What are the limitations on allowable drift (sidesway) in metal buildings?
This topic is addressed in the AISC’s Steel Design Guide Series No. 3: Serviceability Design Considerations for Low-Rise Buildings, as well as in the 1996 MBMA Low Rise Building Systems Manual . The limitations for drift vary, depending on the type of material attached to the framing and the tolerance for movement. For example, for metal panels attached to framing, the recommended maximum drift is between H/60 and H/100 where H is the building height. It is also recommended that the wind load used to compute the drift when checking against these allowable limits should be based on a 10 year recurrence interval, which is approximately equal to 75% of the normal 50 year design wind pressure. For other types of cladding, refer to the references cited for more discussion.
