DBDsoft User Manual

DBDsoft
Page 1 of 93
DBDsoft
Top Next
DBDsoft
Version 2014 standard
v. 0.9.0.0 November 2014
User Manual
graphic
graphic
Introduction
Previous Top Next
Introduction
DBDsoft is a program developed to assist engineers in the application of the Direct displacement-based seismic design
(DDBD) procedure of Priestley et al. (2007). The program is not intended as an analysis tool and instead, the software
relies on the user to indicate how the design solution should be developed. To this extent, while traditional modelling
information such as section dimensions and material properties are required, the strength and stiffness of elements are
not specified since they should be an outcome of the design process.
As the necessary performance of a building can be ensured through any one of many possible distributions of strength
(and stiffness), users of DBDsoft are required to indicate the proportions of the seismic loads that will be resisted by the
different elements of the load-resisting system. This very novel feature of the software recognises that inelastic seismic
force distributions can be controlled through good design (see Design Strength Proportions for further details).
With proportions of strength decided, the software will then compute the required design base shear and the required
flexural strengths of plastic hinge zones. In this current version of DBDsoft, the engineer should then calculate the
required reinforcement (reinforced concrete sections) or verify the steel profiles' capacity (steel sections) for each plastic
hinge zone and optimise the design solution as desired. The task of capacity design also needs to be undertaken by the
engineer, who should suitably amplify the plastic-hinge design actions indicated by the software to identify capacity
design actions for all members in the structure.
Users should verify the seismic performance of the design solution by using a code-compliant analysis method such as
pushover analysis or non-linear time-history analyses (the permissible method will depend on the local building code
requirements).
We, the developers, trust that you will enjoy the benefits that this software offers. We would welcome any comments
and suggestions that could improve future versions of the software.
Information for Academics
Previous Top Next
Information for Academics

In order to cite this software in publications please use the following citation:
Sullivan, T.J., Bono, F., Nievas, C.I., Magni, F., Calvi, G.M. (2014) DBDsoft: A program for the displacement-based seismic
design of structures, Beta Version EUCENTRE, www.eucentre.it.
See the section on Background for some notes on the theory of the Direct Displacement-Based Seismic Design
procedure and for a list of references where more information may be found.
Contacting Us
file:///C:/Users/User/AppData/Local/Temp/~hh512C.htm
Previous Top Next
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 2 of 93
Contacting Us
If you have any suggestions for improvements, or if you would like to receive an updated version of the software, please
email us at:
DBDsoft@eucentre.it
Release Information
Previous Top Next
Release Information
This version of DBDsoft is released as a trial version in order to gain feedback on the basic functioning of the program and
get suggestions on possible improvements that can be implemented in the subsequent versions. The release message,
viewed upon opening the software, is also shown here:
Disclaimer
Previous Top Next
Disclaimer
DBDsoft is intended to assist engineers apply the Direct Displacement-Based Design (DDBD) procedure of Priestley et al.
(2007). Whilst efforts have been made to verify the accuracy and robustness of this software, no guarantees are provided
that the DDBD calculations have been implemented correctly.
Consequently, the EUCENTRE and the program developers take no responsibility for the consequences that any errors
within the software may cause program users. Furthermore, users are advised that the DDBD procedure is not currently a
code-compliant seismic design solution and therefore they should verify code-compatibility of the design solutions
derived from the software by using analysis and design methods that conform with code requirements.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 3 of 93
About EUCENTRE
Previous Top Next
About EUCENTRE
EUCENTRE is a non profit Foundation launched by the Italian Deparment of Civil Defence ( Dipartimento della Protezione
Civile), the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology ( Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia), the
University of Pavia ( Universit degli Studi di Pavia ) and the University Institute for Superior Studies of Pavia ( Istituto
Universitario di Studi Superiori di Pavia), with the aim of promoting, sustaining and overseeing training and research in
the field of the reduction of seismic risk, through the following actions:
Development of applied research in the field of seismic engineering, oriented towards reaching concrete goals
of evaluation and reduction of vulnerability and risk;
Development of activities useful for the definition of specific lines of public action, guidelines and regulator
documents, bearing in mind the state of the art in the international scene as well;
Training personnel with strong scientific and professional capabilities in the field of seismic engineering, in
particular, in the field of seismology, geology, geotechnics, behaviour of materials and structures, design of
new structures, evaluation and retrofit of existing structures, even in emergency situations;
Carrying out scientific and technical consultancy at a national and international level, in the field of seismic
engineering.
For more information visit EUCENTREs website www.eucentre.it
Background
Previous Top Next
Background
Seismic design in current codes is based on force (and hence acceleration) rather than displacement, essentially as a
consequence of the historical developments of an understanding of structural dynamics and, more specifically, of the
response of structures to seismic actions and the progressive modifications and improvement of seismic codes worldwide.
In the first decades of the last century, after several major earthquakes, such as Messina (Italy, 1908), Kanto (Japan,
1925), Napier (New Zealand, 1932), and Long Beach (USA, 1933) the first design codes started being developed. These
codes were essentially prescribing specific detailing and construction rules and in cases the application of some lateral
inertia forces. Typically, and possibly in analogy with some kind of wind design, a value of about 10% of the building
weight applied as a vertically distributed lateral force was required, regardless of building period.
This initial force-based approach has been essentially retained with the progressive increasing of understanding of the
significance of structural dynamic characteristics, that lead to period-dependent design lateral force levels in most seismic
design codes, and even when it became clear that many structures had survived earthquakes capable of inducing inertia
forces many times larger than those corresponding to their structural strength, if a linear response was assumed.
This apparent inconsistency was explained after the first simple inelastic time-history analyses had been performed, and
the concept of ductility introduced, to reconcile the anomaly of survival with inadequate strength. In the seventys,
relationships between ductility and force-reduction factor were developed, introducing the well known concepts of
equal displacement, equal energy and equal force approximations, that appeared to be appropriate to estimate the
real structural response as a function of linear response and period of vibration of the structures.
Since then, ductility has been considered the fundamental parameter to estimate appropriate force reduction factors,
to be used to determine the design lateral force levels. Much research effort was therefore directed to determining the
available ductility capacity of different structural systems, performing extensive experimental and analytical studies to
determine their safe displacement capacity. It is now clear that this approach is implicitly assuming displacement
capacity, and not force capacity, as the basis for design. However, the design process is still carried out in terms of
required strength in essentially all codes of practice around the world and displacement capacity, if directly checked at all,
is only a final product of the design procedure.
This brief summary of the history of seismic design indicates that initially design was purely based on strength, or force
considerations. However, as demonstrated by Priestley (1993) and Priestley et al. (2007) there are several conceptual
drawbacks associated with the use of force-based methods in seismic design. With reference to the design of a RC
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 4 of 93
building possessing three walls A, B and C, illustrated in Figure 1, a brief review of some of the problems with force-based
design can be made.
Figure 1. Response of a RC structure possessing walls of different length used to highlight issues associated with
force-based design.
The main issues associated with current force-based design methods, identified and discussed in Priestley et al. (2007) in
detail, can be shown to involve:
The use of ductility capacity dependent force-reduction factors.
In order to obtain design force levels, code methods divide elastic forces by a force-reduction factor which is set in
proportion to the ductility capacity of the structure. However, the actual ductility demand for a structural system
will typically be smaller than the ductility capacity of the structure. The right side of Figure 1 presents the forcedisplacement behaviour for the three walls (A, B and C) and the total system as it is displaced to a deformation
limit required to control damage to non-structural elements. It is clear that in controlling non-structural
deformations the system ductility is less than the ductility capacity of the long stiff Wall B and considerably less
than the shorter flexible Walls A & C. Furthermore, as Walls A & C have considerably larger yield displacements
than Wall B, it is evident that the ductility capacity could not be developed in all the walls simultaneously. This
point suggests that the use of force-reduction factors that are based on ductility capacity is inappropriate.
The force distributions predicted through the use of the elastic stiffness for analysis.
As mentioned above, the force-based approach makes a prediction of the elastic forces of the structure and
uniformly reduces these by a behaviour factor to obtain inelastic design forces. However, because elements within
the structure do not all yield at the same level of deformation, the elastic force distribution can be very different
to the inelastic force distribution. This can be seen in Figure 1 by considering the elastic shear proportions that
have developed when Wall B first yields. It is clear that the shear in Walls A & C is only one-quarter that for Wall B
in the elastic state. However, at the design displacement of the system, it is clear that the proportion of shear in
Walls A & C has now doubled to be 50% of that in Wall B. This point demonstrates that elastic analyses using the
initial stiffness are inappropriate for predictions of inelastic force distributions.
The difficulty in defining the system ductility for mixed structural systems.
Current codes typically require that the behaviour factor for mixed structural systems be set equal to the lower of
the two systems. However, this does not consider how the ductility demands and forces will develop for the
combined structural system. For example, suppose that Wall B shown in Figure 1 only had a ductility capacity of
three, such that at the design displacement, its ductility capacity had been reached. The system ductility at this
displacement is obtained by dividing the design displacement by the yield displacement of the system, whereby
the yield displacement of the system would typically be obtained through a bi-linear representation of the system
response. Interestingly, it is evident that the system ductility demand is actually lower than the ductility capacity
of the critical element. The amount by which it is lower depends on the mixed system considered and larger
differences could be expected for different mixed systems, such as frame-wall structures. This point demonstrates
that force reduction factors cannot be easily set for mixed structural systems.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 5 of 93
The inter-dependency of strength and stiffness for certain structural types (such as RC structures).
It has been shown by Priestley (1998), Priestley and Kowalsky (1998) and Paulay (2002) that the yield curvature of
RC sections is principally a function of the section geometry and yield strain of longitudinal reinforcement.
Consequently, given that the cracked section stiffness is best defined using the secant stiffness to first yield as
EI=Mn/?y, (where E is the section modulus, I is the second moment of inertia, Mn is the section flexural strength
and ?y is the yield curvature) it is clear that the stiffness of a RC element will depend on the strength it is assigned.
In other words, the initial stiffness of Wall B in Figure 1 for example, could be doubled by simply doubling the
amount of longitudinal reinforcement in the section. As such, the stiffness is not purely a function of the section
geometry and therefore in order to know the cracked elastic period of vibration of an RC structure, the flexural
strength is required. As the force-based design procedure relies on the period of vibration in order to determine
the required strength, this point shows that the design procedure cannot be easily implemented for RC
structures.
The relationships used to relate elastic displacement to inelastic displacement response.

The force-based design approach estimates the inelastic displacement response based on the elastic displacement
response. The relationship illustrated for the wall system within Figure 1 uses the equal-displacement rule,
whereby the inelastic displacement is assumed equal to the elastic displacement. This is the approximation
adopted in Eurocode 8. In the United States, however, different relationships are used whereby the inelastic
displacement is often approximated as being less than the elastic displacement, whereas in Japan the opposite
occurs and an equal energy approach is used such that the inelastic displacement is estimated to be larger than
the elastic displacement. In reality, the relationship between elastic and inelastic displacements should depend on
the hysteretic properties of the structure being considered, since these affect the energy dissipation
characteristics of the structure.
As these problems with force-based design have emerged and the importance of displacement has come to be better
appreciated, attempts to modify and improve existing force-based approaches have been made. In the 1990s and early
this century, however, several researchers started pointing out the inconsistency associated with the use of force for
design, proposing displacement-based approaches for earthquake engineering evaluation and design, with the aim of
providing improved reliability in the engineering process by more directly relating computed response and expected
structural performance. A review and comparison of different displacement-based design methodologies has been
provided by Calvi (2003) and Sullivan et al. (2004). The most developed DBD method currently available is the Direct DBD
approach, described in a text by Priestley et al. (2007) and also released in model code format (Calvi and Sullivan 2008).
While the guidelines in the model code have been relatively well tested for RC structures (see Pettinga et al. 2005, Sullivan
et al. 2006 and Beyer et al. 2008), further verification and development is required for other structural systems and for
complex response due to torsion and higher modes. As such, this version of DBDsoft has been developed for regular RC
buildings.
The main steps in the Direct DBD procedure are illustrated in Figure 2. The first task of the procedure, shown as Figure 2
(a), is to develop an equivalent SDOF representation of the MDOF structure being designed. This is achieved through
knowledge of the mass distribution and the displacement profile at maximum response. For some forms of MDOF
structure, such as the approach for RC walls, the displacement profile is obtained using first principles, whereas for other
MDOF structures, such as RC frames, empirical shape functions which have been calibrated to fit results of multiple nonlinear time-history analyses are used.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 6 of 93
Figure 2. Overview of the main phases within the Direct DBD approach (adapted from Priestley et al. 2007).
The displacement shape at maximum response signals an important difference between Direct DBD and force-based
design, which is highlighted in the second step of the procedure, shown as Figure 2(b). Direct DBD characterises the
structure to be designed using the effective or secant-stiffness to peak displacement response, whereas force-based
design uses the initial stiffness characteristics. The use of the secant-stiffness is based on the Substitute Structure
approach developed by Gulkan and Sozen (1974) and Shibata and Sozen (1976). The bilinear envelope of the lateral forcedisplacement response of the SDOF representation (shown in Figure 2(b)) illustrates the secant stiffness Ke at the
maximum displacement ?d.
This maximum or design displacement value is set by the designer to ensure acceptable levels of deformation for a given
risk event. When the displaced shape of the structure at maximum response is known, then the design displacement, d,
can be obtained using:
(1)
where n is the total number of storeys, and mi are the masses and i the displacements (or displacement shape) at level i.
With reference to Figure 2(a), this design displacement corresponds to the displacement at the effective height, he, of the
structure. The effective height is also a function of the displaced shape of the masses at maximum response, in addition to
the storey height, hi, as shown in Eq. (2). The effective height is useful for the estimation of the yield displacement and
ductility demands expected of a structural system.
(2)
Since the actual structural behaviour is non-linear, the effective stiffness is used together with an equivalent viscous
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 7 of 93
damping term, , representative of the combined elastic damping and hysteretic energy absorbed during seismic
response. To illustrate how this approach would account for different hysteretic characteristics, consider the curves
shown in Figure 2(c). For a given level of ductility demand, it can be seen that a structural steel frame building with
compact members is assigned a higher level of equivalent viscous damping than a reinforced concrete frame building
designed for the same level of ductility demand, as a consequence of larger amounts of hysteretic energy dissipated
during the inelastic cyclic response of steel sections.
With the design displacement of the substitute structure at maximum response established, and the corresponding
damping estimated from the expected ductility demands, the effective period, Te, at maximum displacement response
can be read from a set of displacement spectra for different levels of damping, as illustrated in Figure 2(d).
To continue with design, it is then necessary to consider how the period, T, of a SDOF oscillator can be related to its
stiffness, K, and mass, M, as is shown in Eq. (3).
(3)
The effective stiffness, Ke, of the equivalent SDOF system at maximum displacement can be found by inverting this
equation to arrive at Eq. (4).
(4)
Within Eq. (4), me is the effective mass of the structure participating in the fundamental mode of vibration at maximum
response. This is also established using the design displacement profile in accordance with Eq. (5).
(5)
From Figure 2(b), the design lateral force, Fd, which is equivalent to the design base shear force, Vb, is consequently given
by Eq. (6).
(6)
In order to obtain design strengths for individual members of the MDOF system, the design base shear from Eq.(6) is then
applied as a set of equivalent lateral forces up the height of the building. The lateral forces are set to be proportional to
the displacements of the seismic masses, as shown in Eq.(7):
Floors 1 to n-1:
(7a)
Roof (Floor n):

