13th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering

Vancouver, B.C., Canada

August 1-6, 2004
Paper No. 2805

REVISED INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 3010

BASES FOR DESIGN OF STRUCTURES
- SEISMIC ACTIONS ON STRUCTURES

Yuji ISHIYAMA1 and Hitoshi HATAMOTO2

SUMMARY

The International Standard “ISO 3010 Bases for design of structures - Seismic actions on structures” was
published in 1988 through the activity of the working group of ISO/TC98. TC98 deals with “Bases for
design of structures.” The aim of TC98 is to create a coherent design system of International Standards in
the field of building and civil engineering works. ISO 3010 includes principles for the determination of
seismic actions on structures and seismic design. The revision of ISO 3010 began in 1995, and the revised
ISO 3010 was issued in December 2001. This paper introduces the activities of TC98 and the outline of
the revised ISO 3010.

INTRODUCTION

The first edition of International Standard “ISO 3010 Bases for design of structures - Seismic actions on
structures” [1] was published in 1988 through the activity of the working group in ISO/TC98. TC98 deals
with “Bases for design of structures.” The aim of TC98 is to create a coherent design system of
International Standards in the field of building and civil engineering works. The system forms a basis for
regional and national standard bodies which prepare their standards for particular types of structures and
structural materials. ISO 3010 includes principles for the determination of seismic actions on structures
and seismic design. Since it does not give any specific values for factors to determine seismic loadings, it
is not possible to design a structure only according to ISO 3010. Its annexes, however, give useful
information to determine the values for those factors. ISO 3010 includes almost all items and factors to be
considered. Therefore it is a useful document for establishing a new code or revising an old one. These
features of ISO 3010 remain the same in the revision. This paper introduces the activities of TC98 and the
revised ISO 3010.

1
Professor, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan. Email: yuji@eng.hokudai.ac.jp
2
Researcher, Institute of International Harmonization for Building and Housing (IIBH), Tokyo, Japan.
Email: main@iibh.org
 ISO/TC98

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a worldwide federation of national standards
bodies. The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical
committees (TC’s). Each TC has several sub-committees (SC’s) and each SC usually has several working
groups (WG’s). Currently there are approximately 200 TC’s, 600 SC’s and 2,000 WG’s in ISO.

ISO/TC98 is one of the TC's which deals with “Bases for design of structures”. The aim of TC98 is to
create a coherent design system of International Standards in the field of building and civil engineering
works. The system forms a basis for regional and national standard bodies that prepare their standards for
particular types of structures and structural materials. Since TC98 was established in 1961, its secretariat
has been in the Polish Committee for Standardization. In TC98 there are 22 participating members and 35
observers (one member or one observer from each country). TC98 has three main tasks that are shared
among three SC’s; (1) terminology and symbols, (2) reliability of structures, and (3) loads, forces and
other actions on structures [2].

SC1 - Terminology and symbols

SC1 deals with the definitions and explanations of the terms used in the standards and other documents
which are prepared by TC98, since very often the meanings of certain terms are different from their
meanings in everyday language. The terms need to be well understood and correctly used without
ambiguity. Also, similar terms have slightly different meanings in different languages. The task of
establishing a coherent terminology system is essentially important. SC1 is concerned in symbols and their
subscripts and superscripts as well.

SC2 - Reliability of structures

The reliability of structures is understood as a combination of their safety and serviceability. These are
verified in two separate groups of limit states, i.e. (1) ultimate limit state and (2) serviceability limit state.
In both limit states, all parameters such as loads, material properties, structural dimensions, etc. are
considered as random variables. Because complete knowledge of statistical distributions of these
parameters is lacking, the randomness is considered by a system of partial factors.

SC2 is responsible for ISO 2394:1988 "General principles on reliability of structures". ISO 2394,
sometimes called the bible of TC98, introduces fundamental methods for verifying the reliability of
structures and is the normative reference to ISO 3010.

SC3 - Loads, forces and other actions

SC3 elaborates the bases for various categories of loads, e.g. loads due to service loads in various types of
buildings, forces caused by wind and by snow on roofs. Since 2001, SC3 has been dealing with seismic
actions, which had been dealt with by WG1 which belonged directly to TC98. Recently, SC3 has started
to prepare two new international standards. One is for seismic actions on geotechnical works and the other
is for actions from waves and currents. The values of these actions can be given only in relatively large
limits, because conditions vary considerably between countries. However, the bases for treatment of the
actual data and methods of their measurement can be standardized.

