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Stability Consideration
Stability consideration is applied by UBC-97. There are five kinds of stability
consideration in the design which are overturning moment, horizontal torsional
moment, storey drift, sliding and P- effect.

Overturning Moment

At any level, the overturning moment must be determined using the seismic
forces (Ft and Fx) that act on all of the levels consideration. The overturning effects on
every lateral-force-resisting element must be carried down to the foundation. The
UBC-97 is required that every designed structure be capable of resisting overturning
effects induced by earthquake forces. Overturning moment is shown in Figure 1.

The incremental increases of the design overturning moment at each higher

level should be distributed to the various lateral force resisting elements. The
distribution should be in the same proportion as the distribution of the horizontal
shears to those resisting elements. The effects of uplift caused by seismic loads must
also be analyzed. The regular structures, the top force, F t, can be omitted in
calculating the overturning effects at the soil foundation interface, including the
calculation of soil pressure under typical footings and the soil-pile frictional forces
during uplift. This omission is permitted because the F t force represents higher mode
forces, and the moments at the base associated with the higher modes are unlikely to
occur simultaneously with mode 1 response [97UBC].
Fx Ft

OTM
hn

OTM = ∑ F x h x +F t hn
Figure1.Overturning Moment
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Torsional Moment
A building’s center of mass, CM is a point through which the base shear (i.e.,
the total lateral seismic force) can be assumed to act. This base shear is resisted by the
vertical members at the ground level. Each such member may have a different rigidity
and thus provides a different lateral resisting force in the opposite direction of the
base shear. The building’s center of rigidity, CR, is a point through which the
resultant of all the resisting forces acts. If the building’s center of mass does not
coincide with its center of rigidity, the building will tend to act as if it is “pinned” at
its center of rigidity. It is said to be acted upon by a torsional moment, M torsional,
calculated as the product of the shear, V, and the eccentricity, e. This eccentricity is
the distance between the centers of mass and rigidity. The UBC-97 requires that an
accidental eccentricity (ea.) of ± 5% is added to the actual eccentricity, in the design
of all buildings, even those that are symmetrical [97UBC].

Storey Drift
Storey drift is the lateral displacement of one level of a structure relative to the
level above or below. Storey drift is shown in Figure 2. In that regard, complete
inelastic response drifts rather than force level drifts are used. Storey drifts should be

determined using the maximum inelastic response displacements, , which is

defined as the maximum total storey drift or total drift caused by the design-level
earthquake. Displacement includes both elastic and in elastic contributions to the total

deformation. The maximum inelastic response displacements, is calculated by the

following equation.

Δ M =0.7 R Δ S

R is the ductility factor, is a design level elastic response displacement

found from the elastic static analysis of UBC-97. In calculation of , translational

and torsional deflections should be included [97UBC].
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F4 Level 4 δ4

F3 Level 3 δ3

F2 Level 2 δ2

F1 Level 1 δ1 ∆level3= δ3̲˗ δ2

base

Figure2.Storey Drift

Sliding

Every structure shall be designed to resist the sliding effects caused by lateral
forces. The check for sliding is carried out for foundation only. There is no horizontal
force acting on foundation check for sliding is not required.

The ratio of resistance due to friction to sliding force is called factor of safety
for sliding and it must be greater than 1.5. Factor of safety and resisting force for
sliding are calculated by the following equation.[97UBC].

FR
Factor of safety = SF = F D

Where,

FR = resisting force = 0.9 × WD × μ

FD = sliding force

WD = total dead weight

μ = friction coefficient

P- Effect

Most columns in practice are subjected to the bending moment as well as the
axial loads. These moments produce lateral deflection of a member between its ends
and may also result in relative lateral displacement of joints. They are secondary
moments that adds to the primary moments and that may become very large for
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slender column leading to failure. The total moment consists of the moment that acts
in the presence of vertical load P and the additional moment caused by P, equal to P
times the deflection. So it is called P-effect. With the application of computer and
design and because of the complexity of the moment magnifier method, second order
frame analysis or P- analysis is increasingly applied. Stability coefficient for storey
x is calculated by equation.

The UBC-97 states that the P- effect need not be considered in the analysis
of entire structure when

(1) The ratio of the secondary moment to primary moment that is stability
coefficient in any storey is equal to or less than 0.1.
(2) In seismic zone 3 and 4, the ratio of storey drift to storey height does not
exceed 0.02/R.
P x Δs x
x = V x hx (2.5)

Where,

δx = stability coefficient for storey x

Px = total vertical load (unfactored) on all columns in storey x

sx = story drift due to design base shear

Vx = design shear in storey x

hx = height of storey x

Checking for Stability of Building

In design of structure, stability checked are required. In this study, the
following stability checked are made. Overturning movement, sliding, storey drift,P-
∆effect and torsional irregularity are checked for stability of structure.
Checking for Overturning Moment
The distribution of earthquake forces over the height of a structure cause
structure to experience overturning effects. The summation of moment due to the
distributed lateral forces is the overturning moment.
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For X direction,
Overturning Moment, My = 14950.968 kip-in
Total dead weight = 1389.934 kip
Centre of mass in X-Direction = 194..44in
Resisting Moment = 0.9×Total dead weight×XCCM
= 0.9×1389.934×194..44
= 243232.8903 kip-in

Factor of safety =

=
= 16.2687 > 1.5
Factor of Safety of X direction is greater than design limit 1.5. It is
Satisfactory for X direction overturning moment checking.