(7b)
Where, for building structures in which the main lateral resisting system forms plastic hinges over the full height of the
structure (e.g. frame structures), the value of k to be used in Eq.(7) is k = 0.9 and for building structures in which the
plastic hinges offering the main lateral resistance form at the base of the building (e.g. RC wall structures), k = 1.0. For
frame-wall systems, a value of k = 1.0 is adopted due to the fact that higher mode effects are not expected to be
significant for this kind of structures.
Priestley et al. (2007) explain that there are two options for identifying the design strengths of plastic hinge zones from
the equivalent lateral forces of Eq.(7). The first is to develop a structural model in which the effective stiffness of
yielding elements is specified rather than initial stiffness values. The second approach is to apply an equilibrium approach,
ensuring that the lateral resistance provided at each level matches the seismic demand (obtained as a storey shear force
by summing the equivalent lateral forces above the storey in question). For, say, a RC frame structure with multiple bays,
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 8 of 93
it is clear that different relative beam strengths could provide the same total storey shear resistance. As such (allowing
redistribution of initial elastic force proportions) the equilibrium approach gives the designer greatest flexibility in
optimising the seismic design solution. See Priestley et al. (2007) for more discussion of the equilibrium approach. See
Sullivan and Lago (2012) for details of the equilibrium approach applied for RC frames within DBDsoft.
The design concepts are thus relatively simple. Such complexity that exists relates to determination of the substitute
structure characteristics, the determination of the design displacement, and application of the equilibrium approach to
arrive at the final design strengths. All these aspects are undertaken by DBDsoft, with the user assisting in the equilibrium
analyses by specifying the desired strength proportions of plastic hinges.
Previous Top Next
Overview
Overview
The program is organised into three distinct phases: (i) the Pre-Processor Phase, (ii) the Processor Phase, and (iii) the PostProcessor Phase. An overview of each phase is provided below.
The Pre-Processor Phase is where the general information about the structure, necessary for design, is provided. The PreProcessor Phase requires completion of the following modules:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Materials
Sections
Element Classes
Nodes
Elements Connectivity
Restraint/Releases
Loads
Performance Criteria
The purpose of the Processor Phase is to identify the lateral load resisting system and run the design calculations. The
Processor Phase requires the user to indicate the load combination that should be considered. In addition, the user should
tell the program to identify the lateral stability systems, after which point the user should verify that the lateral stability
systems correspond to those envisaged for the structure. Once the lateral load resisting systems have been identified,
must indicate the proportions of overturning that they wish the different lateral load resisting systems to resist. This last
phase is an important design decision that the user should make as it will influence the distribution and magnitude of the
required strengths throughout the structure.
The Post-Processor Phase is where the results of the design solution can be obtained. The main results of interest will be
the required nominal flexural strengths (Mn) of plastic hinge regions.
For a detailed description of the information required in each phase see the relevant sections of this user manual.
For information on how the program works see the background section of this user manual and the references listed
there.
Getting Started
Previous Top Next
Getting Started
To develop a design solution, basic information on the structural geometry and material properties must first be defined
following the order (from left to right) of the tabs within the Pre-Processing unit.
To move between modules you can either directly click on the module heading or use the drop-down menu by clicking:
or
Modules>Next Properties Module

Modules>Previous Properties Module
Example Building
Previous Top Next
Example Buildings
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 9 of 93
Four case study models have already been developed within the program and by opening and reviewing them, users can
quickly see how a model should be defined. To access these examples you can select the models from the drop down
menu clicking:
File>Test Cases>TestB1
This case study structure represents an 8-storey RC wall building in which the lateral load resisting system is
formed of three cantilever walls.
This case study structure represents a 6-storey RC frame building in which the lateral load resisting system is
formed of three separate frame systems.
This case study structure represents a 6-storey RC frame-wall building in which the lateral load resisting system is
formed of one frame, two cantilever walls and one frame-wall system with link beams.
This case study structure represents an 8-storey steel frame building in which the lateral load resisting system is
formed of one frame in the X direction.
Step-by-step computation of base shear demand and overturning moment at the base are provided for all examples here.
Note that information within the tables of the program can be copy-pasted (CTRL+C) into excel spreadsheets. This can be
useful for development of larger structures and for exchanging common input information with other programs (such as
Seismostruct; see www.seismosoft.com).
Pre-Processor
Previous Top Next
Pre-processor
The Pre-Processor Phase is where the general information about the structure, necessary for design, is provided. The PreProcessor Phase requires completion of the modules listed below, that are explained in the sub-sections that follow:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Materials
Sections
Element Classes
Nodes
Elements Connectivity
Restraint/Releases
Loads
Materials
Previous Top Next
Materials
To add a new material, first ensure that you have selected the Materials module (see Getting Started).
Then either click on the blue plus symbol (see Figure) or double click on the grid of the table. The form Add New Material
will then open. After providing the requested information (described in detail below) click on the Add and Close button to
confirm the addition of the new material.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 10 of 93
To add a new material enter the materials name, choose the material type (concrete and Reinforcing_ Steel, for
reinforced concrete structures, or Structural_Steel, for steel structures) and fill in the requested fields with the material
characteristics, in line with the recommendations in the next pages. Please note that in the current version of DBDsoft it is
not possible to combine reinforced concrete and steel sections.
Add Concrete Material
Previous Top Next
Add Concrete Material

Add new material>type>Concrete:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 11 of 93
Expected compressive strength, fce :
The expected concrete compressive strength refers to concrete strength expected at the time of an
earthquake. Note that it is likely to be significantly greater than the concrete compressive strength at
28days due to the tendency for concrete to gain strength with time and the construction practice of
specifying characteristic rather than mean or median strength values. In lieu of more refined information,
Priestley et al. (2007) and Sullivan et al. (2012) recommend that fce = 1.3fc where fc is the 28 day
cylinder concrete compressive strength.
Strain at peak stress, ec or eo :
The strain at peak stress refers to the strain at which the concrete will be expected to have developed its
expected compressive strength. The provision of transverse confining reinforcement will tend to
increase the strain at peak stress such that values of 0.004 might be specified for unconfined concrete
compared to values of 0.010 for confined concrete. Currently, this version of DBDsoft does not use this
information in the calculations and therefore users can leave the default value of 0.003.
Ultimate compressive strain, eu :
The ultimate compressive strain refers to the strain at which the concrete will be expected to crush, even
if well confined. The value of ultimate strain will depend on the quantity, spacing and effectiveness of
transverse reinforcement. Currently, this version of DBDsoft does not use this information in the
calculations and therefore users can leave the default value of 0.01.
Specific weight:
The specific weight of concrete should be specified in units of kN/m3 with account for the weight of
reinforcement (i.e. it should correspond to the weight of reinforced concrete). The default value is
24.5kN/m3. Currently, this version of DBDsoft does not use this information in the calculations and
therefore users can leave the default value of 24.5kN/m3. To account for the weight of reinforced
concrete members, users should specify suitable seismic masses within the Loads module.
Once the material information has been specified, click on Add + Close.
The materials that have been added will then be listed in the grid. Repeat the operation for as many different material
properties as desired.
Aff Reinforcing Steel Material
Previous Top Next
Add Reinforcing Steel Material
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 12 of 93
Add new material>type>Reinforcing_Steel:
Expected yield strength, Fy :
The expected yield strength refers to the yield strength expected of longitudinal reinforcing bars at the
time of an earthquake. Note that it is likely to be greater than the characteristic yield strength which is
typically based on 5 th percentile values of strength. In lieu of more refined information, Priestley et al.
(2007) recommend that Fy = 1.1Fy,c where Fy,c is the characteristic yield strength of the reinforcing bars.
Ultimate strength, Fu :
The ultimate strength refers to the ultimate strength expected of longitudinal reinforcing bars at the time
of an earthquake, and will tend to be greater than the expected yield strength due to strain hardening.
Note that it is typically used in DBD to account for strain-hardening effects on the plastic hinge lengths of
walls and the like. In lieu of more refined information, one could specify Fu= 1.1Fu,c where Fy,c is the
characteristic ultimate strength of the reinforcing bars.
Elastic Modulus, E:
The elastic modulus of reinforcing steel should be specified with unit of MPa. Typical values for the elastic
modulus of reinforcing steel are between 200000MPa and 210000MPa.
Add Structural Steel Material
Previous Top Next
Add Structural Steel Material

Add new material>type>Structural_Steel:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 13 of 93
Expected yield strength, Fy :
The expected yield strength refers to the yield strength expected of the structural steel at the time of an
earthquake. Note that it is likely to be greater than the characteristic yield strength which is typically
based on 5 th percentile values of strength. In lieu of more refined information, Priestley et al. (2007)
recommend that Fy = 1.1Fy,c for S355 and S450, F y = 1.15Fy,c for S275, and F y = 1.2Fy,c for S235, where Fy,c
is the characteristic yield strength of the reinforcing bars.
Ultimate strength, Fu :
The ultimate strength refers to the ultimate strength expected of the structural steel at the time of an
earthquake, and will tend to be greater than the expected yield strength due to strain hardening. Note
that it is typically used in DBD to account for strain-hardening effects on the plastic hinge lengths of walls
and the like. In lieu of more refined information, one could specify Fu = 1.1Fu,c for S355 and S450, F u =
1.15Fu,c for S275, and F u = 1.2Fu,c for S235,where Fu,c is the characteristic ultimate strength of the
reinforcing bars.
Elastic Modulus, E:
The elastic modulus of reinforcing steel should be specified with unit of MPa. Typical values for the elastic
modulus of reinforcing steel are between 200000MPa and 210000MPa.
Sections
Previous Top Next
Sections
After defining the material characteristics, the geometry of the structural cross sections must be defined. To add a new
section, first ensure that you have selected the Sections module (see Getting Started).
Then either click on the blue plus symbol (see Figure) or double click on the grid of the table. The form Add New Section
will then open. After providing the requested information (described in detail below) click on the Add and Close button to
confirm the addition of the new section.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 14 of 93
The current version of DBDsoft has been developed for rectangular, circular and T-shaped RC sections, as well as IPE and
HE steel profiles. Please note that, in the current version of DBDsoft, T-shaped RC sections can only be used as beams, and
circular RC sections can only be used as columns. Future versions will include other section shapes, such as C- and Lshaped sections, and they will extend the possibility of use of currently existing sections.
After assigning a name (e.g. S1) for the section and selecting the section type, a series of parameters must be defined, as
described below. Please note the orientation of the sections local axes with respect to the definition of sections
parameters such as width and depth, for some features of the software assume a standardised engineering approach is to
be followed by the user. For example, Section Curvature performance criteria assume that wall and beam sections are
defined so that they bend around local axis 2.
Rectangular Sections
Previous Top Next
Rectangular Sections
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 15 of 93
Name:
Define a non-existing name for the new section.
Section Width:
The section width should be input (typically in units of metres). For a rectangular wall section, the section
width typically refers to the wall thickness. Note, that orientation of the section (i.e. whether the section
bends about its strong or weak axis for a given loading direction) will be controlled by defining the
direction of axis-3 using a non-structural node (see the Section on Nodes).
Section Depth:
The section width should be input (typically in units of metres). For a rectangular wall section, the section
depth typically refers to the wall length.
Material:
By clicking on the drop-down box a list of the materials that have been defined will appear. Select the
appropriate type of concrete for the section.
Rebars Material:
appropriate type of reinforcing steel for the section.
Fill in the section properties and click on the Add and Close button. The new section is listed in the Sections grid. Repeat
the procedure for as many other sections as required.
Circular Sections
Previous Top Next
Circular Sections
Note: in the current version of DBDsoft, circular sections can only be used for the definition of columns.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 16 of 93
Name:
Section Diameter:
Specify the sections diameter (typically in units of metres).
Material:
Rebars Material:
T-Shape Sections
Previous Top Next
T-Shape Sections
Note: in the current version of DBDsoft, T-shaped sections can only be used for the definition of beams.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 17 of 93
Name:
Section Width:
Specify the sections width (typically in units of metres), i.e. the beams horizontal dimension.
Section Depth:
Specify the sections depth (typically in units of metres), i.e. the distance from the bottom of the beam to
the top of the slab.
Slab Width:
Specify the width (typically in units of metres) of slab that will contribute with the beam to resist the
seismic actions.
Slab Thickness:
Specify the slabs thickness (typically in units of metres).
Material:
Rebars Material:
IPE Steel Section
Previous Top Next
IPE Steel Section
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 18 of 93
Name:
Section Type:
Select the type of IPE profile from the drop-down menu.
Material:
appropriate type of structural steel for the section.
HE Steel Section
Previous Top Next
HE Steel Section
Name:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 19 of 93
Section Type:
Select the type of HE profile from the drop-down menu.
Material:
appropriate type of structural steel for the section.
Previous Top Next
Element Classes
Element Classes
After defining the material characteristics and section properties, a set of element classes must be defined. The purpose
of this module is to tell the program whether the sections defined should be considered as beam elements, column
elements or wall elements. This will be important for the plastic mechanism and deformed shape that the program will
assume during the design process. Note that floor diaphragm elements do not need to be specified and DBDsoft
automatically assumes rigid in-plane behaviour of floor diaphragms by constraining all nodes at the same level to move
horizontally together.
To add a new element class, first ensure that you have selected the Element Classes module (see Getting Started). Then
either click on the blue plus symbol or double click on the grid of the table (as for the Materials and Sections modules).
The form Add new element class will then open, shown below.
To assign the element class you should then:
Give a name to the element class you are creating. Then
Select the section Type from the drop-down list, and then
Select the type of section that is being given this element classification.
Please note that for a wall element class, only rectangular sections will be listed, while for a beam class, all sections except
circular ones and, for columns, all sections except T-shape ones will be available. Future versions of DBDsoft will support
the use of T-shape as well as other sections for columns and walls as well.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 20 of 93
After providing the requested information click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the new element
class.
Nodes
Previous Top Next
Nodes
Every structural element will be defined by a pair of nodes that set the ends of the element and a non-structural node
that is used to define the orientation (rotation) of the section (see the figures below).
To add a node, first ensure that you have selected the Nodes module (see Getting Started). Then either click on the blue
plus symbol or double click on the grid of the table (as for the Materials and Sections modules).
The form Add new node will then open, shown below.
To assign the node you should then:
Give a name to the node you are creating. Then
Select the node Type from the drop-down list (either structural or non-structural), and then
Enter the X, Y and Z coordinates of the nodes. Note that non-structural nodes can be provided
anywhere on the plane of the local z-axis (see Figures above).
After providing the requested information click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the new node.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 21 of 93
In order to speed up the process of node generation, it is possible to use the Automatic Incrementation tool, available
when clicking on the button labelled Inc.. When doing so, a window pops up asking the user to specify the increment to
be used for the new nodes names, the increments in each coordinate, and the number of new nodes to generate, as
shown in the figure below.
Additionally, with the aim of automatically generating more complex series of nodes, it is possible to paste tables
generated with external spreadsheet applications. Given the fact that the nodes coordinates are given all together in the
same column, separated from one another by three spaces, it is recommended to use functions to concatenate the X, Y
and Z coordinates in the spreadsheet.
Note that in the current version of DBDsoft, beams and columns are defined by nodes lying at their centrelines, and no
corrections are made to account for the fact that the bending moments at the faces of the elements are different than
those at their centrelines. In the case of frame-wall systems with link beams, however, this effect is considered, given its
importance in the determination of the walls contraflexure height and, hence, the design displaced shape.
Note as well that at roof level all nodes should be at the same elevation or the program will classify the structure as being
vertically irregular.
The user can modify node properties at any time. However, it is important to bear in mind that if the field to modify is the
nodes name, the current version of the software does not update it within the elements that have already been defined
using the previous name, and this update should thus be done manually by the user.
Element Connectivity
Previous Top Next
Element Connectivity
Structural elements can be defined by indicating the element class, the end nodes of the element and a non-structural
node that will define the orientation (rotation) of the section.
To add an element, first ensure that you have selected the Element Connectivity module (see Getting Started). Then
either click on the blue plus symbol or double click on the grid of the table (as for the Materials and Sections modules).
The form Add new element will then open, shown below.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 22 of 93
To define the element you should then:

