See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.
net/publication/271504917
Drift analysis due to earthquake load on tall structures
Article · April 2012
DOI: 10.5897/JCECT11.055
CITATIONS READS
3 931
3 authors, including:
Abdur Rahman A. A. Masrur Ahmed
Saitama University University of Southern Queensland
5 PUBLICATIONS 18 CITATIONS 12 PUBLICATIONS 152 CITATIONS
SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE
Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:
Artificial neural network View project
Use of stone powder in concrete and mortar View project
All content following this page was uploaded by Abdur Rahman on 18 September 2015.
The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.
Journal of Civil Engineering and Construction Technology Vol. 4(5), pp. 154-158, May 2012
Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/JCECT
DOI: 10.5897/JCECT11.055
ISSN 2141-2634 ©2012 Academic Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Drift analysis due to earthquake load on tall structures
A. Rahman1, A. A. Masrur Ahmed2* and M. R. Mamun3
1
Department of Civil Engineering, Stamford University, Dhaka, Bangladesh.
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Leading University, Sylhet, Bangladesh.
3
Janata Bank Limited, Bangladesh.
Accepted 20 February, 2012
Earthquake is one of the destructive events in the world. Prediction of earthquake is not feasible at all.
In the horizon, earthquakes of different intensities and magnitudes occurred. So it is a threat to all
especially the tall structures of the mega cities. Due to shaking of ground surface, the substructure as
well as the superstructure is vibrated. During earthquake, there will be a drift on the high rise
structures. Then it can be included that the more the height, the more the drift. The drift of the structure
decreases with increase in the width of the structure. So our concern is to calculate the drift of tall
structures due to the vibration of ground. Hand calculation and programming with C (version C++ 4.5) is
used to calculate the drift.
Key words: Earthquake, drift, tall building, lateral deflection, laterals forces.
INTRODUCTION
As building heights increase, the forces of nature begin to change from positive to negative bending in the flexural
dominate the structural system and take on importance in members from one side of the joint to the other (Nilson et
the overall building system. The analysis and design of al., 2010). Lateral deflection and drift have three primary
tall building are affected by lateral loads, particularly drift effects on a structure; the movement can affect the
or sway caused by such loads. Drift or sway is the structural elements (such as beams and columns); the
magnitude of the lateral displacement at the top of the movements can affect nonstructural elements (such as
building relative to its base. Recent studies (Freeman and the windows and cladding); and the movements can
Searer, 2000) have found that the drift provisions in the affect adjacent structures (Schueller, 1997). Without
UBC, 1997 are extremely complicated, are fairly difficult proper consideration during the design process, large
to use (Searer and Freeman 2004), and may be over deflections and drifts can have adverse effects on
conservative. It can be very difficult to ensure that structural elements, nonstructural elements and adjacent
exterior elements conform to the drift requirements in structures. When the initial sizes of the frame members
current codes (SEAOC, 1999). However, Lateral have been selected, an approximate check on the
deflection is the predicted movement of a structure under horizontal drift of the structures can be made. The drift in
lateral loads; and story drift is defined as the difference in the non-slender rigid frame is mainly caused by racking.
lateral deflection between two adjacent stories. During an This racking may be considered as comprising two
earthquake, large lateral forces can be imposed on components: the first is due to rotation of the joints, as
structures, require that the designer assess the effects of allowed by the double bending of the girders, while the
this deformation on both structural and nonstructural second is caused by double bending of the columns. If
elements. The lateral displacement of a frame places the rigid frame is slender, a contribution to drift caused by
beam-column joints under shear stresses because of the the overall bending of the frame, resulting from axial
deformations of the columns may be significant. If the
frame has a height width ratio less than 4:1, the
contribution of overall bending to the total drift at the top
*Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: of the structure is usually less than 10% of that due to
+88 01912140065. racking (Bryan and Alex, 1991). The following method of
Rahman et al. 155
calculation for drift allows the separate determination of system, when the lateral forces are placed on the structure, the
the components attributable to beam bending and overall structure responds and moves due to those forces. Consequently,
there is a relationship between the lateral force resisting system
cantilever action.
and its movement under lateral loads; this relationship can be
analyzed by hand or by computer. Using the results of this analysis,
estimates of other design criteria, such as rotations of joints in
OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY eccentric braced frames and rotations of joints in special moment
resisting frames can be obtained. Similarly, the lateral analysis can
The objectives of the study are as follows: also be used and should be used to estimate the effect of lateral
movements on structural elements that are not part of the lateral
1) To observe the drift analysis on high-rise structure due force resisting system, such as beams and columns that are not
to earthquake loads. explicitly considered as being part of the lateral force resisting
2) To observe the longitudinal impact on high rise system.
structure. Design provisions for moment frame and eccentric braced frame
3) The analysis of drift of different types of tall structures structures have requirements to ensure the ability of the structure to
sustain inelastic rotations resulting from deformation and drift.
and also calculation of drift by hand and programming
Without proper consideration of the expected movement of the
with C (version C++ 4.5) structure, the lateral force resisting system might experience
4) To compare the value of drift from programming with C premature failure and a corresponding loss of strength. In addition,
(version C++ 4.5) for different types of tall buildings. if the lateral deflections of any structure become too large, P-Δ
effects can cause instability of the structure and potentially result in
collapse.
