A cantilever beam analogy for quantifying higher mode effects in multistorey buildings

Summary This paper examines higher mode effects in systems where the ductile mechanism for seismic design is the base moment‐rotation response. The modal properties of flexural and shear beams with uniform mass and elasticity and with a variable amount of base rotational restraint are derived. As the base fixity is released, the first mode becomes the rigid body rotation of the beam about the base, but the higher modes change much less, …