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Calculation of Extra Loads on Existing Structures Due to Installation of

Billboards

Conference Paper · December 2015

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 Calculation of Extra Loads on Existing Structures Due to Installation
of Billboards
Sairam Neridu1*, Venkata Dilip Kumar Pasupuelti2, Archana Dongre3
1*
Vidya Jyothi Institute of Technology, India ([email protected])
2
International Institute of Information and Technology, India ([email protected])
3
Department, Vidya Jyothi Institute of Technology, India ([email protected])

Abstract
Theme: Structural dynamics

Installation of billboards on existing structures has increased on either sides of major and minor roads
in the cities as well as in upcoming towns. They provide high economic to the local municipal
corporation or private business organizations. Till recently design of billboards in a country like India
were not much of serious, but recently due to high wind cyclones there was much effect to both
billboards and buildings on which billboards were installed. Currently this would not be a great threat
but if billboards are installed on buildings which were not designed for lateral loads it could lead to
greater destruction and fatalities during natural disasters like cyclones or typhoons. So it becomes an
important to do research on extra loads coming on to the structure during the peak cyclones.
In this study a building with frame structure is taken with a billboard which is existing in reality to
calculate the extra lateral and gravity loads induced due to installation of billboard. And for the same
dynamic analysis is carried out to understand the change in behavior of building with and without
billboard.

Keywords: Billboard, dynamic analysis, lateral loads, time history analysis

1. INTRODUCTION
An outdoor advertising sign in the form of a billboard consists of at least one display panel and the
supporting framework. Billboards may be freestanding, mounted to buildings, or attached to other
structures (figure-1). Modern billboards conform to engineering standards and are constructed of steel,
while older billboard structures are made of wood or angle iron frames. A billboard may be smaller
than the permitted size. This allows for the addition of a cutout or extension within the square foot
envelope of the permitted area [1].

Various sizes of billboards generally used for all kinds of advertisements raging from new products
release to political/government messages to all the public.
6 ft. x 12 ft. = 72 square feet
10.5 ft. x 36 ft. = 378 square feet
8 ft. x 12 ft. = 96 square feet
12 ft. x 40 ft. = 480 square feet
10 ft. x 22 ft. = 220 square feet
14 ft. x 48 ft. = 672 square feet
10 ft. x 24 ft. = 240 square feet
16 ft. x 60 ft. = 960 square feet
12 ft. x 25 ft. = 300 square feet
20 ft. x 50 ft. = 1,000 square feet

Types of billboards based on the materials used for construction are classified to be [2] a. Wood, b.
Steel A-frame, c. Multi-mast steel, d. Monopole and e. Digital billboards. Wood structure billboards
are constructed with wood post or pole supports with dimensional lumber as the secondary support (A-
frame) with a wood or metal catwalk and display panel(s). Supports may be imbedded in the ground.
There may be a foundation of concrete or gravel. Lighting, if present, is either fluorescent or mercury
vapor. Steel a-frame structure billboards are constructed with angle iron or steel supports with metal
framing, catwalk, and display panel(s). Supports may be imbedded in the ground. There may be a
foundation of concrete or gravel. Monopole structure is constructed with a tubular steel support (of
various circumferences), tubular steel framing, metal catwalk and display panel(s). The foundation is
concrete arrangements of display faces include 1) Single face, 2) Back-to-back, 3) V-build, side-by-
side, 4) Stacked, and 5) Tri-build configurations. Digital billboard is an outdoor advertising sign with a
light-emitting diode (LED) face.

Billboards are also categorized based on size, to name them a. Gantry Bill Board, b. Large Bill
Board, c. Medium Bill Board, and d. Small Bill Board [3]. A Gantry Billboard consists of a double-
sided bill-board panel positioned on a gantry structure that span the entire width or only part of the
road and which are constructed for the sole purpose of dis-playing advertisements. Gantry structures
support billboards ranging between 18 square meters to 81 square meters. Large billboards area range
from 41 square meters to 81 square meters. Whereas medium billboard size ranges from 19 square
meters to 40 square meters. Small billboards size range from 9 square meters to 18 square meters and
are widely used outdoor. They normally consist of a double-sided billboard panel.