TC98 cooperates with several international organizations. Their recommendations and guidelines are
systematically used as kinds of pre-standardization documents. For the last few years, the most important
partner has been European Committee for Standardization (CEN), and particularly its Technical
Committee 250, Structural Eurocodes. Both parties can use their documents on a reciprocal basis and
develop them into ISO standards and Eurocodes, respectively (Vienna Agreement) [3]. By an extensive
use of common bases for design of structures, a considerable economy of time, material and money can be
achieved.

REVISION OF ISO 3010

The first edition of ISO 3010 was elaborated in WG1 under TC98. The convener was the late Professor
Yutaka OSAWA of the University of Tokyo, who was succeeded by Professor Yutaka MATSUSHIMA of
the University of Tsukuba. Since the revision of the first edition started in 1995, the convener has been
Yuji Ishiyama, one of the authors.

ISO 3010 had not been included in the Earthquake Resistant Regulations a World List, which is published
by the International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE) every four years when the World
Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE) is held. Therefore, it was not so visible to many people.
However, ISO 3010 was for the first time included in the Regulations for seismic design A world list -
1996 of IAEE [4]. This hopefully made the standard familiar to many researchers and engineers.

The standards prepared by TC98 serve as references in the field of building and civil engineering works,
and are frequently called “Code for Code Writers”. They are also expected to serve as guidelines for issues
during construction. As for ISO 3010, it includes only principles for the determination of seismic actions
and seismic design. It does not give any specific values for factors to determine design seismic forces.
Therefore it is not possible to determine seismic loads or to design a structure only according to ISO 3010.
The annexes of ISO 3010, however, give information to determine those values.

ISO 3010 includes almost all items and factors to be considered. Therefore it is a useful document for
establishing a new code or revising an old one. These features of the standard remain the same in the
revised ISO 3010. The revision of the text is rather minor, but the annexes are extensively modified to
include the current knowledge on earthquake engineering. The revised ISO 3010 consists of ten clauses
and ten informative annexes.

EVALUATION OF SEISMIC ACTIONS BY EQUIVALENT STATIC ANALYSIS

The evaluation of seismic actions by equivalent static analysis in Clause 8 of the revised ISO 3010 [5] can
be summarized as follows:

In the seismic analysis of structures based on a method using equivalent static loading, the variable
seismic actions for the ultimate and serviceability limit states may be evaluated as follows:

Ultimate limit state (ULS)

The design lateral seismic force at the i th level of a structure for ULS, FE,u,i , may be determined by:
n
FE,u,i = γ E,u k Z k E,u k D k R k F,i ∑F
j =1
G, j (1)

or the design lateral seismic shear force of the i th level for ULS, VE,u,i , may be used instead of the above
seismic force,
n
VE,u,i = γ E,u k Z k E ,u k D k R k V,i ∑F
j =i
G, j (2)
where,
γE,u is the load factor related to the reliability of the structure for ULS;
kZ is the seismic hazard zoning factor to be specified in the national code or other national documents;
kE,u is the representative value of earthquake ground motion intensity for ULS to be specified in national
codes or other national documents considering seismicity;
kD is the structural factor to be specified for various structural systems according to their ductility,
acceptable deformation, restoring force characteristics and overstrength;
kR is the ordinate of the normalized design response spectrum, as a function of the fundamental natural
period of the structure considering the effect of soil conditions and damping of the structure;
kF,i is the seismic force distribution factor of the i th level to distribute the seismic shear force at the base
to each level, which characterizes the vertical distribution of seismic forces, where kF,i satisfies the
condition ∑ k F,i = 1 ;
kV,i is the seismic shear distribution factor of the i th level which is the ratio of the seismic shear factor of
the i th level to the seismic shear factor of the base, and characterizes the vertical distribution of seismic
shear forces, where kV,i = 1 at the base and usually becomes largest at the top;
FG,j is the gravity load at the j th level of the structure;
n is the number of levels above the base.

Serviceability limit state (SLS)

The design lateral seismic force at the i th level of a structure for SLS FE,s,i may be determined by:
n
FE,s,i = γ E,s k Z k E,s k R k F,i ∑F
j =1
G, j (3)

or the design lateral seismic shear force of the i th level for SLS VE,s,i can be used instead of the above
seismic force,
n
VE,s,i = γ E,s k Z k E,s k R k V,i ∑F
j =i
G, j (4)

where,
γ E,s is the load factor related to the reliability of the structure for SLS;
kE,s is the representative value of earthquake ground motion intensity for SLS to be specified in national
codes or other national documents considering seismicity.

kE,u and kE,s may be replaced by a unique representative value kE as specified in ISO 2394 [6] in the
verification procedure, by which the reliability of the structure and the consequences of failure, including
the significance of the type of failure, are taken into account to specify the load factors γE,u and γ E,s .

