Pros and cons of a pushover analysis of seismic performance evaluation

Abstract

The static pushover analysis is becoming a popular tool for seismic performance evaluation of existing and new structures. The expectation is that the pushover analysis will provide adequate information on seismic demands imposed by the design ground motion on the structural system and its components. The purpose of the paper is to summarize basic concepts on which the pushover analysis can be based, assess the accuracy of pushover predictions, identify conditions under which the pushover will provide adequate information and, perhaps more importantly, identify cases in which the pushover predictions will be inadequate or even misleading.