STANDARDS

GENERAL
and BRACING
BRACING
PRACTICES

B2.3 Moment frames

Moment frames resist laterally applied loads through bending and shear in members
and connections. Several frame configurations are available, fully supported through
design and detailing. Design of Portal Frames and Portal braces is given in DM chapter
on Primary Structural.

B2.4 Other
Options not listed above may be needed for some non-standard applications, however,
no standard design or detailing support is provided here.

B3. Roof Bracing Systems

B3.1 General
The stability and load transfer in the roof plane is provided by a horizontal truss system
that behaves as a diaphragm. A diaphragm is considered flexible when maximum
horizontal deflection is significantly larger than the average drift of the framing systems
supporting that same diaphragm3. This is true for buildings with untopped steel decking,
and braced frames or concrete shear walls parallel to the direction of loading (Ref.
ASCE7-05, section 12.3.1.1). The following figure illustrates how this criterion is
checked.

PF D = Maximum diaphragm

avg = 0.5 (PF + R)
(Average drift or deflection
frame deflection)
R

Diaphragm check:
Seismic D > 2 avg  FLEXIBLE
Loading avg > 0.5 D  RIGID

Figure 11 Diaphragm flexibility evaluation

3
For seismic applications, flexible diaphragm lateral deformation must be at least twice the average story
drift of that story (IBC 1602.1)

VP DESIGN MANUAL Section: 5.1

10/13/05 Rev. 1 Page 15 of 17
BUILDINGS