The recent earthquake in Korea caused a lot of damage to reinforced concrete (RC) columns with non-seismic details. The nonlinear analysis enables predicting the hysteresis behavior of RC columns under earthquakes, but the analytical model used for the columns must be accurate and practical. This paper studied the nonlinear analysis models built into a commercial structural analysis program for the existing RC columns. The load-displacement relationships, maximum strength, initial stiffness, and energy dissipation predicted by the three analysis models were compared and analyzed. The results were similar to those tested in the order of the fiber, Pivot, and Takeda models, whereas the fiber model took the most time to build. For columns subjected to axial load, the Pivot model could predict the behavior at a similar level to that of the fiber model. Based on the above, it is expected that the Pivot model can be applied most practically for existing RC columns.

As the damage caused by earthquakes gradually increases, seismic retrofitting for existing public facilities has been implemented in Korea. Several types of structural analysis methods can be used to evaluate the seismic performance of structures. Among them, for nonlinear dynamic analysis, the hysteresis model must be carefully applied because it can significantly affect the behavior. In order to find a hysteresis model that predicts rational behavior, this study compared the experimental results and analysis results of the existing non-seismic reinforced concrete frames. For energy dissipation, the results were close to the experimental values in the order of Pivot, Concrete, Degrading, and Takeda models. The Concrete model underestimated the energy dissipation due to excessive pinching. In contrast, the other ones except the Pivot model showed the opposite results with relatively little pinching. In the load-displacement curves, the experimental and analysis results tended to be more similar when the column axial force was applied to columns.