?
Give a name to the element you are creating. Then
Select the element Type from the drop-down list (either beam, column, wall or rigid-link). Then
Select the Element Class from the drop-down list (the list will include all element classes specified in
the Element Classes Module). Then
Select the structural nodes that define the ends of the member, Node i and Node j, and then
Select the non-structural node that defines the orientation (rotation) of the section. Local axis 3 of the
elements section will be pointing at the non structural node selected. If the geometrical definition of
the element does not allow for local axis 3 to be directly pointing at the non-structural node, the axis
will be pointing at its projection over the plane of the section at Node i, as shown in the following
example:
Top view
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 23 of 93
Perspective - Non-structural node lies in the X-Y plane
Perspective - Non-structural node does not lie in the X-Y plane, but section maintains its orientation with respect to its
projection over the X-Y plane
After providing the requested information click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the new element.
As mentioned here, it should be noted that in the current version of DBDsoft, beams and columns are defined by nodes
lying at their centrelines, and no corrections are made to account for the fact that the bending moments at the faces of
the elements are different than those at their centrelines. In the case of frame-wall systems with link beams, however,
this effect tends to be more significant due to the larger dimensions of walls. For this reason, users should use rigid links
in order to define the connectivity between walls and beams. For further information, please refer here.
Please note as well that the current version of DBDsoft only allows for steel beams and columns to be defined with their
local axes oriented parallel and perpendicular to the global axes. Defining steel beams and columns with other angles will
lead to the bending strength capacity of the sections to be estimated as zero. Future versions of the software will allow
for steel sections to be defined with any desired orientation.
In order to speed up the definition of structural members, it is possible to paste tables generated with external
spreadsheet applications. Given the fact that the elements properties are given all together in the same column,
separated from one another by three spaces, it is recommended to use functions to concatenate the element class, initial
node, final node and non-structural node that define the element within the spreadsheet.
Restraints/Releases
Previous Top Next
Restraints/Releases
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 24 of 93
Nodal restraints should be defined at the base of the building. Nodal releases can be defined to indicate pin releases
within members.
To add a restraint or release, first ensure that you have selected the Restraints/Releases module (see Getting Started).
Then either click on the blue plus symbol or double click on the grid of the table (as for the Materials and Sections
modules). The form Add new restraints/releases will then open, shown below.
To define a restraint or release you should then:
Give a name to the restraint or release that you are creating. Then
Indicate whether you would like to specify a restraint or release by using the drop-down menu. Then
For Node Restraints
Select, from the drop-down list, the number of the node to be restrained and then
Indicate, for each degree of freedom (DOF), whether the DOF is retrained (yes) or not (no).
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 25 of 93
For Element Releases
Select, from the drop-down list, the number of the element in which to insert the release and then
For releases about the section axis 2 or 3, select the release situation that is desired using the options
provided in the drop down list (no release, released at both ends or released at one end only. Then
For releases in the axis 1 direction (i.e. for axial releases) only a yes/no selection is required. However,
note that the current version of DBDsoft does not take account of axial releases and therefore they should
not yet be used.
After providing the requested information, click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the new restraint
or release.
Loads
Previous Top Next
Loads
Three different sub-modules must be completed within the Loads module;
(i) Load Cases,
(ii) Applied Loading,
(iii) Load Combinations.
The Load Cases sub-module is used to specify different load case scenarios that could be considered. For each Load Case a
series of applied loads (masses or earthquakes) can be defined (within the Applied Loading sub-module) and then in the
Load Combinations sub-module, one or more Load Cases can be combined by specifying different load combination
factors.
The inputs required for each sub-module are described in the following pages.
Load Cases
Previous Top Next
Load Cases
To add a new load case, first ensure that you have selected the Loads module (see Getting Started) and the Load
Cases sub-module. Then either click on the blue plus symbol or double click on the grid of the table (as for the
Materials and Sections modules). The form Add new load case will then open, shown below.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 26 of 93
To add the load case you should then simply:
Give a name to the load case that you are creating. Then
Select the Type of loadcase from the drop-down list. Note that in the current version only earthquake
load cases can be defined.
After providing the requested information, click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the load
case.
Applied Loads
Previous Top Next
Applied Loads
To add a new applied load, first ensure that you have selected the Applied Loads sub-module. Then either click on
the blue plus symbol or double click on the grid of the table (as for the Materials and Sections modules). The form
Add new applied loading will then open, as shown below.
To define the applied loading you should then:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 27 of 93
Give a name to the applied load you are creating. Then
Select the applied loading Type from the drop-down list (either lumped mass or seismic action in this
version of DBDsoft). Then
For Lumped Masses:
Select, from the drop-down list, the load case for which the lumped mass will be considered. Then
Select, from the drop-down list, the number of the node at which the lumped mass is to be located. Then
Indicate the value of the lumped mass.
For Seismic Actions:
Select, from the drop-down list, the load case in which the seismic action will be considered.
Select, from the drop-down list, whether the design response spectrum should be considered dominated
by far-field events or near-field events. Note that the current version of DBDsoft does not yet modify the
design procedure for near-field events and therefore the (more common) far-field option should be
selected.
Insert the value of the corner period, corresponding to the value of period at which spectral displacement
demands stop increasing (shown as T D in the Figure below). According to EC8 the value of TD is typically
2s for the type 1 spectrum, but values should be obtained in line with national seismicity information.
Insert the value of the corner displacement. This value should correspond to the elastic spectral
displacement demand (shown as D.5% in the Figure below) associated with the period TD. For EC8 users,
this value should already include the effect of the soil factor S, given that the software does not allow for a
separate specification of this parameter. Please note that the current version of DBDsoft assumes that the
input spectrum will correspond to 5% and 3% elastic damping for reinforced concrete and steel structures,
respectively.
Insert the value of the peak ground acceleration (in units of m/s2 or similar). For EC8 users, this value
should correspond to PGA = S.ag, (i.e. it should already be amplified to account for local soil conditions).
The peak ground acceleration value is used in the short period range to ensure that the simplified shape
adopted for the design displacement spectrum is not overly conservative.
Indicate the direction of the earthquake loading (either X or Y direction). Note that only one seismic input
can be introduced for each direction per each Load Case, but more than one Load Case can be selected to
run simultaneously under the same Load Combination. For this reason, users must ensure that they only
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 28 of 93
specify realistic loading scenarios, in which no more than one earthquake at a time is considered for each
response direction.
After providing the requested information click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the new applied
loading.
Load Combinations
Previous Top Next
Load Combinations
To add a new load combination, first ensure that you have selected the Load Combinations sub-module. Then
either click on the blue plus symbol or double click on the grid of the table (as for the Materials and Sections
modules). The form Add new load combination will then open, shown below.
To define the load combination you should then:
Give a name to the load combination you are creating. Then
Click within the table alongside each loadcase name (that you specified in the Load Cases sub-module)
and type the factor to be used to combine the different load cases. Note, in the current version of DBDsoft
users should only specify one load case and subsequently only one load combination, in which a 1.0 is
placed beside the load combination name.
After providing the requested information, click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the new
load combination.
Previous Top Next
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 29 of 93
Performance Criteria should be specified for the limit state under consideration. The program will then establish the
design strengths required to satisfy the performance criteria. Three different types of performance criteria can be
specified in DBDsoft: (i) storey drift, (ii) section curvature, and (iii) chord rotation limits. However, note that the current
version of DBDsoft only permits the specification of storey drift limits. Note that at least one of the above performance
criteria must be specified in order for the program to run.
To specify a performance criterion, first ensure that you have selected the Performance Criteria module (see Getting
Started). Then either click on the blue plus symbol or double click on the grid of the table (as for the Materials and
Sections modules). The form Add new performance criteria will then open, shown below.
To define a performance criterion you should then:
Give a name to the performance criterion that you are creating. Then
Select, from the drop-down menu, the type of performance criterion: maximum storey drift limit, storey
drift limit, section curvature limit, or chord rotation limit.
Provide the parameters required for each case.
Maximum-Storey-Drift Limit
Previous Top Next
Maximum-Storey-Drift Limit
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 30 of 93
Enter the value of the storey drift limit. This limit should be expressed as a percentage of the storey height (i.e. the
distance between adjacent levels). Note that the program will check this storey drift limit in both the X and Y directions, at
all levels. After providing the requested information, click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the
new performance criterion.
Storey-by-Storey Drift Limit
Previous Top Next
Storey-by-Storey Drift Limit
Enter the value of the storey drift limit, for each storey. This limit should be expressed as a percentage of the storey
height (i.e. the distance between adjacent levels). Note that the program will check this storey drift limit in both the X and
Y directions. Note as well that, if this option is used, values need to be introduced at all levels. If the user only intends to
introduce a certain limit at a specific level, then he/she should fill in the values corresponding to all the other storeys with
a hyphen (-).After providing the requested information, click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the
new performance criterion.
Section Curvature Limit
Previous Top Next
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 31 of 93
Section Curvature Limit
Choose the element class type for which the criterion will apply, and enter a value for the section curvature limit. The
software gives the possibility of either applying the criterion to all elements that are defined using that class type, or to a
specific element, which must be selected from the corresponding drop-down menu. In order to transform plastic
curvature demands into equivalent plastic hinge rotations, it is also possible for the user to specify a plastic hinge length,
or to allow the software to compute it automatically based on empirical formulas, for which an estimated reinforcement
bar diameter needs to be provided. Finally, specify whether the criterion should be applied for bending about local axis 2
or local axis 3, or both. For the definition of the orientation of the local axes, please refer here. Currently, for beams and
walls it is only possible to specify curvature limits for bending about axis 2, given the fact that the software assumes that
the definition of the sections dimensions will be carried out so that the section works in bending around this axis. After
providing the requested information, click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition of the new performance
criterion.
DBDsoft verifies the section curvature limits by calculating equivalent interstorey drift limits that correspond to the
attainment of the specified curvature for the element/s under consideration. This is done in a very similar fashion for all
element class types, but each of them presents its own peculiarities, as described in the following sections.
If the criterion is to be applied to several elements, the software calculates the equivalent interstorey drift limit
corresponding to each element and applies it to the storey in which the element is located. If more than one element
generates different equivalent interstorey drift limits at the same storey, the smaller is used for that specific storey.
General Considerations on Elements Yield Curvature

Whether the specified limit state curvature is greater or smaller than the elements yield curvature is an important factor
for all element class types. In order to determine this parameter, DBDsoft makes use of the approximate formulas derived
by several authors and compiled as Annex 1 of the DBD12 Model Code shown here.
Given that no guidance can be found in literature regarding how to estimate the yield curvature of RC sections for axes
other than the principal ones, the following approximation is assumed (illustrated for the case of a wall):
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 32 of 93
For bending around local axis 2, the yield curvature is:

For bending around local axis 3, the yield curvature is:
For bending around global axis Y (seismic excitation in direction X):
For bending around global axis X (seismic excitation in direction Y):
Strain Penetration Length

If the user specifies the use of an automatically computed plastic hinge length, the penetration length is calculated using
the expression of Priestley et al (2007), based on the estimated reinforcement bar diameter specified by the user when
determining the parameters for the performance criterion:
Specification of Several Section Curvature Criteria for the Same Element Class
If more than one section curvature criterion is specified for the same element class or particular element, the software
will verify each criterion separately. However, users must be aware that the plastic hinge length and estimated
reinforcement bar diameter of the last specified criterion will be used for all criteria related to that element / element
class.
Equivalent Interstorey Drift Limits in Local and Global Axes

The equivalent interstorey drift limits are first calculated for bending around the elements local axes (2, 3) and then
projected onto the global axes (X, Y). For the case of walls, it is assumed that no curvature limit is applied for bending
around local axis 3, and thus the out-of-plane deformation is ignored and assumed admissible. In order to complete the
design process, the user needs to verify the deformation capacity of the elements in all directions. The situation is
illustrated in the figure below:
For the case of columns, if curvature limits are specified for bending around only one of the local axes, then curvatures
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 33 of 93
around the other axis are also assumed admissible and need to be verified by the user. If, instead, the user specifies
curvature limits for bending around both local axes, the software will use the smallest resulting projection of the
equivalent interstorey drift, as shown in the following figure:
Section Curvature Limits for Walls

If the specified limit curvature (
) is greater than the yield curvature (
), the interstorey drift limit (in the direction
of the wall) at a level having a height equal to or greater than the contraflexure height (
) is determined as:
In the previous equation,

is the plastic hinge length which, as said before, can be directly defined by the user while
setting up the section curvatures performance criteria, or can be automatically computed by the software as:
where
depends on the ratio of the expected ultimate (

, and
) to yield (
) strength of the reinforcement of the section:
is the walls section height.
If, instead, the specified limit curvature (

) is smaller than the yield curvature (
), the interstorey drift limit at a level
having a height equal to or greater than the contraflexure height (
) is determined as:
Section Curvature Limits for Beams

If the specified limit curvature (
the beam) at the beams level is calculated as:
), the interstorey drift limit (in the direction of
is the plastic hinge length

where
is the storey drift at frame yield, and is calculated as explained here, and
which, as said before, can be directly defined by the user while setting up the section curvatures performance criteria, or
can be automatically computed by the software as:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
where
Page 34 of 93
is the beams length.
If, instead, the specified limit curvature (

beams level is calculated as:
), the interstorey drift limit at the
Section Curvature Limits for Columns

The software treats section curvature limits differently for columns located at the ground floor or in the upper storeys,
given that the latter should be protected from yielding through capacity design principles. In this way, if the column is not
located in the ground floor, and the specified limit curvature (
) is greater than 75% of the yield curvature (
software assumes that this performance criterion will not be critical. If, instead, the specified limit curvature (
smaller than 75% of the yield curvature (
specified) for that storey is calculated as:
where
), the
) is
), the equivalent interstorey drift limit (in the direction of local axis 2 or 3, as
is the storey drift at frame yield, and is calculated as explained here.
If the column is located in the ground floor and the specified limit curvature (
), the interstorey drift limit at the level of the column is determined as:
if
if
where
is the columns contraflexure height, is the columns height, and
is the plastic hinge length for the
column which, as said before, can be directly defined by the user while setting up the section curvatures performance
criteria, or can be automatically computed by the software as:
If the column is located in the ground floor but the specified limit curvature (
), the interstorey drift limit at the level of the column is determined as:
if
if
Chord Rotation Limit
Previous Top Next
Chord Rotation Limit

Enter the value of the chord rotation limit. This limit should be expressed as a rotation value with units of radians. Select,
from the drop-down list, the element for which the chord rotation limit will be applied. Note that for bi-directional
elements, such as columns, the user is further prompted to indicate whether the curvature limit acts about the sections
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 35 of 93
strong or weak axis. After providing the requested information, click on the Add and Close button to confirm the addition
of the new performance criterion.
Please note that this option is not yet available in the current version of DBDsoft.
Processor
Previous Top Next
Processor
The purpose of the Processor Phase is to identify the lateral load resisting system and run the design calculations. The
Processor Phase requires the user to indicate the load combination that should be considered. In addition, the user should
tell the program to identify the lateral stability systems, after which point the user should verify that the lateral stability
systems correspond to those envisaged for the structure.
Once the lateral load resisting systems have been identified, the user must indicate the proportions of overturning
moment that they wish the different lateral load resisting systems to resist. This phase is an important design decision
that the user should make as it will influence the distribution and magnitude of the required strengths throughout the
structure.
Finally, the user is also required to specify an overstrength factor to be used to estimate the capacity design forces that
should be withstood by members that need to remain elastic during seismic action.
Design Case
Previous Top Next
Design Case
The Design Case module within the Processor Phase is used to select the load combination that will be considered in the
design and to identify the relevant performance criteria for the selected load combination.
To specify this information, first ensure that you have selected the Design Case module (see Getting Started) within the
Processor phase of the program. To provide the necessary information simply do the following:
Click on the first drop-down list and select the load combination that should be considered. The list of loadcombinations will include all those specified in the Pre-Processor phase.
Then click on the second drop-down list and select the performance criterion that should be considered for the
design.
Finally, specify a value for the overstrength factor to be used to estimate the capacity design forces that should be
withstood by members that need to remain elastic during seismic action. As described here, this overstrength factor
should normally be established based on a moment-curvature analysis of members. The default value is 1.30.
Design Strength Proportions
Previous Top Next
Design Strength Proportions

