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Chapter IV: Seismic Analysis

I. Introduction

The seismic analysis and design of buildings has traditionally focused on reducing the
risk of loss of life in the largest expected earthquake. Building codes have based their
provisions on the historic performance of buildings and their deficiencies and have
developed provisions around life safety concerns, i.e., to prevent collapse under the
most intense earth- quake expected at a site during the life of a structure. These
provisions are based on the concept that the successful performance of buildings in
areas of high seismicity depends on a combination of strength, ductility manifested in
the details of construction, and the presence of a fully interconnected, balanced, and
complete lateral-force-resisting system. In regions of low seismicity, the need for
ductility reduces substantially. In fact, in some instances, strength may even substitute
for a lack of ductility. Very brittle lateral-force-resisting systems can be excellent
performers as long as they are never pushed beyond their elastic strength.

The seismic analysis, that is carried using “ETABS”, aims to choose the most suitable
conditions for safety of the “B-CENTRAL-RESIDENTIAL TOWER” against earthquakes
loading.

In general, most earthquake code provisions implicitly require that structures be able to
resist:

1. Minor earthquakes without any damage.

2. Moderate earthquakes with negligible structural damage and some

nonstructural damage.

3. Major earthquakes with some structural and nonstructural damage but without
collapse. The structure is expected to undergo fairly large deformations by
yielding in some structural members.

II. Basis for Design:

The procedures and the limitations for the design of structures shall be determined
considering seismic zoning, site characteristics, occupancy, configuration, structural
system and height. Structures shall be designed with adequate strength to withstand
the lateral displacements induced by the Design Basis Ground Motion, considering the
inelastic response of the structure and the inherent redundancy, over strength and
ductility of the lateral-force resisting system. The minimum design strength shall be

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based on the Design Seismic Forces determined in accordance with the static lateral
force procedure, except as modified by the dynamic procedure.

III. Earthquake Loads

The earthquake load, which is also called seismic load, is a lateral load caused by ground
motions resulting from earthquakes (Sudden movement and rupturing of crust plates
along fault lines).
The magnitude of earthquake load depends on building’s mass and the acceleration
caused by the earthquake.
As the ground moves suddenly, the building attempts to remain stationary, generating
the inertia induced seismic forces that are approximated by the static lateral force
procedure covered here.
This procedure is introduced in UBC ‘97 1629.8.3 and discussed in detail in UBC ‘97
1630.
The static force procedure is limited to use with regular structures less than 73m in
height and also to irregular structures 19m or 5 stories in height.
 Regular structures are symmetric, without discontinuities in plan or elevation.
 The building plan is generally rectangular.
 The mass is reasonably uniform throughout the building’s height.
 The shear walls line up from story to story.
 Irregular structures include both vertical irregularities (UBC Table 16-L), or plan
irregularities (UBC Table 16-M). These irregular features include:
 Reentrant corners.
 Large openings in diaphragms.
 Non-uniform distribution of mass or stiffness over building height (e.g. soft
story).

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Figure 4.1: Flowchart Showing Steps Taken for UBC-97 Analysis

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IV. Design base shear:
 1997 UBC static lateral method considers both horizontal movement and vertical
ground movement.
 UBC base shear design equations, as given below, where each equation is a
function of the building weight and some form of an acceleration factor.
The total design base shear in a given direction is to be determined from the
following formula:
Cv I W
V (3.9)
RT
The total design base shear need not exceed the following:
2.5 Ca I W
V (3.10)
R
The total design base shear shall not be less than the following:
V  0.11Ca IW
(3.11)
In addition, for Seismic Zone 4, the total base shear shall not be less than the
following:
0.8 Z N v I W
V (3.12)
R
The minimum design base shear limitation for Seismic Zone 4 was introduced
as a result of the ground motion effects observed at sites near fault rupture in
1994 Northridge earthquake.
Where:
V = total design lateral force or shear at the base.
W = total seismic dead load
 In storage and warehouse occupancies, a minimum of 25 % of floor live load is to
be considered.
 Total weight of permanent equipment is to be included.

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 Where a partition load is used in floor design, a load of not less than 50 kg/m2 is
to be included.

I = Building importance factor given in UBC 97 Table 16k.

Z = Seismic Zone factor, shown in UBC 97 Table 16I.
R = response modification factor for lateral force resisting system, shown in

UBC 97 Table 16N.

Ca = acceleration-dependent seismic coefficient, shown in UBC 97 Table 16Q

Cv = velocity-dependent seismic coefficient, shown in UBC 97 Table 16R.

N a = near source factor used in determination of C a in Seismic Zone 4, shown in

UBC 97 Table 16S.
N v = near source factor used in determination of C v in Seismic Zone 4, shown in
UBC 97 Table 16T.
T = elastic fundamental period of vibration, in seconds, of the structure in the direction
under consideration evaluated from the following equations:
For reinforced concrete moment-resisting frames,

T  0.073 hn 
3/ 4
(3.13)

For other buildings,

T  0.0488 hn 
3/ 4
(3.14)

Alternatively, for shear walls,

T  0.0743
hn 3 / 4
(3.15)
Ac

hn = total height of building in meters

Ac = combined effective area, in m2, of the shear walls in the first story of the structure,
given by

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  De  
2

Ac   Ai 0.2     , De / hn  0.9 (3.16)

  hn  

De is the length, in meters, of each shear wall in the first story in the direction parallel
to the applied forces.

