MODULE 3

Syllabus

Design of buildings for earthquake resistance:

∑ Factors affecting earthquake loading: Mass, Natural period, Damping, Ductility.

∑ Seismic Design Code Provisions: Basic terms used in seismic codes and their
meanings, horizontal design seismic coefficient, base shear of building and
vertical distribution of loads.

∑ Building Configuration: scale of building- size in horizontal plane- size in

vertical plane- Building proportions- Symmetry of building ( Torsion), Re-
entrant corners, Redundancy, irregularities in building, Horizontal plane,
Vertical plane ( Soft storey; short column; discontinuous walls
 FACTORS AFFECTING EARTHQUAKE LOADIND

Several important characteristics of buildings affect performance during an

earthquake. Buildings of different construction materials or configurations will
respond in different ways to the same ground motion; some may collapse while
others survive. Knowing how buildings respond in an earthquake helps architects,
engineers, and builders design and construct buildings to withstand ground motion
without collapsing. Let’s consider some of the structural characteristics of buildings
that influence how they behave during an earthquake. These characteristics are
natural period, damping, ductility, stiffness, drift, and building configuration.

Natural Period

All objects (including buildings and the ground) have a “natural period,” or the time
it takes to swing back and forth, from point A to point B and back again. If you
pushed the flag pole shown in Figure 3.1, it would sway at its natural period.

As seismic waves move through the ground, the ground also moves at its natural
period. This can become a problem if the period of the ground is the same as that of
a building on the ground. When a building and the ground sway or vibrate at the
same rate, they are said to resonate. When a building and the ground resonate it can
mean disaster. This is because, as the building and ground resonate, their vibrations
are amplified or increased, and greater stress is placed on the building. Think of a
building vibrating rapidly; at some point the building will begin to shake apart.
One of the most important factors affecting the period is height. A taller building
will swing back and forth more slowly (or for a longer period) than a shorter one.
For example, a 4-story building might have a natural period of 0.5 seconds, while a
60-story building may have a period of as much as 7 seconds. Building height can
have dramatic effects on a structure’s performance in an earthquake. A taller
building often suffers more damage than a shorter one because the natural period of
the ground tends to match that of buildings nine stories or taller. This explains why
some buildings are severely damaged and others are not. During the 1964
earthquake in Anchorage, Alaska, shorter buildings closer to the earthquake’s focus
suffered less damage than taller buildings up to 75 miles away because the taller,
multistory buildings resonated with the long-period ground motions. Buildings
resonate only when their natural periods coincide with the period of the ground
motions during an earthquake. In the 1985 Mexico City, Mexico, earthquake long-
period ground motions were the same as the period of some 9- to 14-story buildings.
The results were disastrous for buildings of this size. Buildings taller than 14 stories
did not experience resonance and had fewer disastrous effects. Some seismically
active areas impose height restrictions on buildings to decrease the possibility of
building failure during an earthquake.
Although the phenomenon of resonance can be extremely damaging, its effects can
be reduced. In designing seismically safe buildings, an architect or engineer must be
concerned with “tuning” a building so that the tendency for its own vibration to be
amplified by resonance is reduced or eliminated.