The Set Design Strength Proportions module within the Processor Phase is an important design phase. The module is used
to firstly identify and classify the lateral load resisting systems (e.g. frames or walls) and then ask the designer to indicate
what fraction of the lateral load (i.e. what strength proportions) should be carried by each sub-system. These strength
proportions will then be used by the program when evaluating the required design strength of the whole system.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 36 of 93
To complete this module, first ensure that you have selected the Set Design Strength Proportions module within the
Processor phase of the program. When selected for the first time, the following image should be visible:
As indicated in the figure above, the first task is to click on the Identify Lateral Stability Systems button. The program
then groups together all lateral load resisting elements that will be considered to work together.
The figure below shows how the program identifies three separate frame systems, each identified by a different colour,
within the frame example case study. Also note that the program indicates (in yellow here) where the plastic hinges will
be assumed to form, as well as any node restraints (in green here) or member releases (in blue here) if present.
Having told the program to identify the lateral load resisting systems, the designer should check that the systems were as
intended. Note that for frame structures the program assumes that a beam-sway mechanism will be desired and
therefore all beam ends that are connected (without a release) into a column will be assumed as potential plastic hinge
regions. In addition, all column bases will be assumed as plastic hinge locations, unless a release is provided at the column
base. Similarly, plastic hinges are assumed to develop at all wall bases. In the current version, the location of plastic hinges
cannot be shifted, and the designer should account for this if the intention is actually not to form plastic hinges in the
locations assumed by the program. End releases can be specified by the user to indicate that a certain assumed plastic
hinge is not such. For example, if a frame and a wall are connected by beam elements released on both ends, the
software will simply interpret this as rigid link connections and the beams will not be considered to be acting as link
beams.
If a column is linked to the rest of the structural system only by beams that are released on both ends, a warning message
will pop up, explaining the user that an isolated column has been found. Since the current version of the software cannot
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 37 of 93
yet treat isolated columns as if they were cantilever structures, the user needs to either eliminate the conflictive member
or re-define it as a wall member (using a Wall Element Class). It is noted that the approximate method for determining the
design profile of walls and frame-walls systems suggested in DBD12 is valid for walls with aspect ratios (i.e. ratio of total
height to length) greater than or equal to 3.0.
For the definition of the direction in which each sub-system works, the software allows for a 5 tolerance. This means
that, for example, if a frame is contained in a plane inclined at 5 or less with respect to the X global axis, the software will
assume that the frame works only in the X direction.
The next task within the Set Design Strength Proportions module is to indicate the local or global strength proportions.
Local Strength Proportions
Previous Top Next
Local Strength Proportions

Local strength proportions refer to the ratio of the bending moment of a single plastic hinge to the sum of the bending
moments of all plastic hinges in the local sub-system for a given excitation direction. In other words, they are the ratio of
the overturning moment carried by a single plastic hinge to the one carried by all plastic hinges in the local sub-system.
Local strength proportions are denoted by the xx or yy symbols for the X and Y directions respectively. They can be set
by the designer to optimise, for example, the required beam strengths within a frame structure by specifying that all
beams at the same level within a frame will be provided the same strength (and therefore same beta value). To specify
the local strength proportions, click on one of the buttons as shown in the figure below. These buttons become available
after selecting a sub-model from the sub-models list below.
As a cantilever wall should only form a single plastic hinge at the base of the wall, local strength proportions need not be
specified for walls when these are not part of frame-wall systems (the xx and yy values for walls are simply 100%). For
frame and frame-wall structures, local strength proportions are required and upon clicking the local strength proportion
buttons, the following form will open:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 38 of 93
Within the table the user should then complete the fields shown in green, by inserting the strength proportions they
desire. When link beams (i.e. beams with one or two of their ends rigidly connected to walls and transmitting bending
moments to them) are specified, an additional line is added to the grid showing the additional contribution to the general
overturning moment resistance provided by them. The user simply needs to specify the strength proportion
corresponding to the plastic hinge at the face of the wall, and the software automatically computes this additional
contribution as shown in the equation below, which automatically accounts for the possibility of having releases specified
at either end of the link beam.
When clicking on Update Values, the software will automatically check that the sum of the strength proportions adds to
100%, that the summation of strength proportions at each level is different from zero and that the summation of strength
proportions at each level is smaller than that of the levels below (except with respect to the ground floor). If the sum of
the strength proportions lies between 99% and 101%, the software presents the user the option of scaling all the values
by the ratio between 100% and the actual sum. If the structure is a frame-wall with linked beams, the strength proportion
allocated to the walls base is kept constant and all the other values are scaled. Only when the values introduced have
passed all the relevant checks, the OK button is enabled.
It is noted that users can paste values from the clipboard into the form (if they, for example, generated them using a
spreadsheet). However, if no value has been manually modified before performing this operation, it can occur that the
user needs to press ENTER in order for the Update Values button to become available.
The user should note as well that the current version of DBDsoft does not save the local strength proportion values and,
thus, if the file is closed, it will be necessary to introduce them again.
Auto-Betas Function
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 39 of 93
In order to speed up the assignment of local strength proportions in frames and frame-walls, the program offers users the
option for beta values to be computed automatically. The button for this option is located on the lower left corner of the
input form, as shown in the figure above. By clicking on it, the program automatically assigns a series of beta values
whose calculation depends on the structural type, and the user only needs to click on Update Values and OK to close
the form. Note that these values are not necessarily the optimum, but should lead to reasonable results.
When the structure in a specific direction consists only of frames, the Auto-Betas are computed based on the design shear
profile expected for a frame determined from the provisions for design displaced shape and distribution of base shear in
height specified in DBD12. The values thus obtained are distributed within each floor using the proportions of
approximate strength of the sections defined by the user in the Sections module. The general expression for the
computation of the Auto-Betas for a pure frame structure is:
If the structure in a specific direction consists, instead, of frames and walls simultaneously, the Auto-Betas are calculated
based only on the estimation of the strength of the sections specified by the users, for the wall will then be designed to
carry the design shear not carried by the frames. The use of constant beam strengths along the height comes up as an
appealing option that certainly eases the construction process. It is possible to obtain a constant shear profile in the
frames at all levels by designing all beams for equal strength except at the roof, where the beam strength should be
reduced by half, and by allocating that same strength proportion of the roof beams to the plastic hinges at the base of the
columns.
The estimation of the strength of reinforced concrete members is carried out automatically by the software, assuming a
reinforcement ratio of 3% for beams and columns and 1.2% for walls. It should be noted that these reinforcement ratios
correspond to the total reinforcement of the member (i.e. it includes reinforcement both in tension and compression).
The approximate flexural strength is estimated as:
where
is the sections gross area,
is the expected yield strength of the reinforcing steel bars,
is the concrete
expected compressive strength, and are the sections height and base, respectively, as defined by the user in the
Sections module, and is the axial load ratio. Circular columns height and base are simply taken as
times the
diameter of the section. T-shaped beams base corresponds to the beams width, and thus their resistance only differs
from that of a rectangular section in the fact that the gross area accounts for the whole real section. For the estimation of
the base columns flexural strength, the software assumes (gravity) axial load ratios of 0.25 and 0.40 for external and
internal columns, respectively, and 0.10 for shear walls. It is noted that the characterization of a column as being external
or internal is carried out based on it being the extreme of the submodel under consideration. Whether this assumption is
correct or not depends on the geometry of the building and the way it has been modelled. In cases like this, the user
needs to account for this difference and manually adjust the strength proportions, if desired.
The estimation of the strength of steel sections is carried out assuming that the sections can fully develop their plastic
moment (
) and, thus, lateral supports and section stiffeners will be designed and provided to prevent
lateral and lateral-torsional buckling problems. It is noted that the estimation of flexural strength of steel columns is
carried out accounting only for interaction with axial forces (with the same axial load ratios defined for reinforced
concrete sections), but not with shear. Interaction with axial forces is incorporated using the approach of Eurocode 8, that
is, reducing the plastic moment (
) capacity as shown in the following equation:
where is the axial load ratio, and

and is the flange thickness.
is the gross sectional area, is the flange width,
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 40 of 93
Note that the flexural strengths computed as explained above are only approximations based on a series of assumptions,
and serve the sole purpose of assisting in calculating reasonable strength proportions to be assigned automatically by the
program. Actual reinforcement contents, steel profiles and final strength proportions should be computed by the
designer.
Global strength proportions
Previous Top Next
Global strength proportions

Global strength proportions refer to the ratio of the overturning resistance provided by a specific sub-model as a whole
and the total design overturning moment. They are denoted by the x or y symbols for the X and Y directions,
respectively, and can be set by the designer to reduce torsion, for example, or to ensure that walls possess similar
reinforcement ratios, even if their lengths are different (see Priestley et al. 2007 for further clarification). To specify the
global strength proportions, click on the button indicated in the figure below.
Upon clicking the global strength proportion button, a form such as that shown below will open, with the number of rows
equal to the number of sub-systems (GMs) identified by the program. Each green cell within the table indicates a field
that the user must complete. For the example shown below, the user is specifying that 75% of the total overturning
demand in the Y direction will be resisted by system GM1 (more specifically, its sub-system 1-0), and the remaining 25%
will be carried by system GM2 (sub-system 2-0) instead. In the X direction, 40% of the overturning moment will be carried
by GM0, while the remaining 60% will be equally split between systems GM1 (sub-system 1-1) and GM2 (sub-system 21) . Different proportions could be specified by the designer as desired, with the only requirement being that the sum of
the beta values adds to 100% in each direction.
The user should note as well that the current version of the software does not save the global strength proportion values
and, thus, if the file is closed, it will be necessary to introduce them again.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 41 of 93
With the strength assignments made, the designer can proceed to the Run Design module.
Final Strength Proportions
Previous Top Next
Final strength proportions

The final proportion of the total design overturning moment that each individual plastic hinge will resist is finally
calculated by the software as:
In the former equation,

proportions.
can make reference either to the user-defined or the automatically calculated strength
With the strength assignments made, the designer can proceed to the Run Design module.
Role of Strength Proportions in Structural Response
Previous Top Next
Role of strength proportions in structural response

The first of the following figures illustrates the relationship between the assigned strength proportions and the storey
shear profile for the case of a simple frame. From the point of view of the statics of the problem, it can be observed that
the overturning moment caused by seismic forces is resisted by the plastic hinges at the columns base and the couple
generated by the axial forces in the columns. The latter are the consequence of the shear forces developed in the beams,
which are directly associated to the moment capacity of the plastic hinges. Contraflexure points are assumed at the
columns mid-height for all columns, except at the ground floor, in which the contraflexure height ratio (
) is dictated
by the assumed strength distribution. If
is the summation of beta values at ground floor, is the summation at the
first level of beams, and so on, the contraflexure height of the ground columns can be determined from the following
equation:
Understanding the relationship between the assigned strength proportions and the storey shear profile is particularly
important for frame-wall systems, due to the fact that the strength proportions and distribution in height assigned to the
frames determines those of the shear walls, which define the contraflexure height and, thus, the displacement profile. As
opposed to the case of the simple frames, the distribution is not carried out assuming a specific contraflexure height but
splitting the summation of the beams moments at a certain node in equal halves, each of which is carried by the bottom
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 42 of 93
of the column above and the top of the column below the beam level. The second of the following figures illustrates this
situation. In this case, the contraflexure height ratio at the ground floor (
) can be simply determined as:
If the user encounters seemingly incoherent results after running an analysis for a frame-wall system, revision of the
assigned strength proportions is highly recommended.
Simple Frame System
Frame-Wall System (without link beams)
Run Design
Previous Top Next
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 43 of 93
Run Design
The Run Design module within the Processor Phase is simply used to instruct the program to perform the Direct
displacement-based design calculations. To do this, ensure that you have completed the Design Case and set the design
strength proportions within the Processor phase of the program. Then select the Run Design module and click on the
button Run. A message box will then appear, such as that shown below, in which the design base shear obtained for the
global X and Y directions is reported.
The design base shear values may be useful for designers who wish to quickly gauge the impact of different member
dimensions, design strength proportions, or other input data on the required system strength. For more detailed design
results, users should proceed to the Post-Processor phase of the program.
Structural Solvers
Previous Top Next
Structural Solvers
The algorithms within the software follow the equations and procedures developed by numerous researchers for the
different structural types. However, the DDBD method is still under development, and thus the software relies as well on
reasonable assumptions that have not been fully tested yet. The purpose of this chapter is to present the main points the
user needs to bear in mind when interpreting the results obtained.
General
Previous Top Next
General
The current version of the software does not account for higher mode effects. It does not take into consideration either
the amplification of displacements due to three-dimensional torsion. Future versions of DBDsoft will address these issues.
Iteration Process to Satisfy Performance Criteria
Previous Top Next
Iteration Process to Satisfy Performance Criteria

The verification of performance criteria is carried out by means of an iterative process. The design drift used to start the
iteration process in each direction is defined as follows:
If only one criterion of the type Maximum-Storey-Drift is specified, the software will take the corresponding
drift limit as the design drift and no further iteration will be required.
If only one criterion of the type Storey-Drift-Limit (i.e. a storey-by-storey limit) is specified, and the structure
consists only of walls in the direction under analysis, the drift limit specified for the top floor will be considered to
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 44 of 93
be the design drift, for the critical drift of pure cantilever wall systems occurs at the top of the wall. However, it might
occur that other values of drift limit are specified at other storeys, and that these are not satisfied when using the
one specified at the top floor as the starting value and, in these cases, iteration will be necessary.
consists only of frames in the direction under analysis, the drift limit specified for the bottom floor will be
considered to be the design drift, for the critical drift of a pure frame system occurs at its bottom. However, it
might occur that other values of drift limit are specified at other storeys, and that these are not satisfied when
using the one specified at the bottom as the starting value and, in these cases, iteration will be necessary.
consists of a frame-wall system in the direction under analysis, the maximum drift limit at any storey will be
considered to be the design drift, given the fact that the location of the critical drift is unknown until after the
determination of the contraflexure height of the system. The maximum is chosen to guarantee that the
verification of the criteria does not yield a positive result for storey drifts much lower than those specified by the
user. Iteration will most probably be required.
If more than one criterion is specified, the software will determine a design drift from each criterion as described
before, and will then take the minimum among all criteria as the value to start the design process.
Element Classes Yield Curvature
Previous Top Next
Element Classes' Yield Curvature

If Section Curvature performance criteria are defined, the software will need to compute the yield curvature of the
elements defined in the model. Empirical expressions developed by several authors have been compiled and presented as
Annex 1 of the DBD12 Model Code. Those currently used by DBDsoft are:
Rectangular concrete walls:
Rectangular concrete columns:
Circular concrete columns:
Rectangular concrete beams:
T-shaped concrete beams:
IPE and HE steel sections:
in which is the yield strain of the reinforcement, , and are the walls, columns and beams dimension,
perpendicular to the axis around which the yield curvature is being calculated, respectively, and is the sections
diameter.
Note that the expression used for T-shaped concrete beams assumes the occurrence of strain-hardening. Note as well
that no expression is provided in DBD12 for rectangular concrete beams, and thus the same expression provided for Tshaped concrete sections is assumed, for it will be typical that some contribution from the slab can be accounted for.
Response Spectrum Modification Factor
Previous Top Next
Response Spectrum Modification Factor

The response spectrum modification factor
is computed as a function of the equivalent viscous damping of the
structural system, according to the equation suggested by the DBD12 Model Code for use with the expressions for the
calculation of the equivalent viscous damping specified in the Code as well, as shown:
Note that the previous equation is applicable for sites where near-field effects are not expected. As mentioned here, the
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 45 of 93
current version of DBDsoft does not yet account for near-field effects.
DBDsoft automatically assumes that the input spectrum will correspond to a 5% elastic damping in the case of reinforced
concrete structures, and 3% elastic damping, in the case of steel frames. For this reason, the response spectrum
modification factor is modified, for the latter case, by multiplying
by a correction factor proposed by Pennucci et al.
[2011], which is a function of the elastic damping ( = 3%) and the ductility demand of the system (
):
Note that, for steel frames, the response spectrum modification factor reported in the Post-Processor module
corresponds to the final product of
and .
Determination of the Structures Effective Period and Base Shear
Previous Top Next
Determination of the Structure's Effective Period and Base Shear

