Influence of non-structural components on lateral stiffness of tall buildings

A building is a complex assemblage of both structural and non-structural components (NSC). Although many NSC, such as partition walls, external walls, parapet walls, stairwells, elevator shafts and so forth, are connected directly to the structural system, their behaviour and stiffening effects under lateral loading have normally been ignored by design engineers, despite significant advances in computer technology and the availability of modern computational resources. The performance of structures can be greatly improved by the increase in strength arising from the NSC; on the contrary, this increase in strength also accompanies an increase in the initial stiffness of the structure, which may consequently attract additional seismically induced lateral inertia forces. This paper is concerned with the estimation of the lateral stiffness contributed by the NSC to the total stiffness of three common forms of tall building structures constructed in Hong Kong. Both dynamic tests and numerical modelling of the buildings have been carried out for this purpose. Natural period estimates from dynamic tests and from analyses using calibrated finite element models were found to be in remarkable agreement. Significant stiffness contributions from NSC to the total lateral stiffness of tall buildings have been observed in the study. The extent of the contributions depends on the structural form and the type of components. Other contributions to the additional stiffness have also been analysed for comparison in the study.