IMPROVED FORMULA FOR FUNDAMENTAL PERIOD OF SHEAR WALL

BUILDINGS
Rakesh K. GoelI and Anil K. ChopraII
Topic Identification Code: AB
ABSTRACT
The fundamental vibration period of a building appears in the equation specified in
building codes to calculate the design base shear and lateral forces. Because this building
property can not be computed for a structure that is yet to be designed, building codes provide
empirical formulas that depend on the building material (steel, R/C, etc.), building type (frame,
shear wall etc.), and overall dimensions.
The empirical period formulas in current US codes are derived from those developed in
1975 as part of the ATC3-06 project based largely on periods of buildings “measured” from their
motions recorded during the 1971 San Fernando earthquake. The formulas for shear wall (SW)
buildings that appear in current Uniform Building Code were modified during development of
the 1988 SEAOC blue book to more accurately reflect the configuration and material properties
of these systems; additional data on measured periods of SW buildings that because available
since the 1971 San Fernando earthquake was also utilized in this development. However,
recorded motions of many more buildings have become available since these formulas were
developed, especially from the 1989 Loma Prieta and 1994 Northridge earthquakes.
The objective of the research reported in this paper was to develop improved empirical
formulas to estimate the fundamental vibration period of concrete SW buildings for use in
equivalent lateral force analysis specified in building codes. For this purpose, the expanded
database for “measured” values of fundamental periods of SW buildings is used to evaluate the
empirical formulas in present US codes. It is shown that the current code formulas do not always
provide reasonable estimate of the fundamental period for concrete SW buildings. In particular,
some formulas lead to period longer than the measured value whereas others give a value of the
period that is much shorter than the measured periods. Furthermore, the parameters in current
code formulas are not sufficient to estimate accurately the fundamental vibration period of SW
buildings.
In order to alleviate the above-noted shortcomings of the current code formulas, an
improved formula is developed by calibrating the theoretical formula, obtained from the
Dunkelery-Type approximation, against the measured period data. This formula includes many of
the important parameters that influence the fundamental period of concrete SW buildings: shear
wall areas, height to width ratio of shear walls, building plan area, and the building height. It is
shown that this formula leads to much better fit to the measured period data than is possible from
formulas in current US codes.

I
Assistant Professor, Syracuse University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, 220 Hinds Hall,
Syracuse, NY 13244-1190. Phone: (315) 443-3347, FAX (315) 443-1243, Email: rkgoel@summon2.syr.edu.
II
Johnson Professor, University of California at Berkeley, Department of Civil Engineering, Berkeley, CA 94720.
Phone: (510) 642-1292, FAX (510) 643-8928, Email: chopra@ce.berkeley.edu.