The structures effective period is determined from the values introduced for the corner period and the spectral
displacement at the corner period defined by the user in the Applied Loads section, as:
(1)
In the previous equation,
is the corner period,
is the spectral displacement at the corner period for the structures
level of equivalent viscous damping (i.e. the spectral displacement at the corner period for 5% damping introduced by the
user, reduced by the response spectrum modification factor), and
is the structures design characteristic displacement.
If the effective period is larger than , the software sets an upper limit to the effective stiffness, according to DBD12:
(2)
The base shear is computed as described here, simply as the product of the design displacement (
effective stiffness ( ).
) and the required
After this first design base shear has been calculated and distributed up the height of the building, a P-Delta stability
coefficient is calculated for each storey, as recommended in the DBD12 Model Code, using the following formula:
(3)
In the formula above, P j is the vertical load applied at each level, the summation of Pj from j=i to j=n implies that the total
axial load at level i is being calculated, and Vdi is the design shear force at level i. The largest storey P-Delta stability
coefficient is taken as the coefficient for the whole structure, which is confronted with pre-established limits. If the
stability coefficient is greater than 0.05 (for steel structures) or 0.10 (for concrete structures), the design base shear is
increased in a quantity given by:
(4)
In the formula above, the additional base shear is directly proportional to the summation of second-order moments
generated by the displacement of the application points of all vertical loads due to the lateral deformation of the
structure. As specified in DBD12, constant C is 0.5 for concrete structures and structures characterized by relatively
thinner hysteretic loops (e.g. Takeda, Flag-Shape, etc), and 1.0 for steel structures and structures characterized by
relatively thicker hysteretic loops (such as bi-linear, elasto-plastic, Ramber-Osgood, etc).
The final design base shear is, thus:
(5)
An upper limit of 0.30 is imposed to the P-Delta stability coefficient, with the aim of reducing the probability of dynamic
instability. When the stability coefficient is larger than 0.30, a warning message is shown to the users, and the
corresponding values of the output are highlighted:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 46 of 93
Please note that, even though a stability coefficient larger than 0.30 implies that an adjustment in design is required, the
software still computes all the design parameters as usual.
Determination of Elements Flexural and Shear Design Strength
Previous Top Next
Determination of Elements' Flexural and Shear Design Strength

Internal forces distribution is carried out by multiplying the strength proportion ( ) values and the overturning moment
caused by the distribution in height of the base shear force, carried out as explained in Background. Nominal strength
values are calculated taking into account each elements ductility demand, as explained in Beams Details and Columns
Details. It is noted that current version of DBD soft does not implement capacity design principles and, thus, this should be
applied separately by the designer.
Frame Systems
Previous Top Next
Frame Systems
Overview
DBDsoft carries out the design of frame systems according to DBD12, with no special considerations except those
concerning the calculation of the systems equivalent viscous damping, as described next. The design displacement profile
is assumed to follow Equation 6.2 of the code, transcribed below:
(1)
Equivalent Viscous Damping

Each storeys yield drift ( ) is calculated as a weighted average of each individual beam end with respect to its relative
contribution to the overturning resistance of that storey, as shown in the following equation.
is the beta value of
plastic hinge j in storey i, and
its associated yield drift.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 47 of 93
(2)
The individual beams yield drift is estimated from the expressions developed by Priestley [1998]:
Reinforced concrete frames:
(3)
Steel frames:
(4)
Each storeys ductility demand ( ) is then calculated as the ratio of that storeys design drift ( ) and its yield drift
calculated as per Equation 2. The systems equivalent ductility demand (
) is calculated by weighting each storeys
ductility demand with respect to the design storey shear and storey drift, as:
(5)
The equivalent viscous damping of the frame system is finally calculated as:
Reinforced concrete frames:
Steel frames:
(6)
(7)
Note regarding Steel Frames

Please note that the current version of DBDsoft only allows for steel beams and columns to be defined with their local
axes oriented parallel and perpendicular to the global axes. Defining steel beams and columns with other angles will lead
to the bending strength capacity of the sections to be estimated as zero. Future versions of the software will allow for
steel sections to be defined with any desired orientation.
Wall Systems
Previous Top Next
Wall Systems
Design Displacement Profile
DBDsoft carries out the design of cantilever wall systems according to DBD12, using the approximate method of Priestley
et al (2007), in which the design displacement profile is assumed to result from the summation of an elastic deformation
profile and a rigid-body rotation about the base, due to the development of a plastic hinge. The elastic curvature profile is
assumed to vary linearly from the yield curvature at the base to zero at the roof level. It is noted that this method is valid
for walls with aspect ratios (i.e. ratio of total height to length) greater than or equal to 3.0, for it ignores the contribution
of shear deformations to the shape of the displacement profile.
(1)
(2)
(3)
In the previous equations,

is the yield curvature of the longest wall, since the strain in it will be determinant for the
whole system. For rectangular concrete walls it can be estimated, as recommended by Priestley et al (2007), from
Equation 4, as a function of the reinforcements yield strain ( ) and the walls length ( ).
(4)
The plastic hinge length
is computed from Equations 5 to 7, unless a section curvature criterion has been specified for
the longest wall with a user-defined plastic hinge length. For the calculation of the penetration depth ( ), 20 mm
diameter ( ) reinforcement bars are assumed if no bar diameter has been specified as a part of a section curvature
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 48 of 93
criterion.
(5)
(6)
(7)
Equivalent Viscous Damping

The yield displacement of each wall is calculated by replacing in Equation 3 with the equivalent SDOF systems
equivalent height
. Afterwards, each walls ductility demand is computed as the ratio between the systems
characteristic displacement and its yield displacement. Each walls equivalent damping is then calculated by means of
Equation 9, and the systems equivalent viscous damping is finally obtained as the weighted average of all walls acting in
the same direction with respect to their strength proportions.
(8)
(9)
Nominal Moment Demand at Base

The nominal moment demand at the base of the walls is calculated as a function of the design displacement ( , resulting
from the product of the total overturning moment and the strength proportion
assigned to the walls base), the
displacement ductility demand (
) and the post-yield stiffness ratio ( , 5% assumed), as:

(for
(10)
It should be noted that a precise definition of the required nominal strength of the walls at their base should stem from
the corresponding moment-curvature analyses of the sections, and that the value calculated as per the above equation
should be considered only as indicative.
Frame-Wall Systems
Previous Top Next
Frame-Wall Systems
As opposed to the case of pure frame systems, the user has the possibility of specifying any desired strength distribution.
Given the fact that any difference between the design shear profile and the actual distribution of strength specified by the
users will be carried by the walls, the use of constant beam strengths along the height comes up as an appealing option
that certainly eases the construction process. Furthermore, it is possible to obtain a constant shear profile in the frames at
all levels by designing beams at all levels for equal strength except at roof level, where the beam strength should be
reduced by half, and by allocating that same strength proportion of the roof beams to the plastic hinges at the base of the
columns. Even though this option is recommended, the user has effective freedom to choose the desired shear profile in
the frames. For this reason, if the Auto-Betas function is used for a Frame-Wall system (either with or without link beams),
the automatic betas proposed by the software are only based on the estimation of members strength based on the
dimensions and materials of the sections defined by the user, and do not account for the expected design shear profile, as
described here.
Link Beams
Frames and walls may or may not be connected by moment-transferring beams. DBDsoft recognizes a series of ways of
connecting beams to a wall, which account for different possible geometries.
Three cases can be found when rigid links are not used to connect the beam and the wall. If the smallest angle between
them is less than 15, rigid links are needed. If the angle is between 75 and 90, the wall is considered to be
perpendicular to the beam and thus there is no frame-wall system in the direction of the beam. If the angle lies between
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 49 of 93
15 and 75, the software considers that the two elements define a frame-wall system and the beam is a link beam (unless
released at both ends). The following figures illustrate these three cases:
If the beam and the wall are connected by a rigid link, the software considers the existence of a frame-wall system only if
the smallest relative angle between them is less than 75, as shown in the figures below:
The software recognizes up to two aligned rigid links connecting a beam and a wall, as exemplified in the figure below:
When link beams are specified, the software automatically computes their additional contribution to resisting the
overturning moment, as explained here. The software allows for each end of a link beam to be connected to more than
one shear wall. The proportion of moment transmitted from the beams plastic hinge to each connected wall is
determined from the relative estimated strengths of the walls.
Strength Proportions
As described here, strength proportions play a very significant role in the displacement-based design of structures. For
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 50 of 93
this reason, it is relevant to recall the way the software handles this information and summarizes the whole distribution of
strength into fewer parameters:
: the proportion of overturning moment taken by the plastic hinges at the base of the walls, in a given
direction. The walls can be either isolated or connected by link beams to a frame:
(1)
: the proportion of overturning moment taken by the plastic hinges at the base of the columns and at the
(non-link) beams, in a given direction.
(2)
: the proportion of overturning moment taken by the plastic hinges at the link beams, in a given direction.
Note that, if link beams exist, the plastic hinge connected to a frames column counts as contributing to
the plastic hinge connected to a wall contributes to
, while
Design Displacement Profile

As the design displacement profile of frame-wall systems depends on the contraflexure height (Sullivan et al. 2006) and
this, in turn, depends on the profile of the storey shear to be carried by the walls and thus the systems shear profile as a
whole, an iterative approach needs to be followed. The software starts by estimating the contraflexure height (
) by
means of equation 6.8 of DBD12, transcribed below as Equations 3 and 4, which should actually be applied only for the
case of constant frame shear along the frames height, but is used for all cases as a starting point.
if
(3)
If
In the above equations,
(4)
is the number of storeys.
Sullivan et al. (2006) have proposed expressions to describe the displacement profile of frame-wall systems in which the
walls carry a greater proportion of the total overturning moment than the walls. In order to be able to cover all the
possible strength proportions, Nievas and Sullivan (2014) carried out a preliminary evaluation of a proposal to combine
the displacement profiles developed earlier by Sullivan et al. (2006) with that of a pure frame. This proposal is currently
implemented in DBDsoft, even though the user is warned that it has not been sufficiently tested yet to guarantee its
performance. Structural systems in which the walls carry very little of the total overturning moment seem to deform
almost as pure frames, and thus impose very high rotational demands to the bases of the walls. It is recommended that
the designer pays special attention to this and verifies extensively the walls ductility capacity with a well-detailed
moment-curvature analysis.
Depending on the contraflexure height ratio, the design displacement profile is determined in different ways:
: the traditional profile proposed by Sullivan et al. (2006) is used. The influence of the walls is
significant and, therefore, the displacement profile is mostly determined by the walls according to article 6.4 of
DBD12, with the equations transcribed herein. All considerations regarding walls yield curvatures, the plastic
hinge length and the strain penetration length described for the case of cantilever walls systems are applicable.
(5)
(6)
for
(7)
for
(8)
: The frames are stronger than the walls. A hybrid displaced shape is used for design: for
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 51 of 93
heights below the inflexion point, the walls profile is used (Equation 7 above), while for the rest of the building the
displacements are calculated as for the case of a pure frame, starting from the inflexion point, as shown in
Equation 9. The first storey height is taken as the average storey height of the storeys above the inflexion height.
The yield profile shown in the Post-Processor module corresponds to the walls (calculated as per Equations 7 and
8 above).
(9)
It is clear that, in the extreme case in which the frames take 100% of the overturning moment and the walls take
0%, the contraflexure height is equal to zero, and the displacement profile reduces to that of a pure frame.
: The walls become less influential as the frames take a greater percentage of the
overturning moment, but still participate enough for the behaviour to be different from the case above. A
combined profile is used:
(10)
(11)
(12)
where i,ls CL and i,ls CQ are the profiles corresponding to
and
, respectively, and
FCL and FCQ are their corresponding weighting factors.

The longest (assumed to be the stiffest) wall is used to determine the yield curvature at the wall base to be used for the
calculation of the displaced shape, as well as the contraflexure height. If the model contains more than one wall with the
same length in a certain direction, and these turn out to be the longest walls, the software calculates the contraflexure
height of the system as the weighted average of the contraflexure heights of these individual walls with respect to the
proportion of overturning moment each of them is expected to carry. This procedure is relevant in the case that some of
the walls are connected to link beams while others are not, a situation that leads to walls of the same length having
different contraflexure heights.
The iterative process followed is described in the following figure. The iteration process is controlled by a convergence
check based on the ratio of the contraflexure height calculated at a certain step and the contraflexure height obtained in
the previous step, as well as a limit set to the maximum number of iteration steps to be carried out. Given the fact that
small errors in the determination of the contraflexure height do not affect results significantly, the tolerance is currently
set to 0.10%. Once the convergence criterion has been met, ductility demands and equivalent viscous damping are
computed independently for frames and walls (as described earlier in the respective sections), and the final overall
viscous damping of the frame system is obtained as a weighted average (Equation 13). The software then proceeds with
the calculation of the base shear and overturning moment demands, and the calculation of the members required
strengths.
(13)
It is noted that for the case of frame-wall systems in which link beams are present, the yield drift of the end of the link
beam connected to the wall is calculated as suggested by Sullivan et al. [2006] as:
(14)
Design Flow Chart
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 52 of 93
Nominal Moment Demand at Base

The nominal moment demand at the base of the walls is calculated as shown here.
Coupled Walls Systems
Previous Top Next
Coupled-Walls Systems
The current version of DBDsoft does not support coupled-wall systems. Corresponding solvers will be developed for
future versions.
Capacity Design
Previous Top Next
Capacity Design
In order for the plastic hinges to develop at the intended locations, appropriate capacity design principles need to be
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 53 of 93
applied in order to ensure that elements meant to remain elastic during seismic excitation are able to sustain the forces
induced in them, taking into account the possibility of increased material strength in the plastic hinges and higher mode
amplification of actions.
The DBD12 Model Code suggests that capacity design moments and shears can be obtained by means of non-linear time
history analyses, the effective modal superposition method or using a simplified approximate method. Further, several
authors have published alternative approaches in the recent years, as more is understood with respect to the effect of
higher modes on structures that behave inelastically.
Currently, DBDsoft determines the capacity design moments and shears in columns and walls following the approximate
method described in DBD12. Alternative methods will be included in upcoming versions.
Previous Top Next
General
Capacity Design: General

Conceptually, capacity design moments and shears are determined by amplifying the design actions by means of an
overstrength factor and a dynamic amplification factor.
The overstrength factor takes into account the possibility that plastic hinges possess strength higher than calculated due
to many factors, such as a higher strength of the materials or strain hardening. It should normally be established based on
a moment-curvature analysis of members using their maximum feasible strength levels. Clearly, this means that different
overstrength factors could be specified for the capacity design of different members in the structure, but DBD12 suggests
that one single approximate value may be used. The current version of DBDsoft allows the user to specify this value in the
Design Case tab of the Processor area, as described here. The default value is 1.30.
The dynamic amplification factor represents the increase in the expected storey shear forces due to the effect of higher
modes. It is relevant here to recall that higher modes tend to have a bigger influence on the forces generated within a
structure than on its displacements and that, as the design actions in members are determined from a first mode
deformed shape, this increase in forces needs to be accounted for separately.
n order for the plastic hinges to develop at the intended locations, appropriate capacity design principles need to be
applied in order to ensure that elements meant to remain elastic during seismic excitation are able to sustain the forces
induced in them, taking into account the possibility of increased material strength in the plastic hinges and higher mode
amplification of actions.
Capacity Design of RC Walls
Previous Top Next
Capacity Design of RC Walls

The envelope of capacity moments for walls is approximated by a bilinear curve, defined by the moment at the base (M o
base) and the
moment at mid-height (M o MH). The first is simply the product of the overstrength factor (
) defined by the
user in the Processor area and the design moment at the base of the wall (resulting from the product of the total
overturning moment and the strength proportion
assigned to the walls base). The moment at mid-height is
calculated as:
(1)
(2)
In the last equation, Ti is the initial elastic period, including the effects of cracking, and is estimated from the effective
period and displacement ductility demand of the structure (determined from the DDBD process) as:
(3)
The profile of capacity moments along the height of the wall is similar to:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 54 of 93
If the wall is part of a frame wall system in which the frames carry more than 20% of the total overturning moment, the
capacity moment at mid-height should be confronted against 1.2 times the mid-height moment due to first mode
response, and the largest of the two should be taken as the final value.
It is relevant to notice that the moment at the base (Mo base) used herein to define the envelope of capacity moments
along the height of the walls is larger than the nominal moment demand at the base calculated as described here. The
latter is the nominal yield capacity of the walls base, which can actually end up being higher during seismic excitations
that induce inelastic behaviour, due to strain hardening and other sources of overstrength. As shown by Priestley and
Amaris (2002), the maximum moments developed along the height of the walls are usually smaller than the plastic hinge
at the base, or exceptionally equal, when the walls are subject to non-linear time-history analyses for intensities up to
double of the design one. It is therefore relevant that the designer analyses the (approximate) nominal required strength
and the envelope of capacity moments critically, so as to make a conscious decision with respect to the reinforcement to
provide. The plot shown in the Walls Capacity Moments tab of the Post-Processor can be particularly useful for this
purpose.
The capacity design shear strength of the wall shall conform to the following envelope:
The required shear strength at the base (Vo base) is calculated as:
(4)
If the seismic resistant system in the direction under study only consists on walls, or if the wall is part of a frame-wall
system in which the frames carry less than 20% of the total overturning moment, the dynamic amplification factor for
shear forces at the base is calculated as:
(5)
(6)
If the wall is part of a frame-wall system in which the frames carry more than 20% of the total overturning moment, the
dynamic amplification factor for shear forces at the base is calculated as:
(7)
(8)
If the seismic resistant system in the direction under study only consists on walls, or if the wall is part of a frame-wall
system in which the frames carry less than 20% of the total overturning moment, the required shear strength at the top of
the wall is calculated as:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 55 of 93
(9)
If the wall is part of a frame-wall system in which the frames carry more than 20% of the total overturning moment, the
required shear strength at the top of the wall is calculated as:
(10)
Capacity Design of Columns
Previous Top Next
Capacity Design of Columns

