Effects of Plan Asymmetry in Inelastic Seismic Response of One‐Story Systems

The effects of plan asymmetry on the earthquake response of one‐story systems are identified by comparing the dynamic response of an asymmetric‐plan system and the corresponding symmetric‐plan system for a wide range of system parameters—uncoupled lateral vibration period, uncoupled torsional‐to‐lateral frequency ratio, stiffness eccentricity, and yield factor. Elastic as well as inelastic systems are studied. For the latter, two values of the strength eccentricity are considered: equal to the stiffness eccentricity and zero; the latter is representative of code‐designed buildings. Based on the response results for a wide range of system parameters, this paper identifies how the structural response is affected by plan asymmetry and how these effects differ between elastic and inelastic systems. It is shown that the response of inelastic systems is affected less by plan asymmetry compared to elastic systems. Between the two types of inelastic systems considered, the response of strength‐symmetric systems is affected by plan asymmetry generally to a smaller degree compared to systems with equal strength and stiffness eccentricities.