[Dohadwala, 3(2): February, 2014] ISSN: 2277-9655

Impact Factor: 1.852

IJESRT
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENGINEERING SCIENCES & RESEARCH
TECHNOLOGY
A State of Art Literature Review on Direct Displacement-Based Design for Seismic
Structural Analysis
Alefiya T. Dohadwala*1, Rutvik K. Sheth2, Dr. Indrajit N. Patel3
*1
P. G. Student, 3Professor, Structural Engineering Department, B.V. M. Engineering College, V .V.
Nagar, Gujarat, India
2
Assistant Professor, Civil Engineering Department, D. D. University, Nadiad, Gujarat, India
alefiyatd@yahoo.com
Abstract
Earthquakes are one of the most disastrous forces which cannot be stopped or prevented but their effects
can be minimized with minimal causalities’ of lives and structural damages. Over the past decade, analysis and
determination of the seismic site response has gone from a topic of controversy to the mainstream issue addressed in
most building codes, research and practice. Structural design has headed a path from Working Stress Design towards
Performance-based Design. As design criteria are expressed in terms of achieving stated performance objectives
when the structure is subjected to stated levels of seismic hazard. Performance levels, indeed, are described in terms
of displacements, as damage is better correlated to displacements rather than forces. As a consequence, new design
approaches, based on displacements, have been recently implemented. One of such approach is the Direct
Displacement-Based Design (DDBD), firstly proposed by Priestley (1993). The fundamental principle of DDBD is
to obtain a structure which will reach a target displacement profile when subjected to earthquakes consistent with a
given reference response spectrum. An importance of DDBD that has been extracted from different literatures has
been described in this paper.

Keywords: Concrete structures, Direct displacement-based design, Displacement, Force-based design, Performance-
based seismic design etc…
Introduction
Amongst all the natural hazards, earthquakes for seismic resistance, strength and performance have
are the predominant, leading to critical and major been considered to be compatible to each other.
damage to the structures and causalities’ to the However, over the past 25 years there has been a
human beings. The Buildings, which appeared to be gradual shift from this position with the realization
strong enough, may crumble like houses of cards that increasing strength may not actually increase
during an earthquake and deficiencies are exposed. safety, neither necessarily reduce damage. This lead
There is no simple, reliable and full-proof rule that to an approach towards a new design concept called
produces a safe and economical structure each time. “Performance-Based Seismic Design (PBSD)”.
Since, earthquake forces are random in nature and PBSD is a modern designing concept of seismic
unpredictable, the engineering tools need to be resistant structure. Performance-based design is a
sharpened for analyzing structures under the action of more general design philosophy in which the design
these forces. Only the right estimate of the criteria are expressed in terms of achieving stated
earthquake force and reliable seismic analysis finds performance objectives when the structure is
the way to minimize the damage in casualties and subjected to stated levels of seismic hazard. Since,
structures. 1994 Northridge earthquake and other earthquakes
Designing process for making structure around the world during the end of the 20th century
seismic resistance has been undergoing a critical were an eye-opener for the use of PBSD.
reappraisal in recent years, with the emphasis Current seismic codes are based on Forced
changing from strength to performance. There is Based Design (FBD). Current force-based design
increasing agreement among researchers and (spectral acceleration-based design) is considerably
professionals that future seismic design needs to be improved compared with procedures used in earlier
based on achieving multiple performance objectives. years, there are many fundamental problems with the
During the mid of the 20th century, the period over procedure, particularly when applied to reinforced
which the codes adopted specific design calculations concrete structures. Although the structure is
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[Dohadwala, 3(2): February, 2014] ISSN: 2277-9655
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designed to yield during the design earthquake, only Various literatures related to displacement-based
the elastic part of the response, up to yield, is seismic design of R.C. structures studied are briefly
examined. The analysis is based on the corresponding mentioned below.
secant stiffness. To overcome the problems with FBD Basic concept of Direct Displacement Based Design
a newly design concept has been developed known as (DDBD)
Direct Displacement Based Design (DDBD), a part • Priestley M. J. N. et al.[9] discussed
came out from performance-based seismic design, conceptual problems with current force
which promise a more rational design philosophy based design, seismic input for
compared to the conventional Force-Based Design displacement-based design, fundamentals of
(FBD). direct displacement-based design, and
Introduction of Direct Displacement Based Design analytical tools appropriate for
(DDBD) displacement-based design. The design
Performance-based seismic design criteria, procedure developed is based on a secant-
intended to produce structures that satisfy specific stiffness (rather than initial stiffness)
performance objectives. Performance levels, indeed, representation of structural response, using a
are described in terms of displacements, as damage is level of damping equivalent to the combined
better correlated to displacements rather than forces. effects of elastic and hysteretic damping.
