Effect of negative stiffness devices on seismic retrofitting of soft-storey RC frames

Traditionally, reinforced concrete (RC) structures are designed in such a way that the input energy introduced during seismic events is diminished by the inelastic deformation of the structural elements because of which the building is accompanied by strength and stiffness degradation and results in the permanent deformations. Even though several active, semi-active and passive devices were implemented for the seismic response mitigation of the structures, every device has its own limitations. Therefore, a novel device, “Negative Stiffness Device (NSD)”, which works on self-centring mechanism, is presented to impart apparent weakening in the structure. The foremost concept of the current study is to evaluate the structural performance of the G + 6 soft-storey RC building by deployment of NSD at different positions of the structure by considering 24 different models. The Non-Linear Time History Analysis has been conducted when the structure is vulnerable to various seismic events. Based on the observed results, the seismic performance of the structure is found to be efficient with the implementation of NSD. The maximum acceleration and base shear of the building are diminished by (15%–30%) and (20%–42%), respectively, and the optimum models to be adopted for the best possible reduction of seismic parameters are studied.