Ai = cross-sectional area of individual shear walls in the direction of loads in m 2

V. Seismic Parameters

 Occupancy Category Importance Factor

Occupancy Category Seismic Importance Factor, I

1-Essential facilities 1.25
2-Hazardous facilities 1.25
3-Special occupancy structures 1.00
4-Standard occupancy structures 1.00
5-Miscellaneous structures 1.00

Table 4.1: Occupancy Category Importance Factor (UBC1997-Table 16-K)

Although this structure is a residential building.

According to table 16-K:

 Seismic Importance Factor: I = 1

 Seismic Zone Factor

The seismic zone factor Z, given in table 16-I, is the code estimate of the applicable
site dependent effective peak ground acceleration expressed as a function of the
gravity constant g.

The tower is located in Beirut: Zone 2B, then Z =0.2

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ZONE 1 2A 2B 3 4
Z 0.075 0.15 0.2 0.3 0.4

Table 4.2: Seismic zone factor Z (UBC1997-Table 16-I)

 Site Category and Soil Characteristics

According to table 16–J (section 1629.3):

Soil profile type is S , Rock (According to the geotechnical report).

B

Average Soil Properties For Top 30 m Of Soil Profile

Standard
Soil Profile Soil Profile Name/Generic
Shear Wave Penetration Undrained Shear
Type Description
Velocity, vs m/s Test, N Strength, S u kPa
(blows/foot)
SA Hard Rock > 1,500
--- ---
SB Rock 760 to 1,500
Very Dense Soil and Soft
SC 360 to 760 > 50 > 100
Rock
SD Stiff Soil Profile 180 to 360 15 to 50 50 to 100
SE Soft Soil Profile < 180 < 15 < 50
SF Soil Requiring Site-specific Evaluation
Table 4.3: Site Category and Soil Characteristics (UBC1997-Table 16-J)
 Seismic Response Coefficients

Soil Profile Type Seismic Zone Factor, Z

Z =0.075 Z = 0.15 Z = 0.2 Z = 0.3 Z = 0.4
SA 0.06 0.12 0.16 0.24 0.32 N a

SB 0.08 0.15 0.20 0.30 0.40 N a

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SC 0.09 0.18 0.24 0.33 0.40 N a

SD 0.12 0.22 0.28 0.36 0.44 N a

SE 0.19 0.30 0.34 0.36 0.36 N a

SF See Footnote
Table 4.4: SEISMIC COEFFICIENT Ca (UBC1997-Table 16-Q)

Soil Profile Type Seismic Zone Factor, Z

Z =0.075 Z = 0.15 Z = 0.2 Z = 0.3 Z = 0.4
SA 0.06 0.12 0.16 0.24 0.32 N a

SB 0.08 0.15 0.20 0.30 0.40 N a

SC 0.13 0.25 0.33 0.45 0.56 N a

SD 0.18 0.32 0.40 0.54 0.64 N a

SE 0.26 0.50 0.64 0.84 0.96 N a

SF See Footnote
Table 4.5: Seismic Response coefficient Cv(UBC1997-Table 16-R)
This structure shall be assigned a seismic coefficient:
 Ca = 0.2 (Z=0.2 & Soil profile type SB), in accordance with Table 16-Q.
 Cv = 0.2 (Z=0.2 & Soil profile type SB), in accordance with Table 16-R.

 Response Modification Factor R

The structure response modification factor R given in UBC97 Table 16-N is the ratio of
the seismic base shear, which would develop in a linearly elastic system, to the
prescribed design base shear. It is a measure of the ability of the system to absorb
energy and sustain cyclic inelastic deformations without collapse.
 Lightly damped structures: Constructed of ductile materials assigned low
values of R
 Highly damped structures: Constructed of ductile materials assigned larger
values of R

According to table 16 –N, structural systems:

 Lateral force resisting system description: Shear wall- frame interaction
systems

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 R = 5.5

Table 4.6: Structure Response Modification Factor R (UBC97)

VI. Input data for seismic loads in ETABS:

In our model, four seismic loads are defined for the static analysis in the ETABS:
 EQPX: in the x-direction + 0.05 eccentricity ratio in the y-direction
 EQNX: in the x-direction - 0.05 eccentricity ratio in the y-direction
 EQPY: in the y-direction + 0.05 eccentricity ratio in the x-direction
 EQPY: in the y-direction - 0.05 eccentricity ratio in the x-direction

The input data for ETABS for the static analysis are shown in the four windows below:

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Figure 4.2: Static seismic data in ETABS in the X-direction (EQPX & EQNX)

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Figure 4.3: Static seismic data in ETABS in the Y-direction (EQPY & EQNY)

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VII. Mass Source

Mass source is defined from self and specified mass and loads such that, and
superimposed dead load (SD) is multiplied by one.

Figure 4.4: Mass source definition

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