A simplified approach for seismic calculation of a tall building braced by shear walls and thin-walled open section structures

In this paper an approximate hand-method for seismic analysis of an asymmetric building structure having constant properties along its height is presented. The building is stiffened by a combination of shear walls and thin-walled open section structures. Based on the continuum technique and d’Alembert’s principle, the governing equations of free vibration and the corresponding eigenvalue problem are derived. By applying the Galerkin technique, a generalized method is proposed for the free vibration analysis of coupled vibration of a building braced by shear walls and thin-walled open section structures. Simplified formulae are given to calculate the circular frequencies and internal forces of a building structure subjected to earthquakes. The utility and accuracy of the method is demonstrated by an numerical example, in which the proposed method is compared with finite element calculations.