METHODOLOGY Structural elements and connections not part of the lateral force
resisting system need to be detailed to withstand the expected
For rigid frame structures, to isolate the effect of girder bending, maximum deflections and drifts. Though these elements are
assume the columns are flexural rigid and again to isolate the effect generally ignored during the design lateral analysis, they must
of column bending, assume the girder are flexural rigid. The total effectively “go along for the ride” during an earthquake, meaning
frame shear deflection is given by that they experience deflections and rotations similar to those of the
lateral force resisting system.
) Effects of drift on nonstructural elements
For coupled-shear wall structure, consider the plane coupled- wall Since lateral deflection and drift affect the entire building or
structure subjected to distributed lateral loading if intensity w per structure, design of nonstructural elements is also governed by
unit height. A general form of loading is used to illustrate the these parameters. The nonstructural elements should be designed
derivation of the governing differential equation, before solutions to allow the expected movement of the structural system.
are derived for common standard design load cases (Bryan and If the nonstructural elements are not adequately isolated from the
Alex, 1991). The lateral deflection for coupled-shear wall structure movements of the lateral force resisting system, adverse effects are
is: likely to occur. For example, in a large earthquake, the cladding
may become damaged or fall off the structure, posing a life-safety
hazard to passers-by. Even in smaller earthquakes, if the cladding
does not permit lateral movement of the structure, the cladding may
experience premature damage, resulting in water intrusion and/or
economic loss. Similarly, if windows do not permit movement of the
structure, the windows may break, posing a potentially significant
falling hazard.
The effects of deflections and drift on stair assemblies are
For wall-frame structure, the planer wall frame may be taken to sometimes neglected. Without proper detailing that permits
represent either a structure with walls and frames interacting in the adequate inter story movement to occur, stair assemblies have the
same plane or one with walls and frames in parallel planes. Since, potential to act as a diagonal brace between floors; the stair
in a no-twisting structure, parallel walls and frames translate assemblies resist the movement of the structural frame until
identically, they may be simulated by a planar linked model. The damage to the stair assemblies or their connections occurs. If the
analytical solution requires the structure to be presented by a vertical support for the stair assembly breaks or is damaged, the
uniform continuous model. The derivative general equation for stairs can collapse during the earthquake or even after the
laterally deflection is: earthquake as the occupants attempt to exit.
Finally, if the nonstructural elements are not adequately isolated
from the structural elements, the nonstructural elements may
interfere with the structural elements and cause adverse effects to
the structural elements themselves, creating short columns, torsion
or stiffness irregularities.
Effects of drift on structural elements
Effects of drift on adjacent structures
In terms of seismic design, lateral deflection and drift can affect
both the structural elements that are part of the lateral force Under lateral loads from a large earthquake, the expected
resisting system and structural elements that are not part of the movements of a structure can be significant. If adjacent buildings or
lateral force resisting system. In terms of the lateral force resisting structurally separate portions of the same structure do not have
156 J. Civ. Eng. Constr. Technol.
Value of drift
Figure 1. Variation of drift with building height.
Value of drift
Width of wall
Figure 2. Variation of drift with width of wall.
Figure – 02: Variation of drift with width of wall
adequate separation, they may “pound” against each other during depended on total building height, number of spans,
an earthquake. Pounding can have significant adverse effects, cross sectional length and width of girder, cross sectional
especially when the floors are not coplanar. Pounding of structures
with non-coplanar floors can result in the floors of one building
length and width of column, and shear value of girder
impacting the columns of another building at mid-height. This and shear value of column. It is shown in Figure 1 that
impact induces large shears and bending moments into the the value of drift increases with increase in building
impacted columns, potentially causing the columns to fail and the height. The value of drift decreases with increase in
structure to collapse. number of span as shown in Figure 2. Also Figure 3
When adjacent structures have coplanar floors, pounding may be shows the value of drift decreases with increase in
advantageous in some respects. If floors are coplanar, the two
adjacent structures will have a more difficult time resonating with
dimension of beam and column. By using the
the earthquake. Since pounding is a highly nonlinear response, programming with C (version C++ 4.5), we get the
pounding will tend to damp out vibrations and reduce the responses different values of drift as shown in Table 1.
of the two structures. However, the pounding is likely to increase For couple shear wall structures, the drift are depended
floor accelerations (a consideration for the design of nonstructural on total building height, length of wall, width of wall and
elements) and is likely to result in significant localized damage
length of beam between two wall. By using the
between the structures (Taranath, 1988).
programming with C (version C++ 4.5), we get the
different values of drift as shown in Table 2.
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION For wall-frame structures, the drift are depended on
total building height, number of span, length of span,
There are three major types of structures identified in this dimension of core and cross section of beam. By using
study, such as rigid frame, coupled shear wall and wall the programming with C (version C++ 4.5), we get the
frame structures. For rigid frame structures, the drift are different values of drift as shown in Table 3.
