Seismic Analysis of Soft Storey Buildings Considering Structural and Geometrical Parameters

Soft storeys in a high rise building play an important role on its seismic performance. At the soft storey level, there is a discontinuity in the rigidity of the structure due to lack of infill walls or due to variation in floor height. It is this continuity which is the cause of structural failure of multi stored buildings under earthquake loads. In this study, seismic analysis of soft storey building frames have been carried out considering 3 building plans, 15 soft storeys cases and 20 load combinations. Soft storeys have been created by varying the floor heights and effect of infill is ignored. In this way, total 45 frames are analysed. STAAD.pro software has been used for analysis purpose. Results are collected in terms of max. moment, max. storey displacements, max. shear force, max. axial force and max. drift, which are critically analysed to quantify the effects of various parameters.