Specific values for these factors are not given in the text. The annexes, however, describe informatively
the factors as follows (Equation, table and figure numbers are not the same as in the revised ISO 3010) :

Structural factor
The structural factor kD is to reduce design seismic forces and shear forces, taking into account the
ductility, acceptable deformation, restoring force characteristics and overstrength (or overcapacity) of the
structure. The factor can be divided into two factors, namely kDµ and kDs and expressed as the product of
them, where kDµ is related to ductility, acceptable deformation and restoring force characteristics, whereas
kDs is related to overstrength.
Recent studies indicate that kDµ also depends on the natural period of vibration of the structure and the
possible reduction in strength remains minimal for structures having a shorter fundamental natural period.
kDs is a function of the difference between the actual strength and calculated strength and varies according
to the method of strength calculation. Quantification of these factors is a matter of debate, and one generic
term kD has been adopted in most codes.

The structural factor kD may be, for example,

- 1/5 to 1/3 for systems with excellent ductility,
- 1/3 to 1/2 for systems with medium ductility,
- 1/2 to 1 for systems with poor ductility.

These values of kD are under continuing investigation and may take other values in some circumstances.

Load factors and representative values

γ E,u and γ E,s are, for example, listed in Tables 1 and 2 for a region of relatively high seismic hazard, along
with the representative values of earthquake ground motion intensity kE,u and kE,s. An example using the
unity load factor for a normal degree of importance is shown in Table 1, while a common representative
value kE is used in Table 2.

Table 1 – Example 1 for load factors γ E,u and γ E,s

and representative values kE,u and kE,s (where kE,u ≠ kE,s )
DEGREE OF Return period for
LIMIT STATE γ E,u or γ E,s kE,u or kE,s
IMPORTANCE kE,u or kE,s
a) High 1.5 – 2.0
Ultimate b) Normal 1.0 0.4 500 years
c) Low 0.4 – 0.8
a) High 1.5 – 3.0
Serviceability b) Normal 1.0 0.08 20 years
c) Low 0.4 – 0.8

Table 2 – Example 2 for load factors γ E,u and γ E,s

and representative value kE
DEGREE OF kE Return period for
LIMIT STATE γ E,u or γ E,s
IMPORTANCE = kE,u = kE,s kE
a) High 3.0 – 4.0
Ultimate b) Normal 2.0
c) Low 0.8 – 1.6
0.2 100 years
a) High 0.6 – 1.2
Serviceability b) Normal 0.4
c) Low 0.16 – 0.32
Normalized design response spectrum
The normalized design response spectrum can be interpreted as an acceleration spectrum normalized by
the maximum ground acceleration for design purpose. It may be of the form as illustrated in Figure 1. In
the figure, kR is the ordinate of the normalized design response spectrum, and kRo is a factor dependent on
the soil profile and the characteristics of the structure, e.g. the damping of the structure. For a structure
with a damping ratio of 0.05 resting on average quality soil, kRo may be taken as 2 to 3. T is the
fundamental natural period of the structure, Tc and T’c are the corner periods related to the soil condition,
and η is an exponent that can vary from 1/3 to 1. T’c may be taken as 1/5 to 1/2 of Tc .

For example, Tc can be taken as

- 0.3 to 0.5 s for stiff and hard soil conditions,
- 0.5 to 0.8 s for intermediate soil conditions,
- 0.8 to 1.2 s for loose and soft soil conditions.

For structures with a fundamental natural period shorter than T’c , it is recommended to use kR = kRo as
indicated by the dotted line in Figure 1, because of the uncertainties in ground motion characteristics and
the unconservative estimation of structural factor kD in this range. For determining forces at longer
periods, it is recommended that a lower limit be considered as indicated by the dashed line in Figure 1.
The value of this level may be taken as 1/3 to 1/5 of kRo.

