Chapter 4 – Lateral Force

Resisting Systems
Concrete materials and structures chair

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
(LFRS)
• 4.1 Introduction
• All structures from the simplest to most complex must
be provided with suitable LFRS
• Simple structures such as isolated elevated water tanks,
sign boards, simple ware houses, etc.
• More complex structures buildings, bridges,
waterfront structures, ships, etc. 2
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• A cantilever column or a pin supported column with lateral

restraint at ground level play the role of LFRS for the
simpler structures
• Elaborate LFRS consisting of frames, walls, combinations of
frames and walls, and other more complex systems are
required for the more complex structures
• In the latter the vertical elements are rigidly connected with
horizontal diaphragms enabling them to act in unison. 3
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
Tubular Structural Systems
• The tube is a structural engineering system that is used in
high-rise buildings, enabling them to resist lateral loads from
wind, seismic pressures and so on. It acts like a hollow cylinder,
cantilevered perpendicular to the ground.
• The system was developed in the 1960s by a Bangladeshi-
American structural engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan, and has
been used to construct most high-rise buildings since then.
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Can be constructed of concrete, steel or can be composite

• Line of closely spaced columns connected with deep spandrel
beams resist lateral forces as part of the exterior of the
building. This forms the ‘tube’ structure.
• Few and sparse columns are designed in the middle sections
.

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• The first building designed by Khan using a tube frame was the
DeWitt-Chestnut building, Chicago, in 1963. The first
skyscraper to use the system was Chicago’s Willis Tower.
• Could be framed tube, trussed tube, tube in tube (‘hull and
core’)

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 Framed Tube
• Hancock Center, Boston, USA

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 Bundled tube
• Sears Tower, Chicago, USA
Tube in Tube
• Petronas Tower, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
DiaGrid Systems
• Formed from an RC Core and steel diagrid columns.
• Perimeter grid consisting series of triangulated trusses.
Diagonal and horizontal members intersect.
• A diagrid structure is modeled as a vertical cantilever
beam on the ground, and subdivided longitudinally into
modules according to the repetitive diagrid pattern.
• The perimeter grid resists shear.
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Tie beams transfer loads from core to the diagrid.

• Used for twisted, tilted and freeform towers
• Structural efficiency and aesthetical usage
Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
Dia Grid System

Swiss Re, London, UK

Hexa-Grid System

Al Bahar Tower, Abu Dhabi

 Buttressed core system
• Burj Al-Khalifa, Dubai
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• The most commonly used structural systems are:

• (i) Wall systems
• (ii) Frame systems
• (iii) Mixed wall-frame system
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• 4.2Wall System
• 4.2.1 Stable arrangement of walls
• (i) There must be at least 3 walls
• (ii) The axes of the walls should not intersect at a point
• (iii) All 3 walls should not be parallel
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Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• 4.2.2 Avoid high torsion

• Note: eccentric arrangement of wall is the most frequent
cause of collapse during EQ

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

4.2.3 Distribution of story shear among the walls

4.2.3.1 Statically determinate wall system
• Note: the story shear and the forces in the
walls are statically equivalent

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Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
• Note: the story shear and the forces in the walls are
statically equivalent
•  V2x = 100 kN
•  V1y+ V3y = 0
•  Torsion exerted by the story shear Vx
•  V2x(5) + V3y(8) – V1y(10) = 0
•  V3y= -500/18 and V1y= 500/18
•  V3y= -27.78 kN and V1y= 27.78 kN 25
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• To reduce the magnitudes of the forces,

• (i) reduce the magnitude of the torsional moment 500
kNm by reducing the distance b/n the story shear Vx and
the center of stiffness S that lies on wall axis of Wall 2
and
• (ii) Increasing the lever arm b/n walls 1 and 3, placing
them as far apart from each other as possible ,i.e., at the
periphery 26
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

4.2.3.2 Statically indeterminate wall system

• More than three walls
• Additional compatibility conditions are to be considered to
determine all shear wall forces

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Determination of the center of stiffness

