“NEW LATERAL FORCE DISTRIBUTION FOR

SEISMIC DESIGN OF STRUCTURES”

SEMINAR REPORT

M. Tech
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
BHUBANESWAR

BY PRACHI TAORI
II semester
17SE06001
Seminar Report II Semester

INTRODUCTION

The seismic design codes generally represent seismic effect in terms of lateral inertia forces
along the height of structure which is given by the following equation (ASCE 1996)
𝑤𝑖 ℎ𝑖𝑘
𝐹𝑖 = ∑𝑛 𝑉, where wi, hi,= weight and height of ‘i’th floor and V= base shear.
𝑗=1 𝑤𝑗 ℎ𝑗𝑘

The limitation with this distribution it is associated with the elastic modes of vibration.
Hence, it might not give the appropriate distribution of strength and stiffness in case of
strong earthquakes. Also, during severe earthquakes it is observed that there is non-uniform
distribution of ductility i.e. in some parts the deformation does not reach the design
capacity. To address these issues, a new lateral pattern is developed in this study using
optimization method based on the criteria of uniform distribution of deformation,
considering the fundamental time period and target ductility ratio as the main dynamic
parameters. It is expected that when all the stories reach the optimum deformation capacity,
the dissipation of seismic energy is maximum and hence there is efficient utilization of
materials throughout the height of the structure. The results obtained from the study indicate
that a more efficient distribution of structural parameters can be obtained by considering the
criteria of uniform deformation or ductility in the design of structures.

MODELLING AND ASSUMPTIONS

The structures are modeled as shear building models which have only shear deformations
when subjected to lateral forces. The mass of each storey is lumped at floor level and
connected by elastic plastic springs. Around 200 buildings are modeled with fundamental
time period ranging from 0.3s to 8s and target ductility ratio varying from 1 to 8. The shear
strength of each story is assumed to be proportional to the lateral stiffness and the Rayleigh
damping model with a damping ratio of 0.05 is assigned to the first mode and to the mode
at which the cumulative mass participation exceeds 95%.

OPTIMIZATION SCHEME
Any optimization method requires transformation of the physical problem into a
mathematical equation and hence here the structural optimization equation is formed in
terms of the design parameters. The cost of a member is generally proportional to its
material weight and in case of shear building models, any decrease in material weight will
be accompanied by a decrease in the shear strength as well. So, the optimization function
chosen is to minimize the total shear strength i.e. minimize: 𝑓(𝑥) = ∑𝑛𝑖=1 𝑆𝑖 subjected to
the constraint µi ≤ µt where x= design variable vector, Si= Shear strength of ‘i’th storey,
n= no. of storey, µi= maximum ductility ratio at ith storey and µt= target ductility ratio.
The optimization algorithm includes the following steps involving modification of the
structure so that the inefficient material is gradually shifted from weak to strong areas until
uniform deformation state is achieved.
i) Assume any arbitrary lateral load distribution pattern and accordingly assign the
strength and stiffness values to the members.

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Seminar Report II Semester

ii) Modify the structure stiffness parameters by scaling them to achieve the
required fundamental time period.
iii) Input the design excitation and conduct non linear dynamic analysis using
DRAIN computer program.
iv) Scales the structure again now with respect to its strength parameters such that
the storey having the maximum drift reaches the target ductility ratio.
v) The strength and stiffness of storeys having less ductility are modified
𝜇𝑖
according to the equation [𝑆𝑖]𝑚+1 = [𝑆𝑖]𝑚 [𝜇𝑡]𝛼 so as to achieve uniform
deformation state where [𝑆𝑖]𝑚 = shear strength of ith floor at mth iteration and
α = convergence factor ranging from 0 to 1.
vi) The coefficient of variation of ductility is calculated at the end of each iterative
step and the iterations continue till its value reduces to an acceptable limit.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

STRENGTH VARIATION:
With each iterative step, as the coefficient
of variation of ductility decreases, the
total storey strength also gradually
decreases. The above graph shows that
only in three steps, a total strength
reduction of 22% can be achieved. It also
depicts that the optimization algorithm is
capable of converging to optimum
solution without showing any Figure 1 Variation of COV of story ductility
demands and total strength for T=1 s and µt=4,
fluctuations. Northridge 1994

DISTRIBUTION OF LATERAL FORCE AND DUCTILITY:

Figure 2(a) Comparison of lateral force distribution: 10- Figure 2(a) Comparison of ductility distribution: 10-
story shear building with T=1s, Northridge 1994 story shear building with T=1s, Northridge 1994

The height-wise distribution of strength can be converted to get the lateral forces in shear
building models and for the particular design earthquake, the lateral distribution obtained
by optimization and the conventional method differs [fig 2(a)]. However, the optimized
distribution shows better performance i.e. uniform ductility [fig 2(b)] ensuring efficient
exploitation of materials throughout the height of the structure.

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Seminar Report II Semester

EFFECT OF TARGET DUCTILITY DEMAND AND FUNDAMENTAL TIME PERIOD:

Figure 3(a), 3(b)- Effect of fundamental time period and target ductility demand: 10-story shear building with Northridge
1994

Increase in the fundamental time period results in increase in the load distribution at upper
storey because of higher mode effects. However, increase in target ductility ratio leads to
lower forces at higher storey which is opposite of the distribution given by codal methods.

DESIGNED STRUCTURAL WEIGHT COMPARSION:

Fig4- The ratio of required to optimum structural weight for the

models designed with the proposed load patterns;

average of 20 earthquakes

The lateral distribution obtained will vary according to the input seismic excitation. So for
design purpose, a number of different seismic excitations are considered and optimum
distribution is obtained for each of them and then the average of these lateral forces is opted
for designing the structure. It is seen that in the elastic range of vibration (µt =1), the total
structural weight required for the models designed according to the UBC-97 load pattern
are in average 9% above the optimum value and hence they can be used for practical
designing. But as move towards the non linear range the difference increases and for µt=8,
the required structural weight by UBC-97 is 50% above the optimum weight.

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CONCLUSIONS

From the results obtained with the use of optimization method, the following conclusions
can be inferred:

 The proposed optimization method is effective in converging to the optimum load

pattern which is highly dependent on fundamental period of the structure, target
ductility demand, and seismic excitation characteristics
 The optimized load pattern shows better seismic performance and can be used in
designing the structures for severe earthquakes where the conventional methods call
for much higher strength requirement.
 For same story ductility demand, models designed according to the average of
optimum load patterns have relatively less structural weight in comparison with those
designed conventionally

REFERENCE

1. Iman Hajirasouliha and Hassan Moghaddam, “New lateral force distribution for
seismic design of structures”, Journal of Structural Engineering, 0733-9445
(2009)135:8(906), American Society of Civil Engineers.

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