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BuildingDriftsinETABS|MyPassionforStructuralEngineering

MyPassionforStructuralEngineering

BuildingDriftsinETABS
ByRanaWaseem/July15,2012/Modelling/22comments
BuildingDriftinETABS
Driftisaverycomplextopicinstructuralengineering.Itinvolvestoomanyfactorstoarriveat
asuitabledecision.Itinvolvesengineeringjudgment,thephenomenonfreshengineersmight
notfeel.Inthisarticle,Ihavetriedtoexplainwhatisbuildingdrift,allowablelimits,waysand
meanstocheckinETABSmodelsandtocontroltheexcessivedrift.Pleasekeepinmind,this
articleisnotaboutthebuildingdriftasfarasstructuralscienceisconcerned,ratherthistopic
ofdriftisrelatedtoETABSsoftware.
Firstofallyoumustbefamiliarwiththetermstorydrift.Forconvenience,Iamquotinghere
thedenitionsfromUBC97code:
STORYDRIFTisthelateraldisplacementofonelevelrelative
tothelevelaboveorbelow.
STORYDRIFTRATIOisthestorydriftdividedbythestory
height.
1)MaximumLimits
Nowwhatforstorydriftlimits?Whatisthemaximumpermissiblevalue?Wellitdepends
uponthetypeofdrift.Isitseismicorwind?
Forseismic,IwillrefertoUBC97codewhichinsection1630.10.2talksaboutdriftlimitsfor
earthquake.

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image002760689.jpg)
Nowinsimplewords,themaximumlimitforseismicdriftis:

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Nowinsimplewords,themaximumlimitforseismicdriftis:
deltaMshallnotexceed0.025xstoryht(ifbuildingseismicperiodislessthan0.7)
deltaMshallnotexceed0.020xstoryht(ifbuildingseismicperiodisequalorgreaterthan0.7)
ImportanttonotehereisthatittalksaboutSEISMICdriftsoSEISMICbuildingperiodnotthe
WINDperiod.
NowdeltaM=Maxinelasticresponsedisplacement=0.7RdeltaS
whereR=fromTable16N
deltaS=displacementfromstatic,elasticanalysis
thisvalueisreadfromETABS.
youmultiplythisvalueby0.7RtogetdeltaM
Thiswasallaboutseismicdrift,butforwinddriftcodeismute.IwillreferyoutoASCE2005
commentaryCC.1.2

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image004762645.jpg)
Sowecanunderstandthatthelimitforwinddriftisontheorderofl/600tol/400for
commonusage.Thisiscommonthing,however,inrealitythisgurecanbeupordown
dependingupontheductilityofcladdingmaterialandnishes.Howeverforcommonusage
valueofl/400isthoughttobewellsatisfactory.Herelmeansstoryht.
Theconceptofdriftlimitsissamethroughoutallthegoverningcodes,andthetypicallimitsof
storyheightbysomenumberissame,butobviouslyyouhavetotakecareoftheprocessof
calculatingthewindforceorseismicforces.Youshouldnotcalculatewindforcefromonecode
andapplylimitsofanothercode.
2)LoadCombinations
Oncethedriftlimithasbeendeterminedseparatelyforseismicandwindforces,nowisthe
needtochecktheactualdriftvsthelimit.Determinationofactualdriftdependsontheload
combinationandtheperiodofrecurrence.Ifnotproperlycalculated,thismaydramatically
increaseordecreasetheaccepteddriftvaluesinmodel.
SeismicforceEisalwaysalreadyfactoredsothatsthereasonitsfactorisalways1.0inload
combinationsofACI/ASCEcode.Therecurrenceperiodforseismicforceis50years.Inseismic
driftwedonotconvertitintoserviceseismicforce.Seismicdriftischeckedagainstthedirect
loadcaseofEQx,EQyetcinETABS.
Forwinddrift,weneedtoconvert50yearwindtoservicewindforce.Ithasbeen
recommendedbyASCEcommentaryCC.1.2

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image006763928.jpg)
Toconvert50yearservicewindforceto10yearservicewindforceitismultipliedby0.7,asthe
equationsays,andothergravityloads;Dand0.5Larealsoadded.
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SoinanutshellwecreatefollowingloadcombinationsinETABStocheckourdrift:

