Horizontal & Vertical Eccentricities in Mass and Stiffness Distribution

Horizontal & vertical
eccentricities in mass and

stiffness distribution
Mass :
• Inertia forces are generated in buildings during
earthquake shaking at locations where masses are
present.
• For uniform distribution of forces in structural
members, it is important to have inertia force
mobilized uniformly in the building.
• For this, there should be uniform distribution of
mass, both in plan and along the height of the
building.
Mass Asymmetry in Plan:
• It is a common practice to have water tanks at roof
top.
• But usually, water tanks with large mass of water
are placed at corners of buildings.
• This affects the distribution of mass in plan, at least
at the roof level.
• This asymmetry in mass in plan causes twisting of
buildings during earthquake shaking due to
mismatch of centre of mass and centre of rigidity
(Fig 1).
Fig 1: Asymmetry of mass in plan: Buildings twist during earthquake shaking due to
mismatch in line of action of inertia force and resistance offered by structural
members
• Consider the benchmark building with an idealized
heavy mass (8 ton) at one corner of the building as
shown in Fig 2.
• The first three modes of oscillation of the building
changes to translation in Y direction with twisting
component, translation in X direction with twisting
component, and pure torsion (Fig 2).
Fig 2: Asymmetry of mass in plan: Concentrated mass at one corner of building

Mass Irregularity in Elevation:
• Multi-storeyed tall buildings often have service floors with
heavy mass compared to regular floors (Fig 3).
• This causes sudden change or asymmetry in mass along the
elevation of buildings.
• With increase in mass in one storey, there is increase in
inertia force generated in that storey.
• If the percentage difference is small of change in mass in
comparison to the total mass of the building, the effect of
the mass irregularity is small on the mode shape in regular
buildings.
• The difference becomes pronounced if the difference is
large; the difference in response is explicit during nonlinear
response of such buildings under strong earthquake
shaking.
Fig 3: Mass irregularity in elevation: Sudden change in mass should be
avoided
Two-dimensional modes shapes of buildings
Effect of Asymmetry of Mass
Initial stiffness:
• Initial lateral stiffness plays an important role in overall
response of buildings.
• The amount of lateral load resisted by individual members
in buildings is controlled by their lateral stiffness – stiffer
elements attract more force than flexible ones.
• In addition, adequate overall stiffness is essential in a
building to control overall lateral displacement during
earthquake shaking.
• Thus, it is important to have uniform distribution of
stiffness in a building to ensure uniform distribution of
lateral deformation and lateral forces over the plan and
elevation of a building.
Stiffness Irregularity in Plan:
• Irregularity in stiffness in plan occurs due to
(a) use of columns of different sizes,
(b) presence of structural wall on one side of
buildings, or
(c) presence of staircase or elevator core at one
corner of buildings (Fig 4).
• Stiffness irregularity in plan causes twisting of
buildings under lateral load (Fig 5).
Fig 4: Stiffness irregularity in plan: Unequal stiffness of elements and their distribution
in plan cause overall stiffness irregularity
Fig 5: Stiffness irregularity in plan: Buildings twist during earthquake shaking due to mismatch in
line of action of inertia force and resistance offered by structural members
• Staircase in buildings also causes the secondary effect
of short columns, in addition to causing twist of the
building due to stiffness irregularity in plan.
• Short column effect is caused by the intermediate
landings (e.g., mid-landing in dog-legged stairs) which
divide the adjoining columns into shorter segments.
• This result in enhanced shear demand in these short
columns with additional stiffness introduced at
intermediate levels (Fig 6).
• Axial load increases in these columns due to
increased rigidity of the particular bay.
• This increase in axial force and shear force together
can cause brittle failure of these short columns.
Fig 6 : Building with staircase: Stair slabs provide intermediate restraints leading to
short column effect
Stiffness Irregularity in Elevation:
• Irregularity in stiffness along the height of buildings
arises from both architectural and structural
choices.
• Often, the former is a more formidable choice to
ensure safety, since it is driven by considerations
other than safety.
• On the other hand, the latter is more a subtle choice
made by structural designers, sometime
inadvertently.
• In both cases, the consequence is severe.
(a) Open or Flexible Storey in Buildings:
• Lateral stiffness irregularity occurs in elevation when
(a) sizes of lateral load resisting elements are varied
along the height of buildings, and
(b) additional elements are added or existing
elements are removed (Fig 7).
• In building C (in Fig 7), the column sizes are reduced
to 230mm×230mm from 400mm×400mm, while
buildings A and B have additional masonry infill
except at one storey.
• Buildings A and B represent moment frames with
masonry (brick) infill walls.
• Masonry has good strength in compression.
Fig 7: Stiffness irregularity in elevation: Variation of element size and presence of additional or
absence of elements in elevation cause overall stiffness irregularity
• Thus, under lateral loads, the load transfer takes place

through compressive strut action in the in filled masonry
portion – this action is somewhat similar to that seen when
diagonal compression braces are present in frames (Fig 8).
Fig 8: Masonry in filled frame: Infill helps transfer lateral loads through diagonal strut action
and reduces demand on columns
• Hence, modelling of unreinforced masonry in filled
frame buildings for structural analysis should
include masonry in fills as diagonal compression-
only strut members.
• Stiffness irregularity in elevation causes
unwarranted change in demands on the structural
elements (Fig 9).
• Also, reduction of lateral stiffness causes increase in
displacement demand in storeys with less stiffness,
called soft storey (Fig 10)
Fig 9: Masonry in filled
frame: Discontinuity of
infill in one storey cause
significant demand on
the columns in the storey
Fig 10: Stiffness irregularity in elevation: Stiffness irregularity in elevation increase
deformation demand in storeys with less stiffness
• Soft story is in which the lateral stiffness is less than 70 per
cent of that in the story above or less than 80 per cent of
the average stiffness of the three stories above.
• A Weak story one in which the ratio of the story strength to

the story shear is less than 80 per cent of that in the story
above. the story strength is the strength of all seismic-
resistant elements sharing the story shear of the direction
under condition.

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Horizontal & vertical

eccentricities in mass and

Fig 2: Asymmetry of mass in plan: Concentrated mass at one corner of building

• Thus, under lateral loads, the load transfer takes place

• A Weak story one in which the ratio of the story strength to

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