THE STRUCTURAL DESIGN OF TALL AND SPECIAL BUILDINGS

Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)

Published online 19 December 2007 in Wiley Interscience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/tal.390

AN APPROXIMATE METHOD FOR STATIC AND DYNAMIC

ANALYSES OF MULTI-BAY COUPLED SHEAR WALLS

KANAT BURAK BOZDOGAN,* DUYGU OZTURK AND AYHAN NUHOGLU

Civil Engineering Department, Ege University, Bornova, İ zmir, Turkey

SUMMARY
In this study an approximate method based on the continuum approach and transfer matrix method for static and
dynamic analyses of multi-bay coupled shear walls is presented. The whole structure is idealized as a sandwich
beam in this method. Initially the differential equation of this equivalent sandwich beam is written, then shape
functions for each storey can be obtained by the solution of differential equations. By using boundary conditions
and storey transfer matrices which are obtained by these shape functions, system modes and periods can be cal-
culated. Reliability of the study is shown with a few examples. A computer program has been developed in
MATLAB and numerical samples have been solved for demonstration of the reliability of this method. The results
of the samples display the agreement between the present method and the other methods given in the literature.
Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

1. INTRODUCTION
Shear walls are commonly used in tall buildings with the aim of increasing the resistance to lateral
loads. They are formed as coupled shear walls because of the rows of openings constituted for the
architectural aspects such as windows and doors. A number of methods are available for the analysis
of tall buildings with coupled shear wall systems. These include the continuous connection method
(Rosman, 1964; Basu et al., 1979; Coull and Smith, 1983; Li and Choo, 1996; Aksoǧan et al., 2003;
Ha and Tan, 1999; Zeidabadi et al., 2004), the equivalent frame method (Chaallal and Ghamallar,
1996; Smith, 1970), the finite element method (Kwan, 1993, 1995; Chaallal, 1992; Kim and Lee, 2003)
and the boundary element method (Rashed, 2000).
Rosman (1964) proposed a continuum medium method for a pair of high-rise coupled shear
walls. Basu et al. (1979) gave design of charts for circular frequencies for coupled shear walls. Li and
Choo (1996) proposed a hybrid approach, based on the analysis of equivalent continuous medium and
a discrete lumped mass system for free vibration analysis of stiffened pierced walls on flexible
foundations.
In this study, an approximate method based on the continuum system model and transfer matrix
approach is suggested for the static and dynamic analyses of coupled shear walls.

2. ANALYSIS
Under horizontal loads, coupled shear walls demonstrate neither Timoshenko beam nor
Euler–Bernouilli beam behavior. The behavior of coupled walls is equivalent to a sandwich beam

* Correspondence to: Kanat Burak Bozdogan, Civil Engineering Department, Ege University, Bornova, İzmir 35100, Turkey.
E-mail: kanat.burak.bozdogan@ege.edu.tr

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

2 K. B. BOZDOGAN, D. OZTURK AND A. NUHOGLU

(EI) (GA,D) H

Figure 1. Mathematical model of equivalent sandwich beam

which denotes the total of these two types of behavior (Figure 1). Initially the differential equation of
this equivalent sandwich beam can be written. The flexural rigidity of the sandwich beam contains of
the sum of the flexural rigidity of shear walls near the openings; the shear rigidity of the sandwich
beam is equal to the sum of the connecting beam shear rigidities and the global flexural rigidity of the
structural system can be calculated with the help of axial deformation of shear walls near the
openings.

2.1 Storey transfer matrices

Under horizontal loads the equations for a coupled shear wall of the ith storey can be written as

d 4 yi d 2 yi dy i
EIi 4
− GAi 2
+ GAi =0 (1)
dzi dzi dzi

dyi d 2y i
GAi + Di − GAiy i = 0 (2)
dzi ∂zi2

where yi are the total shape functions, zi are the vertical axis of each storey, Yi are the rotation angles
of the coupled shear wall because of bending, EIi are the total bending rigidities of the shear wall and
Di are the global bending rigidities and can be calculated from the equation below:

Dj = ∑ EAj rj2 (3)

where Aj is the cross-sectional area of the jth shear wall and r is the distance of the jth shear wall from
the centre of the cross-sections.
GAi are the equivalent shear rigidities of connecting beams and can be calculated as in Equation
(4) (Potzta and Kollar, 2003):

GA i = ∑
[ 2
6 EI bj ( d j + s j ) + ( d j + s j +1 )
2
] (4)
12 rEI bj
d 3j hi + )
GA bj d j2

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 ANALYSIS OF COUPLED SHEAR WALLS 3

