INTERNATIONALJOURNALOFCIVILANDSTRUCTURALENGINEERING

Volume1,No 3,2010
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Researcharticle

ISSN0976 4399

EstimationofstoreyshearofabuildingwithMassandStiffness
variationduetoSeismicexcitation

BhattacharyaS.P1,Chakraborty S.K2
1AssistantProfessor,DepartmentofArchitecture, BirlaInstituteofTechnology,Mesra,
Ranchi835215,India
2AssociateProfessor,DepartmentofAppliedMathematics,BirlaInstituteof
Technology,Mesra,Ranchi835215,India
shankhapratim@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Mass and stiffness are two basic parameters to evaluate the dynamic response of a
structural system under vibratory motion. High rise and multistoreyed buildings are
behaved differently depending upon the various parameters like massstiffness
distribution,foundationtypesandsoilconditions.2001BhujearthquakeinGujrat,India
demonstrated the damage and collapse of the buildings due to the irregularities in
structural stiffness and floor mass. This paper attempted to investigate the proportional
distribution of lateral forces evolved through seismic action in each storey level due to
changes in mass and stiffness of building. As per the BIS provisions, a multistorey
symmetrical building isconsideredassimplified lump mass model fortheanalysiswith
various mass and stiffness ratios. The sway pattern of multistoreyed building under
seismicexcitationistakenunderconsiderationwithparabolicshapefunctions.Theresult
concludes as a building structure with high mass and stiffness ratio provides instability
andattractshugestoreyshear.Aproportionateamountofmassandstiffnessdistribution
isadvantageoustocontroloverthestoreyandbaseshear.
Keywords:MassRatio,StiffnessRatio,StoreyDrift,StoreyShear,BaseShear
1.Introduction
Regularshapeplanofbuildingisoneofthebasicprinciplesofseismicresistantdesign.
Inertiaforceisobviousintheseismicexcitationforallthesymmetricplanbuildings.But
irregular shape buildings attract the twisting couples along with linear vibration. A
symmetric building structure shows very discipline performance during any level of
earthquake.Thestructuralbehaviour,memberdeformationsandinducedstressescanalso
bepredictedeasily.Thebuildingsymmetrycanbeachievedwiththeevendistributionof
floor masses, storey stiffness. But the need of complex functional character of the
building generally offers architectural solutions, which are deviated from the prefect
symmetriccase.Itwasfoundoutfromseveralpreviousearthquakeexperiencesthat,the
wavepropagation inaparticularearthquakeundersomespecifiedsoilcharacterimparts
resonance effect for typical tall building structures. The 1995 Mexico earthquake,
Gueguenet.al.showsthemaximumdamagetothebuildingsofheight15to20storey.A
similarsurveyandanalysisoftheseismicvulnerabilityanddamagecharacteristicsofthe
building stockof San Giuliano have been investigated by Dolce et al . An approximate
solution for nonuniform shear buildings, in which the mass centres lie on one vertical
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Researcharticle

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axisandthecentresofresistancelieondifferentverticalaxesbutwhichareidentically
oriented, given by Kan and Chopra, Balendra et al, obtained the solution for shear
building on a flexible foundation for the case of the centre of mass and centre of
resistance lying on two vertical axes. Using the continuum approach, the problem of
uniform shear wallframe buildings in which thecentreof resistance, assumedto lie on
twoverticalaxes,wasinvestigatedbyRutenbergetal..
The present work deals with the estimation of natural frequency of the building model
according to lumpmass system. In this respect, variety form of shape functions have
been presumed to measure natural frequency, base shear and storey drift of building
structure. Moreover, the variation of mass and property of structural stiffness has been
encountered in the investigation to analyse the nature of the dynamic property of the
building.
2.ObjectivesandAssumptions
Theobjectivesforthecurrentstudyare
TodeterminetheeffectofthenaturalfrequencyoftheMomentResistantFrame
structureunderparabolicShapeFunctions.
Tostudytheeffectofthenaturalfrequencywithmassandstiffnessvariations.
Toestimatethebaseshearforabovementionedvariations.
Followingsaretheassumptionsmadeforthecurrentstudy:
TheMomentResistantFramestructuralsystemisconsideredasalumpedmass
withmultidegreeoffreedom.

Buildingsareconsideredtoberegularplannersymmetry.

