7)
d
where k1 is equal to 0.7 for mild steel or 0.9 for cold-worked steel, k2 = 1 + (0.5Pu/P0) in which Pu is
the axial compressive force and P0 is the load capacity for an axially loaded column, k3 is 0.6 when
fc′ = 5100 psi or 0.9 when fc′ = 1700 psi and z is the distance between the critical section and the point
of contraflexure, while d is the effective depth of the beam. This equation was developed for members
with unconfined concrete. For a broad range of structural members, this equation results in a range of
values for lp from about 0.4d to 2.4d.
For members confined by transverse steel, Baker and Amarakone (1964) proposed an expression
for lp of members with tension over part of the section:
z
lp ¼ 0:8k1 k3 c (8)
d
where c is the depth of the neural axis at the ultimate moment.
4.2. Mattock
From the results of 37 simply supported beams, Mattock (1964) investigated the effect of various
parameters on the behaviour of RC beams and developed an empirical formula for the prediction of
plastic hinge length. The parameters studied by Mattock (1964) were concrete strength (fc′ = 4000 to
6000 psi (28 to 41 MPa)), effective depth of beam (d = 10 to 20 in. (254 to 508 mm)), moment gradient
(z/d = 2.75 to 11), amount (rl = 1 to 3%) and yield strength (fy = 47 to 60 ksi (324 to 414 MPa)) of
tension reinforcement. On the basis of the test results, Mattock (1964) concluded that the spread
of plasticity along the beam length increased as z/d increased and as the net tension reinforcement
(q – q′)/qb decreased. Mattock (1964) proposed the following empirical relationship to calculate lp:
" rffiffiffi ( rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi)#

d z q q′ d
lp ¼ 1 þ 1:14 1 1 (9)
2 d qb 16:2
where both d and z are in inches.
4.3. Sawyer
Sawyer (1964) suggested the following equation:
lp ¼ 0:25d þ 0:075z (10)
The zone of yielding was assumed to extend a distance d/4 beyond the section where the bending
moment is reduced to My. It is noted that lp is the equivalent plastic hinge length on the side of the
critical section.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
4.4. Corley
Corley (1966) investigated the effect of size, beam width, reinforcement index and binding by closed
stirrups on the inelastic behaviour of 77 simply supported beams. Corley (1966) reported that the
length of the plastic hinge region was primarily a function of the geometry of the concrete beams
and that the sizes of the beams did not have a significant influence on the rotational capacity. With
the scatter in the measured values of the plastic hinges, he concluded that the effect of (q – q′)/qb in
Equation (9) could be ignored. Corley (1966) suggested the use of a simple expression for lp:
pffiffiffi z
lp ¼ 0:5d þ 0:2 d (11)
d
where both d and z are in inches.
4.5. Mattock
Mattock (1967) simplified Equation (9) in 1967. He stated that even though there was considerable
scatter, the trend in the observed lp could be represented reasonably well by the following simple
expression:
lp ¼ 0:5d þ 0:05z (12)
4.6. Park et al.

Park et al. (1982) tested four full-scale concrete columns with square sections of 22 22 in.2
(550 550 mm2) and an L/h of 2. The axial loads applied to the column specimens were in the range
of 0.2fc′Ag to 0.6fc′Ag. Park et al. (1982) estimated the lp of the test specimens using Equation (13):
fy L2
Δtip ¼ Δy þ Δp ¼ þ f fy lp L 0:5 lp (13)
3
They concluded that the experimentally obtained lps were comparatively insensitive to the axial load
level and had an average value of 0.42h, where h is the overall depth of the column. They suggested
using a simple lp of 0.4h for concrete columns.
Using a similar approach, Priestley and Park (1987) proposed the following two component
equation for the calculation of lp in RC columns:
lp ¼ 0:08 L þ 6 db (14)
Priestley and Park (1987) stated that the first term mainly accounted for column bending, while the
second accounted for bar slip due to the elongation of longitudinal bars beyond the theoretical base
(tensile strain penetration into the joint or foundation).
Paulay and Priestley (1992) revised Equation (14) to account for different grades of flexural
reinforcement. The revised expression is given in Equation (15):
lp ¼ 0:08L þ 0:15db fy ð fy in ksiÞ

(15)
lp ¼ 0:08L þ 0:022db fy ðfy in MPaÞ
Paulay and Priestley (1992) reported that Equation (15) resulted in lp 0.5h for typical columns.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
4.7. Riva and Cohn

Riva and Cohn (1990) performed a parametric study of the moment–curvature relationship and pro-
vided the plastic hinge length by nonlinear analyses of 56 simply supported beams and 32 cantilevered
reinforced and prestressed beams. The influence of load distribution, percentage of tension steel, shape
of the section, support conditions and prestressing were studied. Since the distance, z, in continuous
beams varies throughout the loading history, statically determinate RC beams were studied. It was
noted that the value of plastic rotation at the critical section was quite sensitive to the adopted element
length in the analysis, because of the assumption of constant curvature over the element length. The
results showed that the lp/z ratio is not significantly affected by the variation of the z/h ratio (where
h is the section height) but rather is influenced mostly by the bending moment distribution and the steel
percentage. On the basis of the analytical results, approximate expressions were proposed for lp/z for
three different loading phases:
• From cracking to yielding limit state:
!ð80c oÞ D
lp B f p b′ 640 o2
¼ A f ðgÞ (16)
z 800 o fpy bw
• From yielding to reinforcement strain hardening:

!ð0:90:8gÞ
lp p fp
¼ lp z Þy (17)
z fpy
fpu
• Ultimate limit state (only if fpy i7:0)
! G
lp E F fpu b
¼ þ (18)
z 100 1000 fpy bw
f
where lp in Equation (17) is the value of lp/z from Equation (16) when fpu ¼ 1, b is the width of the
py
compression flange and bw is the web width. The constants A, B, C, D, E, F, G and f(g) depend on
the bending moment distribution considered and can be found elsewhere (Riva and Cohn, 1990).
4.8. Sakai and Sheikh

Basing their work on extensive review of the literature, Sakai and Sheikh (1989) reported that the
plastic hinge length, lp, increases as the aspect ratio increases. They defined the aspect ratio as either
L/h or L/D, which is nearly equivalent to L/h. Bilinear curves illustrating the relationship between
the lp and the aspect ratio were reported as trend lines by the authors. They concluded that lp was
affected by the amount of transverse reinforcement, axial load level and aspect ratio.
4.9. Sheikh et al.