0 1 j n

Sj d i Sj+1

Figure 2. Coupled shear wall

where hi is height of storey, dj are the clear span lengths of the coupling beam, sj are the wall lengths
(Figure 2), EIbj and GAbj are the flexural rigidity and shear rigidity of the connecting beam, respec-
tively, and r is the Poisson ratio.
With the solution of Equations (1) and (2) with respect to z, total shape function and rotation angle
can be obtained as

yi ( z ) = c1 + c2 z + c3 z 2 + c4 z 3 + c5 cosh( ai z ) + c6 sinh( ai z ) (5)

y i ( z ) = c2 + 2c3 z + (3z 2 + 6bi )c4 +  − i ai2 + ai  c5 sinh( ai z ) +  − i ai2 + ai  c6 cosh( ai z ) (6)

EI EI
 GA i   GA i 

where c1, c2, c3, c4, c5 and c6 are integral constants. ai and bi can be calculated by using formula given
below:

ai = 1 + i 
D GA i D
, bi = i (7)
 EI i  Di GA i

With the help of Equation (5), the total rotation angle, bending moment of shear wall, bending
moment because of the axial deformation and the total shear force can be obtained as follows:

y ′( z ) = c2 + 2c3 z + 3c4 z 2 + c5 ai sinh( ai z ) + c6 ai cosh( ai z ) (8)

Mwi ( z ) = EI i yill = EI i (2c3 + 6c4 z + c5 ai2 cosh( ai z ) + c6 ai2 sinh( ai z ) (9)

Maxi ( z ) = − Diy il = − Di (2c3 + 6c4 z + c6 fi ai sinh( ai z ) + c5 fi ai cosh( ai z ) (10)

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
4 K. B. BOZDOGAN, D. OZTURK AND A. NUHOGLU

d 3 yi dy
Vi ( z ) = EI i 3
− GA i i + GA iy i (11)
dz dz
= c4 (6 EI i + 6GA i bi ) + c5 sinh( ai z )(GA i ( fi − ai ) + EI i ai3 ) + c6 cosh( ai z )(GA i ( fi − ai ) + EI i )

where
− EI i 3
fi = ai + ai (12)
GA i

When Equations (5), (8), (6), (9), (10) and (11) are written in matrix form:

 yi ( z )  1 z z2 z3 cosh( ai z ) sinh( ai z )   c1 
 y ′( z )  0 1 2z 3z 2 ai sinh( ai z ) ai cosh( ai z )  c 
 i    2 
 y i ( z )  0 1 2z (3z 2 + 6bi ) fi sinh( ai z ) fi cosh( ai z )  c3 
 =   (13)
 MW i ( z ) 0 0 2 EI i 6 EI i z EI i ai2 cosh( ai z ) EI i ai2 sinh( ai z )  c 4 
 Max i ( z ) 0 0 −2 D0 i −6 D0 i z − D0 i fi ai cosh( ai z ) − D0 i fi ai sinh( ai z )  c5 
    
 V( z )  0 0 0 (6EI i + 6GA i bi ) sinh(ai z )(GA i( fi − ai ) + EI i ai3 ) cosh( ai z )(GA i ( fi − ai ) + EI i ai ) c6 
3

Equation (13) is obtained.

At the initial point of the storey for z = 0, Equation (13) can be written as

 yi (0)   c1 
 y ′(0)  c 
 i   2
 y i (0)  c3 
  = A i (0)  
M
 Wi  ( 0 ) c 4  (14)
 Max i (0) c5 
   
 Vi (0)  c6 

c = [c1 c6 ]
t
c2 c3 c4 c5 (15)

When vector c is solved from Equation (14) and is substituted into Equation (13), Equation (16) is
obtained:

 yi ( z )   yi (0) 
 y ′( z )   y ′(0) 
 i   i 
 i
y ( z )  −1  y i (0) 
  = A i A i (0)  
 M W i ( z )  M W i ( 0 ) (16)
 Max i ( z )  Max i (0)
   
 Vi ( z )   Vi (0) 

where Ti = AiAi−1 (0) is the storey transfer matrix for zi = hi.

3. STATIC ANALYSIS
Static analysis of a coupled shear wall under horizontal loads can be done with the help of transfer
matrices. When the lateral forces acting on the storey levels are considered, the relationship between
displacement and internal forces can be written as follows:

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 ANALYSIS OF COUPLED SHEAR WALLS 5

 y( i +1)   yi 
 y′   y′ 
 ( i +1)   i 
 y ( i +1)   yi 
  = Ti   + Fi
 M w ( i +1)   M w i  (17)
 Max ( i +1)   Max i 
   
 V( i +1)   Vi 

The lateral external force vector of the ith storey is expressed as Fi:

Fi = [0 0 0 0 0 − fi ]
t
(18)

Here fi is the horizontal load vector which is applied at the ith storey level. When Equation (17) is
written for each storey successively, the expression which gives the structural relationship between
base and top of structures can be written as

 ytop   ybase 
 yl   yl 
 top   base 
n −1 s +1
 y top   1
  y base   
  ∏  
= Tk  ∑ ∏ Tk  Ts + Fn
+
 M w top   k = n   M w base  s = 1  k = n 
(19)
 Max top   Max base 
   