Damping

Buildings set to oscillation by earthquake shaking eventually come back to rest with
time. This is due to dissipation of the oscillatory energy through conversion to other
forms of energy, like heat and sound. The mechanism of this conversion is called
damping. In normal ambient shaking of building, many factors impede its motion,
e.g., drag from air resistance around the building, micro cracking of concrete in the
structural members, and friction between various interfaces in the building (like
masonry infill walls and RC beams and columns). This damping is called structural
damping. But, under strong earthquake shaking, buildings are damaged. Here,
reinforcement bars and concrete of the RC buildings enter nonlinear range of
material behaviour. The damping that arises from these inelastic actions is called
hysteretic damping; this further dampens oscillations of the building. Another form of
damping is associated with soil. This damping occurs when the soil strata
underneath the building is flexible and absorbs energy input to the building during
earthquake shaking, and sends it to far off distances in the soil medium. This is
called radiation damping. Modeling damping mathematically is a major challenge;
many models were proposed, e.g., friction damping, viscous damping and hysteretic
damping. Of these, design practice uses the mathematically simplest of them, namely
viscous damping. Damping is expressed as a fraction of the critical damping (which
is the minimum value of damping at which the building gradually comes to rest
from any one side of its neutral position without undergoing any oscillation).
Damping is said to be different for different natural modes of oscillation of a
building. But, Indian seismic codes recommends the use of 5% damping for all
natural modes of oscillation of reinforced concrete buildings, and 2% for steel
structures.
One way an architect or engineer may decrease the effects of resonance is by
constructing buildings so that the vibration of a building is quickly reduced as an
earthquake sets it in motion. This is called damping, the termination or retardation
of the motion or vibration of a structure. Connections of nonstructural elements such
as partitions, ceilings, and exterior walls can dampen a building’s vibration. Modern
office buildings with open flooring and few partitions tend to be deficient in
damping and therefore suffer more damage in an earthquake. It is most
advantageous for a building to have a high level of damping characteristics—in
effect to be an inefficient vibrator. With damping design, a building is less likely to
resonate in tune with the ground.

Ductility and Strength

Ductility is another factor that can affect the performance of a building during an
earthquake. Ductility is the property of certain materials to fail only after large
stresses and strains have occurred. Figure 3.2 illustrates what we mean by ductility.
Brittle materials, such as non-reinforced concrete, fail suddenly with minimum
tensile stresses, so plain concrete beams are no longer used. Other materials,
primarily steel, bend or deform before they fail. We can rely on ductile materials to
absorb energy and prevent collapse when earthquake forces overwhelm a building.
In fact, adding steel rods to concrete can reinforce it and give the concrete
considerable ductility and strength. Concrete reinforced with steel will help prevent
it from failing during an earthquake.
Stiffness

A building is made up of both rigid and flexible elements. For example, beams and
columns may be more flexible than stiff concrete walls or panels. Less rigid building
elements have a greater capacity to absorb several cycles of ground motion before
failure, in contrast to stiff elements, which may fail abruptly and shatter suddenly
during an earthquake. Earthquake forces automatically focus on the stiffer, rigid
elements of a building. For this reason, buildings must be constructed of parts that
have the same level of flexibility, so that one element does not bend too much and
transfer the energy of the earthquake to less ductile elements of the building.

The 1987 failure of a parking structure in Whittier-Narrows, California, was a

dramatic illustration of this phenomenon. To accommodate the natural slope of the
land on which it was built, the structure was designed with long vertical supports at
the front of the building and short columns at the other end, and the roof level was
designed as a flat horizontal plane. Figure 3.3 shows a drawing of this structure.
 When the earthquake struck, the longer, more flexible columns at the front of the
building passed the earthquake forces on to the short, stiffer columns in the back
instead of distributing the forces equally among all of the columns. Deflection, the
extent to which a structural element moves or bends under pressure, played a major
role. The longer columns simply deflected or bent without cracking. The short
columns, therefore, were overwhelmed and cracked. The rate of deflection is used as
a measure of the stiffness of a structure.

Building Configuration

This term defines a building's size and shape, and structural and nonstructural
elements. Building configuration determines the way seismic forces are distributed
within the structure, their relative magnitude, and problematic design concerns.
Earthquakes have earned a reputation for their ability to find and exploit the weak
link in buildings. Generally speaking, a building with a regular and symmetrical
design and balanced resistance will hold up best.
∑ Regular Configuration buildings have Shear Walls or Moment-Resistant Frames or
Braced Frames and generally have:
¸ Low Height to Base Ratios
¸ Equal Floor Heights
¸ Symmetrical Plans
¸ Uniform Sections and Elevations
¸ Maximum Torsional Resistance
¸ Short Spans and Redundancy
¸ Direct Load Paths
∑ Irregular Configuration buildings are those that differ from the "Regular" definition
and have problematic stress concentrations and torsion.
¸ Soft First Story is a discontinuity of strength and stiffness for lateral load at
the ground level.
¸ Discontinuous Shear Walls do not line up consistently one upon the other
causing "soft" levels.
¸ Variation in Perimeter Strength and Stiffness such as an open front on the
ground level usually causes eccentricity or torsion.
¸ Reentrant Corners in the shapes of H, L, T, U, +, or [] develop stress
concentration at the reentrant corner and torsion. Seismic designs should
adequately separate reentrant corners or strengthen them.

