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of a
Tall Building
H =1136 ft
B=194 ft
●No published data found for the fundamental period of oscillation of the Aon Center
●Fundamental period can be estimated using model/material assumptions
Angular frequency: =
k
m Period: T=
2
12.36 EI 3 EI
k= 3
k= 3
H H
Effective Moment of Inertia
●The building is not solid; entire cross-section does not resist bending
●Assume that the structure can be modeled as a thin-walled tube
●Must make an assumption for the thickness of the tube (assume 3 inches thick)
B=194 ft
B1=193.5 ft
a=0.25 ft
B B1
a Moment of Inertia:
4 4
B −B 1
I=
12
6 4
B I ≈1.21×10 ft
Building Mass
lb
Assumed specific weight for a steel building: =10 3
ft
ft
Gravitational acceleration: g=32 2
s
2
V B H
Mass of the building: m= =
g g
6
m≈13.36×10 slugs
Truss Model - Fundamental Period
T=
2
=2
m
k
T =2 BH
2
1 1
g 3 E I
6
E=29×10 psi
T ≈7 s
Define: = H
2
1 1
g 3 E I
2 lb s
2 2
ft 1 s
Dimension: = ft =
ft ft
2
lb ft
4 ft
2B 1
Period: T =2 B= Define: c=
c
2 B=c T
The parameter c has the units of velocity and is the speed at which “information”
travels across the cross section and back during one period.
1 1
g 3 E I
I ~B
4
Sound speed: c=
E
/ g
1 1 2 21 1
Period: T ~B H =B H
c B 4 c B2
T~
H
c H
B
H/c = Time it takes for sound signal to propagate the height of the building
H/B = Ratio of building height to width
Truss Model - Validation
T = N
0.05≤≤0.15
N = Number of floors
N =83
4.15 s≤T ≤12.45 s
Thus T=7 s is reasonable!
Conclusions
Models provide “back on the envelope” calculations
Continuous beam model would compute a value for
period that is about half that of the truss model
Effective moment of inertia highly conjectural
More accurate models require large amounts of
numerical computation
Many degrees of freedom
Nonlinearity
Damping
References
Dym, Principles of Mathematical Modeling, 2nd Ed.,
Elsevier, 2004
Mikhelson, Structural Engineering Formulas,
McGraw-Hill, 2004
Newland, Mechanical Vibration, Analysis and
Computation, Dover, 2006
Taranath, Structural Analysis and Design of Tall
Buildings, McGraw-Hill, 1988