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Energy Virtual Work Diagram

This document describes how to use the Energy/Virtual Work Diagram tool in ETABS to determine which structural elements should be stiffened to control lateral displacements. The tool displays the energy associated with each element, with the highest value normalized to 100. Elements with higher energy values contribute more to structural displacements and should be considered for stiffening. Maxwell's Reciprocal Theorem and an example are provided to illustrate how the tool calculates and displays relative energy values based on different load cases and displaced shapes.

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Kris Diyanto
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352 views2 pages

Energy Virtual Work Diagram

This document describes how to use the Energy/Virtual Work Diagram tool in ETABS to determine which structural elements should be stiffened to control lateral displacements. The tool displays the energy associated with each element, with the highest value normalized to 100. Elements with higher energy values contribute more to structural displacements and should be considered for stiffening. Maxwell's Reciprocal Theorem and an example are provided to illustrate how the tool calculates and displays relative energy values based on different load cases and displaced shapes.

Uploaded by

Kris Diyanto
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Energy / Virtual Work Diagram

Form: Energy/Virtual Work Diagram

Click the Display menu >  Energy/Virtual Work Diagram command to display energy diagrams that can be used as an
aid to determine which elements should be stiffened to achieve the most efficient control over the lateral
displacements of a structure.

Forces and Displacement drop-down list. Use the drop-down lists to select the load case associated with the
forces and displacements to be displayed.

Show Values check box. Check this check box and values (text) will be added to the graphical display.

Click the Apply button to update the active window. When the Apply button is used, the  Energy/Virtual Work Diagram
form will remain open until the Close button is clicked. This allows another selection to be made on the form to
review multiple displays without using the command to recall the form. If only one work diagram is to be displayed,
the OK button can be used to both update the active window and close the form.

Consider the two story structure shown in Figure "a" that has lateral loads P1 and P2 at the Roof and Second story
levels, respectively. Also note the displaced shape, D, associated with this structure and loading, which is shown as a
dashed line.

Now consider the same structure, shown in Figure "b", with a single load P (typically a unit load) applied to it and a
resulting displaced shape, d, shown as a dashed line. Maxwell's Reciprocal Theorem states that:

 
 PD = P1droof + P2dsecond

See a structural analysis textbook for details on Maxwell's Reciprocal Theorem.

In this very simple example, the equation above could be reduced to an element level where the elements are
illustrated in Figure "c" as:

 PD = [P1droof - P1dsecond] + [(P1 + P2)dsecond - (P1 + P2)dbase]

Noting that dbase is equal to zero, this equation reduces to:

 PD = [P1droof - P1dsecond] + [(P1 + P2)dsecond]


In the preceding equation, the first term in brackets is the energy in the top element and the second term is the energy
in the bottom element. The energy in both of these elements sums to the total PD energy. When the Display menu >
Energy/Virtual Work Diagram command is used to display energy diagrams, ETABS reports the equivalent of the
values shown in brackets in the last equation for each element in the structure. Note the following about the energy
values that ETABS reports:

They are based on all six degrees of freedom of the element, not just the one degree of freedom described in
the Figure and the associated equations in the background information.

They are determined as follows:

ETABS determines the energy per unit volume associated with each element in the structure.

ETABS normalizes all of the calculated energy values such that the largest one has a value of 100.

As previously stated, the energy diagrams are helpful as an aid to determine which elements should be stiffened to
control lateral displacements in a structure.

In the preceding example,  the required load case is shown in Figure "a."  The load case associated with
displacements is shown in Figure "b."  Typically, this load case consists of one or more unit loads.

The following figures show load cases that might be used for displacement load cases. Figure "d" shows a load case
that is appropriate for controlling the roof displacement. Figure e shows a load case that is appropriate for controlling
the interstory displacement between the roof and the second story level.

 
 

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