Knowledge of the building's period, torsion, damping, ductility, strength,

stiffness, and configuration can help one determine the most appropriate seismic
design devices and mitigation strategies to employ.

IMPORTANCE OF SEISMIC DESIGN CODES

Ground vibrations during earthquakes cause forces and deformations in structures.

Structures need to be designed to withstand such forces and deformations. Seismic
codes help to improve the behaviour of structures so that they may withstand the
earthquake effects without significant loss of life and property. Countries around the
world have procedures outlined in seismic codes to help design engineers in the
planning, designing, detailing and constructing of structures. An earthquake-
resistant building has four virtues in it, namely:
(a) Good Structural Configuration: Its size, shape and structural system carrying
loads are such that they ensure a direct and smooth flow of inertia forces to the
ground.
(b) Lateral Strength: The maximum lateral (horizontal) force that it can resist is such
that the damage induced in it does not result in collapse.
(c) Adequate Stiffness: Its lateral load resisting system is such that the earthquake-
induced deformations in it do not damage its contents under low-to moderate
shaking.
(d)Ductility: Its capacity to undergo large deformations under severe earthquake
shaking even after yielding, is improved by favourabledesign and detailing
strategies. Seismic codes cover all these aspects.
 BASIC TERMS USED IN SEISMIC CODES AND THEIR
MEANINGS
(Refer IS 1893:2002)
ÿ Damping
The effect of internal friction, imperfect elasticity of material, slipping, sliding,
etc in reducing the amplitude of vibration and is expressed as a percentage of
critical damping.

ÿ Design Acceleration Spectrum

Design acceleration spectrum refers to an average smoothened plot of
maximum acceleration as a function of frequency or time period of vibration
for a specified damping ratio for earthquake excitations at the base of a single
degree of freedom system

ÿ Design Lateral Force

It is the horizontal seismic force prescribed standard that shall be used to
design a structure.

ÿ Ductility
Ductility of a structure, or its members, is the capacity to undergo large
inelastic deformations without significant loss of strength or stiffness.

ÿ Epicentre
The geographical point on the surface of earth vertically above the focus of
the earthquake.

ÿ Focus
The originating earthquake source of the elastic waves inside the earth which
cause shaking of ground due to earthquake.

ÿ Intensity of Earthquake
The intensity of an earthquake at a place is a measure of the strength of
shaking during the earthquake, and is indicated by a number according to the
modified Mercalli Scale or M.S.K. Scale of seismic intensities

ÿ Liquefaction
Liquefaction is a state in saturated cohesionless soil wherein the effective
shear strength is reduced to negligible value for all engineering purpose due
to pore pressure caused by vibrations during an earthquake when they
 approach the total confining pressure. In this condition the soil tends to
behave like a fluid mass

ÿ Magnitude of Earthquake ( Richter Magnitude)

The magnitude of earthquake is a number, which is a measure of energy
released in an earthquake. It is defined as logarithm to the base 10 of the
maximum trace amplitude, expressed in microns, which the standard short-
period torsion seismometer ( with a period of 0.8s, magnification 2800 and
damping nearly critical ) would register due to the earthquake at an
epicentral distance of 100 km.

ÿ Natural Period (T)

Natural period of a structure is its time period of undamped free vibration.
Fundamental Natural Period ( T1)
It is the first ( longest ) modal time period of vibration

ÿ Response Spectrum
The representation of the maximum response of IS 1893( Part 1 ) :2002
idealized single degree freedom systems having certain period and damping,
during earthquake ground motion. The maximum response is plotted against
the undamped natural period and for various damping values, and can be
expressed in terms of maximum absolute acceleration, maximum relative
velocity, or maximum relative displacement.

ÿ Seismic Mass
It is the seismic weight divided by acceleration due to gravity.

