Minimizing the Effects of Lateral Loads on Multistorey Structure by Optimum Positioning of Shear Walls

Shear wall systems are one of the most feasible and hence commonly used lateral loads resisting mechanism employed in high rise buildings. They have high plane stiffness and strength which can be utilized to simultaneously resist large horizontal loads and support gravity loads. Incorporation of shear walls has now become inevitable in multi-storey buildings so as to resist the lateral forces such as Seismic loads and Wind loads. Hence, it is very necessary to determine the most effective location of shear walls. Shear wall arrangement must be absolutely accurate, because if not, it will cause negative effect instead. When the mass center and hardness center coincide with each other, the distance of shear wall from the mass center also plays an important role in the shear contribution of the shear wall. In this project, a study has been carried out to determine the optimum structural configuration of a multistory building by changing the shear wall locations radically. Four different cases of shear wall position for G+10 storey building with keeping zero eccentricity between mass center and hardness center have been analyzed and designed as a frame system by computer application software ETABS. The framed structure is subjected to lateral and gravity loading in accordance with IS provision and the results are analyzed to determine the optimum positioning of the shear wall.