Rahman et al. 157
Value of drift
Length of wall
Figure 3. Variation of drift with length of wall.
Table 1. Summary of drift on various dimensions of rigid frame structures.
Total building Number of Cross section of Cross section of Shear value of Shear value of Drift
height (ft) spans girder (ft × ft) column (ft × ft) girder (kips) column (kips) (ft)
80 3 1.5 × 1.5 1.5 × 1.5 4.50 4.50 0.0316
100 4 1.5 × 1.5 1.5 × 1.5 4.50 4.50 0.0471
120 4 2.0 × 2.0 2.0 × 2.0 5.50 5.50 0.0309
140 5 2.0 × 2.0 2.0 × 2.0 5.50 5.50 0.0404
160 5 2.0 × 2.0 2.0 × 2.0 5.50 5.50 0.0597
180 5 2.0 × 2.0 2.0 × 2.0 6.30 6.30 0.0967
200 6 2.0 × 2.0 2.0 × 2.0 6.30 6.30 0.1129
Table 2. Summary of drift on various dimensions of couple shear wall structures.
Total Length Length Width Beam length Width Depth Uniformly distributed Lateral deflection
building of wall of wall of wall between two of beam of beam earthquake loading of coupled shear
height (ft) W1 (ft) W2 (ft) (ft) wall (ft) (kips) (ft) intensity (kips/ft) wall (ft)
80 15 10 0.6 7.0 0.6 0.5 4.13 0.0215
100 15 10 0.6 7.0 0.6 0.7 4.13 0.0411
120 15 10 0.6 7.0 0.6 0.7 4.13 0.0769
140 15 12 0.6 7.0 0.6 0.7 4.13 0.1124
160 15 12 0.6 7.0 0.6 0.7 4.13 0.1739
180 15 12 0.6 7.0 0.6 0.8 4.13 0.2047
200 15 12 0.6 7.0 0.6 0.8 4.13 0.2850
Table 3. Summary of drift on various dimensions of wall frame structures.
Total Number Total Dimension Cross section Cross section Uniformly distributed Lateral deflection
building of length of of core of column of beam earthquake loading of coupled shear
height (ft) span span (ft) (ft × ft) (ft ×ft) (ft ×ft) intensity (kips/ft) wall (ft)
80 3 27 5×5 1.5 × 1.5 1.5 × 1.5 4.13 0.00802
100 4 37 5×5 1.5 × 1.5 1.5 × 1.5 4.13 0.00840
120 4 37 5×5 1.75 × 1.75 1.75 × 1.75 4.13 0.00696
140 4 37 6×6 1.75 × 1.75 1.75 × 1.75 4.13 0.00935
160 5 47 6×6 1.8 × 1.8 1.8 × 1.8 4.13 0.00559
180 5 47 7×7 1.8 × 1.8 1.8 × 1.8 4.13 0.00923
200 5 47 7×7 2.0 × 2.0 2.0 × 2.0 4.13 0.02950
158 J. Civ. Eng. Constr. Technol.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION Freeman SA, Searer Gary R (2000). Impact of the Revised Earthquake
Drift Provisions on Design and Construction, 2000 Structural
Engineers Association of California Convention, August 2000.
Geographically, Bangladesh is the most earthquake Nilson AH, Darwin D, Dolan CW (2010). Design of concrete structures,
vulnerable zone (Ansary, 2008). The numbers of high rise Fourteenth Edition, The McGraw Hill Companies, New York, p. 737.
building is increasing here day by day. It experienced Schueller W (1997). High-Rise Building Structures. John Wiley & Sons,
some catastrophic earthquakes in the last century. INC. p. 150.
Searer GR, Freeman SA (2004). Design Drift Requirements for Long-
According to the specialist, there is possibility to Period Structures, 13th World Conference on Earthquake
occurrence of earthquake. So the tall structures are on Engineering, Vancouver, B.C., Canada, August 1-6, 2004
the threat, due to earthquake drift occurrence. So every Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC) (1999).
Recommended Lateral Force Requirements and Commentary,
high rise structure should consider the effect of drift. Then
Sacramento, California.
the loss of life and property will be attenuated. In this Taranath BS (1988). Structural Analysis and Design of Tall Buildings.
study, regular shaped structures have only been McGraw-Hill Book Company. p. 20.
considered. Estimation of drift was carried out for rigid Uniform Building Code (UBC) (1997).International Conference of
Building Officials, Whittier, California.
frame structure, coupled shear wall structure and wall
frame structure. This study indicates that the drift on high
rise structures has to be considered as it has a notable
magnitude. So every tall structure should include the drift
due to earthquake load as well as wind load.
REFERENCES
Ansary MA (2008). Earthquake Vulnerability Assessment of Cox's Bazar
District”, NATO Science Series, IV/29, Editors: S.T., pp. 97-118
Bryan SS, Alex C (1991). Tall Building Structures: Analysis and Design.
John Wiley & Sons, INC. p. 95.
View publication stats
