Linear Dynamic Response of Buildings

1.1 Earthquake Excitation

Consider a simplified model of a building of mass m, lateral stiffness k, and
viscous damping coefficient c. Let
g
u
denote the absolute displacement of the ground,
the absolute acceleration of the ground,
g
u
ab
u
the absolute displacement of the building,
and the relative displacement of the building with respect to ground (Figure 1.1). By
definition of relative displacement,
u
) ( ) ( ) ( t u t u t u
g ab
+ = . (1.1)



ab
u












(a) (b)

Figure 1.1: Simplified model of a building: (a) with moving base, and (b) with fixed base.



A lateral stiffness force
s
f is generated in the lateral load resisting building of the
building due to the relative deformation. This force acts in the direction opposite to that
of the deformation. For a building, whose behavior is linearly elastic, this stiffness force
s
f is given by
( ) t ku f
s
= . (1.2)
A damping force
D
f acts on the building which diminishes the amplitude of the
building. For many purposes the actual damping in a SDF structure can be idealized
satisfactorily by a linear viscous damper or dashpot that dissipates the vibrational
energy of the building. Damping force
D
f is given by
( ) t u c f
D
= . (1.3)
The inertial force
I
f acting on the building with respect to a Cartesian fixed reference
frame is given by
( ) t u m f
ab I
= . (1.4)


u
g
u

f
I













Figure 1.2: Free-body diagram of the mass of the building



The equation of equilibrium for the mass in free-body diagram (Figure 1.2) is
0 = + +
s D I
f f f . (1.5)
Using Eqs.(1.2), (1.3) and (1.4) in Eq.(1.5),
( ) ( ) ( ) 0 = + + t ku t u c t u m
ab
. (1.6)
Using Eq.(1.1) in Eq.(1.6),
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) t u m t ku t u c t u m
g
= + + . (1.7)
Dividing Eq.(1.7) by m, the equation of motion in normalized form is
) ( ) ( ) ( 2 ) (
2
t u t u t u t u
g n n
= + + e ,e , (1.8)
where
= =
m
k
n
e natural circular frequency of vibration of the building, and
n
m
c
e
,
2
= = damping ratio of the building.
The natural period of the simplified building model is defined as
n
T
k
m
T
n
t 2 = . (1.9)

1.2 Numerical Integration
Let t A be a time interval at which the ground motion is recorded. Starting from
t=0, the initial displacement and velocity being known, initial acceleration can be
calculated. A time-stepping procedure enables us to determine the response quantities at
time t t A + , i.e., , ) ( t t u A + ) ( t t u A + and ) ( t t u A + , if the ones at time t, i.e., , and
, are known. The Newmarks Method used here is based on the assumption that
acceleration varies over a time step
) (t u ) (t u
) (t u
t A as defined by parameters and| . By this
method, the velocity and displacement of the building at a time t t A + are given as
) ( ) ( ) ( } ) 1 {( ) ( ) ( t t u t t u t t u t t u A + A + A + = A + (1.10)
) ( } ) ( { ) ( } ) )( 5 . 0 {( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) (
2 2
t t u t t u t t u t t u t t u A + A + A + A + = A + | | (1.11)
f
s
f
s


f
D

f
D

From Eq.(1.8), the normalized equation of motion at time t t A + can be written as
(1.12) ) ( ) ( ) ( 2 ) (
2
t t u t t u t t u t t u
g n n
A + = A + + A + + A + e ,e
Substituting Eqs.(1.10) and (1.11) in Eq.(1.12), the acceleration at time t t A + is obtained
as

) (
) ( 2 1
) (
2 2
2
t u
t t
t t u
n n
n
(
(

A + A +
= A +
e | ,e
e
) (
) ( 2 1
2
2 2
2
t u
t t
t
n n
n n

(
(

A + A +
A +

e | ,e
e ,e

) (
) ( 2 1
) )( 5 . 0 ( ) 1 ( 2
2 2
2 2
t u
t t
t t
n n
n n

(
(

A + A +
A + A

e | ,e
e | ,e
) (
) ( 2 1
1
2 2
t t u
t t
g
n n
A +
(
(

A + A +

e | ,e

(1.13)

Substituting Eq.(1.13) in Eqs.(1.10) and (1.11), the velocity and displacement at time
t t A + are