ÿ Seismic Weight (W)

It is the total dead load plus appropriate amounts of specified imposed load.

ÿ Structural Response Factors ( S,/g )

It is a factor denoting the acceleration response spectrum of the structure

subjected to earthquake ground vibrations, and depends on natural period of
vibration and damping of the structure.

ÿ Tectonic Features
The nature of geological formation of the bedrock in the earth’s crust
revealing regions characterized by structural features, such as dislocation,
distortion, faults, folding, thrusts, volcanoes with their age of formation,
 which are directly involved in the earth movement or quake resulting in the
above consequences.

ÿ Time History Analysis

It is an analysis of the dynamic respmse of the structure at each increment of
time, when its base is subjected to a specific ground motion time history.

ÿ Design Seismic Base Shear

It is the total design lateral force at the base of a structure.

ÿ Moment-Resisting Frame
It is a frame in which members and joints are capable of resisting forces
primarily by flexure.

ÿ Shear Wall
It is a wall designed to resist lateral forces acting in its own plane.

ÿ Soft Storey
It is one in which the lateral stiffness is less than 70 percent of that in the
storey above or less than 80 percent of the average lateral stiffness of the three
storeys above

ÿ Storey Drift
It is the displacement of one level relative to the other level above or below.

ÿ Storey Shear
It is the sum of design lateral forces at all levels above the storey under
consideration.

ÿ Weak Storey
It is one in which the storey lateral strength is less than 80 percent of that in
the storey above, The storey lateral strength is the total strength of all seismic
force resisting elements sharing the storey shear in the considered direction.
 HORIZONTAL DESIGN SEISMIC COEFFICIENT

The design horizontal seismic coefficient Ah for a structure shall be determined by

the following expression:

Provided that for any structure with T ≤ 0.1 s. the value of Ah will not be taken less
than Z/2 whatever be the value of I/R

where
Z = Zone factor for the Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE)
I = Importance factor, depending upon the functional use of the structure
R = Response Reduction factor, depending on the perceived seismic damage
performance of the structure
Sa/g = Average response acceleration coefficient

(Reference :IS 1893( Part 1 ): 2002)

BASE SHEAR OF THE BUILDING

Base shear is an estimate of the maximum expected lateral force that will occur due
to seismic ground motion at the base of a structure. Calculations of base shear (V)
depend on:

∑ soil conditions at the site

∑ proximity to potential sources of seismic activity (such as geological faults)

∑ probability of significant seismic ground motion

∑ the level of ductility and over strength associated with various structural
configurations and the total weight of the structure

∑ the fundamental (natural) period of vibration of the structure when subjected

to dynamic loading
 SEISMIC DESIGN CODE PROVISIONS:
For Reinforced concrete structure

For beams:
Indian Ductile Detailing Code IS13920-1993 prescribes that
∑ For longitudinal reinforcement:
¸ At least two bars go through the full length of the beam at the top as well as
the bottom of the beam
¸ At the ends of beams, the amount of steel provided at the bottom is at least
half that at top
∑ For stirrups:
¸ The diameter of stirrup must be at least 6mm; in beams more than 5m long, it
must be at least 8mm
¸ Both ends of the vertical stirrups should be bent into a 135° hook and
extended sufficiently beyond this hook to ensure that the stirrup does not
open out in an earthquake
¸ The spacing of vertical stirrups in any portion of the beam should be
determined from calculations
¸ The maximum spacing of stirrups is less than half the depth of the beam

∑ For Lap distance:

¸ Laps of longitudinal bars are made away from the face the column, and not
made at locations where they are likely to stretch by large amounts and yield
(e.g., bottom bars at mid-length of the beam)
¸ Moreover, at the locations of laps, vertical stirrups should be provided at a
closer spacing
For Columns:

¸ Columns to be at least 300mm wide

¸ A column width of up to 200mm is allowed if unsupported length is less
than 4m and beam length is less than 5m
¸ Columns that are required to resist earthquake forces must be designed to
prevent shear failure by a skillful selection of reinforcement

