Review of Techniques for Predicting the Fundamental Period of Multi-Storey Buildings: Effects of Nonstructural Components

The design of lateral load resisting elements of tall buildings in regions of low to moderate seismicity is normally governed by the requirements to meet inter-storey drift limit under wind load. The key objective of the design of tall buildings is to provide adequate lateral stiffness to the buildings to limit their lateral deflections and inter-storey drifts under the lateral load. The current design practice assumes that only the structural skeleton provides lateral resistance against wind load. Although the effects of nonstructural elements on the lateral stiffness are widely acknowledged, the effects are often ignored in the analysis of the buildings. This paper presents a state-of-the-art of review on the effects of nonstructural elements on the lateral deflections and inter-storey drifts of buildings at serviceability limit states. It was found that ignoring the nonstructural elements could significantly underestimate the lateral deflection for certain types of buildings. However, the shape and form of the lateral deflection in the overall building is not significantly affected by the nonstructural elements.