Seismic Waves in Buildings with Shear Walls or Central Core

Two‐dimensional continuous models have been used to investigate the effects of the propagation of seismic waves into buildings with shear walls at the ends and with a central core. Neglecting the soil‐structure interaction, analytical solutions have been obtained for the displacement response to monochromatic SH‐waves, propagating with finite phase velocities on the surface of the homogeneous half‐space. Two‐dimensional models were found to be more representative than the equivalent one‐dimensional models of the response characteristics of such buildings. It will be shown that shear walls at the ends reduce the horizontal whip‐ping of the building, that the central core does not reduce the torsional displacements, and that the core may allow too much horizontal whipping of the free ends of the building. It is suggested that the shear‐resisting elements are more efficient if placed symmetrically and closer to the ends of long buildings.