Nuclear Engineering and Design 41 (1977) 129-133
© North-Holland Publishing Company
DESIGN OF COLUMN SECTIONS SUBJECTED TO THREE COMPONENTS OF EARTHQUAKE
A.K. GUPTA and M.P. SINGH
Structural Analytical Division, Sargent and Lundy Engineers, Chicago, Illinois 60603, USA
Received 10 April 1976
This paper presents the derivation of a procedure for the seismic design of column sections subjected to combina-
tions of axial force and moments which probalistically can occur simultaneously.
1. Introduction
For the seismic design of structures the earthquake
ground motion is often represented as the response
spectra for three orthogonal components of earth-
quake. The maximum response of the structure is cal-
culated for several modes of vibration for each com-
ponent of earthquake. Probalistically, the maximum
response is taken to be the square root of the sum of
the squares of the responses obtained in each contri-
buting mode of vibration for the three components of
earthquake [ 1]:
R e = +-(RinRin )1/2 ,
where R e = effective response value (any displacement,
stress or force), and Rin = maximum response in the
nth mode of vibration due to excitation in the ith di-
rection (i.= X, Y, Z).
The repeated subscripts in eq. (1) and later on in
this paper imply summation. For example, in the case
ofeq. (1),
RinRin = ~ ~ (Rin)2 •
i n
For modes with closely spaced frequencies, eq. (1) is
modified to include a coupling matrix emn [2].
R e = +(emnRimRin )1/2 .
Eqs. (1) or (2) provides the necessary tool for de-
signing a structure when the design criteria is based on
modes of failure in which various stresses or forces do
129
not interact. However, in the design of columns sub-
jected to the axial force N and moments M x and My,
the design criteria is based on the maximum axial
stress which is a function of all three quantities. Eqs.
(1) or (2) only give the maximum probable value of
each force or moment which, in general, do not occur
simultaneously. Besides, each quantity may be positive
or negative. An upper bound design criterion often
used is to design for all the probable maximum com-
binations given by +-N, +-Mx, +-My. As shown later in
this paper, such a procedure may be overly conserva-
tive. Instead, a method is suggested which provides
combinations of N, M x, My which probalitically can
(1) occur simultaneously.
2. Column subjected to the axial force N and uniaxial
moment M
Fig. 1 shows a column subjected to axial force N
and uniaxial moment M with proper directions for pos.
itive signs. The maximum compressive or tensile stress
is given by
N+M
o = ~ _~, (3)
where A = cross-sectional area of the column, and Z =
(2) the section modulus.
Eq. (3) may be treated as the design criterion when
o is limited by an allowable stress. The section param-
eters A and Z are, in general, functions of N and M.
Eq. (3), therefore, is a nonlinear equation. In such
 130 A.K. Gupta, M.P. Singh / Seismic design of column sections

N fiber stress under consideration is given by

N in M~n
0.in = ~ + " (4)

Applying eq. (2), one gets

02 =
e Cmn 0.ira °in
or
0.2 = _n2
_ + m2 + 2 - l-2 (5)
e A2 Z2 AZ'

whe re

n2=~mnN.mNin, m2=cmnMimMin ,

¢ l 2 = emnN.m%.n •
Fig. 1. Column subjected to axial force N and uniaxial moment
M.
cases, the design is accomplished using an interaction
diagram, such as shown in fig. 2 for a reinforced con-
crete section. For a given value of force and moment
(N1, M1), eq. (3) represents a tangent ( 1 - 1 ) at the ap-
propriate point on the diagram. Conversely, the inter-
action diagram is an envelope of the family of straight
lines represented by eq. (3) for all possible values of
A o and Zo.
For a given mode and direction of earthquake, the
(6)
Therefore, the section which would withstand the ap-
plied earthquake forces should have an interaction dia-
gram which represents the envelope of eq. (3) for all
possible values of A o and Zo which satisfy eq. (5),
such that in eqs. (3) and (5)
o = o e = 0.allowable "
The desired envelope can be obtained by the standard
method of differential calculus and is given by
m 2 N 2 + n2M 2 212NM = m2n 2 - l 4 . (7)

I 2

M=-m 12 m
m

;M
M 12
- - --,
m
-Ill M=÷m

-n,-12In N = -n

Fig. 2. Interaction diagram for a reinforced concrete section. Fig. 3. Interaction ellipse.
 A.K. Gupta, M.P. Singh / Seismic design o f column sections 131

(12/m, m ) and ( - 1 2 / m , - m ) .
Note that n and m are
commonly called the SRSS values of the axial force
nteractioDinagram and the bending moment, respectively. It is clear from
the interaction ellipse that these values do not occur
simultaneously.
Interaction Any point on the interaction ellipse gives a pair of
N and M which can occur simultaneously. It is suffi-
cient to design a section such that the interaction dia-
- - M
gram completely envelopes the interaction ellipse.
Fig. 4 shows the linear interaction curve for an elasti-
cally designed steel column. Fig. 5 shows the nonlinear
interaction curve for a reinforced concrete section. Al-
though the figure shows hypothetical curves, it does
indicate the possibility that the design may be governed
by tension failure only.

Fig. 4. Design of steel c o l u m n with linear interaction diagram.