∑ For ties:
∑ Closely spaced ties must be provided at the two ends of the column over a
length not less than larger dimension of the column, one-sixth the column
height or 450mm
∑ Over the distance specified in item (a) above and below a beam-column
junction, the vertical spacing of ties in columns should not exceed D/4 for
where D is the smallest dimension of the column. This spacing need not be
less than 75mm nor more than 100mm. At other locations, ties are spaced as
per calculations but not more than D/2.
∑ The length of tie beyond the 135° bends must be at least 10 times diameter of
steel bar used to make the closed tie; this extension beyond the bend should
not be less than 75mm

∑ Lap distance:
¸ IS: 13920-1993 prescribes that the lap length be provided only in the
middle half of column and not near its top or bottom ends and Only half
the vertical bars in the column are to be lapped at a time in any storey.
¸ When laps are provided, ties must be provided along the length of the lap
at a spacing not more than 150mm
¸
For Beam Column Joint
 ¸ Use large column sizes is the most effective way
¸ Provide closely spaced closed-loop steel ties around column bars to hold
together concrete in joint region and to resist shear forces
¸ Intermediate column bars also are effective in confining the joint concrete and
resisting horizontal shear forces

¸ Use columns of reasonably large cross-sectional size

¸ IS:13920-1993 requires building columns in seismic zones III, IV and V to be at
least 300mm wide in each direction of the cross-section when they support
beams that are longer than 5m or when these columns are taller than 4m
between floors (or beams)
¸ In exterior joints where beams terminate at columns, longitudinal beam bars
need to be anchored into the column to ensure proper gripping of bar in joint
¸ The length of anchorage for a bar of grade Fe415 is about 50 times its diameter.
This length is measured from the face of the column to the end of the bar
anchored in the column
¸ In columns of small widths and beam bars are of large diameter, a portion of
beam top bar is embedded in the column that is cast up to the soffit of the beam,
and a part of it overhangs. It is difficult to hold such an overhanging beam top
bar in position while casting the column up to the soffit of the beam
¸ Vertical distance beyond the 900 bend in beam bars is not very effective in
providing anchorage
¸ On the other hand, if column width is large, beam bars may not extend below
soffit of the beam Thus, it is preferable to have columns with sufficient width
 ¸ In interior joints, the beam bars (both top and bottom) need to go through the
joint without any cut in the joint region. Also, these bars must be placed within
the column bars and with no bends

For Masonry Structure

∑ For Wooden lintel band: cross-section of runners is to be at least 75mm×38mm

and of spacers at least 50mm×30mm
∑ For RC lintel bands : minimum thickness is 75mm, and at least two bars of
8mm diameter are required, tied across with steel links of at least 6mm
diameter at a spacing of 150 mm centres
∑ Buildings having horizontal projections seem from the top, to be separated
into simple rectangular blocks. It is not necessary to provide this separation, if
the projection in building is small approximately 15-20% of the length of the
building in that direction

For Soft storey/ Weak storey

According to IS 1893.1:2000
∑ Soft Storey: It is one in which the lateral stiffness is less than 70 percent of that
in the storey above or less than 80 percent of the average lateral stiffness of
the three storeys above.
∑ Weak Storey: It is one in which the storey lateral strength is less than 80
percent of that in the storey above, The storey lateral strength is the total
strength of all seismic force resisting elements sharing the storey shear in the
considered direction.

SOFT STOREY EFFECT

In shaking a building, an earthquake ground motion will search for every structural
weakness. These weaknesses are usually created by sharp changes in stiffness,
strength and/or ductility, and the effects of these weaknesses are accentuated by
poor distribution of reactive masses. Severe structural damage suffered by several
modern buildings during recent earthquakes illustrates the importance of avoiding
sudden changes in lateral stiffness and strength. A typical example of the
detrimental effects that these discontinuities can induce is seen in the case of
buildings with a “soft storey.”

A soft storey, also known as a weak story, is defined as a story in a building that has
substantially less resistance, or stiffness, than the stories above or below it. In
essence, a soft story has inadequate shear resistance or inadequate ductility (energy
absorption capacity) to resist the earthquake-induced building stresses. Although
not always the case, the usual location of the soft story is at the ground floor of the
building. This is because many buildings are designed to have an open first-floor
area that is easily accessible to the public. Thus the first floor may contain large open
areas between columns, without adequate shear resistance. The earthquake-induced
building movement also causes the first floor to be subjected to the greatest stress,
which compounds the problem of a soft story on the ground floor.

