RELIABILITY OF MDOF-SYSTEMS WITH HYSTERETIC DEVICES

Hysteretic devices (Hydes) such as friction based devices to reduce ex cessive vibrations in buildings have been used successfully for new bu ildings and the upgrading of RC/frames as well as other type of struct ures against earthquake effects, This is due to the fact that such sys tems can limit the story drift below the quasi-elastic limit, For the purpose of controlling vibrational characteristics, the frictional dev ices are assembled throughout the structure, As in a well designed sys tem the input energy due to strong earthquakes is largely dissipated b y the friction devices during only a few inelastic cycles, the remaini ng structure stays elastic, The stochastic structural analysis is base d on Monte-Carlo simulation and controlled Monte-Carlo simulation proc edures, i.e. 'double and clump' as a further development to assess the reliability of complex structural systems, For the mechanical modelin g the FE-method is utilized, In a numerical example (three-story struc ture) the effect of the frictional devices (two-dimensional), under bi -directional earthquake loading, on the structural reliability is show n. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.