kRo
Normalized design response

η
⎛T ⎞
kRo ⎜ c ⎟
⎝T ⎠
spectral ordinate kR

T’c Tc

Natural period T
Figure 1 - Normalized design response spectrum

Seismic force distribution factor

The seismic force distribution factor kF,i, which is identical to the coefficient of seismic force distribution
φ,i described in the original ISO 3010, can be determined by
FG,i hiν
k F,i = n
(5)
∑F j =1
G, j h ν
j

where,
FG,i is the gravity load of the structure at the i th level,
hi is the height above the base to the i th level,
n is the number of levels above the base.
The exponent ν may be taken as follows:
- ν = 0 for very low buildings (up to two-story buildings), or structures for which T ≤ 0.2 s,
- ν = 0 to 1 for low-rise buildings (three to five-story buildings), or structures for which 0.2 s < T ≤
0.5 s,
- ν = 1 to 2 for intermediate buildings, or structures for which 0.5 s < T ≤ 1.5 s,
- ν = 2 for high-rise buildings (higher than 50 meters or more than fifteen-story buildings),
or structures for which T > 1.5 s.

The seismic force distribution factor kF,i given by Equation (5) is shown in Figure 2a), as the solid line for
ν = 0, as the dashed curve for ν = 1, and as the dash-dotted curve for ν = 2. Seismic shear distribution
factor kV,i and seismic shear VE,i normalized by the base shear, calculated from kF,i , are shown in Figure
2b) and Figure 2c), respectively. The dotted curves in Figure 2a-c) show the distribution for the shear type
structure subjected to white noise excitation given by Equation (8) where k1 =0 and k2=1.

Seismic force distribution factor for high-rise buildings

Since Equation (5) does not give an appropriate seismic force distribution for high-rise buildings, even if
the exponent ν becomes 2 (compare dash-dotted curves and dotted curves in Figure 2a-c). A modified
seismic distribution factor was introduced in the revised ISO 3010.

The seismic force distribution factor kF,i for high-rise buildings can be determined by

k F,n = ρ (6)
FG, i hi
k F, i = (1 − ρ ) n
(7)
∑F
j =1
G, j hj

where, ρ is the factor to give a concentrated force at the top and is approximately equal to 0.1.

Seismic shear distribution factor

In the case of more complicated buildings such as buildings with uneven weight distribution, Equations
(6) and (7) do not always give an appropriate seismic force distribution factor. For example, a
concentrated force at the top is not practical for buildings with setbacks. Therefore, the revised ISO 3010
introduced the new concept of the seismic shear distribution factor kV,i in addition to the conventional
seismic force distribution factor kF,i. The factor kV,i is interpreted as the shear factor of the i th level
normalized by the base shear factor.

The seismic shear distribution factor kV,i can be determined by

⎛ 1 ⎞
k V,i = 1 + k1 (1 − α i ) + k 2 ⎜ − 1⎟ (8)
⎜ α ⎟
⎝ i ⎠

where, k1 and k2 are factors from 0 to 1 and determined mainly by the height or the fundamental natural
period of the structure, and αi is the normalized weight which is given by
 n

∑F
j =i
G, j

αi = n
(9)
∑F
j =1
G, j

The normalized weight is used instead of the height of levels above the base, because the normalized
weight is more convenient and rational to express the distribution of seismic force parameters. The
ordinate in Figure 2a-c) is the normalized weight.

The seismic shear distribution factor kV,i given by Equation (8) is shown as the solid line in Figure 2b) for
k1 = 0 and k2 = 0 (uniform distribution of seismic forces), as the dashed curve for k1 = 1 and k2 = 0
(inverted triangular distribution of seismic forces), and as the dotted curve for k1 = 0 and k2 = 1 (seismic
force distribution for shear type structures subjected to white noise excitation). Seismic force parameters
kF,i and VE,i calculated from kV,i are shown in Figure 2a) and Figure 2c), respectively. The dash-dotted
curves in Figure 2a-c) correspond to the distribution given by Equation(5) with parameterν = 2.

The advantage of this seismic shear distribution factor kV,i is that, with appropriate k1 and k2, this equation
can provide more appropriate seismic shear distribution for a wide variety of structures from very low to
high-rise buildings.

