©COMPUTERS AND STRUCTURES, INC.

, BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA AUGUST 2002

CONCRETE FRAME DESIGN BS 8110-97
Technical Note
Design Load Combinations

The design load combinations define the various factored combinations of the
load cases for which the structure is to be checked. The design load combina-
tions are obtained by multiplying the characteristic loads by appropriate par-
tial factors of safety, γf (BS 2.4.3.1.1, Table 2.1, 3.1.6). If a structure is sub-
jected to dead load (DL) and live load (LL) only, the design will need only one
loading combination, namely 1.4 DL + 1.6 LL. However, in addition to the
dead load and live load, if the structure is subjected to wind (WL) and earth-
quake (EL) loads, and considering that those loads are subject to reversals,
the following load combinations for ultimate limit state might need to be con-
sidered (BS 2.4.3):

1.4 DL
1.4 DL + 1.6 LL (BS 2.4.3.1.1, Table 2.1, 3.1.6)

1.0 DL ± 1.4 WL
1.4 DL ± 1.4 WL
1.2 DL + 1.2 LL ± 1.2 WL (BS 2.4.3.1.1, Table 2.1, 3.1.6)

1.0 DL ± 1.4 EL
1.4 DL ± 1.4 EL
1.2 DL + 1.2 LL ± 1.2 EL

These are the default load combinations. In addition to the above load combi-
nations, the code requires that all buildings should be capable of resisting a
notional design ultimate horizontal load applied at each floor or roof level. The
notional load should be equal to 0.015 times the dead load (BS 3.1.4.2). It is
recommended that the user define additional load cases for considering the
notional load in this program.

Live load reduction factors, as allowed by some design codes, can be applied
to the member forces of the live load case on a member-by-member basis to
reduce the contribution of the live load to the factored loading. See Technical
Note Overwrites Concrete Frame Design BS 8110-97 for more information.

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