Investigation of the vertical distribution of seismic forces in the static force and equivalent lateral force procedures for seismic design of multistory buildings

In the seismic design of multistory buildings one must calculate the design base shear force. The base shear force is a seismic force, horizontal to the building's frame. This force is distributed to the building corresponding to the motion of the building.; The most accurate method of calculating the story force distribution is a dynamic method which is inherently complex. Due to this complexity, approximate methods have been derived by both the Uniform Building Code (UBC) and the International Building Code (IBC). These approximate methods are the Static Force Procedure and the Equivalent Lateral Force Procedure respectively.; A discrepancy arises between these two approximate methods in how they distribute the seismic forces to the individual stories of a building.; The purpose of this study is to compare the approximate methods to the dynamic method of story force distribution. This comparison is done in order to determine which building code's approximate method is closest to the dynamic method.