Free vibrations of flexibly connected elastically supported stiffened coupled shear walls with stepwise changes in width

Abstract

In this study, a free vibration analysis of flexibly connected, elastically supported, stiffened coupled shear walls is carried out by a simplifying method widely used in the past for the static analysis of similar structures [1]. This method, called the continuous connection technique (CCT), comprises an efficient tool for the predesign computations related to the treatment of high-rise buildings. While the discrete structure is formulated as a continuous medium, the continuously distributed mass of the structure is discretized to a system of lumped masses for finding the corresponding flexibility matrix. After obtaining the standard frequency equation of the discrete system, the circular frequencies are determined in a straightforward manner and used to find the modes of vibration. Some comparisons are made between the results of the present method and those of a previous one, resulting in a perfect match of the two