Seismic performance assessment based on the interstory drift of steel buildings.

The seismic regulations for the seismic performance assessment of buildings use the maximum interstory drift, θmax, as a measure to control damage. This article presents a study of the seismic performance based on the θmax for steel buildings using Mexico's regulations and the RISK-UE and HAZUS guidelines. The capacity spectrum method is used to evaluate the performance of buildings with 3 different heights located in 4 cities in Mexico with different seismicity, as well as for soft and rock soil types. The HAZUS criterion is conservative in its assement of damage, while the RISK-UE criterion is more in line with the expected damage. The service state, Sstate, and the collapse prevention state, CPstate, in Mexico's regulations are suitable for damage control, and are consistent with the damage proposed by the RISK-UE guidelines. In very high seismicity zones, the CPstate for seismic actions equal to or greater than the expected, prevent building collapse; however, significant damage to buildings can still occur. The θmax of the CPstate must be established for different seismic intensities and not only for building types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]