The capacity moments of columns (
) are calculated from their design ones (
) as:
(1)
If the columns are part of a frame-wall system in which the frames carry less than 60% of the total overturning moment,
the dynamic amplification factor ( ) is simply taken as 1.30. If the columns are part of a pure frame system, or part of a
frame-wall system in which the frames carry more than 60% of the total overturning moment, the dynamic amplification
factor (
) varies with height according to the following figure and equation:
(2)
The required dependable shear strength of columns is determined as:
(3)
where
is the material strength reduction factor for shear,
is the characteristic shear resistance of the structural

st
element, is the seismic design shear force associated with 1 mode response,
is the seismic design shear force
at the base of the columns (ground/foundation level) associated with 1 st mode response, and
and
are the
design moment at the top and bottom of the column, respectively, associated with the overstrength of adjoining beams
(i.e. moments determined as per equation (1)).
It should be noted that the current version of DBDsoft does not carry out the verification/design of the sections proposed
by the users. This is particularly relevant for the capacity design of columns if the provided sectional strength is actually
larger than the required one, as this should be taken into account in the definition of the dependable required strength.
The user should take this into consideration when defining the overstrength factor (see here).
The strength provided at the base of the columns should be such that the plastic hinges form at the intended moment
demand (i.e. moment strength at the base of the columns should not be increased as for the rest of the columns height).
The nominal moment demand at the base of the columns is approximately calculated as a function of the design moment
( , resulting from the product of the total overturning moment and the corresponding strength proportion
), the displacement ductility demand (
) and the storey force-displacement post-yield stiffness ratio ( , 5%
assumed). In order to determine the displacement ductility demand, the storey drift that causes the columns to yield is
estimated as:
(4)
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
where
Page 56 of 93
is the columns yield curvature (around the relevant axis) and
is the columns contraflexure height. The
displacement ductility demand for the columns base is, thus:

(5)
where
is the interstorey drift at the ground level.
The nominal moment demand at the base of the columns is estimated as:
(for
(6)
It should be noted that a precise definition of the required nominal strength of the columns at their base should stem
from the corresponding moment-curvature analyses of the sections, and that the value calculated as per the above
equation should be considered only as indicative.
The DBD12 Model Code provides some guidance with respect to the capacity design of columns whose response is biaxial.
However, the current version of DBDsoft treats design in the two perpendicular directions X and Y independently, and
combination of actions in these two directions shall be carried out by the designer.
Capacity Design of Beams
Previous Top Next
Capacity Design of Beams

Currently, DBDsoft does not yet provide capacity design shear actions for beams, but future versions will.
Post-Processor
Previous Top Next
Post_Processor
The Post-Processor phase includes options to view results graphically or in table format, just by selecting the
corresponding option, as shown in the figure below. To view results graphically select the option named 3D View. To
view the tabulated results and graphs, select the option Sheets and Graphs.
Selecting the 3D View, the user can observe the structure in its deformed shape at development of the critical
performance criterion, as well as bending moments and shear plots for all the structural members.
While viewing the results through the Sheets and Graphs option, the user can manually select parts of the output tables
and copy (Ctrl + C) and paste (Ctrl + V) them in any external application. It is also possible to use the Copy Sheet To
Clipboard button, which copies the whole active tab. Note that the Save To Excel option is not yet available in the
current version of the software.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 57 of 93
The following table shows all the different kinds of output that are shown in the different tabs of the Post-Processor
module when the Sheets and Graphs option is selected. Some of them are available only for certain structural types, as
specified:
The results within each of this output forms is described in the sub-sections that follow. It is noted that the output of a
certain design run are not saved by the software, and are thus lost upon closing of the file.
Displacements
Previous Top Next
Displacements
The Displacements tab shows the design displacements
that controls the design.
and, if walls are present, the yield displacements of the wall
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Storey Shear Graph
Page 58 of 93
Previous Top Next
Storey Shear Graph

The format of the plots shown in the Storey Shear tab varies depending on the type of structure in each direction.
When the system consists of only frames or only walls, the plot shows the storey shear carried by each vertical system
(column or wall). The labels contain the user-defined name of the base element of the vertical system, as shown on the
plot on the left of the following example. It is noted that if two vertical systems are carrying exactly the same proportion
of the total storey shear in each storey, the lines corresponding to both systems will overlap and the user will only be able
to see one of them.
When the structure is a frame-wall system, the plot shows the storey shear carried by the frames (i.e. the columns that
make up the frames) and that carried by the walls, as shown on the plot on the right of the following example.
In both cases, the global storey shear is shown as well.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Storey Moments Graph
Page 59 of 93
Previous Top Next
Storey Moments Graph

Just as for the case of the Storey Shear Graph, the format of the plots shown in the Storey Moments tab varies depending
on the type of structure in each direction.
When the system consists of only frames or only walls, the plot simply shows the global moment.
When the structure is a frame-wall system, besides showing the global moment, the plot illustrates the moment carried
by each wall and by the frames (as a whole). It is noted that if two different walls are carrying exactly the same proportion
of the total storey shear in each storey, the lines corresponding to both systems will overlap and the user will only be able
to see one of them.
Walls Capacity Moments Graph
Previous Top Next
Walls Capacity Moments Graph

These plots show the capacity moments profiles (calculated as indicated here) and the nominal base moment (calculated
as indicated here) for each wall in the structure. Each wall is identified by the user-defined name of its base element.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Walls Capacity Shear Graph
Page 60 of 93
Previous Top Next
Walls Capacity Shear Graph

These plots show the capacity shear profiles (calculated as indicated here) for each wall in the structure. Each wall is
identified by the user-defined name of its base element.
Columns Capacity Moments Graph
Previous Top Next
Columns Capacity Moments Graph

These plots show the sum of the capacity moments profiles of all the columns (calculated as indicated here) along the
height of the structure, in each direction.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Results Tab
Page 61 of 93
Previous Top Next
Results Tab
The Results module within the Post-Processor Phase presents the results of the DDBD calculations made by the program.
A screenshot of a typical results table is annotated below:
By scrolling down the table using the arrows on the right, one can see the total system design base shear and overturning
moment (see figure below). Note that these values already include the additional base shear due to P-Delta
considerations.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 62 of 93
If the maximum P-Delta stability coefficient is larger than 0.30, a warning message appears, as shown below. However,
the total design base shear and overturning moment are still calculated.
Results for the perpendicular (Y) design direction are shown further down the table as well.
If the structural system in a certain direction is made only of frames, the Results module shows each storeys
displacement ductility demand as well.
Beams Details
Previous Top Next
Beams Details
This table contains the design ( , ) and nominal (
direction (X and Y) are shown in independent tabs.
) moments and shear forces for the beams. Results for each
The design moment

is the moment required for the system to be in equilibrium when subjected to its design
deformation limit state. The nominal moment
results from combining the design moment with the effects of the
displacement ductility demand ( ) and post-yield stiffness ratio (r factor), and it is the value with which sizing of the
longitudinal reinforcement needs to be carried out, in order to provide the storey shear stiffness required by design. It is
calculated as:
for
for
Clearly, the displacement ductility demand ( ) is calculated as the ratio between the design storey drift (shown in the
column in the table) and the yield storey drift corresponding to each beam.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Columns Details
Page 63 of 93
Previous Top Next
Columns Details
This table contains the columns design moments that equilibrate the design moments (
) of the beams, as well as their

corresponding design shear ( ) and seismic axial force demands. It also contains the columns nominal and capacity
moments ( ) and shear ( ), calculated as described here.
The table also shows the ratio of the contraflexure height with respect to the total height of the column, for each column.
Results for each direction (X and Y) are shown in independent tabs.
It is noted that the current version of the software does not calculate the demands in columns working out of the plane of
the frame, as shown in the figure below:
Walls Details
Previous Top Next
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 64 of 93
Walls Results
This table contains the walls moments ( ) at the design deformation limit state, as well as their corresponding design
shear demands. It also shows the nominal moment demand ( ) at the base, and the capacity moments and shear forces
along the height, calculated as described here. For the case of frame-wall systems in which the walls are connected to the
frames by means of link beams, the table shows the axial force demands in the walls as well.
The table also shows the ratio of the contraflexure height with respect to the total height of the wall, for each element
that makes up the wall. Note that structural systems made up only of cantilever walls do not present a contraflexure
point, while walls that are part of frame-wall systems present one contraflexure point along their height. In the example
below, the contraflexure point is located at 0.86 times the height of elements W4/W14.
It is noted that the current version of the software does not calculate the demands in walls working out of plane, as
shown in the figure below:
Wall Base Details
Previous Top Next
Wall Base Details

This tab shows a summary of the required moments and main properties of all the walls present in the model. Each wall is
identified by the user-defined name of its base element. Final strength proportions (
) are shown for each direction (
and
and
). Yield curvatures (calculated as indicated here) and displacement ductility demands in both directions (
) are shown as well.
The required strengths shown are simply the product of the final strength proportion and the total overturning moment
in each direction. The nominal strengths are calculated as indicated here.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 65 of 93
Final Betas
Previous Top Next
Final Betas
This tab shows a summary of the local (
) and final (
) strength proportions of each element in the model.
Design Process
Previous Top Next
Design Process
These tabs show how the iteration process to satisfy performance criteria has been carried out. The table shows the
criteria defined by the user, as well as the values obtained by the software at each iteration step. Values marked in red do
not satisfy the specified criterion. For details regarding the iteration process, please refer to Iteration Process to Satisfy
Performance Criteria.
It is noted that the maximum drifts obtained by the software might, in some cases, be smaller than the limits specified by
the user. One reason for this is the fact that interstorey drifts are a discrete and not a continuous function of the
buildings height, so their values represent the secant slope of the displaced shape instead of the tangent slope. Another
possible reason is the dominance of the walls material strain limits over user-specified drift limits (please refer here and
here for details on the calculation of the design plastic rotation ( ) for wall and frame-wall systems, respectively). The
user can check if this is the case by taking a look at the tab Other, as shown here.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Other Results
Page 66 of 93
Previous Top Next
Other Results
The tab Other shows other various results of interest, and summarize some information regarding the design of the
structure in both directions, as shown in the figure below.
For the case of cantilever walls or frame-wall systems, the table presents the design plastic rotation ( ), and states
whether this value is governed by the walls material strain limits or the user-defined maximum interstorey drift
(indicated as Code Drift in the table).
Using the 3D plotting tools
Previous Top Next
Using the 3D plotting tools

The software has been developed with a number of 3D plotting options. To view these options, click on any one of the
three square buttons located on the right of the screen (see below). Note that the 3D plotting options can also be
accessed from the main drop-down menu of the program.
The plot menus that are revealed (see figure below) include options that permit the user to change the view, select
between solid, wireframe or shaded elements, show node or element names, change the colour scheme, show the base
grid, and scale the deformed shape, among others.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 67 of 93
The user can also select to plot the bending moment or shear diagrams over the structure, and for them to be shown for
all elements or only for beams, columns or walls, in X, Y or both directions simultaneously. The scale of the bending
moment and shear diagrams can be changed with the corresponding control as well.
Note that the perspective view of the structural model can be changed with a left-click drag of the mouse. The view can
also be moved in a translation motion with a right-click drag.
Examples
Previous Top Next
Examples
As mentioned here, four example files are provided. This chapter provides step-by-step hand calculations for those
example buildings that the user can easily compare to the results obtained with the software. The example files can be
opened by clicking on File --> Test Cases and selecting the corresponding example file, as shown below:
Test B1
Previous Top Next
Example Test B1
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 68 of 93
Description
Value
Units
Mass per storey
600
ton/storey
Number of storeys
[-]
Interstorey height
3.0
[m]
f'ce
30
[Mpa]
fye
500
[Mpa]
fue
600
[Mpa]
Es
205000
[Mpa]
Limit Drift
2.0
[%]
The design displacement spectrum is characterized by the following parameters:

Parameter
Value
Units
Corner Displacement
1.03
Corner Period
6.0
sec
Elastic Damping
5.0
PGA
0.4
Step-by-step calculations
Walls' yield curvature and limit state curvature:
For the case of Wall 3, the projected length along each global axis (X and Y) is used:
Element
Yield Curvature
Limit Curvature
Section height [m]
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 69 of 93
X
Ltot
Lx
Ly
Wall 1
0.00061
0.00900
Wall 2
0.00122
0.01800
Wall 3
0.00143
0.00113
0.02118
0.01674
3.4
4.3
Plastic hinge length:
Plastic component of the design displacement profile:
Due to the maximum drift limit:
Due to limit state curvatures:
Hence, the final design plastic rotation is controlled by the maximum code drift of 2% in both directions:
In X:
H + Lsp
Mass
(m)
(T)
24
24.22
21
18
y,i (m)
d,i (m)
mi.i
mii2
mi ihi
600
0.119
0.414
248.3
102.7
5958.9
21.22
600
0.097
0.354
212.4
75.2
4459.4
18.22
600
0.076
0.295
176.8
52.1
3182.9
15
15.22
600
0.056
0.237
142.1
33.7
2131.8
12
12.22
600
0.038
0.181
108.6
19.7
1303.6
9.22
600
0.023
0.128
76.8
9.8
691.0
6.22
600
0.011
0.078
47.0
3.7
281.8
3.22
600
0.003
0.033
19.6
0.6
58.8
0.22
0.000
0.000
0.0
0.0
0.0
1031.6
297.5
18068.3
Storey
hi (m)
Total
4800
In Y:
H + Lsp
Mass
(m)
(T)
24
24.22
21
18
5
4
y,i (m)
d,i (m)
mi.i
mii2
miihi
600
0.222
0.369
221.4
81.7
5313.3
21.22
600
0.181
0.309
185.5
57.4
3895.8
18.22
600
0.141
0.251
150.4
37.7
2707.2
15
15.22
600
0.104
0.195
116.8
22.7
1752.0
12
12.22
600
0.070
0.142
85.5
12.2
1025.8
Storey
hi (m)
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 70 of 93
3
9.22
600
0.042
0.095
57.2
5.5
514.8
6.22
600
0.020
0.055
32.7
1.8
196.2
3.22
600
0.006
0.021
12.8
0.3
38.3
0.22
0.000
0.000
Total
4800
0.0
0.0
0.0
862.3
219.2
15443.4
Characteristic displacement:
dx = 0.288 m and dy = 0.254 m

Effective height:
Hex = 17.52 m and Hey = 17.91 m

Effective mass:
mex = 3577.1 t and mey = 3392.2 t

Each wall's yield displacement is calculated as:
Wall 1 (X):
Wall 2 (Y):
Wall 3 (X):
Wall 3 (Y):
Each wall's ductility demand:
Wall 1 (X):
Wall 2 (Y):
Wall 3 (X):
Wall 3 (Y):
Each wall's equivalent viscous damping:
Wall 1 (X):
Wall 2 (Y):
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 71 of 93
Wall 3 (X):
Wall 3 (Y):
We make the decision of distributing the base shear (and overturning moment) in each direction in the following way:
Direction X: 75% for Wall 1, 25% for Wall 3
Direction Y: 50% for Wall 2, 50% for Wall 3
In this way, we calculate the equivalent viscous damping of the system as:
In X:
In Y:
The design spectrum reduction factors are calculated as
In X:
In Y:
Effective period:
In X:
In Y:
Required effective stiffness:
In X:
In Y:
Design base shear (no P-Delta amplification verified or accounted for yet):
In X:
In Y:
Calculation of the P-Delta stability coefficient for each storey:
The vertical load at each storey is the product of the cumulative mass and the acceleration of gravity. The design storey
shear is equal to the proportion of storey shear with respect to the base shear (Vi/Vb) and the base shear calculated
above.
In Y, the maximum P-Delta stability coefficient (0.064) is smaller than the 0.10 limit for concrete structures, and thus the
final design base shear is the same as calculated before.
In X, the maximum P-Delta stability coefficient (0.104) exceeds the 0.10 limit for concrete structures, and thus the design
base shear is increased by the following quantity:
For concrete, C = 0.50. The additional base shear in direction X is 289 kN, as shown in the table below.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 72 of 93
The following tables contain the corresponding calculations.

