Simplified calculation method of the torsion effect on the seismic behaviour of timber building

Abstract

An analytical approach is developed to take into account the vertical axis torsion phenomenon which is more difficult to evaluate than bending modes for seismic situations. A typological analysis of current buildings is done and an original classification, based on the distribution of the bracing implantations and the degree of symmetry is proposed. A parametric study is conducted with the method of multi-2D combination to analyze the influence of different bracing configurations on the sensitivity of the analyzed structure to the torsion phenomena. The simplified method is checked using more sophisticated methods according to the approaches proposed in Eurocode 8. The results showed that the proposed approach gives simple, accurate and safe calculation method to take account of the torsion effect on timber buildings. All these results lead to the creation of a database that can serve as reference for the analysis of the semi-rigidity diaphragm influence or the real non-linearity bracings on the load distributions under seismic event. © The Society for Experimental Mechanics, Inc. 2013.