Sheikh and Khoury (1993), Sheikh et al. (1994) and Bayrak and Sheikh (1998) reported that the
measured lps were approximately equal to 1.0h in their column tests.
4.10. Mendis
Mendis (2001) conducted tests on 13 simply supported concrete beams subjected to single point loads
and examined their lps. He reported that lp increased as L/h or the longitudinal reinforcement ratio
increased but decreased as the amount of lateral reinforcement increased. On the basis of four column
DOI: 10.1002/tal
tests where the axial load levels were low, Mendis (2001) concluded that lp was not sensitive to the
level of axial load.
4.11. Correal et al.

Correal et al. (2007) designed and tested six large-scale spiral column models on a shaker table at the
University of Nevada, Reno, in order to study the effects of shear level, spiral distance and cross-ties
on the plastic hinge length. These plastic hinge lengths were then examined to evaluate the responses.
The results showed the plastic hinge lengths increased by 10–20% as the distance of the spiral sets
increased from 1.0R to 1.5R (R is the radius of the spiral columns), depending on the level of shear.
4.12. Oehlers et al.

Oehlers et al. (2008) developed a new plastic hinge approach that is based on shear-friction theory.
This novel shear-friction hinge explains the mechanics of the benefits of confinement, such as that
due to fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) encasement or steel stirrups, on the rotational capacity of RC
members. Mohamed Ali et al. (2008) also developed a numerical model of the hinge region of an
RC beam bonded with FRP tension face, which simulates four mechanisms that contribute to the ro-
tation of the member and, significantly, defines the limit to rotation imposed by concrete softening.
4.13. Berry et al.

Berry et al. (2008) presented the following equation for calculating the length of plastic hinge:
0:1fy db
lp ¼ 0:05L þ pffiffiffiffiffi ðMPaÞ
f ′c
0:008fy db (19)
lp ¼ 0:05L þ pffiffiffiffiffi ðpsiÞ
f ′c
Equation (19) considers the strength of concrete and the properties and amount of longitudinal
steel; however, it does not predict the plastic hinge length accurately, especially when P/P0 is greater
than 0.2.
4.14. Bae and Bayrak

Bae and Bayrak (2008) experimentally evaluated the effects of axial load and shear span–depth ratio
(L/h) on lp. Based on the experimental observations, a new analytical approach that can be used to
estimate lp was presented. The results showed that the level of axial load influenced the length of
the plastic hinge. Specimens tested under high axial loads developed longer plastic hinge lengths than
those tested under low axial loads. The following equation was proposed to estimate the length of the
plastic hinges forming in RC columns:

lp P As L
¼ 0:3 þ3 0:1 þ 0:25≥0:25 (20)
h P0 Ag h
where h is overall depth of column, P is the applied axial load, P0 the nominal axial load capacity, As
the area of tension reinforcement, Ag the gross area of concrete section and L is the distance from
critical section to point of contraflexure.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
5. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS REPORTED IN THE PAST STUDIES
Various expressions, recommended for use in lp estimations, were briefly discussed in the previous
section. A comparison of the previously reported lp expressions is provided in Figure 4, where it
can be seen that the analytical value of lp is not constant for the different values of the tension
reinforcement indices.
Baker’s equation (Equation (7)) gives a constant value of lp equal to 194.5 mm (0.77d) for different
amounts of reinforcement index (o). In contrast, in the latest equation proposed by Baker and
Amarakone (Equation (8)), lp increases linearly with the c/d ratio. Riva and Cohn’s formulation results
in the lowest values of plastic hinge length. The methods of Corley, Mattock and Sawyer give constant
plastic hinge lengths, regardless of the reinforcement index, of 215.4 mm (0.85d), 196.9 mm (0.78d)
and 168.2 mm (0.66d), respectively. It is interesting to note that most of the lp expressions do not
consider axial load as a parameter. More recently, Bae and Bayrak (2008) showed that the level of
axial load may influence the length of plastic hinges. Specimens tested under high axial loads
developed longer plastic hinges than those tested under low axial loads. They tested full-scale concrete
columns under moderate to high axial load levels and reversed cyclic displacement excursions.
Ground motions in the near field of a rupturing fault can contain a large energy, or ‘directivity’
pulse, very different from a far-fault earthquake and cyclic loading. Structures designed to withstand
the latter will respond with higher deflections but remain ductile and absorb lower earthquake forces
generally. When these structures respond to near-fault earthquakes, however, their performance
may not be as good. Therefore, an investigation into the lp of RC columns is needed to (a) reconcile
differences encountered in the previous research and (b) develop an expression that can be used to
estimate lp more accurately for far-fault and near-fault ground motions having forward-directivity effect.
6. CHARACTERISTICS OF NEAR-FAULT GROUND MOTIONS
The near-fault of an earthquake can be defined as any area in the close vicinity of the fault rupture
surface. In the near-fault, the ground shaking is influenced by a number of factors. Besides strong
shaking, the characteristics of near-fault ground motions are linked to the fault geometry and the orien-
tation of the travelling seismic waves (Somerville, 2000). Vertical strike-slip faults can produce a
directivity effect, while dip-slip faults can produce directivity effects as well as hanging wall effects.
Hanging wall effects are felt on the hanging wall of a fault (the earth above a vertically dipping fault)
and are due to the proximity of much of the fault to hanging wall sites. Directivity effects can be
classified as forward, reverse and neutral. Forward directivity occurs when the direction of the rupture
propagates towards the site, while reverse directivity occurs when the rupture progresses away from
the site. Neutral directivity refers to occasions when the site is perpendicular to the ruptured fault
300
250
Plastic hinge length (mm)
200 Corley
Mattock
150 Baker & Amarakone
Riva & Cohn