3. Column subjected to axial force and biaxial
moments
Eq. (7) represents an ellipse as shown in fig. 3. This el-
lipse represents the required interaction diagram for In this case eq. (3) can be written
the given seismic loading, and therefore it may be des-
_+M y
ignated the 'interaction ellipse'.
The interaction ellipse is bounded by tangents
N = + n and M = -+m. As shown in fig. 3, these tangents
N_+
°=-~- zMx x Zy

or
meet the ellipse at points (n, 12/n), ( - n , - 1 2 / n ) ,
o = C r F r, r = 1,2,3, (8)
N
where C 1 = 1/A, C 2 = +- 1 / Z x, C 3 = +- 1 / g y , and F 1 = N,
F2=Mx,F3=My.
near InteractioDinagram For a given mode and component of earthquake

~x'In~i°nEllipse Oin - C
-- get
in
,

Therefore, from eq. (2)

o e = c r C S G rs , (9)

where

G rs
= emn
F r. F s.
lm tn " (lO)

/ The desired envelope is given by

Hrs F r F s = 1 , (11)

where

HrSG st = 8 rt . (12)
Fig. 5. Design of reinforced concrete c o l u m n with nonlinear
interaction diagram. Eq. (12) is equivalent to stating that the 3 X 3 matrix
 132 A.K. Gupta, M.P. Singh /Seismic design of column sections

[H] is the inverse of matrix [G]. Eq. (11) represents
an ellipsoid in a three-dimensional (N, Mx, My) space
which can be called an 'interaction ellipsoid'. It is
bounded by the planes N = +-n, M x = +m x and
My = +my, where n, m x and my are the commonly
known SRSS values of N, M x and My, respectively. It
will be sufficient to design the section such that the
interaction surface of the section completely includes
the interaction ellipsoid. The matrices G rs and H rs
are derived in the Appendix.
4. Columns subjected to combined seismic and static
force and moments
The design process simply consists of providing a
section with an interaction diagram or surface which
would completely include the appropriate interaction
ellipse or ellipsoid. The concept of interaction ellipse
or ellipsoid can be easily coded into axisting computer
programs which design sections by calculating the
points on the interaction diagram or surface.
The proposed method will result in the most eco-
nomical design of the section. However, where eco-
nomics is not a major consideration, the usual methods
of designing for SRSS values (+--n, -+m) or (+-n, +-m x,
+my) will still provide a safe section.

In the case of columns subjectal to axial force and Appendix

uniaxial moment, let the static force and moment
for a given loading combination be N s and M s. The in- The matrix G rs, eq. (1) is given by
teraction ellipse for the combined effect can be ob-
g12 g13
tained by simply changing the origin of the ellipse given
by eq. (7) to the point ( - N ~ - M s ) . Therefore

m2(N - N s ) 2 + n 2 ( M - Ms)2

-2/2(N Ns)(M-Ms)=m2n2-I 4. (13)

[G] =

where
Lgll
%
g22 g23
g33
' (A.1)

Similarly, when the biaxial moments are present, eq. gll = emnN'mNin' g12 = emnN'mMxin '
(11) is modified to become
gl3=emnNmMyin , g22=emnMximMxin , (A.2)
HrS(F r - S r) (F s - SS). = 1 , (14)
g23=emnMximMyin , g33=emnMyimMyin •
where S 1, S 2 and S 3 are the static axial force, moment
in the x direction and moment in the y direction, re- The matrix H rs [eq. (11)] is given by
spectively.
hll hi2 hi3

5. Conclusions

As stated in the Introduction, if the design is car-

[H l = [C]-1 =
I
[_Sym
h22 h23
h33
, (A.3)

fled out for the SRSS values of the forces and mo- where
ments, the design may be unnecessarily conservative,
because the SRSS forces and moments do not occur h ll = (1/D)(g22g33 - g23)'
simultaneously. If the section is subjected to axial
force and uniaxial moment, the 'interaction ellipse' de- h12 = (1/D)(g13g23 - g12g33 ) '
rived in this paper represents the seismic loading on
the section. Similarly, for sections subjected to axial h13 = (1/D)(g12g23 g13922 ) ,
(A.4)
force and biaxial moments, the 'interaction ellipsoid'
h22 = (1/D)(gllg33 - g~3 ) '
represents the seismic loading. For combined seismic
and static loading, the same interaction ellipse or ellip-
h23 = (1/D)(gl2gl3 - gllg23),
soid would represent the combined loading, provided
the origin is appropriately shifted. h33 = (l/D) (gllg22 - g~2)
 A.K. Gupta, M.P. Singh /Seismic design of column sections 133

and References

D=gll(g22g33 -g~3 ) [1] S.L. Chu, M. Amin and S. Singh, Nucl. Eng. Des. 21 (1972)
126-136.
[21 A.K. Singh, S.L. Chu and S. Singh, Influence of closely
+ g12(g13g23 - g12g33 ) + g13(g12g23 - g13g22 ) • spaced modes in response spectrum method of analysis,
(A.5) Proceedings, ASCE Specialty Conference on Structural
Design of Nuclear Plant facilities, Chicago, Illinois, Dec.
(1973).