Response to a ramp function load

 The ramp function load is illustrated in Fig. 4a. 2

The equation representing the function is
(1)
For an undamped system, the Duhamel Integral
solution is

(2)
Fig. 1: Ramp function load
 Triangular pulse load
The load shown can be expressed as the
superposition of three pulses

(3)

As an example, for
(4)

Figure 2: Triangular pulse load

 For , Eq. 4 gives and for , . By comparing the terms in Eq. 4 with Eq. 1 we get the following solution
for Eq. 4

(5)
 Triangular pulse load
In a similar manner we have for
(6)
Again comparing the terms with that in Eq. 1 we get the following solution

 
(7)
NBCC provisions for seismic design
 Earthquakes can cause damage to buildings through any of the following: ground shaking,
soil failures caused by shaking (including lateral spreading and settlement caused by
liquefaction and slope instability), effects of surface fault ruptures on structures, or
tsunamis. The only one of these hazards that is directly addressed by the NBC is ground
shaking. Seismic design has the following intents, which are consistent with the overall
objectives of the NBC:
(1) to protect the life and safety of building occupants and the general public as the building
responds to strong ground shaking,
(2) to limit building damage during low to moderate levels of ground shaking, and
(3) to increase the likelihood that post-disaster buildings can continue to be occupied and
functional following strong ground shaking, though low levels of damage can be
expected in such buildings.
Seismic design provisions

According to the NBC, strong ground shaking is considered to be a rare occurrence in Canada;
indeed, NBC Article 4.1.2.1. defines earthquake loads as rare loads. Strong ground shaking is
defined in terms of the mean ground motion amplitude having a probability of exceedance of
2% in 50 years, which corresponds to an annual rate of exceedance of 1/2475. The ground
motion at the 2%-in-50-year level may be termed the maximum earthquake ground motion
to be considered, or more simply, the design ground motion (DGM).
The primary objective of seismic design is to provide an acceptable level of safety for building
occupants and the general public as the building responds to strong ground motion; in other
words, to minimize loss of life. This implies that, although there may be extensive structural
and non-structural damage during the DGM, there is a reasonable degree of confidence that
the building will not collapse nor will its attachments break off and fall on people near the
building.
Seismic design provisions
A high degree of life safety protection that is consistent with the low probability of the
“extensive damage” performance level is achieved through inelastic energy dissipation,
which is the explicit seismic design approach used in the NBC seismic provisions. Inelastic
energy dissipation leads to a reduction of design forces. Seismic Force Resisting Systems
(SFRSs) that do not have a significant inelastic energy dissipation capacity, i.e., those with
limited ductility, are subject to higher loads and have less stringent detailing requirements.
Calculation of seismic hazard
In NBC the seismic hazard at a site is based on historic records of ground motion. These
records provide the magnitude recurrence relations. The other information that is needed
is how the ground motion propagates from the source to the site. This is derived from
empirical ground motion prediction equations. The ground motion at a site also depends
on the site condition. It is usually defined in terms of the average shear wave velocity in
the top 30 m of soil.
Seismic design provisions
Based on the information provided by magnitude-recurrence relations, the ground
motion prediction equations, and site conditions a uniform hazard spectrum (UHS) is
defined for the given site. The UHS is a plot of spectral acceleration versus period, the
spectral acceleration being the maximum acceleration experience by a structure of
specified period. The spectral data for any given site is provided by Earth Sciences
Branch of the Geological Survey of Canada. Figure 3 is a sample of UHS. There is a
separate UHS for each soil class, A being the stiffest soil and E the softest soil.

Fig. 3: Design response

spectra for Site Classes A
to E in Toronto
 Seismic design provisions

NBC provides the following empirical expression for determining the design level
equivalent static base shear in a given building.
(6)
where
Ta Fundamental period of the building
S(Ta) Spectral acceleration for the period Ta
Mv Higher mode effect
IE Importance factor
W Seismic weight
Rd Ductility factor
Ro Overstrength factor
• The higher mode effect factor accounts for the contribution of modes higher than the
first. This factor depends on the type of structure, such as, moment resisting frame,
braced frames, shear wall structures, etc. The NBC provides the recommended values.
Seismic design provisions
• It is desired that certain class of building may not suffer extensive damage during an
earthquake and be functional after the earthquake. One example is a hospital building.
This is achieved by designing the building for an increased load. The importance factor is
used to increase the design load, its value is either 1.5 for post disaster buildings such as
hospitals and 1.3 for important buildings such as schools.
• Seismic weight is the likely weight of the building at the time of an earthquake. It will be
the dead load plus a certain portions of the live load and snow load.
• The NBC seismic provisions take into account that seismic forces are reduced when
structural response goes into the inelastic range. This is an important property that
enables structures to resist strong earthquake shaking, provided they have the capacity to
deform inelastically through several load reversals without a significant loss of strength. A
ductility-related force modification factor, Rd, is introduced in the denominator of the
expression used to calculate the lateral earthquake design force, V. In the NBC, values of
Rd are given for a wide range of structural systems.
Seismic design provisions
• It has been well recognized that various features of structural systems and their design
(e.g., material factors used in design, minimum design requirements, capacity design,
load combinations and the redistribution of forces arising from redundancy) often lead to
a lateral strength that is considerably larger than that used as the basis for design. As
such, in the NBC, an explicit overstrength-related force modification factor, Ro, is
introduced in the denominator of the expression used to calculate the lateral earthquake
design force, V. This factor is intended to represent the minimum level of overstrength
that can be counted on for each particular SFRS. The value of Ro ranges from 1.0 to 1.7.

Ve
𝑉  𝑒 / 𝑅 𝑑 𝑅𝑜𝑉 𝑒 / 𝑅 𝑑
Base shear

Fig. 4: Base shear versus

Roof displacement
Displacement
 Seismic design provisions

The base shear is distributed across the height of the building in the shape of the first
mode which is approximated by an inverted triangle. However, before distributing the
shear V a portion Ft is subtracted from it. This force is applied at the top of the building.
(8)
Empirical formulae are provided for the force Ft.

Ft Fx
Although Eq. 8 provides a reasonable estimate
of the floor forces, this distribution results in
overestimating of the story level moments. NBC
provides empirical formulas for reducing the
moments at the base as well as at other story
levels.
Fig. 5 Distribution of
As alternative to the equivalent static force base shear
provisions the Code permits the use of linear or
nonlinear dynamic analyses.