Civil Engineering Association

A model for the non linear dynamic analysis of reinforced concrete and masonry framed structures

The assessment of the dynamic or seismic performance of complex structures often requires the integration in the time domain of the
structural equation of motion in the frame of a non-linear analysis. In the case of masonry and reinforced concrete structures, the use
of these methods for the assessment of the structure become of great importance, due to its complex non linear behavior, even for low levels of
loading. A great number of these structures may be idealized as spatial frames. A generalization of the conventional matrix methods for the analysis of spatial framed structures has been developed in the UPC during
the last two decades, the so-called Generalized Matrix Formulation (GMF). The basic formulation for curved elements with variable cross
section was presented by Carrascón etal. (1987). Carol and Murcia (1989) extended this flexibility based formulation to the non linear time dependant analysis. This formulation was later extended to the geometrical and material non linear analysis of masonry framed structures (Molins, 1996; Molins and Roca,1998). An extension of the basic formulation to the linear dynamic analysis was later proposed by Molins et al. (1998) through the introduction of a consistent mass matrix. The
formulation has proved for more than fifteen years of extensive use, to be an efficient tool for the analysis of 3D framed structures.