Seismic behavior factor of single-layer barrel vaults

Space structures are extensively used to cover large areas like gymnasiums, stadiums, aircraft hangers, railway stations and many other purposes. Space structures are, in general, light and high in redundancy. These two parameters led to an assumption for a while that these types of structures are aseismic. However, some seismic events like the 1995 Kobe earthquake showed although space structures are less vulnerable than usual structures; they are not completely aseismic. Since then, a lot of researches have been carried out to study the seismic behavior of space structures. Barrel vaults are a kind of space structures and the study of seismic behavior of these structures is important. One of the important parameters in seismic design of space structures is behavior factor. The behavior factor, defined as a force reduction factor, R, in seismic codes, is used to decrease the linear elastic design response spectrum. Behavior factor depends on ductility, over-strength and degree of redundancy. This paper aims to extract the behavior factor of single-layer barrel vaults. To this end, several single-layer barrel vaults with different rise-to-span ratios and lengths are modeled using the finite element method. Nonlinear static and dynamic analyses are carried out to obtain the seismic behavior of these structures. Results indicate that the behavior factor of single-layer barrel vaults depends on the rise-to-span-ratio and length.