For Y direction,
Overturning Moment, MX = 19708.653 kip-in
Total dead weight = 1389.934 kip
Centre of mass in Y-Direction = 286.386 in
Resisting Moment = 0.9×Total dead weight×XCCM
= 0.9×1389.934×286.386
= 358251.8747 kip-in

Factor of safety =

=
= 18.177 > 1.5
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Factor of safety of Y direction is greater than design limit 1.5. It is satisfactory

for Y direction overturning moment checking.

Checking for Sliding

The resistance to sliding is checked by the following equation:
F R = Ø × f × WD
For X direction,
Sliding Force, FD = 62.4743 kip
Total dead weight = 1389.934 kip
Reduction factor, Ø = 0.9
Friction Resistance, f = 0.25
Resisting Force,FR = Ø × f × WD
= 0.9×0.25×1389.934
= 312.735 kip

Factor of safety =

=
= 5.01 > 1.5
Factor of safety of X direction is greater than design limit 1.5. It is satisfactory
for X direction sliding checking.

For Y direction,
Sliding Force, FD = 62.511 kip
Total dead weight = 1389.934 kip
Reduction factor, Ø = 0.9
Friction Resistance, f = 0.25
Resisting Force,FR = Ø × f × WD
= 0.9×0.25×1389.934
= 312.735 kip

Factor of safety =
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=
= 5.003 > 1.5
Factor of safety of Y direction is greater than design limit 1.5. It is satisfactory
for Y direction sliding checking.

Checking for Storey Drift

According to the UBC-97 Code, the storey drifts limit must be lower than
0.025h. The checking are expressed as follows. Table1 shows the storey dirft
checking of building.
∆M = 0.7R ∆s
R = ductility factor = 8.5

Table1. Storey Drift Checking of Building

Height Drift Drift ΔSX ΔSX ΔMX ΔMX Δlimit

Storey
(in) ratio(X) ratio(Y) (in) (in) (in) (in) (in)
0.00046 0.29945
SR 108 0.000519 0.050328 0.056052 0.333509 2.7
6 2
0.00024 0.19006
RF 132 0.00037 0.031944 0.04884 0.290598 3.3
2 7
0.00044 0.38384
2F 144 0.000675 0.064512 0.0972 0.57834 3.6
8 6
0.00141 1.21408
1F 144 0.001259 0.204048 0.181296 1.078711 3.6
7 7
0.00420 2.99951
GF 120 0.003896 0.50412 0.46752 2.781744 3
1 4
All the storey are within the ∆ limit, the structure is stable.

Checking for Torsional Irregularity

Torsional plan, irregularity is consider to exist when the maximum storey
drift, including accidental torsional effects, at one end of the structure transverse to
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and axis is more than 1.2 times the average of the storey drfits at two ends of the
structure.
Displacement and drift result for point 5 and point 21 are shown in figure3 are
listed in Table2 .

Figure3.Point Label For Torsional Irregularity

Table2.Checking for Torsional Irregularity at Point 5 and Point 21.(For X, Y

Direction)
Displacement-X(in) Displacement-Y(in)
Storey For point5 For point21 For point5 For point21
SR 0.695818 0.505218 0.592115 0.724291
RF 0.663859 0.501177 0.568269 0.675424
2F 0.599381 0.498664 0.534403 0.578271
1F 0.395355 0.398586 0.450811 0.398763
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GF 0.695818 0.505218 0.592115 0.724291

For X-direction,
From Table, max different ratio is 0.695818.
The average maximum displacement of two points is calculated below,
δavg = (0.695818+0.505218)/2 = 0.600518in
δmax/ δavg =0.695818/ 0.600518 = 1.1588 <1.2
Therefore, torsional irregularity does not exist in the building.
For Y-direction,
From Table, max different ratio is 0.724291.
The average maximum displacement of two points is calculated below,
δavg = (0.592115+0.724291)/2 = 0.658203in
δmax/ δavg =0.724291/ 0.658203 = 1.1 <1.2
Therefore, torsional irregularity does not exist in the building.

Checking for P-∆ Effect

P-∆effect is the secondary effect on shears, axial forces and moments of frame
members induced by the vertical loads acting on the laterally displaced building
system.
The UBC-97 states that P-∆ effect need not be considered in the analysis of
entire structure when:
1. The ratio of the secondary moment to primary moment that is stability
coefficient θ in any storey is equal to or less than 0.1.
2. In seismic zone 3 and 4, the ratio of storey drift height does not exceed 0.0
0.02hx/R.

Table3. shows the P-∆effects results of building

Story Height(in) Drift X(in) Drift(Y) in 0.02hx/R

Level
SR 108 0.000466 0.000519 0.254117647
RF 132 0.000242 0.00037 0.310588235
2F 144 0.000448 0.000675 0.338823529
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1F 144 0.001417 0.001259 0.338823529

GF 120 0.004201 0.003896 0.282352941

From result, both Drift X and Y are within limit and it is able to resist the
secondary effects of shears, axial forces and moments of frame members.