EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKE AND WIND LOADS ON LOW-RISE BUILDINGS

Abstract

This paper aims to study the effects of earthquake and wind loads on low-rise buildings that represent the most popular ones for many constructions, especially housing projects. The study can be divided into 2 parts. The first part presented the analysis results of the one, two, and three-storey sample buildings. The buildings are assumed to be in a high seismic area (Phrae, Thailand) with a ground response acceleration value of 0.2 sec. at 1.086g. The structural behavior, base shear, and shear force of vertical structural members are studied and compared by using the equivalent static analysis, modal response spectrum analysis, wind load
from Building Control Act, B.E. 2522, and wind load by DPT 1311-50 standard. The second part was an analysis of the two-storey buildings by assuming that the buildings are in three different areas. The study found that the lateral forces from earthquakes significantly affect the building more than the wind forces. The Modified Response Spectrum Analysis (MRSA) provides the base shears about 2-3 times comparing to those obtained from the equivalent static force. The shear forces in the vertical members for one- and
two-storey buildings obtained from the equivalent static force and MRSA are close to each other. However, for the three-storey building, the shear forces in the vertical members from the equivalent static method were explicitly higher than those calculated from MRSA.