As a consequence, new design approaches, based on The design method is extremely simple to
displacements, have been recently implemented. One apply, and very successful in providing
of such approach is the Direct Displacement-Based dependable and predictable seismic
Design (DDBD), firstly proposed by Priestley (1993). response. The DBD based on elastic
DDBD is based on the observation, that damage is response spectra is briefly narrated. DBD
directly related to strain (structural effects) or drift based on in-elastic response spectra is also
(non-structural effects), and both can be integrated to discussed.
obtain displacements. The fundamental philosophy • Vidot-Vega Aidcer Linalynn[15] carried out
behind the design approach is to design a structure a research work, (1) to study the
which would achieve, rather than bonded by, a given relationships between material strain and
performance limit state under a given seismic deformation parameters such as curvature
intensity. The fundamental difference between FBD and drift for reinforced concrete (RC)
and DDBD characterizes the structure to be designed moment frame structures and (2) to identify
by as a single degree of freedom representation of the load history effects on these
performance at peak displacement response, rather relationships. Through the use of moment-
than by its initial elastic characteristics. curvature analysis between strain and
Aim and Objective of the study curvature for rectangular reinforced concrete
The aim of this literature review is to sections were explored. The curvature
understand the design philosophy and lacuna of expressions were subsequently used to
force-based design method as well as the importance develop equations to compute inter-storey
of displacement criteria in seismic design of concrete drift based on strain limits for RC moment
structures and understanding the design philosophy frames. The resultant equations can be used
of direct displacement-based design method. This in performance-based design approaches
literature will enhance the problem identification such as Direct Displacement-Based Design
strategy for the further scope of work. (DDBD) to compute target drifts and system
displacements for prescribed limit states
Literature Review based on material strains. Inter-storey drift
Literature survey is carried out to know the ratios for concrete compression and tension
extent and quantum of work done in a particular area. steel limits were obtained for different
This particular paper is focussed towards literature values of longitudinal or mechanical steel
study pertaining to DDBD. Literature survey gives ratio. The Inter storey drift, Displacement
ideas about the limit, extent and scope of the work Ductility and Equivalent Damping were
and also helps in framing the objective. Findings of presented as a function of beam aspect
different authors contributed towards direct (beam length to depth) ratio content here.
displacement-based design (DDBD) with their major Implementation of Direct Displacement Based
findings are reported as follows. Design (DDBD) Method
• Chopra A. K. and Goel R. K.[3] developed
Direct Displacement-Based Design (DDBD)

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[Dohadwala, 3(2): February, 2014] ISSN: 2277-9655
Impact Factor: 1.852
procedure which is based on the well-known • Damir Dzakic, Ivan Kraus and Dragan
concepts of inelastic design spectra. This Moric [4] presents the theory and
procedure provides an accurate value of application of this method using a reinforced
displacement and ductility demands, and a concrete frame structures. The frame
structural design that satisfies the design structure is designed with implementing
criteria for allowable plastic rotation. It was Eurocode 8 regulations. Furthermore, results
shown that, the existing procedure using obtained using direct displacement based
elastic design spectra for equivalent linear design method are compared to the ones
systems to underestimate the displacement obtained using multimodal response
and ductility demands, significantly. It is spectrum method. The DDBD is defined in
also that, the existing design procedure is great measure and well accepted in science,
deficient in a sense - plastic rotation demand but the traditional and well accepted force
may exceed the acceptable value of the based method found its place in practical
plastic rotation, than designed. This leads to engineering. It offers significant control over
a false impression that the allowable plastic the analysis and design. Unlike the force
rotation constraint has been satisfied. The based method, in DDBD the limit states are
step-by-step procedure to perform DDBD not checked, rather those are used as an
using elastic and inelastic design spectra is input data.