 Vtop   Vbase 

where t and P matrices can be written as

1 n −1 s +1
 
t = ∏ Tk P = ∑ ∏ Tk  Fs + Fn (20)
k =n s =1  k = n 

When Equation (20) is substituted into Equation (19)

 ybase   ytop 
 yl   yl 
 base   top 
 y base   y top 
t  + P = M 
 Mw base   w top  (21)
 Max base   Max top 
   
 Vbase   Vtop  n

can be obtained. When the boundary conditions are applied to Equation (21), it becomes

t 44 t 45 t 46   Mw base  − P( 4)
t t55 t56   Max base  =  − P(5) (22)
 54    
t64 t65 t66   Vbase   − P(6)

By using Equation (22) Mw base, Max base and Vbase can be found. The other unknowns can then be
found by the help of transfer matrices.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
6 K. B. BOZDOGAN, D. OZTURK AND A. NUHOGLU

4. DYNAMIC ANALYSIS
For free vibration analysis of coupled shear wall the structure is considered as a discrete lumped mass
system as shown in Figure 3.
Storey masses can be considered as follows:
MT M
m1 = 1 ⋅ 5 and mn = T (23)
n 2n

MT
mi = i = 2, 3, . . . , n − 1 (24)
n

where MT is the total mass of the structural system.

The storey transfer matrices obtained in Equation (16) can be used for dynamic analysis of coupled
shear walls. Therefore, when considering the inertial forces in a storey, the relationship between, ith
and (i + 1)th storey can be written using the following matrix equation:

 y( i +1)   1 0 0 0 0 0   yi 
 y′   0 1 0 0 0 0   yi′ 
 ( i +1)     
 y ( i +1)   0 0 1 0 0 0  y i 
 = Ti  
 Mw( i +1)   0 0 0 1 0 0   Mw i 
(25)
 Max ( i +1)   0 0 0 0 1 0   Max i 
     
 V( i +1)  miw 2 0 0 0 0 1   Vi 

where, mi is the mass of ith storey and w are the natural frequencies. The dynamic transfer matrix Tdi
is as shown below:

 1 0 0 0 0 0
 0 1 0 0 0 0
 
 0 0 1 0 0 0
Tdi =  Ti
 0 0 0 1 0 0
(26)
 0 0 0 0 1 0
 
miw 2 0 0 0 0 1

mn

mk

m1

Figure 3. Discrete model

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 ANALYSIS OF COUPLED SHEAR WALLS 7

The displacements and internal forces relationship between base and the top of structures can be
found as follows:

 ytop   ybase 
 yl   yl 
 top   base 
 y top   y base 
  = Tdn Td(n−1) . . . Td1  
 Mw top   Mw base  (27)
 Max top   Max base 
   
 Vtop   Vbase 

When the boundary condition is considered in Equation (27), for non-trivial solution of td =
TdnTdn-1Tdn-2 . . . Td1 Equation (28) is gained:

t 44 t 45 t 46 
f = t54 t55 t56  (28)
 
t64 t65 t66 

The values w which set the determinant to zero are the natural frequencies of the coupled shear
wall.

4.1 The effect of foundation flexibility

When the effect of foundation flexibility is considered, the static and dynamic analyses of the coupled
shear walls may be determined by using the boundary conditions below:

(1) K r y l = Mw base 
(2 ) K h y(0) = Vbase 

(3) K v ∑ rj2y = Max base  (29)

( 4) Mw top = 0 Max top = 0 
(5) Vtop = 0 

where Kv is equivalent vertical displacement stiffness of foundation for coupled shear wall, kh is equiv-
alent horizontal displacement stiffness of foundation for coupled shear wall, Kr is equivalent rotational
displacement stiffness of foundation for coupled shear wall.

5. PROCEDURE OF COMPUTATION
The computation procedure for the transfer matrix method is presented below, step by step:
(1) Calculation of the structural properties of each storey (GA, EI, D, m, . . .).
(2) Computation of storey transfer matrices for each storey using the structural properties obtained
in step 1.
(3) Computation of system transfer matrix with the help of storey transfer matrices.
(4) Applying the boundary conditions and obtaining the non-trivial equation.
(5) Determination of the angular frequencies by using the numerical method.
(6) Using the angular frequencies for the determination of modes with the help of storey transfer
matrices.

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
8 K. B. BOZDOGAN, D. OZTURK AND A. NUHOGLU

6. NUMERICAL EXAMPLES
In this part of the study, to verify the presented method four numerical examples have been solved
using a program written in MATLAB (MATLAB V7.1, 2004). The results are compared with those
given in the literature.