100
Sawyer
50
0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Tension reinforcement index
Figure 4. Comparison of different equations for plastic hinge length.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
(Orozco and Ashford, 2002). Within the research community, the term ‘directivity effects’ has come to
mean ‘forward-directivity effects’ because forward directivity is more likely to be responsible for
the ground motions that cause damage. Figure 5 portrays the three zones of directivity, with the star
representing the epicentre and the black line indicating the fault.
When a fault rupture propagates towards a site at a velocity close to that of the shear wave velocity,
an accumulation of most of the energy of the seismic radiation of the fault can arrive at the site as a
single long-period pulse. This is called a directivity pulse (Somerville, 2000). The rupture is broken
into subfaults; beginning at the epicentre, the rupture propagates along the fault in the direction of
the arrow towards site A. Because the velocity of the shear waves is close to the rupture velocity,
the energy of the forward direction arrives within a short period. Forward-directivity effects occur only
when the rupture propagates towards the site and the direction of slip on the fault is aligned with the
site. Not all near-fault locations will experience forward rupture directivity effects in a given event. It
can be seen in Figure 6 that site B will experience a lengthening of the time between the arrival of the
waves; thus, the record at site B will have a long duration but not a velocity pulse.
Forward-directivity effects can be felt for both strike-slip faults and dip-slip faults. On a strike-slip
fault, the directivity effects are mostly concentrated away from the hypocenter because the energy
builds up as the shear waves travel away from the point of dislocation toward the site. A dip-slip fault
produces forward-directivity effects at the sites located around the surface exposure of the fault
Figure 5. Zones of directivity (Orozco and Ashford, 2002).
Figure 6. Directivity pulse accumulates as rupture propagates to the right (Orozco and Ashford, 2002).
DOI: 10.1002/tal
(Orozco and Ashford, 2002). Although the geometry of a fault is usually well known, the direction of
rupture is unpredictable. Therefore, it is recommended that all buildings that fall within the near-fault
zone of an active fault be designed for a possible velocity pulse.
The velocity and displacement time histories of typical near-fault ground motions having forward-
directivity effects (Rinaldi record of 1994 Northridge earthquake) are compared with that of ordinary
far-fault motion (Taft record of 1952 Kern County earthquake) in Figure 7. High-velocity pulses are
quite distinctive for Rinaldi; such pulses do not exist in a typical far-fault ground motion like Taft.
7. GROUND MOTION DATABASE
The ground motion database compiled for nonlinear time-history analyses constitutes a representative
number of far-fault and near-fault ground motions from a variety of tectonic environments. A total of
14 records were selected to cover a range of frequency content, duration and amplitude. Near-fault
records were chosen so as to consider the presence of forward-directivity effects. Hence, the assembled
database can be investigated in two subdata sets. The first set contains seven ordinary far-fault ground
200
Velocity [cm/sec]
150
100
50
0
-50
-100
-150
-200
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Tim e [sec]
200
Displacement [cm]
150
100
50
0
-50
-100
-150
-200
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
Tim e [sec]
(a) Taft record of 1952 Kern County earthquake

200
Velocity [cm/sec]
150
100
50
0
-50
-100
-150
-200
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Tim e [sec]
200
Displacement [cm]
150
100
50
0
-50
-100
-150
-200
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
Tim e [sec]
(b) Rinaldi record of 1994 Northridge earthquake
Figure 7. Typical velocity and displacement time histories of (a) far-fault and (b) near-fault
(forward-directivity) ground motions.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
motions, recorded within 90 km of the causative fault plane from earthquakes in the magnitude (MW)
range of 6.5 to 7.4 on the Richter scale. The second set includes seven near-fault ground motions
characterized with forward-directivity effects. These records come from earthquakes having a
magnitude (MW) range of 6.5 to 7.4 and were recorded at closest fault distance of 0.0 to 10 km.
Information pertinent to the ground motion data sets, including station, components of earthquake
and peak ground acceleration, peak ground velocity and peak ground displacement of records is
presented in Tables 1 and 2.
Utilized in this study is a data-processing technique proposed by Iwan et al. (1985) and refined by
Iwan and Chen (1994) to recover the long-period components from near-fault accelerograms. This
process has been elaborated in the study by Boore (2001) and Boore et al. (2002).
8. VERIFICATION OF ANALYTICAL MODELS
The capability and accuracy of the FE programme and analytical models in predicting the nonlinear
response of RC columns are verified along with a comparison between the analytical and corresponding
experimental results. Bae and Bayrak (2008) tested five full-scale columns under cyclic lateral loads
at the University of Texas. These specimens were tested under cyclic lateral displacements while
being simultaneously subjected to constant axial loads. As shown in Figure 8, the tested columns were
representative of one-half of a column bent in double curvature.
Among the tested column specimens, the first specimen was designed for a pilot test, which is
used for the verification of the FE programme and analytical models. Details of the test specimen
are summarized in Table 3.
At the start of the test, axial load was applied to the column specimen, following which the column
was subjected to gradually increasing lateral displacement cycles.
The column, plates and supports were modelled as volumes. The combined volumes of the concrete
and reinforcing bars are shown in Figure 9. Figure 9 illustrates that the rebar shares the same nodes at
the points of intersection with the shear stirrups. The meshing of the reinforcement is a special case
Table 1. Far-fault ground motion database.

