Cálculo Automático de Açõoes Laterais em Edificios

Abstract

Lateral forces on buildings are generally trigged by natural·or man-made events, such as wind, earthquake and explosions. Frame resisting type of buildings oflow or moderate height
support and transfer the lateral forces through the action of a diaphragm, commonly represented by the slab system in use. If the building plan is irregular, the resultant of the lateral force distribution does not pass through the resistan.ce center of the plan, and a torsion moment results. Thus, large shear forces and torsion moments are applied to the column cross
sections of the building plan. If the column cross section rigidities are not adequate, then large shear and torsion deformation may take place and collapse may occur. This article aims to present and apply a simple method to calculate the shear center, the shear forces and the torsion moments for a considered building plan. The method is evaluated for an example of a simple building plan, subjected to the action of an inclined wind force transferred to column cross section by means of a rigid diaphragm. The method is codified in Frotran and may be valuable for use in structural design offices.