ANALYSIS OF BUILDING FRAMES

The term building frame as defined in this paper, refers to a general flat-plate structural system, comprising thin Kirchoff plates (the floor slabs), which are interconnected by one-dimensional flexural elements (the columns and column walls) of various shapes and layout. The building-frame material is assumed to be linear elastic. A stiffness method for analyzing this structure addresses the full three-dimensional frame and is practical for use either as a design tool or for research. The direct boundary element method (DBEM) is used to generate the stiffness properties of the slab thin-plate element and to calculate the internal actions. Potential applications include stress analysis, and in addition, these numerical procedures permit a more rational basis for studying dynamic behavior, and other types of analysis in which a full building frame structural stiffness model is desirable. The paper is oriented toward a general structural engineering readership.