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BuildingDriftsinETABS|MyPassionforStructuralEngineering

SoinanutshellwecreatefollowingloadcombinationsinETABStocheckourdrift:
DRIFTWx1=D+0.5L+0.7Wx
DRIFTWx2=D+0.5L0.7Wx
DRIFTWy1=D+0.5L+0.7Wy
DRIFTWy2=D+0.5L0.7Wy

Forseismicdrift,asdiscussedearlier,wedonotneedanycombination,driftwillbechecked
justonEQxandEQyloadcasesonly.
3)HowtocheckinETABS
Nowwehaveobtainedboththeactualdriftandthedriftlimit,buthowcanwedothisin
ETABSeasily?
Well,aftercreatingthedriftcombinationsasdiscussedinstep2,weneedtodoasbelow:
ForseismicdriftgotoFile>PrintTables>SummaryReport

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image008764834.png)
Selectthelename

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image010765647.jpg)
Scrolldowntotheendofthepage,youwillndoutasectionaboutdrifts,similartothisone:

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image012766507.jpg)
Itdisplaysthemaxdriftforeachlateralloadcaseforeachstory.Aswewantthedriftforwind
tobeondriftloadcombinationsandnotonwindloadcases,sowewillnotcomparethiswind
driftwithoutlimits.InthistablewearegoingtocheckjustthedriftvaluesofourETABSmodel
forindividualseismicloadcases;EQxandEQy.

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forindividualseismicloadcases;EQxandEQy.
Asyounoticed,thistableshowsusvaluesinfractionformat.Forexample1/105thatbecomes
0.009523809524.This1/105valueisstorydriftdividedbystoryht.ItmeansdeltaS/storyht.
NowthisvalueisdeltaS.FirstweneedtoconvertittodeltaMbymultiplyingitwith0.7R.
AssumeRhereis3.5so
deltaM=0.7x3.5x1/105=7/300=0.023333whichislessthan0.025sosafe(ifT<0.7).
Soinsteadofcalculatingeverytimeby0.7Rwecanchecktheselimitsinotherway.
Ifourlimitis0.025thenthelimitwegetis0.025/R/0.7.AssumeR=3.5.Nowthevaluesin
ETABSareinversesoourlimitis0.73.5/0.025=98.
InETABSthedriftisreportedas1/xwherexissomenumber.Nowaslongasx(somenumber)
isgreaterthan98ourlimitof0.025xstoryhtisbeingsatised.Thiswayyoucanquicklycheck
andcompareseismicdrifts.

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image014767463.jpg)
Nowforthewinddrifts,gotoDisplay>Showtables,selectPointdisplacements>Storydriftsand
thenselectonlydriftcombinationsforresults.ClickonandthencopythetabletoEXCEL.

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image016769385.jpg)

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image018770135.jpg)

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(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image018770135.jpg)

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image020771917.jpg)
TosavetimeyoucanrightclickonEXCELtaskbarandselectmaximumandminimum.Then
justselectthecolumnHorIandseethemaximumvaluethatshouldbelessthanH/400to
H600limit(0.0025t00.00167).AgainthevaluesreportedinETABSaredividedbystoryht.

(h ps://waseemrana8.les.wordpress.com/2012/07/image022
773193.jpg)
4)ControllingExcessiveDriftValues
sometimesyoumayfaceproblemofexcessivelylargevaluesindrifttablesinETABS.Wellwe
arenotgoingtotalkaboutdierentmeasuresandmodelingtechniquestocontrolthedrift
values.Wearegoingtotalkaboutlargenumbersindrifttables.Sometimesithappensthata
pointornodeisfreeinthemodelorisconnectedtoaNULLlineorveryexiblesection.Drift
tablesforexamplethestorydrifttableinwindcapturesthemaximumdisplacedpoints.
Obviouslythedisplacementofseveralmetersintablesisnotwhatwearelookingfor.Drift
values(relative)maybestillokayforthesepoints,butitrequiresyoutocheckthe
displacementvaluestoobeforecheckingdirectlythedrift.Unlockthemodelandremoveall
freepoints,checkforanydiscontinuityandmodifyyourmodelstoremovealltheerrors.
ranawaseem.com