No. Earthquake Year Station Comp. Mw Dist. (km) PGA (g) PGV (cm/s) PGD (cm)
1 Kern County 1952 Taft 111 7.4 81 0.17 17.47 8.83
2 Tabas 1978 Dayhook TR 7.4 107 0.4 26.17 9.1
3 Imperial Valley 1979 Calexico 225 6.5 90.6 0.27 21.23 8.98
4 Loma Prieta 1989 Presidio 000 6.9 83.1 0.099 12.91 4.32
5 Loma Prieta 1989 Cliff House 90 6.9 84.4 0.107 19.78 5.06
6 Manjil 1990 Abbar L 7.3 74 0.51 42.46 14.92
7 Kocaeli 1999 Ambarli 90 7.4 78.9 0.18 33.22 25.84
Data source: PEER (http://peer.berkeley.edu/smcat).
PGA, peak ground acceleration; PGV, peak ground velocity; PGD, peak ground displacement.
Table 2. Near-fault ground motion database.

No. Earthquake Year Station Comp. Dist. (km) Mw PGA (g) PGV (cm/s) PGD (cm)
1 Tabas 1978 Tabas TR 3 7.4 0.85 121.22 95.06
2 Loma Prieta 1989 LGPC 00 1.3 7.0 0.56 94.71 41.13
3 Cape Mendocino 1992 Petrolia 90 9.5 7.1 0.66 89.68 28.99
4 Erzincan 1992 Erzincan NS 2 6.9 0.51 83.95 27.66
5 Northridge 1994 Rinaldi 228 7.1 6.7 0.83 166.03 28.15
6 Northridge 1994 Sylmar 360 6.4 6.7 0.84 129.3 31.92
7 Bam 2003 Bam L1 7 6.5 1.09 131.26 89.24
* Data source: PEER (http://peer.berkeley.edu/smcat)
PGA, peak ground acceleration; PGV, peak ground velocity; PGD, peak ground displacement.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
Figure 8. Modelling of the reinforced concrete column (Bae and Barak, 2008).
Table 3. Details of test specimen.

Longitudinal steel Transverse steel
Column
dimensions f ′c fys Tie spacing fy
Specimen (mm mm) (MPa) Bare size rl (%) (MPa) Bare size (mm) rs (%) (MPa) P
P0
S24-1UT 610 610 29.6 No. 9 2.08 579 No. 4 152 1.28 441 0.5
(a) (b)
Figure 9. (a) Column section and meshing in finite element programme; (b) reinforcement layout of
the analytical model.
compared with the volumes. No meshing of reinforcement is needed because individual elements were
created in the modelling through the nodes created by the mesh of the concrete volume.
The goal of the comparison in between the FE model and the experimental work is to ensure that the
model including its elements, material properties, real constants and convergence criteria is adequately
simulating the response of the member. The shear force–lateral displacement hysteresis curve of
the analytical model and the experimental work is shown in Figure 10. The results indicate that the
FE programme provides reasonable results and as such can be used to approximate the nonlinear
behaviour of RC columns under dynamic loading.
9. PARAMETRIC STUDY
In this section, several inelastic time-history analyses have been performed in order to predict the
plastic hinge length of RC columns using an FE programme, and the results are compared with the
corresponding experimental data. The FE programme is capable of predicting large displacement
behaviour of structures, taking into account both geometric nonlinearities and material inelasticity.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
4000
3000
2000
Shear Force (kN)