The main objective of this study is to understand the change in behavior of existing structure after
installation of billboard. Due to huge demand of elevated places for advertising boards in growing
cities on the sides of road, the existing buildings are not checked structurally whether they could really
carry an extra load of billboards, especially during huge winds or earthquakes. As observed in
Hyderabad city, few structures have developed cracks and others have resulted in partial damage of
structure and complete collapse of billboard during huge winds as seen in figure-2 [4, 5].

2. STRUCTURE CONSIDERED
For this study a G+2 structure with billboard located at Raidurg, Hyderabad is considered, which is
shown in figure-3. Structural details for both existing structure and billboard have detailed below.
Existing structural building details
Bays along X direction: 3
Bays along Y direction: 3
Column Dimension: 0.3 x 0.23 m
Beam Dimension: 0.3 x 0.23 m
Grade of Concrete: M20
Grade of Steel: Fe415
Thickness of slab: 0.12 m

The plan of the structure is described in figure-3.1 consisting the location of columns, beams and span
lengths or bay lengths in both x and y directions. All the dimensions mentioned in the figure are in
meters.

Billboard considered for this study is of dimensions 9m wide and 13m height. The sections
considered are: Vertical column angle of size 60 mm x 60 mm x 8 mm, horizontal and inclined
bracings angle are of sizes 50 mm x 50 mm x 6 mm. The plan of the billboard and elevation of the
billboard are mentioned in the figure-4. This billboard consists of a thin sheet or thin membrane of
thickness 2 mm and covers 9 meters in width and 11 meters in height. For this study both static and
dynamic analysis has been carried out. Static analysis is done for wind loads to understand the extra
loads coming on to the existing structure, whereas dynamic analysis is carried to understand the
change in behavior of the complete structure after the installation of billboard. Time history analysis
is done for Uttarkasi ground motion.
 3. CALCULATION OF EXTRA LOADS
Figure-6 shows the analysis results obtained for both building without billboard and building with
billboard. Instead of plots directly obtained from SAP2000, building sections are represented
separately with SFD’s and BMD’s, so clear distinction can be seen for the sections which are getting
more shear forces and bending moments. As it can be seen in the figure-6(a), on the top floor the
increment of shear force at left end is 16 % and 33 % at its right end. For other two bottom floors
approximate increase in SFD is 20%. Coming to the bending moment increment, left end has 18 %
increment, center span has about 33% and right end has about 19 %, which are comparably very high.
And other two bottom floors have an increment about 22 %.
For section 2-2, on the top floor shear force increment due to installation of billboard is 19 %, 23 %,
39 %, 38 % and 22 % at beam column joints, which clearly indicates the average increment in shear
force is 28 %. And for bottom two floors the average increment is around 20 %. And increments in
bending moments are found to be 20 %, 2 %, 43 %, 38 % and 36 %, which are really high.

4. WIND LOAD CALUCULATION ( As per IS-875-part-3 )

Design wind speed, Vz = k1 k2 k3 Vb

From Table 1; IS: 875 (part 3) – 1987, k1 = 1.07 (risk coefficient assuming 100 years of design life)
From Table 2; IS: 875 (part 3) – 1987, k2 = 0.97 (assuming terrain category 3)
k3 = 1.0 (topography factor)
The building is situated in Hyderabad, the basic wind speed is 44 m/sec
Design wind speed, Vz = k1 k2 k3 Vb
Vz = 1.07 x 0.97x 1 x 44; Vz = 45.66 m/sec

Design wind pressure, Pd = 0.6 x Vz2 = 0.6 x (45.66)2 =1.250 Kn/m2

Wind Load on individual surfaces

The wind load, WL acting normal to the individual surfaces is given by WL = (Cpe – Cpi ) A*Pd
(a) Internal pressure coefficient, Assuming buildings with low degree of permeability Cpi = ± 0.2
(b) External pressure coefficient, External pressure coefficient for Bill Board
Calculation of total wind load on Bill Board
h/w = 22/6 = 3.67; L/w = 11/6 = 1.83
Exposed area of Bill Board per frame is A = 9 * 11 = 99 m2
Wind load on wall / frame, A pd = 99 * 1.250 = 123.75 kN