22comments
1.wiki
https://waseemrana.com/2012/07/15/buildingdriftsinetabs/
December6,2012at5:21PM

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December6,2012at5:21PM
Reply
salamsirinMAXIMUMLIMITSportionshouldDeltaMbelessthan.025timesstoryheight
orDelasbelessthan0.025timesstoryheight?asintherefrenceyouqoutedabovesaysthat
storydriftusingDeltaMshouldbelessthan.025timess.height.itisnottheDeltaMlimitsir
2.RanaWaseem
December6,2012at10:28PM
Reply
Wikki!Ididntunderstandyourpoint..Accordingtocode,theDRIFTcalculatedusing
DELTAmshouldbelessthan0.025storyheight
3.wiki
December8,2012at4:44PM
Reply
driftisdeltasandlimitofdriftis.025.itisnotthelimitofdeltamasuusedinabove
calculationsdeltaM=0.7x3.5x1/105=7/300=0.023333whichislessthan0.025sosafe
4.RanaWaseem
December8,2012at5:14PM
Reply
Dearwiki!Itsmentionedinthereferencedcodethatdriftshouldbecalculatedusingdelta
ManddriftlimitusingdeltaMshouldbelessthan0.025Ifmyunderstandingtothecode
iswrongthenpleaseexplaintomeweshouldnotusedeltasdeltasisthevalueweget
fromETABS.WehavetomakeitdeltaM
5.SamerKamel
February5,2013at6:34AM
Reply
whencalculatingthedistanceofseparationbetweenthebuildingsaccordingtoUBC
1633.2.11doweusealsodeltaMbecauseitgivesaverylargevalues.forex.itgivemea20
cmbetweenthebuildingwhichisnotlogic
6.thanvi
February25,2013at11:26AM
Reply
GreetingsMr.Waseem!YourunderstandingofcalculatingDeltaManditslimitof0.025for
T<0.7iscorrectandWikiiswrong.itisevidentfromthecodeaswell.
7.RanaWaseem
February25,2013at11:43AM
Reply
yessamerkamel,wedousevalueofdeltamwhilecalculatingseparationgapseparation
gapis[(deltaM1)+(deltaM2)]^1/2
8.wiki
May19,2013at4:10PM
Reply
thanxsirranaiagainreadthearticlegotwhatimissed,mr.thanviiamstudentandtryingto
gettheconceptandalsotryingtoclearmyconfusionididnotsaidthatsirranaiswrong.
9.CharlesMaxino

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9.CharlesMaxino
May29,2013at1:02AM
Reply
wonderfularticle,ihavesomequestiontoasks1)isthedriftperlevelreportedbyetabs
alreadytheinterstorydriftoristhedriftrelativetothebase?Ifitisrelativetothebasethen
westillhavetosubtractthetwoadjacentdriftsperoorinordertogettheinterstorydrift.
2)Isthedriftreportedbyetabsisthedisplacementatthecenterofmassoritisthemax
driftofaparticularoorconsideringnodedisplacement.Iaskedthisbecausethespecic
requirementofthecalculationofseismicdriftasperASCE05isthatthedrifttobe
consideredshouldbeatthecenterofmass.IhavebeenworkingwithMidasGenandthis
driftcalculationisautomaticyoujusthavetosetthelimitsforbothseismicandwinddrifts
andtheprogramwilljustautomaticallycalculatethedriftrequirementanditwillshowa
remarkofokandfailandyoualsohavetheoptiontocalculatethedriftatthecenterof
massorthemaximumdisplacementthatwillnormallyoccuraroundtheperimeternode.
10.CharlesMaxino
May29,2013at5:54AM
Reply
Inmyocewestrictlyfollowallthecodeprovisionsspeciallytherequirementsfordrift.
ForseismicdriftwearenotusingonlyEQXandEQYbutinsteadweusedEQX(or
EQY)+5%Ecc*Ax.ThecodesUBC97andASCErequiretoincludenotonlythetranslational
displacementbutalsotorsionaldisplacement.Sothecorrectloadtocheckforthedriftmust
bethestaticseismicloadplusthe5%accidentaltorsionmultipliedbythetorsional
amplicationfactorAx.
11.RanaWaseem
May29,2013at6:57AM
Reply
1)itdependsinETABSoutput..youcaneitherselecttotaldisplacementrelativetobaseand
subtractthedisplacementsforthelowerstoriestogetinterstorydrift2)againrefertostep
1alloutputoptionsarethereinETABS.youcanselectwhateveryouwanttoreport3)
likemidasgennowinnewetabs2013thereisbe eroptiontocontrolandreportdrifts..
12.RanaWaseem
May29,2013at6:58AM
Reply
yeahtheprovisionsshouldbefollowedstrictly..goodpracticeactuallyinETABSwhen
deningloadcases5%Eccisalreadyincludedsoyoudonthavetoincludeitagain.For
irregularitiesandtorsionalamplication..yesyouhavetocheckitmanuallyasETABSisjust
ananlysispackage..restisuponengineer..
13.CharlesMaxino
June1,2013at11:32AM
Reply
TherearesomefunctionalitiesinMidasGenwhicharenotpresentyetinETABSbutIdont
knowaboutthelatestversionofETABSwhichisversion2013.Oneofthemistheautomatic
calculationoftorsionalamplicationfactorAxasidefromtheautomaticcalculationof