Elasticpseudoaccelerationdesignspectrumisassumedwith5%dampingratio(x),
and0.25gpeakgroundacceleration(a)(g,theaccelerationduetogravity).
2.1 BuildingModelandMathematicalFormulation
A multistoreyed moment resistant frame is modelled as a string with distributed floor
massesatdifferentlevels,joinedbymasslessconnectorshavingdifferentstoreystiffness
values.Figure1showsalumpedmassbuildingmodel,withfloormassasmi ,stiffness
aski andfloordisplacementasxi.

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Figure1:LumpedmassBuildingModel
Thelumpmassinthenstoreyillustratesndegreesoffreedom(x1,x2,x3 .....,xn),inwhich
theequationof motion isestablished neglectingthedamping.However,dampingofthe
structure is moreor less introduced in the mathematical formulation onthe basis of the
experimental and the observed data prescribed by the Indian seismic code of practices,
IS:1893(PartI),2002andthestandardliteratures.
Thus,thetotaldisplacementinthe,ithfloor, Xi (t)isgivenby
(1)

X i(t )=xi(t )+ xg(t)

where,thefloordisplacementrelativetothegroundmotionis x (t )

xg(t) istheexcitationduetotheearthquakegroundmotion.Further,thestoreyshearin
theithfloorcanbedeterminedas

Vi =ki( xi - x )
i- 1

(2)

Theequationofmotionofthelumpedmassatith floorisgivenby(DAlemberts
principle),
2xi 2xg
2Xi

fi =- mi
= - mi 2 +
2
t
t2

(3)

Theexternalworkdone,WE,bytheinertiaforce fi isgivenby

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n

ISSN0976 4399
n

W E = dWE =
i

2xi 2xg
fidxi = - mi 2 +
dxi
t2
i
t
n

(4)

Internalworkdone,WI,bythebuilding,duetothestoreyshearisgivenby
n

WI = dWI = Vi(dxi - dxi-1 ) ki( xi - xi-1)(dxi - dxi-1)

(5)

Theinternalandexternalvirtualworkcanfurtherbemodifiedandexpressedintermsof
thegeneralisedcoordinatez(t)as
xi (t)=y iz(t)

(6)

Moreover, a shape function is introduced, so that the virtual displacements of the

structure become consistent with the assumed deformed shape of the building. Here in
thispapertheshapefunctionistakenasaparaboliconeanditsmathematicalexpression
is shown in the Figure 1. The relation between the storey drifts and the shape function
canbewrittenas
2xi
2zi
= yi 2 and dxi =y idz
t2
t

(7)

UsingEquation(4)andtheshapefunctioncomponenti,fromEquation(7),theexternal
workdoneyields
2z n

2xg n
WE = - 2 miy i2 +
m
y
dz

i
i
t2 i
t i

(8)

Similarly,theinternalworkdone,fromEquation(5)andusingEquations(6)and(7),can
berewrittenas
2
n

WI = z ki(y i - y i-1) dz
i

(9)

Finally, equating the external and the internal work done from Equations (8) &(9),the
generalisedequationofmotionbecomes

..
..
mz+kz+ Lxg(t)= 0

(10)

Considering

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n

generalisedmassas m= miyi2

(10a)

generalisedstiffnessas k

= ki(yi -y i-1 )

(10b)

i
n

generalisedexcitationas L = miyi ,

(10c)

Also,thenaturalfrequency( wn)andthenaturaltimeperiod(Tn)oftheexcitationcanbe
deducedfromEquation(10)as

wn =

k
2p
and Tn =
m
w n

(11)

The generalised single degree of freedom system is further analyzed to evaluate the
seismicresponseparameters.Thepeakresponsesoftheframestructureduetoearthquake
excitation are determined by design spectrum. The generalised equation of motion,
Equation(10),canberearrangedas,

..
2z + Cx.. (t)= 0
z +wn
g

(12)

Once the deformation historyx (t) is being known through the dynamic analysis of the
givenstructure,theinternalforcesinthestructuralsystemcanthenbeevaluatedbystatic
analysis.TheequivalentstaticforceorstoreyshearforceV(t)canbeexpressedas
V(t)=kx(t)= mw n2x(t)= mg (t)

(13)

where g (t)=w n2x(t) isthepseudoacceleration.