Calculation of pressure coefficient on Bill Board

Pressure Coefficients Wind load

Wind Angle ( Cpe - Cpi )
Cpe Cpe ( Cpe-Cpi )*A*Pz (KN)
(degree) Cpi
Wind Ward Lee Ward Wind ward Lee Ward Wind ward Lee Ward
0.7 -0.4 0.2 0.5 -0.6 61.875 -74.25
0 0.7 -0.4 -0.2 0.9 -0.2 111.375 -24.75
-0.5 -0.5 0.2 -0.7 -0.7 -86.625 -86.625
90 -0.5 -0.5 -0.2 -0.3 -0.3 -37.125 -37.125
 5. MODAL ANALYSIS
As a characteristic behavior of any structure depends on its mode shapes, which actually depends
on the geometry, material and boundary conditions, the same has been done for the structure
considered. The modal analysis is carried separately for all the three parts of the structure. First modal
analysis is carried for the building as seen in the figure-7. Before understanding the modal analysis,
few assumptions have been taken for making the actual structure simple to be modeled using finite
element based software SAP2000. In reality there were lumps of concrete on the slab and billboard
base was fixed to the lumps of concrete in cylinder shaped as seen in figure-5(a). There are other cases
were column heights were increased up to a meter and billboard bases are fixed to these extended
columns as seen in figure-5(b). This is a complex or confused boundary conditions for numerical
model. Complex only means consideration of contact analysis between the billboard angle sections
and column with bolts fixed as seen in the figure-5.

The first ten mode shapes obtained for the building are shown in the figure-7. The first mode
indicates the building has a natural frequency of 1.565 Hz, which is approximately a 0.6 seconds of
time period. The height of the building is 9 meters height. As described earlier the mode shapes are
directly related to geometry, material and boundary conditions, apart from the complete height and
complete width of the structure. As seen in the figure-7, as the mode number is increasing, the
frequency is also increasing till the tenth mode. For every three mode shapes the frequency increase is
very high. As seen from figure-7(c) to figure-7(d) and from figure-7(f) to figure-7(g).

As comparison of modal shapes of actual building, billboard and combined structure, the frequency
of combined structure has been decreased by a small amount when compared to only building. One of
the reasons might be because of the total height of the combined structure and billboards boundary
condition on top of the building.

6. TIME HISTORY ANALYSIS

Basic linear time history analysis is carried out using Uttarkasi earthquake ground motion for
building and billboard independently and for combined structure. Figure-10 shows the building,
billboard and combined structural joint locations where response is taken and plotted. Three joints 6, 7
and 8 are taken for the building. Six joints 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 70 for billboard. And the same joints
have been considered for combined structure.

Figure-11 shows the acceleration plot of Uttarkasi earthquake data, which has a time interval of
0.02 seconds and duration of 36.16 seconds. The time history analysis is carried out in both the
directions for same acceleration data.

From the figure-12, the maximum response of the structure is 0.4 m for joint-8, which is located at
the top of the structure as seen in figure-10. And minimum response is at the joint-6, which is quite
normal. Joint-7 has medium response as it is at the middle height of the structure.

When the same acceleration data is given in y-direction, the response of the structure is very less
compared to x-direction, and maximum response in y-direction is seen as 0.082 m for the same joint-8
located at the top of the building. Other two joints have similar behavior as in x-direction but less
response. One of the major reasons for this less response is due to stiffness increment in y-direction
due to column stiffness. As described earlier, the dimension of column in x-direction is 0.23 m, where
as it is 0.3 m in y-direction.
When time history analysis is done for billboard alone, the responses obtained in both x and y
directions for defined joints are shown in the figure-14 and figure-15 respectively. Similar to the
results of the building responses, the response of billboard is more in x-direction when compared to y-
direction. But in total the response of the billboard is very less when compared to the building
response.
 The reason for lesser response in y-direction is due to its higher stiffness, seen in the plan of the
billboard.

Figure-16 and figure-17 show the responses obtained for the building after the installation of
billboard on it in x and y directions respectively. And the responses considered are the same joints of
the building without billboard. In this case the maximum response is 0.32 meters for the joint-8,
located at the top of the structure. As similar to above cases the response of the structure in y-direction
is less, because of its higher stiffness in y-direction. This also indicates that installation of any
structure on top of the building will change the complete response or behavior of the existing
structure.