Direction X:
Level
hi (m)
d,i
Mass
(t)
24
0.414
0.020
21
0.354
0.020
18
0.295
15
0.237
12
3
2
1
Cum. Mass (t)
Vi,x/Vb
Vdi
P-
VP-,i
600
600
0.241
1474
0.080
70
600
1200
0.447
2735
0.085
59
0.019
600
1800
0.618
3785
0.090
50
0.019
600
2400
0.756
4629
0.095
40
0.181
0.018
600
3000
0.861
5274
0.099
30
0.128
0.017
600
3600
0.935
5730
0.102
22
0.078
0.015
600
4200
0.981
6009
0.104
13
0.033
0.011
600
4800
1.000
6125
0.084
VP- -->
289
Direction Y:
Level
hi (m)
d,i
Mass
(t)
24
0.369
0.020
21
0.309
0.020
18
0.251
15
0.195
12
3
2
1
Cum. Mass (t)
Vi,x/Vb
Vdi
P-
600
600
0.257
2106
0.056
600
1200
0.472
3872
0.059
0.019
600
1800
0.646
5303
0.062
0.017
600
2400
0.782
6414
0.064
0.142
0.016
600
3000
0.881
7227
0.064
0.095
0.014
600
3600
0.947
7771
0.062
0.055
0.011
600
4200
0.985
8083
0.056
0.021
0.007
600
4800
1.000
8204
0.041
The final design base shear is:

In X:
In Y (as before):
Overturning moment at the base:
In X:
In Y:
For each wall:
Element's
Name
Wall 1
Wall 2
Wall 3
y Mwall X EQ (kNm)
0.75 0
0 0.5
0.25 0.5
84262
0
28087
Mwall Y EQ (kNm)
0
73470
73470
NOTE: The result of each step of the procedure has been presented in a rounded format, but all decimal places have
been carried throughout the calculations. This explains small differences that the user can obtain when following the
numbers by hand, if not all decimal places are used (with the aid of a spreadsheet, for example).
Test B2
Previous Top Next
Example Test B2
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 73 of 93
Description
Value
Units
Mass per stroey
600
ton/storey
Number of storeys
[-]
Interstorey height
3.0
[m]
f'ce
30
[Mpa]
fye
500
[Mpa]
fue
600
[Mpa]
Es
205000
[Mpa]
Drift Limite
2.0
[%]

Parameter
Value
Units
Corner Displacement
1.03
Corner Period
6.0
sec
Elastic Damping
5.0
PGA
0.4
The displacement profile is identical in both directions, and is determined from:
Higher mode reduction factor (1.00, for this case):
Distribution of equivalent lateral force in height:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 74 of 93
Fi,x
Vi,x
(7)
(8)
3043
0.335
Hi (m)
d,i
Massa
mi.i
mi.i2
mi.i.hi
(1)
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
18
0.282
600
169
48
Fi,y
Vi,y
(9)
(10)
(11)
0.262
15
0.248
600
149
37
2230
0.207
0.335
0.230
0.262
12
0.209
600
125
26
1503
0.174
0.542
0.194
0.492
0.164
600
99
16
887
0.137
0.717
0.153
0.685
0.115
600
69
413
0.096
0.854
0.107
0.838
0.060
600
36
108
0.050
0.950
0.056
0.944
0.000
0.000
1.000
0.000
1.000
Tot.
646
137
8185
Characteristic design displacement:
Effective height:
Effective mass:
The interstorey yield drift ratio is calculated as:

For each frame, in each direction:
Frame GM0
Frame GM1
Frame GM2
Lb (m)
2.00
4.00
4.00
1.50
2.00
hb (m)
0.50
0.60
0.50
0.50
0.50
ey
0.00244
0.00244
0.00244
0.00244
0.00244
Qy (rad)
0.00488
0.00813
0.00976
0.00366
0.00488
The dimensions of beams are the same within each frame, and thus the storey yield drift of each frame directly coincides
with the storey yield drift of its beams. Yield drift values for different frames are combined taking into account the
proportion of overturning moment that each frame is designed to carry. In this example, we assume that frames GM1
and GM2 carry 70% and 30% respectively of the overturning moment in direction X, and that frames GM0, GM1, and
GM2 carry 40%, 20% and 40% respectively of the overturning moment in direction Y. As all beams are defined with the
same height, the yield drift of all storeys is the same in each direction, and it can be calculated as:
Direction X:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 75 of 93
Direction Y:
Each storeys displacement ductility demand is calculated as:
The ductility demand of the whole system, in each direction, is computed as:
Direction X:
Direction Y:
Direction X:
(rad) Vi,y / Vb
Frame GM1
Frame GM2
(rad)
Vi,y / Vb Vi,y / Vb
(rad)
(rad)
0.011
0.335
0.00813
0.7
0.00366
0.3
0.00679
1.665
0.0063
0.0038
0.013
0.542
0.00813
0.7
0.00366
0.3
0.00679
1.921
0.0136
0.0071
0.015
0.717
0.00813
0.7
0.00366
0.3
0.00679
2.178
0.0231
0.0106
0.017
0.854
0.00813
0.7
0.00366
0.3
0.00679
2.434
0.0343
0.0141
0.018
0.950
0.00813
0.7
0.00366
0.3
0.00679
2.690
0.0467
0.0173
0.020
1.000
0.00813
0.7
0.00366
0.3
0.00679
2.946
0.0589
0.0200
0.1829
0.0729
Total
Direction Y:
i
(rad) Vi,y / Vb
Frame GM0
(rad)
Frame GM1
Frame GM2
(rad)
(rad)
(rad)
Vi,y / Vb Vi,y / Vb
0.011
0.335
0.00488
0.4
0.00976
0.2
0.00488
0.4
0.00585
1.93 0.00731
0.00379
0.013
0.542
0.00488
0.4
0.00976
0.2
0.00488
0.4
0.00585
2.23 0.01575
0.00707
0.015
0.717
0.00488
0.4
0.00976
0.2
0.00488
0.4
0.00585
2.53 0.02677
0.01060
0.017
0.854
0.00488
0.4
0.00976
0.2
0.00488
0.4
0.00585
2.82 0.03982
0.01411
0.018
0.950
0.00488
0.4
0.00976
0.2
0.00488
0.4
0.00585
3.12 0.05412
0.01735
0.020
1.000
0.00488
0.4
0.00976
0.2
0.00488
0.4
0.00585
3.42 0.06833
0.02000
0.2121
0.0729
Total
Equivalent viscous damping:

In X:
In Y:
The design spectrum reduction factors are calculated as:

In X:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 76 of 93
In Y:
Effective period:
In X:
In Y:
Required effective stiffness:

In X:
In Y:
Design base shear (no P-Delta amplification accounted for yet):

In X:
In Y:
above.
In both directions, the maximum P-Delta stability coefficient exceeds the 0.10 limit for concrete structures, and thus the
design base shear is increased by the following quantity:
For concrete, C = 0.50.

The following tables contain the corresponding calculations.
Direction X:
Level
hi (m)
d,i
Mass
(t)
Cum. Mass (t)
Vi,x/Vb
Vdi
P-
VP-,i
18
0.282
0.011
600
600
0.335
2208
0.030
65
15
0.248
0.013
600
1200
0.542
3572
0.043
58
12
0.209
0.015
600
1800
0.717
4726
0.055
49
0.164
0.017
600
2400
0.854
5629
0.069
38
0.115
0.018
600
3000
0.950
6261
0.086
27
0.060
0.020
600
3600
1.000
6591
0.107
14
VP- -->
250.436
Direction Y:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 77 of 93
Level
hi (m)
d,i
Mass
(t)
Cum. Mass (t)
Vi,x/Vb
Vdi
P-
VP-,i
18
0.282
0.011
600
600
0.335
2092
0.032
65
15
0.248
0.013
600
1200
0.542
3385
0.045
58
12
0.209
0.015
600
1800
0.717
4477
0.058
49
0.164
0.017
600
2400
0.854
5333
0.073
38
0.115
0.018
600
3000
0.950
5932
0.091
27
0.060
0.020
600
3600
1.000
6245
0.113
14
VP- -->
250.436

In X:
In Y:
Overturning moment at the base:
In X:
In Y:
NOTE: Small numerical differences with respect to the output of the software are due to rounding of decimal places
along calculations carried out by hand.
Test B3
Previous Top Next
Example Test B3
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 78 of 93
Description
Value
Units
Mass per storey
300
ton/storey
Number of storeys
[-]
Interstorey height
3.5
[m]
f'ce
30
[Mpa]
fye
500
[Mpa]
fue
600
[Mpa]
Es
205000
[Mpa]
Limit Drift
2.0
[%]

Parameter
Value
Units
Corner Displacement
1.03
Corner Period
6.0
sec
Elastic Damping
5.0
PGA
0.4
Step-by-step calculations in X: Frame-Wall System without Link Beams

;
(10% for Wall 1, 20% for Wall 2)
Dominant wall is Wall 2, with:
Strain penetration length, assuming 25 mm rebars:
Plastic hinge length
Design plastic rotation (with
As
and
):
depend on the contraflexure height, they will vary at each iteration step.
Iteration process:
To start, the contraflexure height is estimated from:
if
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 79 of 93
if
As
, the "traditional" profile is used:
for
for
At each iteration step, the contraflexure height ratio is confronted to the pre-established limits, and the corresponding
equations for the displacement profile are updated.
The following table shows the values for some of the parameters obtained at each iteration step, together with the ratio
of the newly calculated contraflexure height.
Step
Lp (m)
Ratio
H /H
H (m)
Q (rad)
CF
CF
0.5392
11.3232
1.115
0.01434
1.1877
0.6404
13.4490
1.178
0.01331
1.0048
0.6435
13.5140
1.180
0.01327
1.0001
0.6436
13.5160
1.180
0.01327
1.0000
At each iteration step, the following process is followed (shown here for the last iteration step):
1.
Computation of the yield displacement and the total design displacement as a function of the contraflexure
height obtained in the previous iteration step (13.516 m in this case), and the auxiliary columns that allow for the
final computation of:
i hi (m)
hi+Lsp (m)
mi (tn)
Dyi (m)
Ddi (m)
Qi (rad)
mi*Di
mi*Di^2
mi*Di*hi
21.00
21.275
150.00
0.112
0.387
0.02000
58.01
22.44
1218.23
17.50
17.775
150.00
0.089
0.317
0.02000
47.51
15.05
831.44
14.00
14.275
150.00
0.065
0.247
0.01991
37.01
9.13
518.15
10.50
10.775
150.00
0.042
0.177
0.01916
26.56
4.70
278.88
7.00
7.275
150.00
0.021
0.110
0.01755
16.50
1.82
115.50
3.50
3.775
150.00
0.006
0.049
0.01388
7.29
0.35
25.51
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
0
Page 80 of 93
0.00
0.275
0.96
0.000
0.000
0.00
0.00
0.00
192.88
53.49
2987.72
2. Computation of the strength distribution of the frame in height, where
. With the aim of
later comparing the results with those of DBD soft, the strength proportions used here are those resulting from the
Auto Betas function of the program, based on an approximate estimation of the elements capacity.
3. Computation of the storey shear profile of the frame

, for a global base shear equal to unity (
),
for which
is the corresponding moment profile. Note that the frames moment at the base is equal to
.
At roof level:
Intermediate levels:
Ground level:
4.
Computation of the systems distribution of base shear in height, based on the displaced shape and the mass
distribution:
5. Computation of the walls storey shear as

, and their corresponding moment profile
, from which the contraflexure height can be determined. As this is the last step of the iteration process,
the contraflexure height determined from the walls moment profile matches the value used for starting this
iteration step.
bloc i
bglob i
Vbfr i (kN)
Mbfr i (kN)
Fi sys (kN)
Vi sys (kN)
Vw i (kN)
Mw i (kNm)
6 21.00 0.0717
0.0502
0.4443
0.000
0.3008
0.3008
-0.1435
0.000
5 17.50 0.1434
0.1004
0.4443
1.555
0.2463
0.5471
0.1028
-0.502
4 14.00 0.1434
0.1004
0.4443
3.110
0.1919
0.7390
0.2947
-0.142
3 10.50 0.1434
0.1004
0.4443
4.665
0.1377
0.8767
0.4324
0.889
7.00
0.1434
0.1004
0.4443
6.220
0.0855
0.9622
0.5179
2.402
3.50
0.1434
0.1004
0.8766
7.775
0.0378
1.0000
0.1234
4.215
0.00
0.2113
0.1479
10.843
0.0000
1.000
0.7000
i hi (m)
4.647
6. Computation of the frames storey yield drift. As all beams height and length is the same, this value is constant
for all beams and all storeys:
rad
7. Computation of the frames ductility demand and equivalent viscous damping. For each storey,
. The
whole frames ductility demand and equivalent viscous damping are computed as:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 81 of 93
8. Computation of each walls yield displacement, ductility demand and equivalent viscous damping.
Hcf
(for
9. Computation of the systems equivalent viscous damping for excitation in the X direction:
10. Determination of the systems spectral reduction factor and the reduced spectral corner displacement:
11. Determination of the systems effective period, effective stiffness and base shear:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 82 of 93
12. Verification of P-Delta Stability and calculation of final base shear:

The vertical load at each storey is the product of the cumulative mass and the acceleration of gravity. The design
storey shear is equal to the proportion of storey shear with respect to the base shear (Vi/Vb) and the base shear
calculated above. The following table contains the corresponding calculations:
As it can be observed, the maximum P-Delta stability coefficient is smaller than the 0.10 limit for concrete
structures and, therefore, no increase in the design base shear is necessary (i.e. the design base shear calculated
in the previous step is the final design base shear).
13. Determination of design overturning moment:
Step-by-step calculations in Y: Frame-Wall System with Link Beams
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 83 of 93
;
Wall 3:
Strain penetration length, assuming 25 mm rebars:
Plastic hinge length
Design plastic rotation:
As
and
depend on the contraflexure height, they will vary at each iteration step.
Iteration process:
To start, the contraflexure height is estimated from:
if
if
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 84 of 93
As
, the "traditional" profile is used:
for
for
At each iteration step, the contraflexure height ratio is confronted to the pre-established limits, and the corresponding
equations for the displacement profile are updated.
The following table shows the values for some of the parameters obtained at each iteration step, together with the ratio
of the newly calculated contraflexure height.
Step
HCF / Hn
HCF (m)
Lp (m)
Qp (rad)
Ratio
0.7597
15.9537
1.054
0.00681
0.8344
0.6339
13.3110
0.974
0.00895
0.9905
0.6278
13.1840
0.971
0.00906
0.9996
0.6276
13.1790
0.970
0.00906
0.9999
At each iteration step, the following process is followed (shown here for the last iteration step):
1.
Computation of the yield displacement and the total design displacement as a function of the contraflexure
height obtained in the previous iteration step (13.179 in this case), and the auxiliary columns that allow for the
final computation of:
i hi (m)
hi+Lsp (m)
mi (tn)
Dyi (m)
Ddi (m)
Qi (rad)
mi*Di
mi*Di^2
mi*Di*hi
6 21.00
21.275
150.00
0.184
0.372
0.02000
55.81
20.76
1171.95
5 17.50
17.775
150.00
0.145
0.302
0.02000
45.31
13.69
792.88
4 14.00
14.275
150.00
0.107
0.232
0.01989
34.81
8.08
487.30
3 10.50
10.775
150.00
0.069
0.162
0.01875
24.37
3.96
255.84
7.00
7.275
150.00
0.035
0.097
0.01614
14.52
1.41
101.64
3.50
3.775
150.00
0.011
0.040
0.01152
6.05
0.24
21.16
0.00
0.275
0.96
0.000
0.000
0.00
0.00
0.00
180.85
48.13
2830.78
2.
Computation of the strength distribution of the frame in height, without counting the ends of the link beams
connected to the wall (
) and, separately, the contribution of the link beams (
). In this example, local
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 85 of 93
strength distributions are global distributions as well, since the frame-wall is the only subsystem working in the Y
direction. With the aim of later comparing the results with those of DBD soft, the strength proportions used here
are those resulting from the Auto Betas function of the program, based on an approximate estimation of the
elements capacity. As both ends of the link beams are assigned the same capacity, the contribution from their
connected end at any intermediate storey is computed as:
3. Computation of the storey shear profile of the frame

