Design Deformation Limits for Damage Control in Reinforced Concrete Frame Components across Ductility Classes

2025 · doi:10.21203/rs.3.rs-7623285/v1
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This study developed a database of reinforced concrete cyclic tests and proposes new design curvature ductility limits to achieve a uniform 10% probability of exceeding lateral strength loss, resulting in increased beam and column cross-sectional areas.

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The preprint studies how to define reinforced concrete (RC) frame component deformation limits aimed at damage control and improved repairability after design-level earthquakes, using cyclic test evidence for ductile plastic hinge region classes (DPR, LDPR, NDPR) consistent with NZS 3101:2006. The authors compile a database of cyclic beam and column specimen tests and develop formulations to predict a repairability deformation limit, defined at lateral strength loss (LSL), using chord rotation, plastic rotation, and curvature ductility; they report that existing curvature ductility limits correspond to estimated exceedance probabilities at LSL of 60–80% (DPR), 40–60% (LDPR), and 5–10% (NDPR). They propose new design limits to target a uniform 10% probability of exceeding deformation at LSL and demonstrate via redesign of two New Zealand multi-storey buildings that beam and column cross-sectional areas increase by about 20% and 45%, respectively. A major caveat explicitly noted is that the work is a Research Square preprint and has not been peer reviewed. The paper does not explicitly discuss endometriosis or adenomyosis; it was included in the corpus via a keyword match in the upstream search index.

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Abstract

Abstract Current design deformation limits in building codes (e.g., NZS 3101:2006) target life-safety performance objectives. With the intent of promoting post-earthquake functional recovery, there has been a drive towards defining deformation limits that target damage control and increased repairability (i.e., reduce the probability of requiring post-earthquake performance-critical repair) following design level events. To address this gap, first, this paper develops a database of cyclic tests on reinforced concrete beam and column specimens with Ductile Plastic Hinge Region (DPR), Limited Ductile Plastic Hinge Region (LDPR) and Nominally Ductile Plastic Hinge Region (NDPR) in accordance with NZS 3101:2006. Second, formulations for predicting the repairability deformation limit, defined in the paper as the deformation capacity at the lateral strength loss (LSL), was explored in terms of chord rotation, plastic rotation and curvature ductility. Analysis showed that the current curvature ductility limits for DPR (K d = 19), LDPR (K d = 11) and NDPR (K d = 3) implied 60–80% probabilities, 40–60% probabilities and 5–10% probabilities of exceeding the deformation at LSL, respectively. This study proposes new design limits that target a uniform 10% probability of exceeding the deformation at LSL across all frame components. Finally, two multi-storey buildings in New Zealand were redesigned using the proposed deformation limits to examine their impact on the cross-sectional sizes of beams and columns. For both buildings, it is demonstrated that the proposed design limits increased the beam and column cross-sectional area by 20% and 45%, respectively, relative to the current NZS 3101:2006 design limits.
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Design Deformation Limits for Damage Control in Reinforced Concrete Frame Components across Ductility Classes | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Design Deformation Limits for Damage Control in Reinforced Concrete Frame Components across Ductility Classes Ryo Kuwabara, Eyitayo Opabola, Lucas Hogan, Kenneth Elwood This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7623285/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Current design deformation limits in building codes (e.g., NZS 3101:2006) target life-safety performance objectives. With the intent of promoting post-earthquake functional recovery, there has been a drive towards defining deformation limits that target damage control and increased repairability (i.e., reduce the probability of requiring post-earthquake performance-critical repair) following design level events. To address this gap, first, this paper develops a database of cyclic tests on reinforced concrete beam and column specimens with Ductile Plastic Hinge Region (DPR), Limited Ductile Plastic Hinge Region (LDPR) and Nominally Ductile Plastic Hinge Region (NDPR) in accordance with NZS 3101:2006. Second, formulations for predicting the repairability deformation limit, defined in the paper as the deformation capacity at the lateral strength loss (LSL), was explored in terms of chord rotation, plastic rotation and curvature ductility. Analysis showed that the current curvature ductility limits for DPR (K d = 19), LDPR (K d = 11) and NDPR (K d = 3) implied 60–80% probabilities, 40–60% probabilities and 5–10% probabilities of exceeding the deformation at LSL, respectively. This study proposes new design limits that target a uniform 10% probability of exceeding the deformation at LSL across all frame components. Finally, two multi-storey buildings in New Zealand were redesigned using the proposed deformation limits to examine their impact on the cross-sectional sizes of beams and columns. For both buildings, it is demonstrated that the proposed design limits increased the beam and column cross-sectional area by 20% and 45%, respectively, relative to the current NZS 3101:2006 design limits. Deformation capacity repairability design limit reinforced concrete beam column Full Text Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. 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column","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7623285/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7623285/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eCurrent design deformation limits in building codes (e.g., NZS 3101:2006) target life-safety performance objectives. With the intent of promoting post-earthquake functional recovery, there has been a drive towards defining deformation limits that target damage control and increased repairability (i.e., reduce the probability of requiring post-earthquake performance-critical repair) following design level events. To address this gap, first, this paper develops a database of cyclic tests on reinforced concrete beam and column specimens with Ductile Plastic Hinge Region (DPR), Limited Ductile Plastic Hinge Region (LDPR) and Nominally Ductile Plastic Hinge Region (NDPR) in accordance with NZS 3101:2006. Second, formulations for predicting the repairability deformation limit, defined in the paper as the deformation capacity at the lateral strength loss (LSL), was explored in terms of chord rotation, plastic rotation and curvature ductility. Analysis showed that the current curvature ductility limits for DPR (K\u003csub\u003ed\u003c/sub\u003e = 19), LDPR (K\u003csub\u003ed\u003c/sub\u003e = 11) and NDPR (K\u003csub\u003ed\u003c/sub\u003e = 3) implied 60\u0026ndash;80% probabilities, 40\u0026ndash;60% probabilities and 5\u0026ndash;10% probabilities of exceeding the deformation at LSL, respectively. This study proposes new design limits that target a uniform 10% probability of exceeding the deformation at LSL across all frame components. Finally, two multi-storey buildings in New Zealand were redesigned using the proposed deformation limits to examine their impact on the cross-sectional sizes of beams and columns. For both buildings, it is demonstrated that the proposed design limits increased the beam and column cross-sectional area by 20% and 45%, respectively, relative to the current NZS 3101:2006 design limits.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Design Deformation Limits for Damage Control in Reinforced Concrete Frame Components across Ductility Classes","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2025-10-07 02:39:49","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7623285/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"45bccd7e-ee36-4011-8a4f-be15382d5ec1","owner":[],"postedDate":"October 7th, 2025","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"posted","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-04-03T09:57:45+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2025-10-07 02:39:49","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-7623285","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-7623285","identity":"rs-7623285","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"8U1c8b4HqxoKbykW_rLl7","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}

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