Figure-18 and figure-19 show responses of the billboard, and when the results are compared with only
billboard, there is a large variation in the response. The maximum response of the billboard is 1.4
meter, which is really very high. This could be because of the base boundary conditions considered in
the numerical modeling. But even this result demonstrates the huge variation in the behavior of
billboard.

Similarly the response in y-direction, they are very huge when compared to only billboard response
towards the same earthquake ground motion. Surely the installation of billboard on the roof could be
really disastrous at the time of earthquakes. This study has indicated in the above results.

To understand the actual behavior change in the building, six separate plots have been plotted for
each three joints in both x and y direction. From figure-20 it can be seen that the actual response of
building has reduced after installation of billboard, which could be because damping affect by the
billboard.

Similarly, all the obtained results show the similar behavior, that is reduce in response due to
installation of billboard on the structure, for considered type of billboard. At some points the response
of the structure is really very low when compared to the actual response of the building. There could
be various reasons for this change in behavior of the building responses. Apart from the geometry,
material and boundary conditions it could also because of the attachment of both the structures.

7. CONCLUSION
A preliminary numerical study has been done to understand the behavior of the building with and
without installation of billboard. As there are many cases in Hyderabad, where buildings are not being
checked whether they could withstand the extra loads transferred by the billboards during the huge
winds or earthquakes and billboards are installed regularly on old and new structures without proper
design considerations.

This type of sudden installation of billboards could be very disastrous in both threat for life and
economic loss during natural calamities. This study has indicated that the behavior will change for
both building and billboard if combined together, by analyzing them in terms of modal analysis and
time history analysis.

8. FUTURE WORK
As this was a preliminary study, more numerical models have to be analyzed before going for a
strong conclusion. The next future work would be calculation of extra lateral loads coming on to the
existing structure due to wind pressure on the billboards, carried by different types of billboards
installed on the structures. Also considering different types of boundary conditions or attachments of
billboard to a building.
 REFERENCES

[1] ARKANSAS BILLBOARD VALUATION GUIDE, 2015.

[2] Billboard structures valuation guide, Revision 2009. North Carolina, Department of revenue property tax
division.
[3] Billboard guidelines, SAMOAC, February 2011, Class notes
[4] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2457394/Cyclone-Phailin-hits-India-kills-seven-600k-flee.html
[5] http://www.sefindia.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=16461
[6] SAP 2000, User notes
[7] IS-875-part-3 for Wind load
 Fig. 1: Different types of Bill Boards

Fig. 2: Damages of Bill Boards and partial damage of structure (Hudhud cyclone, 2014)
Fig. 3: Existing structure considered for this study

Fig. 3.1: Considered building plan for this study

 Fig. 4: Plan and elevation details of billboard considered.

Fig. : 5 a) Lumped concrete base b) extended column support

Fig. 6: Shear force and bending moments comparison of building with and without billboard for all the sections.
Fig. : 7 First ten mode shapes of building (M = mode number, F = frequency of the concerned mode).
Fig. 8: First ten modes of billboard (M = mode number, F = frequency of the concerned mode)
Fig. 9: First ten modes of combined structure (M = mode number, F = frequency of the concerned mode)
Fig. 10: Joints locations considered for plotting the response.

Fig. 11: Uttarkasi ground motion considered

Fig. 12: Response of building in x-direction at three joints

Fig. 13: Response of building in y-direction at three joints

Fig. 14: Response of billboard in x-direction at six joints

Fig. 15: Response of billboard in y-direction at six joints

Fig. 16: Response of building in x-direction after installation of billboard

Fig. 17: Response of building in y-direction after installation of billboard

Fig. 18: Response of billboard in x-direction for combined structure

Fig. 19: Response of billboard in y-direction for combined structure

Fig. 20: Comparison of responses of same joint-6 of the building with and without installation of billboard in x-direction

Fig. 21: Comparison of responses of same joint-6 of the building with and without installation of billboard in y-direction
Fig. 22: Comparison of responses of same joint-7 of the building with and without installation of billboard in x-direction

Fig. 23: Comparison of responses of same joint-7 of the building with and without installation of billboard in y-direction
 Fig. 24: Comparison of responses of same joint-8 of the building with and without installation of billboard in x-direction

Fig. 25: Comparison of responses of same joint-8 of the building with and without installation of billboard in y-direction

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