Soft storey buildings are characterized by having a storey which has a lot of open
space. Parking garages, for example, are often soft stories, as are large retail spaces
or floors with a lot of windows. While the unobstructed space of the soft story might
be aesthetically or commercially desirable, it also means that there are fewer
opportunities to install shear walls, specialized walls which are designed to
distribute lateral forces so that a building can cope with the swaying characteristic of
an earthquake.

As per IS 1893:2002 “A soft storey is one in which the lateral stiffness is less than 70
percent of that in the storey above or less than 80 percent of the average lateral
stiffness of the three storeys above.

Behavior during earthquake:

The presence of walls in upper storeys makes them much stiffer than the open
ground storey. Thus, the upper storeys move almost together as a single block, and
most of the horizontal displacement of the building occurs in the soft ground storey
itself. In common language, this type of buildings can be explained as a building on
chopsticks. Thus, such buildings swing back-and-forth like inverted pendulums
during earthquake shaking and the columns in the open ground storey are severely
stressed . If the columns are weak (do not have the required strength to resist these
high stresses) or if they do not have adequate ductility, they may be severely
damaged which may even lead to collapse of the building.

Solution:

For all new RCframe buildings, the best option is to avoid such sudden and large
decrease in stiffness and/or strength in any storey; it would be ideal to build walls
(either masonry or RC walls) in the ground storey also. Designers can avoid
dangerous effects of flexible and weak ground storeys by ensuring that too many
walls are not discontinued in the ground storey, i.e., the drop in stiffness and
strength in the ground storey level is not abrupt due to the absence of infill walls.
The existing open ground storey buildings need to be strengthened suitably so as to
prevent them from collapsing during strong earthquake shaking. The owners should
seek the services of qualified structural engineers who are able to suggest
appropriate solutions to increase seismic safety of these buildings.

Short Column Effect:

The short column is stiffer as compared to the tall column, and it attracts larger
earthquake force. Stiffness of a column means resistance to deformation. The larger
the stiffness, larger is the force required to deform it. If a short column is not
adequately designed for such a large force, it can suffer significant damage during
an earthquake. This behavior is called short column effect. The damage in these
short columns is often in the form of X-shaped cracking. This type of damage of
columns is due to shear failure.

Result of Short Column Effect:

More damage are suffered in shorter columns compared to taller column in the same
storey, is observed in previous earthquake. This situation occurs when a building is
rested on sloping ground. During earthquake shaking all columns along more
horizontally by same amount along with floor slab at a particular level. But, if
reinforced concrete frame buildings have column of different heights within one
storey, the short columns attract several times larger earthquake force and suffer
more damages as compared to taller ones. The short column effects also occurs in
columns that supports mezzanine floors or soft slabs that are added in between two
regular floors.

Solution:
During architectural design stage the short column effect can be avoided in new
structures. But when it is not possible this effect should be considered in structural
design. The ACI code for ductile detailing of RC structures requires special
confining reinforcement to be provided over the full height of column that are likely
to sustain short column effect. The special confining reinforcement (i.e., closely
spaced closed ties) must extend beyond the short column (figure below) into the
columns vertically above and below by a certain distance for details of special
confinement reinforcement.
 RE-ENTRANT CORNER

Building Plans with re-entrant corner forms are a most useful set of building shapes
for urban sites, particularly for residential apartments and hotels, which enable large
plan areas to be accommodated in relatively compact form, yet still provide a high
percentage of perimeter rooms with access to air and light. L and C shaped
buildings with re-entrant corners are also common for school buildings to
accommodate spaces for play grounds and assembly areas. But these configurations
pose a great deficiency in the seismic behavior of the structure. Most of the building
codes recognize re-entrant corners as one of the serious irregularities in buildings
and recommends proper evaluation of such structures and incorporation of retrofit
strategies.
Basically, any irregularity causes an abrupt change in strength or stiffness of the
structure which is not desirable in an earthquake resistant system. Buildings with
simple and regular configurations are likely to perform better in the event of an
earthquake. Presence of re-entrant corners are one the serious plan irregulars that
results in poor seismic performance of buildings. Figure below shows some of the
configurations that results in the formation of re-entrant corners.

