2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Moment distribution method for 2-D frames using MS-Excel.

Lets solve the solved problem 11.9 from Hibbelers book using Excel worksheet.
Following is the schematic of the problem: All members have the same EI
40kN
7m
5m

20kN

80kN
5m

Figure 1. Given Frame with its supports and loadings

DATA:
As the frame has sidesway motion at TWO stories, therefore, the moment distribution analysis will
be applied three times i.e., as once for frame 2(b) then 2(c) and then 2(d) in figure below. Then the
three analysis results will be added together.
Step 1:
Name the Joints in any order you like e.g.as shown in Figure 2(e). Now first the frame will be
assumed to be restrained and solved as shown in Figure 2(b).

Figure 2(e). Named joints of given frame

The correction coefficients C and C are then calculated by solving following equation
simultaneously,

. These correction factors are then multiplied by the internal

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

joint moments found from the moment distribution in Figure 2(c) and 2(d). The resultant moments
are then found by adding these corrected moments to those obtained for the frame in Figure 2(b).
Step 2:
In Excel, write the Joint names in a row covering as many columns as the number of members
connected to that joint e.g., joint E connects three members, as shown in the figure 2. The resulting
excel sheet will look like shown in figure 3.

Figure 3. Joints named in Excel

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Now Member names, depending on the joints they join, are fed in the next row, as shown in Figure
4. Note that the names of the members under a particular joint (e.g., E) starts with the letter
representing the joint (i.e., ED,EB,EF). Also, the members with the same names (e.g., BC and CB) are
written close together for easy crossover, but its not nessessery.

Figure 4. Member names in Excel

Step 3.
Write two more rows below the member names, one for each members rigidity-modulus (EI) and
the other for the length. These two rows for the given frame are shown in Figure 5. As the EI of all
the members were same, any arbitrary positive number can be fed in Excel for EI (1000 in this case).

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Figure 5. Member (EI) and Lenghts in Excel

Step 4.
Now Stiffness of all members (K=4EI/L) and the Distribution factors (DF=K/K) are written for all
members as shown in figure 6 and 7, respectively. For Hinge and Fixed supports the DF is directly fed
as 1 and 0, respectively, as hinge can distribute the moment fully (i.e., 100%) and fixed cant
distribute any moment (i.e., 0%) For instance, in figure 7, for fixed supports A and F, the DF is fed as
0.

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Figure 6. Calculation of K for member AB

Step 5.
Fixed End Moments (FEM) for all members, due to applied loads are written in the next row. In our
case, we have a member force of 20kN only on one member BE as shown in Figure 8, rest of the
forces are applied at the joints and not on the member, therefore, the FEM will be as shown in
Figure 9, taking Clockwise as positive.

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Figure 7. Calculation of DF for moment in member EF from end E to F

20kN

MBE=PL/8=20x7/8=-17.5kNm

MEB=-MBE=17.5kNm

Figure 8. Fixed Ended moments on member BE

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Figure 9. FEMs in excel

Step 6.
Release all joints. This means that moments on all joints are distributed to other joints connected to
them through members, according to their DFs. For example, at joint B, the total moment
FEMBA+FEMBE+FEMBC is distributed to the member BA, BE and BC according to their DFs and of
course with opposite sign.
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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Figure 10. Opposite (-ve) moment distributed to member BC after Releasing joint B

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Step 7.
Carry over the distributed moment to the other end of each member. As the prismatic members
carry only half of the distributed moment, the half of the released moment is formulated in the next
row from the relative member. For instance, half carried moment MEB is shown in figure 11.

Figure 11. Half carried moment from end B to end E of member BE

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Step 8.
Now copy the Release and Carry O. rows and keep pasting them bellow, consecutively, until the
last row of Carry O. shows numbers approaching to zero, as shown in figure 12.

Figure 12. Copied rows of Release and Carry O. (Row 9 and 10)

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Step 9.
Now finally, find the sum of all the moments in each column starting from the FEM as shown in
Figure 13(a). Figure 13(b) shows the moments on the frame

(a)

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

1.06

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

1.06

1.06

1.06

6.57

6.57

14.6

14.6

R1
8.05

8.05

4.03

R2

4.03

(b)
Figure 13. End moments on the frame restrained against sway.
The horizontal reactions for 5m tall stories of the frames, shown in Figure 13(b), can be calculated as
follows:

( M BA M AB ) ( M BC M CB ) ( M EF M FE ) ( M ED M DE )

80 80kN
5
5
5
5
( M BC M CB ) ( M ED M DE )
R2

40 40kN
5
5
R1

Step 10.
Calculating the sway reactions as in Figure 2(c) and 2(d), we get frames as Figure 14(a) and 14(b) ,
respectively.

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

(a)

(b)
Figure 14. Sway reactions for two sways of the given frame
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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

As the storey heights are same we have assumed the end moments to be same (i.e., 100kNm)
otherwise these moments should be calculated using assumed values of in the following formula

for moment due to deflection:

Now, create two more copies of the excel sheet for solving the two sways, as in Figure 15(a) and
15(b).

(a)
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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

(b)
Figure 15. PartC and PartD Sheets showing Mom-Dist Analysis of frame in figure 14(a) and (b),
respectively.
Now reactions for the above analysis can be calculated as:
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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

53.9

R2

53.9

53.9

83.1

83.1

8.78

53.9

8.78

45.1
45.1

53.3

53.3

R1

91.8

25.7

95.9

95.9

12.8

45.1

45.1

91.8

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

(a)

27.5

R2

27.5
25.7

12.8

(b)

Figure 16. End moments on the frame restrained against sway at (a) D and (b) E.
The horizontal reactions for 5m tall stories of the frames, shown in Figure 16(a & b), can be
calculated as follows:

( M BA M AB ) ( M BC M CB ) ( M EF M FE ) ( M ED M DE )

130kN
5
5
5
5
( M BC M CB ) ( M ED M DE )
R2

54.8kN
5
5
( M BA M AB ) ( M BC M CB ) ( M EF M FE ) ( M ED M DE )
R1

54.8kN
5
5
5
5
( M BC M CB ) ( M ED M DE )
R2

39.4kN
5
5
R1

Now solving the equations

using matrices algebra

C ' R2
C ' ' R
1

R2 R2
R1 R1
1

C ' 54.8 39.4 40 2.53

C ' ' 130 54.8 80 4.53

Figure 17 shows the above calculations in Excel:

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

R1

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Figure 17. Finding Correction Coefficients C and C

Now total moment can be calculated by applying the corrections as follows and shown in figure 18.
Mi=M(part b) + M(part c)x C + M(part d)x C

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

Figure 18. Final Bending Moment Calculations

Figure 19 shows the member-end and fixed-support moments calculated in figure 18.

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)

2-D Frame with sway (Moment Distribution Method) in Excel.

66.9

CE-5110 (Adv. Struct. Anal. I)

69.1

67.1

69.3

24.9

38.1

132

161
123

107

MA= 180

MF= 188

HA

HF
VA

VF

Now, finally, the reactions can be calculated and shear force and bending moment diagrams can be
drawn as follows.

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By Dr. M Adil

M.Sc Fall 2013

(modified 06-10-2013)