• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
• /
• v.77 no.4
• /
• pp.463-472
• /
• 2021

Fully rigid floor diaphragm is one of the main assumptions that are widely used in common practices due to its simple application. However, determining the exact degree of diaphragms flexibility cannot be easily accomplished without finite element modeling, which is an expensive and time-consuming procedure. Therefore, it is always possible that apparently rigid diaphragms, based on prescriptive limitations of seismic codes, experience some degrees of flexibility during the earthquakes. Since diaphragm flexibility has more uncertainties in asymmetric-plan structures, this study focuses on errors resulting from probable floor diaphragm flexibility of torsionally restrained structures. The analytical models used in this study were single-story buildings with asymmetric plan and RC shear walls. Although floor system is not considered explicitly, a wide range of considered diaphragm flexibility, from fully rigid to quite flexible, allows the results to be generalizable to a lot of lateral load resisting systems as well as floor systems. It has been shown that in addition to previously known effects of diaphragm flexibility, presence of orthogonal side elements during design procedure with rigid diaphragm assumption and rapid reduction in their absorbed forces can also be an important source to increase errors due to flexibility. Accordingly, from the obtained results the authors suggest designers to consider the possibility of diaphragm flexibility and its adverse effects, especially in torsionally restrained systems in their common designs.

• Earthquakes and Structures
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.423-442
• /
• 2015

The effects of accidental eccentricity on the seismic response of four-storey steel buildings laterally stabilized by buckling restrained braced frames are studied. The structures have a square, symmetrical footprint, without inherent eccentricity between the center of lateral resistance (CR) and the center of mass (CM). The position of the bracing bents in the buildings was varied to obtain three different levels of torsional sensitivity: low, intermediate and high. The structures were designed in accordance with the seismic design provisions of the 2010 National Building Code of Canada (NBCC). Three different analysis methods were used to account for accidental eccentricity in design: (1) Equivalent Static Procedure with static in-plane torsional moments assuming a mass eccentricity of 10% of the building dimension (ESP); (2) Response Spectrum Analysis with static torsional moments based on 10% of the building dimension (RSA-10); and (3) Response Spectrum Analysis with the CM being displaced by 5% of the building dimension (RSA-5). Time history analyses were performed under a set of eleven two-component historical records. The analyses showed that the ESP and RSA-10 methods can give appropriate results for all three levels of torsional sensitivity. When using the RSA-5 method, adequate performance was also achieved for the low and intermediate torsional sensitivity cases, but the method led to excessive displacements (5-10% storey drifts), near collapse state, for the highly torsionally sensitive structures. These results support the current provisions of NBCC 2010.

• Journal of Korean Association for Spatial Structures
• /
• v.23 no.2
• /
• pp.37-44
• /
• 2023

In the case of a school building, even though it is a regular structure in terms of plan shape, if the masonry infill wall acts as a lateral load resisting element, it can be determined as a torsionally irregular building. As a result, the strength and ductility of the structure are reduced, which may cause additional earthquake damage to the structure. Therefore, in this study, a structure similar to a school building with torsional irregularity was selected as an example structure and the damping performance of the PC-BRB was analyzed by adjusting the eccentricity according to the amount of masonry infilled wall. As a result of nonlinear dynamic analysis after seismic reinforcement, the torsional irregularity of each floor was reduced compared to before reinforcement, and the beams and column members of the collapse level satisfied the performance level due to the reduction of shear force and the reinforcement of stiffness. The energy dissipation of PC-BRB was similar in the REC-10 ~ REC-20 analytical models with an eccentricity of 20% or less. REC-25 with an eccentricity of 25% was the largest, and it is judged that it is effective to combine and apply PC-BRB when it has an eccentricity of 25% or more to control the torsional behavior.