Problem due to re-entrant corner:

There are two problems created by these shapes. The first is that they tend to
produce differential motions between different wings of the building that result in
local stress concentrations at the re-entrant corner, or “notch.” The second problem
of this form is torsion which is caused because the center of mass and the center of
rigidity in this form cannot geometrically coincide for all possible earthquake
directions. The result is rotation. The resulting forces are very difficult to analyze
and predict. The stress concentration at the “notch” and the torsional effects are
interrelated. The magnitude of the forces and the severity of the problems will
depend on:
 he type of structural systems

Solutions:
One of the simplest methods of relieving the structures of the deficiencies caused by
the re-entrants corners is to separate the structures at the notches and converting
them into smaller blocks of regular configurations. Separation of buildings needs to
take into account the functional requirements. The separated structures should be
located far apart so as to avoid ponding effects during earthquakes. For an existing
structure, there are many possible options of strengthening the structure to
overcome the ill effects of irregularity. One of the viable methods is to strengthen the
notch part of the re-entrant corner using stiff elements such as shear walls, bracings
or mild steel splays. In the present study, two of these retrofitting methods in the
form of shear walls and bracings are used for the retrofitting.
 IRREGULARITIES IN BUILDING

Plan Irregularity:
1. Torsion Irregularity
To be considered when floor diaphragms are rigid in their own plan in relation to
the vertical structural elements that resist the lateral forces. Torsional irregularity to
be considered to exist when the maximum storey drift, computed with design
eccentricity, at one end of the structures transverse to an axis is more than 1.2 times
the average of the storey drifts at the two ends of the structure
2. Re-entrant
Corners Plan configurations of a structure and its lateral force resisting system
contain re-entrant corners, where both projections of the structure beyond the re-
entrant corner are greater than 15 percent of its plan dimension in the given
direction
3. Diaphragm Discontinuity
Diaphragms with abrupt discontinuities or variations in stiffness, including those
having cut-out or open areas greater than 50 percent of the gross enclosed
diaphragm area, or changes in effective diaphragm stiffness of more than 50 percent
from one storey to the next,
4. Out-of-Plane Offsets
Discontinuities in a lateral force resistance path, such as out-of-plane offsets of
vertical elements Non-parallel Systems The vertical elements resisting the lateral
force are not parallel to or symmetric about the major orthogonal axes or the lateral
force resisting elements

Vertical Irregularity:
i) a) Stiffness Irregularity — Soft Storey A soft storey is one in which the lateral
stiffness is less than 70 percent of that in the storey above or less than 80 percent of
the average lateral stiffness of the three storeys above
b) Stiffness Irregularity — Extreme Soft Storey A extreme soft storey is one in
which the lateral stiffness is less than 60 percent of that in the storey above or less
than 70 percent of the average stiffness of the three storeys above. For example,
buildings on STILTS will fall under this category.
ii) Mass Irregularity
Mass irregularity shall be considered to exist where the seismic weight of any storey
is more than 200 percent of that of its adjacent storeys. The irregularity need not be
considered in case of roofs
iii)Vertical Geometric Irregularity
Vertical geometric irregularity shall be considered to exist where the horizontal
dimension of the lateral force resisting system in any storey is more than 150 percent
of that in its adjacent storey
iv) In-Plane Discontinuity in Vertical Elements Resisting Lateral Force
A in-plane offset of the lateral force resisting elements greater than the length of
those elements
v) Discontinuity in Capacity — Weak Storey
A weak storey is one in which the storey lateral strength is less than 80 percent of
that in the storey above, The storey lateral strength is the total strength of all seismic
force resisting elements sharing the storey shear in the considered direction.
(Reference :IS 1893( Part 1 ): 2002)
 BUILDING CONFIGURATION