1000
0 A
-150 -100 -50 0 50 100 150 200
-1000
Experimental
-2000 Analytical
-3000
Lateral displacement (mm)
Figure 10. The shear force–lateral displacement hysteresis curve of analytical model and experimental
work.
The fibre modelling approach has been employed to represent the distribution of material nonlinearity
along the length and cross-sectional area of the member.
The advantage of this approach is that the yielding length and the exact value of plastic
rotation (shaded area in Figure 3) can be determined without using the idea of equivalent plastic hinge
length. Figure 3 illustrates how the analytical plastic rotation and the equivalent plastic hinge lengths
are determined.
In summary, first, the curvature along the member is obtained from the concrete strain in the
compression zone and from the steel strain in the tension zone at the ultimate state. Then, the plastic
rotation is obtained by integration, along the yielding length (where the curvature in the section is higher
than its yielding curvature), which is the length between the positions of the ultimate curvature and the
yielding curvature. Finally, the equivalent plastic hinge length is calculated from that plastic rotation.
Using the above method, the influence of various parameters (axial load level (P/P0), height–depth
ratio (L/h) and the amount of longitudinal reinforcement (rl = As/Ag)) on lp under the far-fault and near-
fault ground motions having forward-directivity effect is studied.
In the analysis, the modulus of elasticity (Young’s modulus) E = 30 kN/mm2, Poisson’s ratio
n = 0.20 and the mass density r = 24 kN/m3 are assumed in all models. The uni-axial strength for non-
linear modelling of the concrete is considered to be 35 MPa. The rebar is modelled as steel with a yield
strength of 400 MPa and an ultimate strength of 600 MPa. Detailed information about analytical
models can be found elsewhere (Mortezaei, 2010).
10. AXIAL LOAD LEVEL
To study the effect of axial load on the length of plastic hinge under far-fault and near-fault
earthquakes, 126 nonlinear dynamic analyses are conducted. The square RC columns (600 600
3000 mm3) with various levels of axial load under the 14 selected records (far-fault and near-fault)
are studied. The percentage of longitudinal reinforcements and height over depth ratios are kept
constant at 1% (rl = 0.01) and 5 (H/h = 5), respectively. Tables 4 and 5 and Figure 11 illustrate the
results of the analyses.
For all cases studied in Figure 11, the length of the plastic hinge is estimated using the procedure
described previously. As can be seen in the figure, for far-fault and near-fault ground motions,
the length of the plastic hinge is nearly constant at low axial loads (P ≤ 0.2P0). At low axial loads,
DOI: 10.1002/tal
Table 4. Predicted length of plastic hinge for different levels of axial load subjected to far-fault earthquakes.
Kern Imperial Axial
Average Tabas-Dayhook Manjil Loma-Presidio Loma-Cliff Kocaeli County Valley load
0.61 0.61 0.61 0.64 0.6 0.61 0.58 0.6 0
0.61 0.61 0.58 0.63 0.61 0.62 0.59 0.6 0.1
0.63 0.67 0.58 0.66 0.61 0.62 0.63 0.65 0.2
0.84 0.86 0.83 0.84 0.86 0.8 0.81 0.85 0.3
0.99 0.98 0.93 0.9 1.1 0.95 1.05 1 0.4
1.26 1.29 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.35 1.3 0.5
1.41 1.43 1.3 1.45 1.5 1.35 1.4 1.45 0.6
1.59 1.61 1.5 1.65 1.65 1.57 1.55 1.6 0.7
1.76 1.74 1.7 1.78 1.8 1.8 1.78 1.75 0.8
Table 5. Predicted length of plastic hinge for different levels of axial load subjected to near-fault
earthquakes.
Average Tabas Sylmar Rinaldi Loma LGPC Erzincan Cape Mendosino Bam Axial load
0.46 0.46 0.45 0.49 0.45 0.46 0.43 0.45 0
0.46 0.46 0.45 0.49 0.46 0.47 0.43 0.44 0.1
0.50 0.53 0.46 0.51 0.47 0.48 0.48 0.55 0.2
0.69 0.71 0.68 0.69 0.71 0.65 0.66 0.7 0.3
0.85 0.83 0.78 0.76 0.96 0.81 0.949 0.85 0.4
1.09 1 0.95 1.15 1.15 1.06 1.15 1.16 0.5
1.26 1.28 1.16 1.31 1.34 1.21 1.25 1.3 0.6
1.44 1.46 1.35 1.5 1.5 1.42 1.41 1.44 0.7
1.63 1.7 1.56 1.64 1.66 1.65 1.63 1.6 0.8
2 1.8
Plastic Hinge Length (Lp/h)
1.8 1.6
1.6 1.4
1.4
1.2
1.2
1
1
Imperial Valley 0.8 Bam
0.8 Kern County
Cape Mendosino
Kocaeli 0.6
0.6 Erzincan
Loma-Cliff Loma LGPC
0.4 Loma-Presidio 0.4
Rinaldi
Manjil Sylmar
0.2 0.2
Tabas-Dayhook Tabas
0 0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Axial Load (P/PO) Axial Load (P/PO)
(a) (b)
Figure 11. Relationship between plastic hinge length and axial load subjected to (a) far-fault and
(b) near-fault earthquakes.
the obtained lp values are equal to 0.60h and 0.45h for far-fault and near-fault earthquakes,
respectively. Starting at an axial load of approximately 0.2P0, lp increases with increasing axial loads.
The lp estimate of 0.60h (Figure 12) can be compared with 0.4h recommended by Park et al. (1982),
0.5h recommended by Paulay and Priestley (1992) and 0.25h by Bae and Bayrak (2008). The
differences observed in the lp estimates can be attributed to the displacement components used to
estimate the lp values. Bae and Bayrak (2008) only considered the flexural displacements as the strains
experienced by compression bars were obtained from the moment–curvature relationships. It is
important to note that for the calculation of lp in the present paper, flexural deformations were
considered, and deformations due to bar slip and shear deformations were calculated.
In the Bae and Bayrak experimental tests (2008), the critical section in the columns shifts away from
the face of the stub due to additional confinement effects provided by the stub. Because of the
DOI: 10.1002/tal
2
1.8

1.6
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4 Far Fault
0.2 Near Fault
0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
Axial Load (P/PO)
Figure 12. Comparison of relationship between plastic hinge length and axial load subjected to
far-fault and near-fault earthquakes (average amount).
additional confinement provided by the stub to adjacent sections, sections within a distance of
approximately 0.25h from the stub remain nearly undamaged. Therefore, in order to estimate the
length of the plastic hinge region (in which columns are expected to dissipate significant amounts of
inelastic energy by undergoing large inelastic deformations), Bae and Bayrak suggested subtracting
an amount of 0.25h from the overall length in which compressive reinforcing bar strains greater than
the yield strain are calculated. Adding the term of 0.25h and considering deformations due to bar slip
and shear deformations, Bae and Bayrak’s results have been shown to be in good agreement with the
experimental tests.
Chapter 20 of the Iranian Concrete Code (ICC, 2005) requires closely spaced transverse
reinforcement to be provided over a length (lo) from a joint face where flexural yielding is likely to
occur as a result of large inelastic lateral displacement of columns. The length (lo) required by the
ICC is one of the overall depth of a column, 1/6 of the clear height of a column or 450 mm, whichever
is the largest.
According to the ICC, the maximum axial load is calculated from Equation (21):

Nr max ¼ 0:8 a1 fc fc Ag As þ fs fy As ⇒Nr max ¼ 0:8P0
(21)
N ¼ ’ Nr max ¼ f 0:8P0 ¼ 0:72 0:8P0 ¼ 0:57P0
Figure 12 shows that the estimated lp approaches 1.35 h at an axial load of 0.57P0, which is the max-
imum axial load permitted in the ICC Building Code. Figure 12 also shows that for high axial loads,
the length of the region where large inelastic curvatures develop will be longer than the equivalent
plastic hinge region proposed by ICC (i.e. 1.0h). Therefore, the required length of closely spaced trans-
verse reinforcement needs to be larger than the estimated length of the plastic hinge region of 1.0h
from the joint face. In summary, the potential lp specified by ICC is not satisfactory for columns sup-
porting high axial loads.
11. HEIGHT–DEPTH RATIO (H/h)
In order to investigate the influence of H/h on the length of plastic hinge, 630 nonlinear dynamic
analyses were conducted. The square RC columns with various levels of axial loads and height over
depth ratios subjected to the 14 selected records, far-fault and near-fault records, were studied. At this
stage of the parametric study, the longitudinal reinforcement ratio was kept constant at rl = 0.01. The
results of the analyses are summarized in Figures 13–15.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
FF- P = 0.2 P0 NF Forward- P= 0.2 P0

