Application of unified equivalent frame method to two-way slab structures with beams

The current design codes present an equivalent frame method (EFM) for the analysis and design of two-way slab structures. However, since the EFM was developed to be suitable for two-way slab structures subjected to gravity loads only, it brings many problems in its application to the analysis of two-way slabs to which gravity and lateral loads are applied simultaneously. Therefore, authors proposed the unified equivalent frame method (UEFM) that can analyze the structural behavior of flat-plate slab systems subjected to gravity and lateral loads in their previous studies. In this study, the UEFM was modified to be applicable to the two-way slab system with beams. In addition, the accuracy of the proposed UEFM was then examined by comparing it to the lateral behaviors of the two-way slab specimens.