presented in literature. Comparison among Comparative Studies
both the methods has been carried out • Psycharis Ioannis N. [13] did comparative
through illustrative example of Single study by two approaches. (1) Check of an
Degree of Freedom (SDOF) system. already predesigned structure and make
• Pettinga J. D. and Priestley M. J. N. [8] has improvements (increase dimensions of cross
been used to evaluate the application and section) only to members that have
effectiveness of the direct displacement- problems. (2) Design from the beginning the
based design (DDBD) method to reinforced structure for a certain displacement (Direct
concrete tube-frames. Using a set of six Displacement-Based Design - DDBD). The
uniform structures of 2, 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20 design displacement is usually determined
storeys in height, the design method and the by serviceability or ultimate capacity
inelastic dynamic behaviour have been considerations. He concludes that the use of
critically assessed, and where needed displacement design spectra is problematic,
procedures have been revised or added to due to many uncertainties. The plastic
the DDBD process in order to develop a rotation capacity of a section is not easy to
method capable of meeting the specified be calculated (empirical formulas exist for
performance based requirements. simple cross sections only). DDBD might
• Sheikh M Neaz, Tsang Hing-Ho and Lam not converge in some cases.
Nelson [14] presents simple expressions for • Priestley M.J.N., Grant D.N. and Blandon
estimating the effective yield curvature for C.A. [10] shown that the emphasis on secant
normal- and high-strength circular stiffness to maximum displacement, rather
reinforced concrete (RC) columns based on than initial stiffness (as in force-based
moment-curvature analyses of 200 column seismic design) is important for rational
sections. Such expressions can be force-distribution to different seismic-
programmed into the spreadsheet format and resisting structural elements, and in most
can be used for the displacement-based cases obviates the need for iteration in the
design of RC columns. Influence of different design process, which is inherent in
parameters on the effective yield curvature displacement-focused force-based seismic
has also been quantified. Effective yield design. It is shown that the influence of
curvature is presented in terms of the gross hysteretic characteristics has been
diameter of the section and the yield strain underestimated in recent force-based
of the longitudinal reinforcement together studies. These assertions are supported by
with three modification factors that take into results of recent analytical studies, which
account the effects of the compressive have included refinement of
strength of concrete, the axial load ratio and ductility/equivalent-viscous damping
the quantity of longitudinal reinforcement. relationships, and an examination of the
important (and largely ignored) role of

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[Dohadwala, 3(2): February, 2014] ISSN: 2277-9655
Impact Factor: 1.852
“elastic” damping in inelastic time-history results, however, also pointed out that some
analyses. There are significant differences refinements to the method are still needed.
between FBD and DDBD. It was shown Basically, they include an improved
that, as currently formulated, FBD requires formulation of the lateral force distributions
significantly more design effort than DDBD, for the Linear Static Analysis of the BI-
though FBD can be reformulated so that the building, which should be specific for each,
design effort is similar. Rational reasons IS type, accounting for its actual mechanical
were advanced for distributing seismic behaviour and isolation ratio TIS/Tfb.
forces between structural elements based on • Mayengbam Sunil S. and Choudhury S. [5]
secant stiffness to the design displacement, reported an economic comparison between a
(as in DDBD) rather than on initial stiffness simpler form of DDBD and IS-1893
(as in FBD). It was shown that conclusions Response Spectrum method for reinforced
from earlier time-history analyses may be concrete frame buildings. Buildings of two
suspect because of the use of initial-stiffness different plans, three different heights were
proportional elastic damping, rather than designed with the method for the
tangent-stiffness proportional damping. performance levels achieved from those
Analyses using tangent-stiffness damping designed by the code method and their
indicate that commonly accepted respective costs of structural frame members
relationships between elastic and inelastic are compared. The structural costs of both
displacements are inappropriate. the categories of buildings have been
• Cardone D., Dolce M. and Palermo G. [2] evaluated. It has been found that buildings
presents DDBD procedure for RC framed designed with direct displacement based
buildings with different Isolation Systems design are more economical than those
(IS’s) has been presented. The procedure has designed with the IS response spectrum
been specialized for five different force- method.
displacement models of IS, which can be
used to describe the cyclic behaviours of a Critical Review
wide variety of IS’s, including: (i) High In this paper, review of relevant literature is
Damping Rubber Bearings, (ii) Lead Rubber carried out. The review of literature includes the
Bearings, (iii) Friction Pendulum Bearings development, implementation and comparative
and (iv) combinations of Flat Sliding studies of direct displacement-based design method.