0.72 0.58

0.7 0.56
0.54
0.68
0.52
Imperial Valley Bam
0.66 0.5
Kern County Cape Mendosino
0.64 Kocaeli 0.48 Erzincan
Loma-Cliff 0.46 Loma LGPC
0.62
Loma-Presidio Rinaldi
0.44
0.6 Manjil Sylmar
Tabas-Dayhook
0.42
Tabas
0.58 0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Heigth-Depth Ratio (H/h) Heigth-Depth Ratio (H/h)

1.05
0.9
1 0.85
Plastic Hinge Length

0.95 0.8
0.9 0.75
Imperial Valley 0.7 Bam
(Lp/h)
0.85
Kern County 0.65 Cape Mendosino
0.8 Kocaeli Erzincan
0.6
0.75 Loma-Cliff Loma LGPC
0.55
0.7 0.5
Manjil Sylmar
0.65 0.45
Tabas-Dayhook Tabas
0.6 0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10

1.5 1.4
1.4 1.3
1.2
1.3
1.2 1.1
Imperial Valley 1 Bam
(Lp/h)
1.1
Kern County 0.9 Cape Mendosino
1 Kocaeli Erzincan
0.8
0.9 Loma-Cliff Loma LGPC
0.7
0.8 0.6
Manjil Sylmar
0.7 Tabas-Dayhook 0.5
Tabas
0.6 0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10

1.8
2
1.6
1.8
1.4
1.6
Bam
(Lp/h)
Imperial Valley 1.2

1.4
Cape Mendosino
Kern County
1.2 1 Erzincan
Kocaeli
Loma LGPC
Loma-Cliff
1 0.8
Manjil 0.6 Sylmar

0.8
Tabas-Dayhook Tabas
0.6 0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
(a) (b)
Figure 13. Relationship between plastic hinge length and height–depth ratio for various levels of axial
load subjected to (a) far-fault and (b) near-fault earthquakes.
Adding the term of 0.25 h to the Bae and Bayrak experimental tests (2008) and considering
deformations resulting from bar slip and shear deformations helps in realising a good agreement with
the experimental tests.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
Far-Fault Near-Fault; Forward Directivity

2
1.7

1.8
1.6 1.5
0.1Po 0.1Po
1.4 0.2Po
1.3
0.2Po
(Lp/h)
0.3Po 1.1
(Lp/h)
1.2 0.3Po
0.4Po 0.4Po
1 0.5Po 0.9 0.5Po
0.8 0.7
0.6 0.5
0.4 0.3
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Height-Depth Ratio (H/h) Height-Depth Ratio (H/h)
(a) (b)
Figure 14. Relationship between plastic hinge length (average) and height–depth ratio for various
levels of axial load subjected to (a) far-fault and (b) near-fault earthquakes.
2
1.8 Far-Fault
1.6
Near-Fault
1.4
1.2
1
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Height-Depth Ratio (H/h)
Figure 15. Comparison between plastic hinge lengths subjected to far-fault and near-fault earthquakes
for various levels of axial load and height–depth ratio (H/h).
As is seen in Figure 14, lp increases as H/h increases for a given axial load level. At low axial loads
(0.2P0), the increases observed in lp with increasing H/h are insignificant. For a given H/h, the lp
increases as axial loads increase. The increases in lp observed at small H/h (2 < H/h < 3) are less
pronounced than those observed at large H/h values. The results (Figure 15) show that the plastic hinge
length in RC columns subjected to near-fault earthquakes is lower than the plastic hinge length in RC
columns subjected to far-fault earthquakes. This could perhaps be because, in near-fault earthquakes,
most of the seismic energy from the rupture arrives in a single large pulse of motion, which occurs at
the beginning of the record. The arrival of the velocity pulse in a near-fault record causes the structure
to dissipate considerable input energy in relatively few plastic cycles.
12. AMOUNT OF LONGITUDINAL REINFORCEMENT (rL = As/Ag)
Past studies have shown that the length of a plastic hinge is influenced by the amount of longitudinal
reinforcement (rl = As/Ag). To study the effect of longitudinal reinforcement on lp, square columns with
L/h of 5 were studied. These square RC columns have various levels of axial load and amounts of
longitudinal reinforcement. In total, 630 nonlinear dynamic analyses were conducted, and the results
of the parametric study are summarized in Figures 16–18.
As can be observed in Figure 16, for both far-fault and near-fault earthquakes, plastic hinge lengths
increase with longitudinal reinforcement ratio (rl). Figure 17 indicates this trend for various axial load
DOI: 10.1002/tal
FF- P= 0.2 P0 NF Forward- P= 0.2 P0

1.6 1.3
Plastic Hinge Length (L p/h)

1.2

1.4
1.1
1.2 1
Imperial Valley Bam
0.9
1 Kern County Cape Mendosino
Kocaeli 0.8 Erzincan
0.8 Loma-Cliff 0.7 Loma LGPC
Loma-Presidio
Rinaldi
0.6
0.6 Manjil
Sylmar
Tabas-Dayhook 0.5
Tabas
0.4 0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Longitudinal Reinforcement (As/Ag) (%) Longitudinal Reinforcement(As/Ag) (%)

1.8 1.6

1.6 1.4
1.4 1.2
Imperial Valley Bam
1.2 Kern County 1 Cape Mendosino
Kocaeli Erzincan
1 Loma-Cliff 0.8 Loma LGPC

0.8 Manjil 0.6 Sylmar
Tabas-Dayhook Tabas
0.6 0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Longitudinal Reinforcement (As/Ag) (%) Longitudinal Reinforcement(As/Ag) (%)
FF- P= 0.4 P0 1.8