, for a global base shear equal to unity (
),
for which
is the corresponding moment profile. Note that the frames moment at the base is equal to
.
At roof level:
Intermediate levels:
Ground level:
4.
Computation of the link beams moment profile in height

as the cumulative product of the link beams
strength proportion and the overturning moment corresponding to a unitary base shear.
5.
Computation of the systems distribution of base shear in height, based on the displaced shape and the mass
distribution:
i hi (m) bfr i bLB i Vbfr i (kN) Mbfr i (kN) MLB i (kNm) Fi sys (kN) Vi sys (kN) Vw i (kN) Mw i (kNm)
6 21.00 0.0383 0.0125
0.3423
0.000
0.19545
0.3086
0.3086
-0.0337
0.000
5 17.50 0.0765 0.0250
0.3423
1.198
0.58635
0.2505
0.5591
0.2168
-0.118
4 14.00 0.0765 0.0250
0.3423
2.396
0.97726
0.1925
0.7516
0.4093
0.641
3 10.50 0.0765 0.0250
0.3423
3.594
1.36816
0.1347
0.8863
0.5440
2.073
2 7.00 0.0765 0.0250
0.3423
4.792
1.75906
0.0803
0.9666
0.6243
3.978
1 3.50 0.0765 0.0250
0.6411
5.990
2.14997
0.0334
1.0000
0.3589
6.163
8.233
2.14997
0.0000
0 0.00 0.1051
S
7.419
0.5260 0.1374
6. Computation of the walls storey shear as

, and their corresponding moment profile
. This moment profile needs to be adjusted due to the effect of the link beams over the walls
moments, and so the final moment profile of the wall is calculated as
. It is noted
that the link beams introduce jumps in the walls moment profile, and thus it is necessary to compute the final
moment just above and just below each beam level, as shown below. From the final moment profile of the wall,
the contraflexure height can be determined. As this is the last step of the iteration process, the contraflexure
height determined from the walls moment profile matches the value used for starting this iteration step.
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
7.
Page 86 of 93
Computation of the frames storey yield drifts, as the weighted average of the yield drift corresponding to each
plastic hinge with respect to their strength proportions:
Individual yield drifts are calculated as follows:

Standard beam ends:
rad
Link-beam unconnected ends:
rad
Link-beam connected ends:
rad
8. Computation of the frames ductility demand and equivalent viscous damping. For each storey,
. The
whole frames ductility demand and equivalent viscous damping are computed as:
It is noted that the ductility demand and equivalent viscous damping of the frame includes the contribution of the
ends of the link beams that are connected to the wall and, thus, the storey shear to be used to compute the
ductility demand of the system is that resulting not only from
but also from
, as shown below:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 87 of 93
9. Computation of the walls yield displacement, ductility demand and equivalent viscous damping.
(for
10. Computation of the systems equivalent viscous damping for excitation in the Y direction:
11. Determination of the systems spectral reduction factor and the reduced spectral corner displacement:
12. Determination of the systems effective period, effective stiffness and base shear:
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 88 of 93
14. Verification of P-Delta Stability and calculation of final base shear:

The vertical load at each storey is the product of the cumulative mass and the acceleration of gravity. The design
storey shear is equal to the proportion of storey shear with respect to the base shear (Vi/Vb) and the base shear
calculated above. The following table contains the corresponding calculations:
As it can be observed, the maximum P-Delta stability coefficient is smaller than the 0.10 limit for concrete
structures and, therefore, no increase in the design base shear is necessary (i.e. the design base shear calculated
in the previous step is the final design base shear).
15. Determination of design overturning moment:
NOTE: The result of each step of the procedure has been presented in a rounded format, but all decimal places have been
carried throughout the calculations. This explains small differences that the user can obtain when following the numbers
by hand, if not all decimal places are used (with the aid of a spreadsheet, for example).
Test B4
Previous Top Next
Example Test B4
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 89 of 93
Description
Value
Units
Number of storeys
Interstorey height
3.5
Building height
31.5
External columns
HE300M
Internal columns
HE320M
Beams Storeys 1-2
IPE550
Beams Storeys 3-4-5
IPE500
Beams Storeys 6-7
IPE450
Beams Storey 8
IPE 400
Beams Storey 9
IPE330
Number of Bays
Bay length
6.0
Description
Value
Units
Mass per storey
736
ton/storey
Elastic Damping
3.0
[%]
f'ce
30
[Mpa]
fye
484
[Mpa]
fue
581
[Mpa]
Es
210000
[Mpa]
eye
0.002305
[-]
Max. Drift Limit
0.9552.5=2.38
[%]

Parameter
Value
Units
Corner Displacement
0.889
Corner Period
8.0
sec
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 90 of 93
Elastic Damping
3.0
PGA
0.4
The displacement profile of a steel frame is calculated from:
Higher mode reduction factor

Code drift limit
= 0.955, from Figure 5.1 of the DBD12 Model Code.
= 2.5%.
The resulting displacement profile and the auxiliary calculations needed to compute the equivalent SDOF substitute
structure are shown in the following table.
Storey
Hi (m)
Mass
d,i
mi.i
mi.i2
mi.i.hi
Fi
Vi/Vb
31.5
736
0.580
427
248
13450
0.264
0.264
28.0
736
0.535
394
211
11021
0.151
0.415
24.5
736
0.485
357
173
8739
0.137
0.552
21.0
736
0.430
316
136
6642
0.121
0.673
17.5
736
0.370
272
101
4766
0.104
0.778
14.0
736
0.306
225
69
3149
0.086
0.864
10.5
736
0.236
174
41
1827
0.067
0.931
7.0
736
0.162
119
19
836
0.046
0.976
3.5
736
0.084
62
215
0.024
1.000
0.0
0.000
0.000
2345.86
1002.23
50646.90
Total
Characteristic design displacement:

m
tn
m
The proportion of base shear that is applied at each storey as an equivalent force is calculated as shown below. Results
are shown in the table above. The design storey shear (Vi/Vb) is computed by simply summing the equivalent lateral
forces down the building height.
Floors 1 to n-1:
Roof (floor n):
Yield drift:
IPE550:
rad
IPE500:
rad
IPE450:
rad
IPE400:
rad
IPE330:
rad
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 91 of 93
For each storey, the design drift and ductility demand are computed, as shown in the following table. The whole
frames ductility demand is computed as a weighted average of each storeys ductility demand. Note that the upper
storeys are not expected to yield and, thus, the ratio of the storeys design drift to its yield drift is less than unity. In
these cases, a value of 1.0 is assigned to the ductility demand, as the purpose of this calculation is the determination of
the equivalent viscous damping of the system, which is equal to the elastic damping for all values of ductility demand
equal to or smaller than 1.0.
Equivalent viscous damping:
Vi/Vb
Vy,i/Vb
0.00342
0.264
0.554
0.00594
0.00594
0.415
0.651
0.785
0.00866
0.00866
0.552
0.702
0.0200
0.854
0.01148
0.01148
0.673
0.788
0.0184
0.0180
1.025
0.01467
0.01432
0.778
0.777
14.0
0.0198
0.0180
1.100
0.01880
0.01709
0.864
0.860
10.5
0.0211
0.0180
1.176
0.02315
0.01968
0.931
0.922
7.0
0.0225
0.0163
1.377
0.03027
0.02198
0.976
0.958
3.5
0.0239
0.0163
1.461
0.03488
0.02388
1.000
0.977
0.0
0.15127
0.12644
Storey
Hi (m)
Vi/Vb
31.5
0.0130
0.0272
0.476
0.00342
28.0
0.0143
0.0225
0.637
24.5
0.0157
0.0200
21.0
0.0171
17.5
Total
Vi/Vb
For a steel frame, it is appropriate to assume a 3% elastic damping. In this way, the response spectrum modification
factor is computed in two steps, as the product of factor
and (Pennucci et al. [2011]):
Modification factor for 5% elastic damping:
Elastic damping correction factor:
Modification factor for 5% elastic damping:
Reduced spectral corner displacement:
Systems effective period:

Systems required effective stiffness:
kN/m
Maximum base shear:

kN
Base shear (no P-Delta amplification accounted for yet):
kN
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 92 of 93
above. The following table contains the corresponding calculations:
Level hi (m) d,i
Mass
(t)
Cum. Mass (t)
Vi,x/Vb Vdi
P-
VP-,i
31.5
0.580 0.013
736
736
0.264
1097
0.085
194
28
0.535 0.014
736
1472
0.415
1725
0.120
179
24.5
0.485 0.016
736
2208
0.552
2294
0.148
162
21
0.430 0.017
736
2944
0.673
2798
0.176
144
17.5
0.370 0.018
736
3680
0.778
3233
0.206
124
14
0.306 0.020
736
4416
0.864
3591
0.239
102
10.5
0.236 0.021
736
5152
0.931
3869
0.276
79
0.162 0.023
736
5888
0.976
4060
0.320
54
3.5
0.084 0.024
736
6624
1.000
4158
0.373
28
VP- -->
1065.911
As it can be observed, the maximum P-Delta stability coefficient exceeds the 0.30 limit and, therefore, the structure
might be at risk of suffering dynamic instability. It is recommended that the design maximum drift be reduced so that the
maximum P-Delta stability coefficient does not exceed the 0.30 limit. However, the software is set up to carry out the
subsequent calculations anyway (and the process to obtain the additional base shear due to P-Delta considerations is
actually the same). The design base shear is increased by the following quantity:
For steel, C = 1.00. From the table, the additional base shear is 1066 kN.
kN
The final design overturning moment is :

kNm
NOTE: The result of each step of the procedure has been presented in a rounded format, but all decimal places have
been carried throughout the calculations. This explains small differences that the user can obtain when following the
numbers by hand, if not all decimal places are used (with the aid of a spreadsheet, for example).
References
Previous Top
References
Beyer K., Dazio A., Priestley, M.J.N., (2008) Seismic Design of Torsionally Eccentric Buildings with RC U-shaped walls,
Research Report No. ROSE 2008/03, IUSS Press, Pavia, Italy.
Calvi G.M. editor (2003) Displacement-Based Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Buildings fib Bulletin No. 25, fib,
Lausanne, 192pp.
Calvi G.M. and Sullivan. T.J. Editors (2009) A model code for the Displacement-Based Seismic Design of Structures, DBD09
Draft Issued for Public Enquiry, IUSS Press, 80pages.
Gulkan, P., and Sozen, M. (1974) Inelastic Response of Reinforced Concrete Structures to Earthquake Motions ACI
Journal, 71(12), 604-610.
Magni, F., Sullivan, T.J., Pinho R., Calvi G.M., (2011) Development of computer software for Direct Displacement Based
Design Proceedings of Structural Engineering World Conference 2011, Como, Italy, paper No.73.
Nievas, C.I. and Sullivan, T.J. (2014) Developing the Direct Displacement-Based Design Method for RC Strong Frame
Weak Wall Structures, Second European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology, Istanbul Aug. 25 th-29th
11/12/2015
DBDsoft
Page 93 of 93
2014.
Paulay, T., (2002), The Displacement Capacity of Reinforced Concrete Coupled Walls, Engineering Structures, Vol.24,
pp1165-1171.
Pennucci, D., Sullivan, T.J., Calvi, G.M. [2011] Displacement reduction factors for the design of medium and long-period
structures, Journal of Earthquake Engineering, Vol. 15, Supplement 1, pp. 1-29
Pettinga, J.D. and Priestley, M.J.N. (2005) Dynamic Behaviour of Reinforced Concrete Frames Designed with Direct
Displacement-Based Design Report No. ROSE 2005/02, IUSS press: www.iusspress.it, 154 pages.
Priestley, M.J.N. (1993), Myths and Fallacies in Earthquake Engineering Conflicts Between Design and Reality Bulletin
NZ National Society for Earthquake Engineering,. Vol. 26., n.3, 328-341.
Priestley M.J.N., (1998). "Brief Comments on Elastic Flexibility of Reinforced Concrete Frames, and Significance to Seismic
Design Bulletin of the New Zealand National Society for Earthquake Engineering, New Zealand National Society for
Earthquake Engineering, Silverstream. Vol. 31, No.4.
Priestley M.J.N., Amaris A.D. (2002) Dynamic Amplification of Seismic Moments and Shear Forces in Cantilever Walls,
ROSE Research Report 2002/01, IUSS Press, Pavia, Italy, 95 pages.
Priestley M.J.N., Kowalsky M.J. (1998). "Aspects of Drift and Ductility Capacity of Cantilever Structural Walls. Bulletin of
the New Zealand National Society for Earthquake Engineering, New Zealand National Society for Earthquake Engineering,
Silverstream. Vol. 31, No.2.
Priestley, M. J. N., Calvi, G.M., Kowalsky, M. J. (2007) Direct Displacement-Based Seismic Design IUSS Press, Pavia, Italy,
720pages.
Shibata, A. and Sozen, M. (1976) Substitute Structure Method for Seismic Design in Reinforced Concrete Journal
Structural Division, ASCE, 102(12), 3548-3566.
Sullivan, T.J. and Lago, A. (2012) Towards a simplified Direct DBD procedure for the seismic design of moment resisting
frames with viscous dampers Engineering Structures, Vol. 35 pp. 140-148.
Sullivan, T.J., Priestley, M.J.N. and Calvi, G.M., (2006) Seismic design of frame-wall structures Research Report
ROSE2006/02, IUSS Press, Pavia, Italy, 333pp
Sullivan, T.J., Priestley, M.J.N., Calvi, G.M., Editors (2012) A model code for the Displacement-Based Seismic Design of
Structures, DBD12, IUSS Press, Pavia, Italy, 105 pages.
11/12/2015

DBDsoft User Manual

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

DBDsoft User Manual

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

DBDsoft

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

Information for Academics

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

For more information visit EUCENTREs website www.eucentre.it

Previous Top Next

The relationships used to relate elastic displacement to inelastic displacement response.

ductility demands expected of a structural system.

Roof (Floor n):

Previous Top Next

Modules>Next Properties Module

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

Add Concrete Material

Previous Top Next

Add Concrete Material

Expected compressive strength, fce :

Previous Top Next

Add Reinforcing Steel Material

Add new material>type>Reinforcing_Steel:

Expected yield strength, Fy :

Previous Top Next

Add Structural Steel Material

Expected yield strength, Fy :

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

IPE Steel Section

Previous Top Next

To assign the element class you should then:

Give a name to the element class you are creating. Then

Previous Top Next

To assign the node you should then:

Give a name to the node you are creating. Then

Previous Top Next

To define the element you should then:

Give a name to the element you are creating. Then

Perspective - Non-structural node lies in the X-Y plane

Previous Top Next

For Node Restraints

For Element Releases

Previous Top Next

Previous Top Next

To add the load case you should then simply:

Previous Top Next

To define the applied loading you should then:

Give a name to the applied load you are creating. Then

For Lumped Masses:

Indicate the value of the lumped mass.

For Seismic Actions:

Previous Top Next

To define the load combination you should then:

Give a name to the load combination you are creating. Then

Previous Top Next

To define a performance criterion you should then:

Provide the parameters required for each case.

Previous Top Next