To evaluate the seismic torsional effect on multistory buildings, the concept of eccentricity is extended from single-story buildings to multistory buildings by defining the locations of the centers of rigidity at each floor. A practical procedure to locate the centers of rigidity and hence floor eccentricity is introduced. This procedure depends on the use of plane frame computer programs only and is suitable for use in design offices. The seismic torsional provisions in the National Building Code of Canada 1985 (NBCC 1985) explicitly emphasize that the code provisions apply to buildings where the centres of rigidity lie on a vertical axis only. By means of examples, it verifies the claim of NBCC 1985. Also, it shows that, for buildings with centers of rigidity scattered from a vertical axis, the code procedure may or may not apply. Therefore, one should interpret the condition of centers of rigidity located along a vertical axis to be a sufficient, but not a necessary, condition for the NBCC 85 code provisions to be applicable. Until the necessary conditions are known, dynamic analysis remains the most reliable method to assign the torsional effects to various portions of the building. Key words: building code, center of rigidity, dynamic analysis, eccentricity, irregular, multistory, seismic, torsion.
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