• In the following:
• Iix = Moment of inertia of wall i w.r.t x-Axis
• Iiy = Moment of inertia of wall i w.r.t y-Axis
• xi , yi = Distance of shear center of wall i from origin of
chosen coordinate system
•xi , yi= Distance of shear center of wall i from the center 28

of stiffness
Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
• Goal is to:
• (i) determine the center of stiffness
• (ii) distribute the horizontal force passing through M
• A shear force Vx through the center of stiffness S results
only in translation in the x-direction and no rotation.
• This means the same amount of deflection for all walls
connected with each other by means of the diaphragm
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

•  Vx is distributed according to their stiffness (rigidity)

 according to the moment of inertias w.r.t the y-axis
Vx I1 y Vx I 2 y
V1x  ; V2 x  ; etc
I iy I iy

• Note that the resultant of the distributed forces is equal

to Vx and passes through S.
•  S can be determined by determining Vx 31
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Line of action of Vx is yS away from E and given by:

ys 
 V (y )
ix

 V (y )
i Vix i x

V ix V V x ix

• Substitution for Vix in terms of Vx from above and

factoring the constants and simplifying yields:
ys 
 I (y )
iy i

I iy 32
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Similarly from consideration of story shear Vy in the y-

direction
xs 
 I (x )
ix i

I ix

• As an example determine the center of stiffness of the

statically indeterminate wall system shown in the
previous slide
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Solution: Let t = wall thickness

• I1y = I6x = t(2a)3/12 ;
• I2x = I3x = I4y = I5y = t(a)3/12,
• I1x = I2y = I3y = I4x = I5x = I6  0
•  xS = 2.0a ; yS = 1.2a (check as an assignment)
• It is shown as S in the floor plan 34
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Story shear distribution among the walls

• Step 1: External horizontal force H acts generally
eccentric to assumed origin of axis (E). In the case of EQ
it passes through the mass center
• Step2 : Story shear determined and made to pass
through the origin of chosen axis (E).
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• The eccentricity of the external loading H, shown as yH

causes torsion
• Step 3: The statically equivalent actions Vx and Tsx = Tex+
Vx yS are made to act at the center of stiffness. (Note that
only in the upper most story is, Vx = H)
• The story shear Vx at the center of stiffness result in a
uniform translation of the in plane rigid slabs in the x-
direction
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• The story shear is distributed according of their

moments of inertias as discussed before
• The torsional moment TS results in rotation of the slabs
about the center of stiffness. It will be absorbed by all the
walls. (Observe the role of the diaphragms in distributing
the loads to the walls. W/o the slabs this is not possible)
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

Ts  (V1x  y1  V2 x  y 2  )  (V1 y  x1  V2 y  x 2  )

• Some of these terms are negligible because of negligible

bending stiffness and V1x ,V2x ,…,V1y , V2y , … are a result
of torsion Ts
• Observe that, the deflection components of the walls are
proportional to y , y , , x , x , 
1 2 1 2
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Thus the shear forces V1x ,V2x ,…,V1y ,V2y , … in the walls
as a result of torsional moment TS are proportional to the
moment of inertia and the lever arm and therefore their
product
•  V  k  I  y   ;V  k  I  x  
1x 1y 1 1y 1x 1

• Where k = the proportionality constant that has to be

determined so that we can determine the wall forces
resulting from torsion 39
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Invoking statical equivalency between story torsion TS

and and the sum of the torsional moments exerted by
the wall forces w.r.t. the center of stiffness S:

Ts  k I1 y y12  k I 2 y y22    k I1 x x12  k I 2 x x22  


• Ts  k   I iy yi2  I ix xi2 
Ts
 I 
k
iy yi2  I ix xi2
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
• Substituting the vale of k in wall force eqns as a result of
torsion above:
V1 x  T  I y   I
s 1y 1 iy y  I ix x
2
i
2
i , 
V1 y  T  I x   I
s 1x 1 iy yi2  I ix xi2 , 
• Note that V1y  0 for wall 1
• Thus the total force in wall i resulting from Vx and TS will
be:
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

Vx I iy 
Ts  I1 y y1 
 I 
V1 x   ;
I iy iy yi2  I ix xi2
V y I ix 
Ts  I1 x x1 
 I 
V1 y  
 I ix iy y  I ix x
2
i
2
i

• Note that the 1st term in the expression for Viy is  0 because Vy
=0

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Example I: For the Statically indeterminate walls

distribute the story shear if:
• Hx = 100kN; yH = 0.2a; a = 6.0m; t = 0.2m, and the floor is
the upper most floor in a building

