Let’s dive into what those numbers actually mean, why ETABS sometimes lies to you (well, not lies , but misleads you), and how to use this table to save your design. In simple terms, the Mass Summary tells you how much weight is pushing down on each level of your building—and more importantly, how that weight moves sideways during an earthquake.
ETABS doesn't just use "dead load." It calculates mass based on your load combinations. Specifically, for seismic analysis (per ASCE 7, IS 1893, or Eurocode 8), it typically uses: etabs mass summary by story
Self-weight assignment.
If you’ve ever run a seismic analysis in ETABS, you’ve probably scrolled past the Mass Summary by Story table. It looks harmless enough—just a few columns of numbers under the Display > Show Tables > Analysis > Results > Structure Output menu. Let’s dive into what those numbers actually mean,
He forgot to check the Mass Summary. The summary showed that 70% of the building's mass was concentrated on the 5th floor (UX value was huge). No amount of shear walls on floors 1-4 could fix that torsion without massive foundation changes. He had to add stiffness at the 5th floor . Specifically, for seismic analysis (per ASCE 7, IS
If you use Rigid Diaphragms, your Mass Summary will show a single point mass at the CM. This is fine for simple boxes. But if you have a podium slab or a building with a hole (an atrium), using a rigid diaphragm will overestimate torsion because mass is artificially concentrated.
But when he ran the modal analysis, the building had massive torsion. He spent days adding shear walls.
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