This study presents the influence of vertical component of ground motion on the response of a tall building; earthquakes with reverse fault and strike-slip with short or far distance to the fault are considered. The main focus has been on the change of structural response due to inclusion of vertical exitation in the analysis.

The first part of this study discusses the description of the structural model and modeling techniques in detail which is based on Model 2B of PEER’s Case Studies of the Seismic Performance of Tall Buildings (Moehle, et al. 2011). All elements are modeled with specific effective stiffness and nonlinear materials to capture the accurate behavior of the building under the nonlinear response history analysis. Backbone curves of the components is presented. The model is validated by comparing the behavior of the structural model for this study and the response of the Model 2B of PEER’s Case Studies of the Seismic Performance of Tall Buildings (Moehle, et al. 2011).

The second part of this thesis focuses on the nonlinear response history analysis, the ground motion selection and information on the selected records. The effect of vertical component of the ground motion on the structural behavior is discussed in detail by comparing the structural response due to the lateral components of the ground motion and the structural response due to all three components of the ground motion. The structural response includes the following parameters: maximum inter-story drift ratio, the axial force of columns and shear walls, story shear, peak floor vertical acceleration and peak floor vertical displacement. Equations for estimating the effect of vertical components of ground motions on tall buildings are presented based on the results.