Issue 30

C. Yunyu, Frattura ed Integrità Strutturale, 30 (2014) 545-551; DOI: 10.3221/IGF-ESIS.30.65 546 i i i V K   (1) where: i K is the lateral rigidity in the th i layer; i V is the shearing force of the th i layer influenced by a horizontal earthquake (lateral force); i  is the inter-story displacement of the th i layer relative to the 1 th i  layer influenced by a lateral force[3]. For theoretical analysis purposes, the following problems arise among the computing methods for calculating the lateral layer stiffness of hospital building structures: (1) the rigidity of the structural component or lateral layer is the only parameter related to the physical and geometric characteristics of the component and its composing structure, namely once the structure takes shape it becomes the inherent characteristic of the structure itself, which is only related to its own physical geometric characteristics and has nothing to do with the external load, but both i V and i  in type (1) are the calculation results determined by the lateral force, and they are inevitably related with the external load, which changes along with lateral layer rigidity [4]. (2) In type (1), inter-story displacement i  is caused by a lateral force (horizontal earthquake action), when calculating the inter-story displacement i  in the th i layer. Its value inevitably contains the mechanical deformation influence of many vertical components in the other storeys and, therefore, cannot reflect the contribution of the vertical component’s mechanical deformation in the th i layer, while it is the integration of both mechanical and non- mechanical deformation. As a result, lateral rigidity i K in the th i layer, calculated by applying i  , will inevitably be on the low side [5]. (3) The research indicates that the inter-story displacement i  in type (1) is the combined result of the component’s mechanical and non-mechanical deformation. The displacement between the upper storeys in hospital building structures is primarily the result of the components' non-mechanical deformation, while mechanical deformation tends to account for a very small proportion of the displacement; thus, as the vertical component’s cross-section in this regional floor decreases or storey height increases, the rigidity of the components is significantly weakened. But the lateral layer stiffness calculated according to type (1) is almost the same or changes only slightly, which probably results in what would appear to be a deviation or miscalculation when determining the location of the weak structural layer. And the collapse in the upper floors of many hospital buildings during the Kobe earthquake in Japan is a good representative example of this [6]. (4) Under the effects of a horizontal earthquake, the story shear i V of the structural top floor would change greatly, when the component rigidity itself of vertical layer in this area does not changes a lot, but the lateral layer rigidity calculated according to type (1) would change a lot, which is also the unreasonable representation of this method . (5) The seismic safety of the bottom floors of hospital building structures is the concerned question of seismic design, when the storey height at the bottom of the structure has larger demands, due to building function, it tends to form a weak storey at the bottom, the lateral rigidity at the bottom determined by type (1) would be misjudged, as it does not conform to physical truth at this moment, thus it will produce problems in respect of structural seismic safety [7]. T HE PRELIMINARY VALIDATION METHOD ig. 1 shows the vertical component of different rotational restraints on both the upper and lower ends, although the component itself has the same condition, the lateral rigidity of these components needs to be calculated using different formulas (the influence of shear deformation is excluded). 3 1 3 K EI h  (2) 3 2 1 12 4 K EI h K   (3) 3 1 2 1 0 1 ( ) K K K K K h    (4) F