Epistemic uncertainty of the structural response of reinforced concrete members under cyclic loading due to different material modelling choices

Abstract

Performance-based earthquake engineering methods rely heavily on nonlinear dynamic analysis to determinestructural performance. Given the significant number of existing structural and material modelling approaches,the epistemic uncertainty associated to such strategies requires adequate quantification. In this context, theproposed study addresses the quantification of the uncertainty associated to different modelling choices at themember section level. The study analyses the performance of 56 modelling combinations for the numericalsimulation of moment-curvatures evolutions obtained from experimental tests on reinforced concrete columns.To determine the performance of the modelling approaches, the results are analysed for three behaviour ranges.