Example 1
A typical single-bay coupled shear wall structure is analysed as an example. This shear wall rests on
a rigid foundation of 0·3048 m thickness and with the following properties: d1 = 2·438 m, s1 = s2 =
6·096 m, H = 60·96 m, h = 3·048 m, Abi = 0·2127 m2, Ibi = 8·63 × 10−3 m4, p (density) = 24·05 kN/m3, E
= 2·876 × 107 kN/m2 (Figure 4). The first and second natural frequencies are calculated by this method
and compared with those found in the literature (Aksoǧan et al., 2002; Li and Choo, 1996) (Table 1).

20*3,048m = 60.96m
6,096m
6,096m

2.438m

Figure 4. 20-storey coupled shear wall (Example 1)

Table 1. Natural frequencies for Example 1

Natural frequencies (Hz)

Mode Li and Choo SAP 2000 Aksoǧang et al. Presented method
1 2·08 2·08 2·08 2·03
2 9·34 9·34 9·34 9·014

Example 2
Consider the coupled shear wall shown in Figure 5. The coupled shear wall with three bays consists
of 12 storeys and has the following properties: E = 20 × 1010 kN/m2, p = 24 kN/m3. The height of each

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 ANALYSIS OF COUPLED SHEAR WALLS 9

h=2.9m

H= 12* 2.9m =34.8m

section
m
3.22m 0.90 1.10m 0.90m 2.20m 0.90m
0.62m

0.16m
plan
Figure 5. Geometric properties of structure in Example 2

Table 2. Comparison of natural frequencies in Example 2 (Hz)

Natural frequencies (Hz)

Mode SAP 2000 Bikce et al. (2000) Present method
1 3·0030 3·0299 3·0628
2 11·8810 12·0035 12·1803
3 25·8336 25·9693 26·1780
4 42·8116 42·8838 42·7350
5 64·0564 64·0681 63·2911

connecting beam is 80 cm and the thickness of the wall is 16 cm throughout. The same coupled shear
wall was considered in Bikce et al. (2000) and analysed by using both continuous connection and
finite element methods. Free vibration analysis was carried out and is compared with that in the lit-
erature (Bikce et al., 2000) (Table 2).

Example 3
A 20-story office building (Figure 6) is considered as an example of a building with coupled shear
walls and designed for seismic loads. The given dimensions are d1 = 5 m, s1 = s2 = 4 m, H = 60·96 m,
h = 3·00 m, E = 27 × 106 kN/m2, dead load D = 6·7 kN/m2, and live load L = 2·4 kN/m2. In this example

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
10 K. B. BOZDOGAN, D. OZTURK AND A. NUHOGLU

3m

Hw= 20* 3m = 60m

5m
D
w

L
B

D
w

5m

9m 9m 9m 9m
(a)

D L D
w B w

(b)

Figure 6. 60 m height multistorey building (Example 3): (a) plan view of building; (b) coupled shear wall

Table 3. Comparison of natural periods in Example 3

Natural periods (s)

Walace and Mohle Wang and Wang
Mode (Wang and Wang, 2005) (2005) Present method
1 1·793 1·788 1·788
2 0·345 0·345 0·346

the first and second periods of the building are found and compared with the literature (Wang and
Wang, 2005) in Table 3.

Example 4
A typical single-bay coupled shear wall structure is analysed as an example. This shear wall rests on
a flexible foundation of 0·5 m thickness and with the following properties: d1 = 2 m, s1 = s2 = 8 m, H
= 60 m, h = 3·0 m, Abi = 0·1667 m2, Ibi = 0·001543 m4, p(density) = 24 kN/m3, E = 15 × 106 kN/m2.
Stiffness properties of the foundation are kr = 2·72 × 1010 Nm/rad, kv = 8·78 × 108 N/m, kh = 7·52 ×

Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal
 ANALYSIS OF COUPLED SHEAR WALLS 11

Table 4. Comparison of natural frequencies in Example 4

Natural frequencies (Hz)

Mode Li and Choo (1996) Present method
1 0·92 0·93
2 4·49 4·83
3 10·48 11·45
4 18·53 20·20
5 29·16 33·22

108 N/m. The natural frequencies are found with this method and compared with those found in the
literature (Li and Choo, 1996) (Table 4).

7. CONCLUSIONS
In this study, an approximate method based on the continuum system model and transfer matrix
approach is suggested for the static and dynamic analyses of coupled shear walls. In this method the
whole structure is idealized as a sandwich beam. Examples demonstrate a good agreement with the
solutions given in the literature. The proposed method is simple and accurate enough to be used both
at the concept design stage and for final analyses. This method is also suitable for implementation on
a wide range of computer programs.

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12 K. B. BOZDOGAN, D. OZTURK AND A. NUHOGLU

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Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Struct. Design Tall Spec. Build. 18, 1–12 (2009)
DOI: 10.1002/tal