A Model for System Identification of Degrading Structures

This paper presents a physically motivated model for the gross dynamic behaviour of degrading hysteretic structures subjected to damaging earthquake motions. The model is intended to provide a vehicle for gaining insight into the nature of the non-linear response of such structures and to be used in system identification studies. A concept is presented for identifying the model parameters based on examination of the gross restoring force characteristic of a real structure. The model is applied to data from two damaged structures: the Bank of California building in the 1971 San Fernando earthquake and the Imperial County Services building in the 1979 Imperial County earthquake.