NF Forward- P= 0.4 P0
2
1.8 1.6
1.6 1.4
Bam
1.4 Imperial Valley 1.2
Kern County Cape Mendosino
1.2 Kocaeli 1 Erzincan

1 0.8
0.8 Manjil 0.6 Sylmar

Tabas-Dayhook Tabas
0.6 0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Longitudinal Reinforcement (As/Ag) (%) Longitudinal Reinforcement (As/Ag) (%)

2.2 2
2 1.8
1.8 1.6
1.6 1.4
Imperial Valley Bam
1.4 Kern County 1.2 Cape Mendosino
Kocaeli Erzincan
1.2 1
1 Loma-Presidio 0.8 Rinaldi
Manjil Sylmar
0.8 0.6
Tabas-Dayhook Tabas
0.6 0.4
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Longitudinal Reinforcement (As/Ag) (%) Longitudinal Reinforcement (As/Ag) (%)
(a) (b)
Figure 16. Relationship between plastic hinge length and reinforcement ratio for various levels of
axial load subjected to (a) far-fault and (b) near-fault earthquakes.
levels. For all of the axial load levels, lp increases with increasing rl values. As before (Figure 15),
Figure 18 shows that plastic hinge lengths in RC columns subjected to near-fault earthquakes are
smaller than plastic hinge lengths in RC columns subjected to far-fault earthquakes.
DOI: 10.1002/tal
Far-Fault Near-Fault; Forward Directivity

2

1.7
1.8

1.5
1.6
0.1Po 1.3 0.1Po
1.4 0.2Po 0.2Po
(Lp/h)
0.3Po 1.1 0.3Po
1.2
0.4Po 0.4Po
1 0.5Po
0.9 0.5Po
0.8 0.7
0.6 0.5
0.4 0.3
0 2 4 6 8 10 0 2 4 6 8 10
Longitudinal Reinforcement(As/Ag) (%) Longitudinal Reinforcement(As/Ag) (%)
(a) (b)
Figure 17. Relationship between plastic hinge length (average) and reinforcement ratio for various
levels of axial load subjected to (a) far-fault and (b) near-fault earthquakes.
1.8 Far-Fault
Ne ar-Fault
1.6
1.4
1.2
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 2 4 6 8 10
Longitudinal Reinforcement(As/Ag) (%)
Figure 18. Comparison between plastic hinge lengths subjected to far-fault and near-fault earthquakes
for various levels of axial load and reinforcement ratio (rl).
13. PROPOSED EXPRESSION FOR PLASTIC HINGE LENGTH
Several factors influence the length of plastic hinge, such as (a) level of axial load, (b) moment
gradient, (c) the value of shear stress in the plastic hinge region, (d) the amount and mechanical
properties of longitudinal and transverse reinforcement, (e) strength of concrete, (f) level of
confinement provided in the potential plastic hinge zone and (g) different characteristics of
earthquakes. The simplified equations available in the literature do not contain all, or even most,
of the aforementioned factors. Hence, large variations exist in the values of plastic hinge length
calculated using these empirical equations, as shown clearly in Figure 4. Bae and Bayrak (2008)
presented an expression for the estimation of plastic hinge length of RC columns. Compared
with other equations presented by other researchers (Equations 7–19), this equation includes
the level of axial force (P/P0), height over depth ratio (H/h) and amount of longitudinal steel
(As/Ag). However, this equation presents a problem in that only flexural displacements were
considered in the proposed analysis. As the strains experienced by the compression bars were
obtained from the moment–curvature relationships, they did not include the deformations due to
bar slip and B2 shear.
With the analytical results obtained in this study, the following equations are suggested for the
estimation of plastic hinge length in RC columns subjected to far-fault and near-fault earthquakes:
DOI: 10.1002/tal

lp P As H
¼ 0:4 þ3 0:1 þ 0:6≥0:6 ðforfar-faultearthquakesÞ (22)
h P0 Ag h

lp P As H
¼ 0:4 þ3 0:1 þ 0:45≥0:45 ðfornear-faultearthquakesÞ (23)
h P0 Ag h
In the above equations, h is the overall depth of column, P is the applied axial load, P0 is the
nominal axial load capacity, As the area of tension reinforcement, Ag the gross area of concrete section
and H is the distance from critical section to the point of contraflexure.
The above equations are in a similar form to Bae and Bayrak (2008) but with different coefficients.
These equations compare favourably with the calculated values in this paper and the measured values
reported in the Bae and Bayrak experimental work (2008).
To investigate the accuracy of the above equations, the plastic hinge length of four RC columns
specimens that were tested by Bae and Bayrak (2008) are estimated using various expressions and
compared with the measured plastic hinge length in Table 6.
The result of comparison show that by means of the proposed equations, reasonable estimations
can be made of the plastic hinge length of RC columns under high and low axial load levels. Also,
the result of comparison of proposed equations and some past equations shows that using some
equations may overestimate the plastic hinge length of RC columns and vice versa, but the proposed
equations can calculate the plastic hinge length of RC columns reasonably, in both high level and low
level axial loads.
14. CONCLUDING REMARKS
Plastic hinges form at the maximum moment regions of RC columns. The determination of the length
of plastic hinge is a critical step in predicting the lateral load versus drift response of columns. As it is
difficult to estimate the plastic hinge length using analytical methods, it is often estimated based on
experimental data or empirical equations. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive analytical
study on the length of plastic hinge in RC columns. Hundreds of time-history analyses have been
performed in order to evaluate the plastic hinge lengths, and the results are presented. The following
conclusions can be drawn based on the results:
• The analytical results show good correlation with the available experimental results and indicate
the usefulness of the nonlinear FE as a powerful tool to study the behaviour of different types of
RC elements subjected to near-fault earthquakes having forward-directivity effect.
• The above-mentioned method of calculating the plastic hinge length gives good correlation with the
experimental values.
• The results show that potential lp specified by the ICC is not satisfactory for columns supporting
high axial loads and can even be nonconservative in some cases. It is suggested that the length of
the region in which closely spaced ties are used is increased from 1.0h to 1.5h from the joint face.
• Analytical models for columns analysed under high axial loads exhibit longer plastic hinges than
those analysed under low axial loads.
Table 6. Estimated plastic hinge length by various expressions.
Park Paulay & Sheikh & Proposed

