A comparative study of the effects of cladding panel modelling

AbstractA study was done on the macroscopic effects on a frame's behavior when cladding panels are structurally incorporated into the analysis. The following is a report on the effects of cladding panels on the natural vibration frequencies of a structural frame. The microscopic effects of the panel's inclusion, i.e. the stresses internal to the panel itself, are not studied. A two story, one bay frame with a single cladding panel at mid-height was used throughout the analysis. The cladding panel was represented by five different models; 4 noded, 16 DOF (degrees-of-freedom) rectangular finite element, 4 noded, 12 DOF rectangular finite element, 4 and 8 noded quadrilateral plane stress elements with only two translational DOF at each node, and an analogous frame model. To analyze the effect of discretization on the results with each model, the cladding panel was subdivided into meshes varying from 1 to 16 elements. The results of each model with the various meshes were compared. Frame behavior as a function of panel height was also studied. Ratios of panel height to story height of 30%, 50%, 70% and 90% were used. The degree of fixity of the elements connecting the panel to the frame varied from a pinned connection to full fixity. The data indicates that incorporation of cladding panels results in a dramatic reduction in a structure's natural periods of vibration