TPMC Design of gravity load-governed and seismic-governed Moment Resisting Frames
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The Theory of Plastic Mechanism Control (TPMC) offers a robust approach for designing Moment Resisting Frames (MRFs) to ensure global collapse mechanisms under seismic events. This study focuses on the optimization of MRFs where beam design is either governed by gravity loads or by seismic forces. In particular, the behaviour of MRFs with beams dominated by gravity loads and those controlled by seismic forces is analysed under the TPMC framework. The research highlights the uncoupling between gravity load resistance and seismic forces, demonstrating the effectiveness of TPMC in both cases. Comparative analysis, including non-linear dynamic analysis and pushover methods, confirms the efficacy of the TPMC in optimizing the seismic response of steel structures, ensuring a global collapse mechanism while minimizing the size and weight of structural elements, particularly in terms of column sections. The findings reveal the potential of TPMC in improving both the economic feasibility and the overall lightness of seismic-resistant designs for various structural configurations, without compromising performance.