Specimen Baker Corley Mattock et al. Priestley Khoury Measured equation
S24-2UT 0.6h 0.49h 0.70h 0.40h 0.80h 1.00h 0.66h 1.04h
S17-3UT 0.65h 0.52h 0.80h 0.40h 0.96h 1.00h 0.91h 1.24h
S24-4UT 0.62h 0.49h 0.70h 0.40h 0.72h 1.00h 0.49h 0.69h
S24-5UT 0.56h 0.49h 0.70h 0.40h 0.72h 1.00h 0.47h 0.69h
DOI: 10.1002/tal
• The plastic hinge length in RC columns subjected to near-fault earthquakes is lower than the plastic
hinge length in RC columns subjected to far-fault earthquakes, possibly because in near-fault
earthquakes, most of the seismic energy from the rupture arrives in a single large pulse of motion
that occurs at the beginning of the record. The arrival of the velocity pulse in a near-fault record
causes the structure to dissipate considerable input energy in relatively few plastic cycles.
• The following equations, developed in this research, provide a further insight into the understanding
of the plastic hinge length of RC members and allow a better estimation of the plastic hinge length of
RC members under various far-fault and near-fault ground motions:

lp P As H
¼ 0:4 þ3 0:1 þ 0:6≥0:6 ðforfar-faultearthquakesÞ
h P0 Ag h

lp P As H
¼ 0:4 þ3 0:1 þ 0:45≥0:45 ðfornear-faultearthquakesÞ
h P0 Ag h
REFERENCES
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AUTHORS’ BIOGRAPHIES
Alireza Mortezaei received his master’s and Ph.D. in Structural Earthquake Engineering from
Semnan University and his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Islamic Azad University
at Semnan Branch, Semnan, Iran. He was at the University of Queensland, Australia, on sabbatical
leave in 2009 where he managed to complete the study related to this publication. He is currently
assistant professor and deputy vice president of research and technology of the Islamic Azad
University at Semnan Branch. His research interests lie in the Structural Dynamics and Nonlinear
Behavior of RC Structures under the Near-Fault Ground Motions.
Hamid Reza Ronagh is a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland, Australia. He received his
PhD from the University of New South Wales in 1996 and since then has been working as an academic
and consultant to the industry. He has published over 100 scholarly papers and has graduated 4 PhD
students. His research interests are in the area of Structural Strengthening, Nonlinear Modeling and
Cold-Formed Steel.
DOI: 10.1002/tal

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THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF TALL AND SPECIAL BUILDINGS

Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. (2011)

Plastic hinge length of reinforced concrete columns subjected

Alireza Mortezaei1 and Hamid Reza Ronagh2*†

Received 7 April 2011; Revised 2 July 2011; Accepted 20 September 2011

Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Figure 1. Formation of plastic hinge in different locations.

3. DEFINITION OF PLASTIC HINGE LENGTH

3.1. Analytical method

Figure 2. Qualitative moment–curvature relationship.

3.2. Experimental method

3.3. Empirical methods

where c is the depth of the neural axis at the ultimate moment.

"  rffiffiffi (  rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi)#

where both d and z are in inches.

lp ¼ 0:25d þ 0:075z (10)

where both d and z are in inches.

lp ¼ 0:5d þ 0:05z (12)

4.6. Park et al.

lp ¼ 0:08L þ 0:15db fy ð fy in ksiÞ

4.7. Riva and Cohn

• From yielding to reinforcement strain hardening:

4.8. Sakai and Sheikh

4.9. Sheikh et al.

4.11. Correal et al.

4.12. Oehlers et al.

4.13. Berry et al.

4.14. Bae and Bayrak

5. A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE FINDINGS REPORTED IN THE PAST STUDIES

6. CHARACTERISTICS OF NEAR-FAULT GROUND MOTIONS

Riva & Cohn

Figure 4. Comparison of different equations for plastic hinge length.

Figure 5. Zones of directivity (Orozco and Ashford, 2002).

7. GROUND MOTION DATABASE

(a) Taft record of 1952 Kern County earthquake

(b) Rinaldi record of 1994 Northridge earthquake

8. VERIFICATION OF ANALYTICAL MODELS

Table 1. Far-fault ground motion database.

Table 2. Near-fault ground motion database.

Table 3. Details of test specimen.

Shear Force (kN)

10. AXIAL LOAD LEVEL

Plastic Hinge Length (Lp/h)

0.2 Near Fault

11. HEIGHT–DEPTH RATIO (H/h)

FF- P = 0.2 P0 NF Forward- P= 0.2 P0

Plastic Hinge Length (Lp/h)

Plastic Hinge Length (Lp/h)

FF- P = 0.3 P0 NF Forward- P= 0.3 P0

Plastic Hinge Length

FF- P = 0.4 P0 NF Forward- P= 0.4 P0

FF- P = 0.5 P0 NF Forward- P= 0.5 P0

Imperial Valley 1.2

Manjil 0.6 Sylmar

Far-Fault Near-Fault; Forward Directivity

Plastic Hinge Length

Plastic Hinge Length

12. AMOUNT OF LONGITUDINAL REINFORCEMENT (rL = As/Ag)

FF- P= 0.2 P0 NF Forward- P= 0.2 P0

Plastic Hinge Length (L p/h)

Plastic Hinge Length (Lp/h)

FF- P= 0.3 P0 NF Forward- P= 0.3 P0

Plastic Hinge Length (Lp/h)

" rffiffiffi ( rffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi)#