This study develops a 2D computational parametric analysis of ordinary reinforced concrete (RC) frames, located in seismic zone, with the aim to evaluate some design suggestions with respect to their effectiveness in increasing the structural robustness. Specifically, a five‐storey and four‐span 2D RC moment resisting frame is considered, designed in a highly seismic area according to both Italian and European codes. Subsequently, respecting the seismic design code provisions through a cyclic design procedure, some modifications are suggested regarding the layout of the longitudinal reinforcement bars of the beams to exploit the continuity, Vierendeel behavior and influence of the side face reinforcement bars in the beams. For the different modifications, nonlinear finite element pushdown analyses of the whole frames are performed by imposing a monotonically increasing vertical displacement at the point of the column removal in Atena‐2D and considering the presence of the orthogonal framed systems. Furthermore, two different failure scenarios are examined. The numerical force‐displacement capacity curves corresponding to the different proposed design suggestions are investigated and compared. The results have demonstrated the effectiveness in improving the structural robustness of the proposed solutions, especially, of the side face reinforcement bars with respect to both flexural and catenary behavior. The outcomes have also highlighted the compatibility between design criteria of both robustness and earthquake engineering.

This study proposes new strategies for the semi‐active control of the dynamic response of a plan‐wise asymmetrical structural system using viscoelastic devices. Different from some literature proposals, these innovative strategies are designed to be immediately interpretable, aiming to optimize the different terms of the energy balance equation through a set of closed‐form analytical control algorithms to manage the properties of semi‐active devices. Specifically, four algorithms have been developed to maximize the energy dissipated by the system or minimize the elastic energy, kinetic energy, and input energy. These algorithms have been tested through an extensive numerical investigation by modifying the main structural parameters of the asymmetrical system and considering 85 accelerometric input signals with different dynamic characteristics related to both far‐field and near‐fault records. The effectiveness of the four proposed strategies, aimed to modify the semi‐active device properties, was evaluated by comparing the seismic responses of asymmetric systems, in terms of both relative displacement and energy components, with the regular configuration of semi‐active devices (i.e., passive control) and other algorithms, such as “Kamagata & Kobori” and “sky hook” finalized, respectively, to manage stiffness and damping extra‐structural resources. The results demonstrated the effectiveness of the proposed strategies, especially, in the presence of flexible systems and high‐demanding near‐fault seismic events.

This study describes the robustness assessment of 3D reinforced concrete structures analyzing the response of the 2D frames in different design configurations and failure scenarios. The structures are characterized by both frames with wide beams and seismic‐resistant frames with deep beams. Three structural design configurations are investigated: the code configuration and two configurations improved with respect to robustness. For any configuration, four different failure scenarios are considered, removing specific supporting columns. For any failure scenario and design configuration, 2D non‐linear finite element (NLFE) simulations are carried out to evaluate the behavior of the two frames along the two orthogonal directions. In any analysis, the contribution of the frame, located along the orthogonal direction, is considered by means of translation springs having non‐linear constitutive laws specific for the inward and outward movements. By imposing an increasing displacement at the top of the removed column, the corresponding capacity curves have been defined. Successively, the two plane NLFE capacity curves are superimposed to define the global response of the framed structure. This superposition is validated through the comparison with 3D non‐linear analyses. The results demonstrate the importance of calibrating the non‐linear constitutive laws of the springs, particularly for large vertical displacements and some failure scenarios. The frames with wide beams improve, especially, the global ductility. In addition, it is confirmed the superposition of the plane NLFE capacity curves of the two orthogonal frames. Finally, by means of the energy‐based approach, the benefits of the robustness design improvements are highlighted.