Optimum Positioning of Shear Walls for Minimizing the Effects of Lateral Forces in Multistorey-Buildings

Shear walls are the most commonly used lateral load resisting systems in high rises. They have high plane stiffness and strength which can be used to simultaneously resist large horizontal loads while also supporting gravity loads. Hence it is necessary to determine effective and ideal locations of shear walls. Shear wall arrangement must be absolutely accurate, if not, it may cause negative effects instead. In this project, a study has been carried out to determine the effects of additions of shear walls and also the optimum structural configuration of multistory buildings by changing the shear wall locations radically. Four different cases of shear wall positions for G+10 storey buildings have been analyzed by computer application software ETABS. The framed structure was subjected to lateral and gravity loading in accordance with the Indian Standards provision and the results were analyzed to determine the optimum positioning of the shear walls.