) (
) ( 2 1
) (
2 2
2
t u
t t
t
t t u
n n
n
(
(

A + A +
A
= A +
e | ,e
e
) (
) ( 2 1
) )( ( 1
2 2
2 2
t u
t t
t
n n
n

(
(

A + A +
A +
+
e | ,e
e |

) ( ) (
) ( 2 1
) )( 5 . 0 ( ) 1 (
2 2
2 2
t u t
t t
t
n n
n
A
(
(

A + A +
A +
+
e | ,e
e |
) ( ) (
) ( 2 1
2 2
t t u t
t t
g
n n
A + A
(
(

A + A +

e | ,e


(1.14)
) (
) ( 2 1
2 1
) (
2 2
t u
t t
t
t t u
n n
n
(
(

A + A +
A +
= A +
e | ,e
,e
) ( ) (
) ( 2 1
) ( 2 1
2 2
t u t
t t
t
n n
n
A
(
(

A + A +
A +
+
e | ,e
| ,e

) ( ) (
) ( 2 1
) 5 . 0 ( 2 ) 5 . 0 (
2
2 2
t u t
t t
t
n n
n
A
(
(

A + A +
A +
+
e | ,e
| ,e |

) ( ) (
) ( 2 1
2
2 2
t t u t
t t
g
n n
A + A
(
(

A + A +

e | ,e
|
(1.15)
Eqs.(1.14) and (1.15) can be written as
) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( t t u B t u B t u B t Bu t t u
g g
A + + + + = A +

(1.16)
) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( t t u A t u A t u A t Au t t u
g g
A + + + + = A +

(1.17)
where
(

A +
=
D
t
A
n
,e 2 1

(

A
=
D
t
B
n
2
e

) (
) ( 2 1
t
D
t
A
n
A
(

A +
=
| ,e

(
(

A +
=
D
t
B
n
2 2
) )( ( 1 e |

2
) (
) 5 . 0 ( 2 ) 5 . 0 (
t
D
t
A
n
A
(

A +
=
| ,e |

) (
) )( 5 . 0 ( ) 1 (
2 2
t
D
t
B
n
A
(
(

A +
=
e |


2
) ( t
D
A
g
A
(

=
|

) ( t
D
B
g
A
(

=



in which
2 2
) ( 2 1
n n
t t D e | ,e A + A + = .

Typical selection for is
2
1
and
4
1
6
1
s s | gives satisfactory values. and | can be
chosen from two well- special cases of Newmarks Method which are average
acceleration and linear acceleration methods. For average acceleration assumption in
Newmarks Method, the acceleration within a time interval is the mid-value of
accelerations at time t and t t A + (Figure 1.4).



u















Figure 1.4: Average acceleration assumption of Newmarks Method



From Figure 1.4,
( ) ( ) ( | t u t t u u + A + =
2
1
t )| (1.18)
Integrating Eq.(1.18) twice over t gives
( ) ( ) ( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( t t u
t
t u
t
t u t t u t t u A +
A
+
A
+ A + = A +
4 4
2 2
) (1.19)
( ) ( )
( )
( )
( )
( t t u )
t
t u
t
t u t t u A +
A
+
A
+ = A +
2 2
(1.20)
Comparing Eqs.(1.19) and (1.20) with Eqs.(1.11) and (1.10) respectively,
2
1
= and
4
1
= |
for average acceleration. u ) ( t t A + can be computed from Eq.(1.12) as
(1.21) ) ( ) ( ) ( 2 ) (
2
t t u t t u t t u t t u
g n n
A + A + A + = A + e ,e
Thus, if u , , and ) (t ) (t u ) (t u ) ( t t u
g
A + are known, u ) ( t t A + , and, ) ( t t u A + ) ( t t u A + can be
found. When applied successively for t = 0, t, 2t, 3t,, this procedure gives the
response at time instants t = t, 2t, 3t,. Hence, ) t ( u A , , , can be
calculated, because is known
) ( t u A ) ( t A u
) (t u
g
t.



t

t
t
t A
t+2t t+t
) ( t t u A
t t A
) ( t u
) ( t t A +
2 ( t t u A + )
u

1.3 Numerical Example
Consider the North-South component of horizontal ground acceleration recorded
at El Centro, California in 1940 (Figure 1.5(a). The relative displacement response of a
building is calculated as per procedure mentioned in Section 1.2, and shown in Figure
1.5. The exercise is repeated for natural periods
n
T of vibration of 0.5s, 1.0s and 2.0s, and
for damping ratios , of 0, 0.02 and 0.05.

(a)

(b) (e)

(c) (f)

(d) (f)
Figure 1.5:(a) North-south component of 1940 El Centro horizontal ground acceleration
record, and displacement response of building for (b) sec, 5 . 0 =
n
T 05 . 0 = , , (c)
sec, 1 =
n
T 05 . 0 = , , (d) sec, 2 =
n
T 05 . 0 = , , (e) sec, 1 =
n
T 0 = , , (f) 1 =
n
sec, T 0 02 . = , ,
(g) 1 =
n
sec, T . 0 = 05 , .