Nonlinear response spectrums for cable-supported glass curtain walls

Aiming at the seismic-resistant performance of cable-supported glass curtain walls, the methods for formulating nonlinear single degree of freedom system and calculating the nonlinear response spectrums are proposed. Taking pretension effect in cables and geometrical nonlinearity into account, the nonlinear acceleration spectrums are calculated under given conditions, such as site and different seismic fortification intensities. The seismic design response spectrums are developed. During vibrating, varying period due to the influence of pretension effect in cables and geometrical nonlinearity drives the maximum period of plateau in nonlinear response spectrums to move towards the long period zone, and the maximum of seismic effect coefficient is larger than that of current seismic code. The theoretical analysis and the example demonstrate that using the nonlinear response spectrums is safe and economical.