Estimation of inelastic seismic input energy

The more accurate prediction of the seismic input energy spectrum contributes to a more efficient energy-based design and seismic assessment. This study presents a model to estimate the inelastic seismic input energy imposed on structures, employing a wide range of ground shaking and structural features. In this regard, the pseudo-velocity spectrum and the proposed Scaled Energy Index (SEI) are utilized to present a versatile estimation equation for input energy spectrum of bilinear Single-Degree-of-Freedom (SDOF) systems. The method takes advantage of the input energy scaling rule and the adaptability of pseudo-velocity spectrum to acquire estimations with improved accuracy. The precision of the model is evaluated comparing with similar existing methods by a novel procedure, which indicates its advantages.