verticalandhorizontalirregularities.Theonefunctionforusthatisveryessentialisthe

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verticalandhorizontalirregularities.Theonefunctionforusthatisveryessentialisthe
automaticcalculationofstoryshearforceratioIdontknowifETABShasthisfunction
already.
14.MohamedAbushady
October21,2013at7:46AM
Reply
verygoodarticle
15.RanaWaseem
October21,2013at11:03AM
Reply
thankyou!Mohammed!
16.Amin
November24,2014at12:26PM
Reply
GreetingsMr.Waseem.IgotseveralquestionregardingETABSmodeling.1)Forthewind
driftH/400,thatHrepresentbuildingheightoreachstoryheight?InmyETABSmodeling,
theoorHeightis3.2m.andtheresultofdiaphragmdriftforwindloadis2.3510^3.isit
ok?2)Besideseismicandwinddrifts,whatisotherelementtobeconsidertogetsafedesign
whenusingETABS?
17.jun
May28,2015at6:46PM
Reply
WhatisthemaximumvalueallowedforCMdisplacementinetabs?
18.SABINTHOMAS
August19,2015at9:56AM
Reply
ENG.Amin,referringtoEng.Waseem,explanationpointno3,theValuesdisplayedin
ETABisDisplacement/StoryHeight.So,ifyoumultiplythethisratio,withthestoryheight
inmm.YouwillgettheactualDeection.andthenyoucomparethesamewiththeWind
loaddriftlimitspeciedincodeaswellasmentionedinabovediscussions,Storyheight/
400.Ifwilldothedriftcheckforwindinduceddrift.
19.hani
August30,2015at6:10PM
Reply
Ihavereadthatdocbutihaveaquestionregardingdisplacementanddrift
displacementisthemovementofpointrelativetothebasebutdriftistherelative
displacementofthestories,,.sodriftanddisplacementaretwodierentthingsinUBC
limitisfordriftnotfordisplacementthatis0.025Xstoryheight.howtheyput0.025
equalstodeltaM.kindlyelaboratethis..
20.abdulmubeen
October8,2015at9:49AM
Reply
MUBEEN
ThanxMr.Waseemthisarticleisveryhelpfulfornewdesigners,ithelpsmealot.

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ThanxMr.Waseemthisarticleisveryhelpfulfornewdesigners,ithelpsmealot.
RanaWaseem
December26,2015at12:21PM
Reply
YouarewelcomeMubeenandIamhappythatitishelping.
21.GhulamMustafaVira
December30,2015at7:52AM
Reply
Thisarticleisveryuseful.Ijustwanttoaskthatwhenwearecalculatingseismicdriftthen
weusestinessmodiersaspercodebutforwinddriftwhichiscalculatedinserviceloads
wedonotrequiretousestinessmodiers.Pleaseconrm.Thanks
/Modelling

LoadcombinationsforETABS&SAFE
Updatedon24.10.2013fordriftservicecombinationsGeneratingautomaticloadcombinations
inSAFE&ETABSiseasybutifyourbuildingbearsotherloadslikehydrostaticandsurcharge
pressureoruidpressureandtemperatureloading,unfortunatelyyouhavetocreate
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