The factors k1 and k2 for Equation (8) may be taken as follows:

- k1 ≅ 0 and k2 ≅ 0 for very low buildings,
- k1 ≅ 1 and k2 ≅ 0 for low-rise buildings,
- k1 ≅ 0.5 and k2 ≅ 0.5 for intermediate buildings,
- k1 ≅ 0 and k2 ≅ 1 for high-rise buildings.
Normalized weight αi

a) Seismic force b) Seismic shear c) Normalized seismic

distribution factor kF,i distribution factor kV,i shear force VE,i
Figure 2 - Distribution of seismic force parameters

Figure 2c) shows the normalized distribution of seismic shear VE,i corresponding to the seismic force
distribution factor kF,i in Figure 2a) and the seismic shear distribution factor kV,i in Figure 2b). The line
types are the same in all figures. The relationship among seismic force parameters kF,i , kV,i and VE,i can be
well understood by comparing these four line types. This comparison becomes possible because of the
introduction of the normalized weight in Equation (9).
It is of interest that kF,i and kV,i for structures subjected to white noise excitation (dotted curves) become
infinitely large at αi =0. However, VE,i is zero at this level and gradually increases as αi increases.
Because of this feature of Equation (8), it is no longer necessary to apply a concentrated force at the top as
provided by Equation (6) for high-rise buildings.

Since the deformation caused by the earthquake ground motions concentrates at the level which has less
stiffness. For buildings with structural irregularities, however, kF,i and kV,i should be adjusted to
take such behavior into account.

OTHER AMENDMENTS

The revised ISO 3010 has two new annexes. The outline of various response control systems including
seismic isolation (base isolation) are described in Annex I. Since the effectiveness of the response control
system depends on the type of structure, soil and ground motion characteristics and the system itself.
Appropriate dynamic analysis is required to evaluate the usefulness of the control system installed.
"Para-seismic" influences to the structure are described in Annex J. Some of these influences can be
estimated by using equations described in clause 8 with appropriate variables.

CONCLUSIONS

The second edition of "ISO 3010 Bases for design of structures - Seismic actions on structures" was
published in December 2001. The basic concept of the standard remains the same as the first edition.
However, it incorporates some new information to evaluate seismic actions more accurately for high-rise
buildings and buildings with structural irregularities. Also some detailed information for the determination
of seismic actions was incorporated. The differences of the structure of these two versions are summarized
in Table 3. The revised ISO 3010 is expected to be used as a raw material for new national regulations or
as a guideline for revising existing national regulations.
ISO standards are subject to periodic review, usually every five years. ISO 3010 is to be reviewed in 2006.

Table 3 – Comparision of structure of ISO 3010

Clauses First edition (1988) Second edition (2001)

In low seismic hazard region, structural
Scope 1 1
integrity design may be used.
Normative
2 ISO 2394 2 ISO 2394
reference
Terms and
- 3 New clause
definitions
Symbols and
- 4 New clause
abbreviations
Bases for
design 3 Earthquake-resistant design 5 Seismic design
 Table 3 – cont,

Clauses First edition (1988) Second edition (2001)

"Response control system" and
Principles of
4 6 "Foundations" are amended in 6.6 and
design
6.7.
Principles of
evaluating "Spatial variation of earthquake ground
5 7
seismic motions" is amended in 7.3.e.
ti
Equivalent "Lateral seismic shear force" VE,s,i and
6 8
static analysis VE,u,i are introduced.
Dynamic 7.2 a) the response spectrum 9.2 a) the response spectrum analysis
7 analyses. 9 for linear or equivalent linear system; or
analysis
7.2 b) the time history 9.2 b) the time history analyses for
Para-seismic - 10 New clause

A.1 Importance factor A.1 Load factors related to the reliability of

the structure
A.2 Seismic hazard zoning factor
A.3 Representative values of earthquake
ground motion intensity
A.2 Parameters on ductility B. Structural factor
A.3 Dynamic coefficient C. Normalized design response spectrum
Annex A.4 Seismic force distribution D. Seismic force and seismic shear
distribution
A.5 Seismic action components E. Components of seismic action
A.6 Torsional moments F. Torsional moments
A.7 Dynamic response G. Dynamic response
A.8 Damping ratio H. Damping ratio
I. Response control system
J. Para-seismic influences

REFERENCES

1. ISO “ISO 3010 Bases for design of structures - Seismic actions on structures, First edition (1988-
07-01),” 1988.
2. Brandt, A.M. “Standards for building standards to build on,” ISO bulletin, International
Organization for Standardization, 1998, pp.13-15.
3. ISO, CEN “Guidelines for TC/SC Chairmen and Secretariats for implementation of the Agreement
on technical cooperation between ISO and CEN (Vienna Agreement)”, 1998.
4. IAEE “Regulations for seismic design A world list - 1996,” International Association for
Earthquake Engineering, 1996.
5. ISO “ISO 3010 Bases for design of structures - Seismic actions on structures, Second edition
(2001-12-01)”, 2001, pp. 7.
6. ISO “ISO 2394 General principles on reliability for structures, Third edition (1998-06-01)”, 1998,
pp. 14.