Thispseudoacceleration iscomputed fromthe naturaltimeperiod(Tn)andthespecific
damping ratioofthe structural system. The elastic pseudoacceleration design spectrum
forgroundmotionwith5%damping[xx]ispresentedinfigure2isusedtodetermine(t).
Finally,thebaseshearofthestructuralsystemcanbeexpressedas
n

Vb(t)= Vi(t)

(14)

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Figure2:ElasticPseudoAccelerationDesignSpectrumforGroundMotionwith5%
Damping(Source:DynamicsofStructures,2nd Ed.,byChopra.A.K.,2003)
3.AnalysisandDiscussions
The base model (the building having equal floor mass and storey stiffness), is
numerically computed with the uniform mass and the stiffness. They are assumed as
250KNand4000KNmrespectively.Theseismicresponsesduetothevariationofmass
and stiffness is computed according to the mathematical formulation. Initially four
different types of multistoried buildings are selected for the study. The four types are
classified as fourstoried, sixstoried, eightstoried and tenstoried buildings. The mass
andstiffnessratiosarevariedfrom0.25to2.0,withanincrementof0.25.
Figure 3 is drawn to compare the variation of stiffness ratio and base shear of the
structure.Theplotshowsapositive sloping indicatingthe incrementof baseshearwith
incrementofstiffnessratio.Ifthe lowerstoriesarecomparativelyweak in stiffness,the
buildingstructureattractsmuch more lateral forceandsubsequentlytheamountofbase
shear is also increased. It can be also noted from the figure that the increment is
absolutelyproportionalwiththe increaseofstorey height.Theaverage increment inthe
amountofbaseshearisabout3.4timesoveranincrementofstiffnessratiofrom0.25to
2.0. Plot of Figure 4 is performed with varying mass ratio keeping stiffness ratio as
constant.Thenatureofthegraphisreverseandflattedwithrespecttotheearlierplot.In
theFigure5thevariationinbasesheariscomputedbyvariationofstiffnessandmassof
the building model. The two sloping lines of different nature indicating the relation
between the changing pattern of base shear with the two ratios. Further, the figure is
subdivided intothreezones.ThezoneIshould beavoidedas itattractshigh baseshear
duetolowmassratio.Similarly,higherstiffnessratio(zoneIII)alsomakesthebuilding
modelvulnerable.ThecentralzoneIIprovidesacontrolledbaseshearwithanoptimum

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combination of mass and stiffness. The present mathematical analysis indicating that
theseratiosshouldbeinbetween0.75to1.25tominimizethelevelofbaseshear.

Figure3:VariationsofBaseShearandStiffnessRatio

Figure4:VariationsofBaseShearandMassRatio

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Figure5:VariationsofBaseShearduetoMassandStiffnessRatio
4.Conclusions
The present investigation reveals that both the mass and stiffness are very basic
parameters to estimate the nodal force and the base shear of the building. Irregular
distribution of Mass and structural stiffness of the building plays a vital role in seismic
environment. Any abrupt change in thesetwo basic parameters increases the amountof
base shear of the building structure.The present study suggestedthat in the earthquake
pronezones,itisalwayssafetoconstructahighrisebuildingwithnearlyuniformfloor
massandstoreystiffness.Uniformityinmassandstiffnessproducesaoptimumamount
ofseismicforces.
5.References
1. Gueguen,P.,Bard,P.Y.andChavezGarcia,F.J.,SiteCitySeismicInteraction in
MexicoCityLikeEnvironments:AnAnalyticalStudy,Bull.Seism.Soc.Am.,Vol.
92,No.2,2002, pp.749811.
2. Dolce,M.,Masi,A.,Zuccaro,G.,Cacace,F.,Samela,L.,Santarslero,G.andVona,
M., Survey and Analysis of Damage in San Giuliano di Puglia, GNDT Technical
Report(inItalian),2004.
3. Kan,C.L.andChopra,A.K.,ElasticEarthquakeAnalysisofTorsionallyCoupled
MultistoreyBuildings,EarthquakeEngg.andStruct.Dyn.,Vol.5,1977,pp.395
412.

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4. Balendra, T., Swaddiwudhipong, S., Quek, S.T. and Lee, S.L., Free Vibration of
AsymmetricShearWallFrameBuildings,EarthquakeEngg.andStruct.Dyn.,Vol.
12,1984,pp.629650.
5. Rutenberg, A., Tso, W.K. and Heidelbrecht, A.C., Dynamics Properties of
Asymmetric WallFrame Structures, Earthquake Engg. and Struct. Dyn., Vol. 5,
1977,pp.4151.
6. Chopra, A. K., Dynamics of StructuresTheory and Applications to Earthquake
Engineering,2nd Ed.,PrenticeHall,NewYork,2000.

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