Bearings with different auxiliary devices. Thus, this literature review defines the path for work.
The key parameters of the proposed It also includes the advantages and limitation of the
procedure are the target IS displacement DDBD. This review helps to develop basic
(Dd) and the target maximum inter-storey understanding of DDBD.
drift (θd), which are assigned by the During this literature survey, it is clear that,
designer to accomplish either an DDBD method is a very good tool to carry out
“Operational Building” (FEMA, 2000) seismic design with a definite performance level. It
Performance Level (PL), characterised by has been implemented in many structures and
minimal or no damage to the building comparative studies have also been defined. RC
structural and non-structural components, or moment resisting frame design will be the focus of
a “Damage Control” (FEMA, 2000) this study and will be compared with FBD and then
Structural PL, with limited ductility demand the evaluation is the objective.
to the structural members. At the moment, It is widely understood now that it is not the
the design procedure has been fully force but the displacement, which can be directly
developed and implemented for the first PL. related to damage.
The implementation for the second PL is
still in progress. Results of Nonlinear Time- Drawbacks of Forced-Based Design Method
History Analyses (NLTHA) on different The study of different literatures defines the
configurations of BI-buildings (for the sake drawbacks in force-based design methods.
of brevity, not shown in this paper) • FBD relies on estimates of initial stiffness to
confirmed the accuracy of the DDBD determine the fundamental period of the
procedure in the attainment of the structure and the apportioning of design base
performance objective of the design (i.e. shear to different frame/ wall elements.
DIS = Dd and θmax = θd). The NLTHA There are disparities among design codes

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[Dohadwala, 3(2): February, 2014] ISSN: 2277-9655
Impact Factor: 1.852
regarding the assigning of initial stiffness means for implementing concepts of Performance-
values for various element type to account based Design (PBD) (Bertero and Bertero, 2002).
for cracking in concrete. The New Zealand Through force-based method of design an engineer
concrete design code prescribes an initial cannot deliberately design structure for an intended
stiffness in beams based on 35% of gross performance level. The alternative approaches are
section stiffness. The practice in India is to displacement-based design and performance-based
consider the gross section for both beam and design which are gradually becoming popular in
columns. Accounting for stiffness recent times. In these methods the design is done for
degradation can result in a significant an intended displacement or, an intended
change in the estimates of design base shear performance under a perceived hazard level.
and elastic drift. Performance levels, indeed, are described in terms of
• For the purpose of arriving at minimum base displacements, as damage is better correlated to
shear, FBD based codes generally prescribe displacements rather than forces. As a consequence,
an empirical expression for fundamental new design approaches, based on displacements,
time period, which is usually a function of have been recently implemented. One of such
the height of the building and is independent approach is the Direct Displacement-Based Design
of member stiffness, mass distribution and (DDBD), firstly proposed by Priestley (1993). The
structural geometry. fundamental goal of DDBD is to obtain a structure
• Generally low estimate of the fundamental which will reach a target displacement profile when
period and it is often stated that the design is subjected to earthquakes consistent with a given
conservative and safe. The Concept of safety reference response spectrum.
is questionable from the perspective of The basis of this approach is the procedure
displacement demand which if calculated on termed “Direct Displacement Based Design”
the basis of an artificially low period will be (DDBD), which was first introduced in 1993
low, and therefore non-conservative. (Priestley, 1993), and has been subjected to
• In FBD, Design base shear is obtained by considerable research attention, in Europe, New
using a force- reduction factor which is Zealand, and North America in the intervening years.
based on assumed ductility capacity of the The fundamental philosophy behind DDBD is that
structure. However there is considerable structures should be designed to achieve a specified
difficulty in reaching consensus within the performance level, defined by strain or drift limits,
research community as to the appropriate under a specified level of seismic intensity. As such,
definition of yield and ultimate we might describe the designed structures as being
displacements, resulting in considerable “uniform-risk” structures, which would be
variations in the assessed ductility capacity compatible with the concept of “uniform-risk”
of structure, In U.S.A., force reduction spectra, to which we currently design.