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
• Example 2:

• Distribute the story shear in the ground floor of a ten

story building with plan and system of walls similar to the
statically indeterminate example, if the lateral forces in
the x- direction are as shown in the Table below.
• Determine the external forces acting on wall 1
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Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
Story Force (kN) Center of mass
10 1000 -0.2a
9 900 -0.3a
8 800 0.2a
7 700 0.1a
6 600 -0.2a
5 500 -0.3a
4 400 -0.3a
3 300 -0.4a
2 200 -0.1a
1 100 0.1a
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• 4.3 Frame system

• Regarding stable arrangement and avoiding high torsion
 same as in walls
• Disadvantage  frames are flexible  not suitable for
medium high to high rise buildings if used alone

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Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

4.3.1 Lateral force distribution between the frames

• The lateral shear force on a story is distributed among the
frames based on their stiffness.

• The center of stiffness or rigidity, CR, can be calculated

using the following formula
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Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

𝑥′1 𝑘𝑦1 +𝑥′2 𝑘𝑦2 +𝑥′3 𝑘𝑦3

The x-coordinate, 𝑥′𝑟 = 𝑘𝑦1 +𝑘𝑦2 +𝑘𝑦3

Where 𝑘𝑦 is the in-plane stiffness of the frame I in the Y

direction.
𝑥′𝑖 𝑘𝑦𝑖
Or generally, 𝑥′𝑟 =
𝑘𝑦𝑖
𝑦′𝑖 𝑘𝑥𝑖
and 𝑦′𝑟 =
𝑘𝑥𝑖
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
• 𝑉′𝑖𝑥 =(
𝑘𝑥𝑖
𝑘𝑥𝑖
) 𝑉𝑥

𝑘𝑦𝑖
• 𝑉′𝑖𝑦 =(
𝑘𝑦𝑖
) 𝑉𝑦

• When moment arises, the additional resistances would be,

𝑥𝑖 𝑘𝑦𝑖
• 𝑉′′𝑖𝑥 =(
𝑦𝑖 𝑘𝑥𝑖
𝐼𝑝
) 𝑀𝑡 & 𝑉′′𝑖𝑦 = (
𝐼𝑝
) 𝑀𝑡

• Where 𝐼𝑝 (Polar moment of Inertia of frame stiffnesses) =

𝑥𝑖2 𝑘𝑦𝑖 + 𝑦𝑖2 𝑘𝑥𝑖 50
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• But, while the instruction helps add insight about the

response of frames under lateral loads, the procedure is
rather involved and also outdated and serves no practical
purpose in present day design offices
• The reason is the ease with which 3-D frames are
modeled and analyzed with modern day software and
computers for all kinds of load combinations
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Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Thus look at a simple 3-D frame example under lateral

loading and use the results to answer some questions
such as:
• Is the stiffness of the LFRS equal to the sum of the
stiffnesses of the individual frames in each direction?
• Are the rigidities of outer columns less than those the
interior columns and thus take less share of the story
shear? 53
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Is the sum of the shear forces equal to the story shear?

• How does eccentricity affect the distribution of the story
shear?
• How do we account for accidental eccentricity?
• Can you show an individual frame with its share of
externally applied lateral load?
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
• 4.4 Mixed wall-frame system (Dual system)
• Response under lateral load is not anymore that of a
cantilever wall or frame because of the interaction b/n
the two. They share the same lateral displacement due to
compatibility reasons.
• Useful for significant energy dissipation, and due to the
large stiffness of walls, has a good control on story drift
& avoidance of story mechanisms (ex. soft story) 55
 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Possibility of soft story in Fig a,

can be avoided by having a
suitable arrangement of dual
system as shown on Fig b.
• Excessive stress on the column
indicated on Fig c, can be
reduced by having a clear
assignment of dual system.
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• The effect of the walls

above the mid height of
the building decreases
and resistance of the
frame for moment and
shear would be more
significant.
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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems

• Typical deflection, moment and shear diagrams

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 Chapter 4- Lateral Force Resisting Systems
The following diagram
indicates the moment
and shear resistance
provided by a dual
system with different
lengths of walls. The
longer the wall, the
higher the resistance.
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