factor as high as 8 are permitted for R.C. Direct displacement-based seismic design
frames. In other countries, notably Japan and (DDBD) (Priestley, 1993, 2000) has been developed
Central America, maximum force reduction as a simple method for designing to achieve, rather
factor 3 and 8. This will result in a large than be bounded by, displacement limits that could be
variation in design strength. strain-based or code drift-limit based. The essence of
• FBD method is unable to utilize the the approach is to characterize the structure by the
significant inelastic deformation capacity of effective stiffness (ke) to the design displacement,
the structure. Structure is designed by rather than the initial stiffness (ki) , and by a level of
current design procedure when subjected to equivalent elastic damping (xe) that represents the
severe strong motion has been found soft combined effects of elastic and hysteretic damping,
storey mechanism. rather than the 5% elastic damping normally assumed
• This method is more iterative and never to be appropriate in force-based design.
provides good or optimal design as desired
levels. Study Justification
The very first need that seismic design
Direct Displacement-Based Design Approach concept should move its focus from Force-based
It is widely understood now that it is not the design is because FBD uses elastic stiffness which is
force but displacement, which can be directly related NOT KNOWN at the start of the design. This yields
to damage. The traditional Force-Based Design towards a need of new concept. DDBD uses yield
(FBD) approach cannot provide the appropriate displacement or drift which is known at the start of
the design. DDBD achieves a specified limit state at
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Impact Factor: 1.852
the design intensity; force-based design, at best, is [7] Moehle J.P. (1992), “Displacement-Based
bounded by the limit state, and vulnerability to design of RC structures subjected to
damage is variable. The design effort with DDBD is earthquakes”, Earthquake Spectra 3, 4,
less than with force-based design. pp403-428
[8] Pettinga J. D. and Priestley M. J. N. (2006),
Conclusions “Direct displacement-based design of frame
It is widely recognized that the traditional wall structures”, Journal of Earthquake
Force-Based Design (FBD) approach cannot provide Engineering, Volume 10,
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seismic design. Performance levels, indeed, are Approaches to Rational Limit States Design
described in terms of displacements, as damage is of New Structures”, Proc. 11 European
better correlated to displacements rather than forces. Conf. Earthquake Engineering, Paris.
Direct Displacement-based Design (DDBD) is based [10] Priestley M.J.N., Grant D.N. and Blandon
on the observation, that damage is directly related to C.A. (2005), “Direct Displacement-based
strain (structural effects) or drift (non-structural Seismic Design”, New Zealand Society for
effects), and both can be integrated to obtain Earthquake Engineering Conference
displacements. It has attracted considerable research [11] Priestley Nigel (2009), “Displacement-
into its practical advantages and shortcomings. based Seismic Design”, Israeli Structural
However, less effort has been put into the study of its Engineering Conference, Tel Aviv
theoretical background and in particular the concept [12] Priestley MJN, Calvi GM, Kowalsky MJ
of equivalent viscous damping that constitutes one of (2007), “Displacement-based Seismic
its basic founding assumptions. Design of Structures”, IUSS Press, Pavia
[13] Psycharis Ioannis N., “Displacement-based
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[2] Cardone D., Dolce M. and Palermo G. Nelson (2008), “Estimation of yield
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[3] Chopra A. K. and Goel R. K. (2001), of load history on deformation limit states
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ineslatic vs. elastic design spectra”, The RC frame buildings” etd
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[4] Damir Dzakic, Ivan Kraus and Dragan
Moric, “Direct Displacement-based Design
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[5] Mayengbam Sunil S. and Choudhury S.
(2011), “An Economic Comparison of
Direct Displacement-based Design with IS-
1893 Response Spectrum Method for R.C.
frame Buildings”, International Journal of
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[6] Loeding, S. Kowalsky, M.J. and Priestley,
M.J.N. (1998), “Displacement-based Design
Methodology Applied to R.C. Building
frames”, Report SSRP 98/06 Structures
Department, UCSD, 296pp

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