Performance of a building during earthquake depends on its shape, structural

configuration, strength and ductility. All these factors are to be considered while
designing a building. ‘Regularity ’and ‘Continuity’ are the basic rules for seismic
safety of a building. It has been observed that performance of a symmetric and
regular building is much better than that of a building with asymmetric or
irregular configuration having even much higher strength or ductility.
∑ Size of Buildings: Building should not be too tall, too long and too large
plans.
In tall buildings with large height-to-base size ratio (Figure la), the
horizontal movement of the floors during ground shaking is large. In short
but very long buildings (Figure lb), the damaging effects during
earthquake shaking are many. And, in buildings with large plan area like
warehouses (Figure lc), the horizontal seismic forces can be excessive to be
carried by columns and walls.

∑ Setbacks: Buildings should be free from vertical setbacks

The earthquake forces developed at different floor levels in a building need
to be brought down along the height to the ground by the shortest path;
any deviation or discontinuity in this load transfer path results in poor
performance of the building. Buildings with vertical setbacks (like the hotel
buildings with a few storeys wider than the rest) cause a sudden jump in
earthquake forces at the level of discontinuity (Figure a).
∑ Buildings should be sufficiently away from steep upside and downside slopes. During
earthquakes, the slopes may become unstable and may slide. A building near the
slopes may be washed away by the landslide(Fig.1).

Fig. 1Building near slopes Fig. 2 Building on filled site

∑ Special care should be taken incase reclaimed and filled-up sites. In a partially filled-
up site, settlements of original firm soil and filled-up soil will be different and
building will be subjected to differential settlement. To avoid this, the foundation of
the building should be on original firm soil. Raft on pile foundations should be used
for this purpose(Fig.2).
 ∑ Loose, cohessionless
soils in saturated
condition loose their
strength under shaking
due to earthquake. The
phenomenon is
termed as
Liquefaction. Such
conditions exist near
the river sand in dried
beds of rivers.
Wherever
Liquefaction is
suspected, raft or pile
foundations should be
used.
∑
Building shape is
very important for
its earthquake
resistance.
Asymmetric
buildings are
subjected to torsion,
which results in
excessive forces
Fig. 3 Symmetric building plans are desirable in extreme
columns. Buildings
with T, L ,C or

Fig. 4 Behaviour of asymmetric and symmetric buildings

X shaped plans are prone to damage during earthquakes. Such plan forms
should be divided into symmetric rectangular parts by providing suitable
separations (Fig.3). Fig.4 shows the difference in behavior of separated
buildings and the buildings with irregular shapes. Irregular shaped
buildings are subjected to high forces at the corners. As shown in the figure, the
behavior can be greatly enhanced by separating the adjacent parts of the building.
∑ Adjacent buildings should be sufficiently away from each other, so that these
do not collide during earthquake. This collision termed as “pounding” results
in severe damage and several failures due to pounding have been reported
during past earthquakes. The separation between adjacent buildings should
be adequate to accommodate the total non-linear displacements of both the
buildings during earthquake. The effect of pounding is more severe, if the
floor slabs of the two adjacent buildings are at different levels. To minimize
the damage, the floors of adjacent buildings should be at the same level, as
far as possible.
Another type of damage, which has been observed in case of adjacent
buildings is that resulting from falling objects / components of adjacent
buildings. Water tanks kept at the top of buildings have been seen to fall over
the adjacent buildings and result in severe damage.

Fig. 5 Abruptchange in building size Fig. 5 Inverted pendulum buildings

∑ Buildings with irregularities such

as high height to width ratio,
inverted pendulum configuration
Fig. 6 Sudden Change in building size (Fig.5) and with sudden change in
shape and stiffness (Fig.6) should
be avoided. Sometimes, it is possible to remove the stiffness or shape
irregularity by a judicial use of separations as shown in Fig.6.
∑ These parathions should be properly designed for material of construction
and height of building. Minimum gap between adjacent buildings / portions
of buildings should be as given below:

Type of Construction Minimum Gap Per

Storey(mm)
Load Bearing Building 15
RCC Frame Building 20
Steel Frame Building 30
 Fig. 7 Separation details at walls

Fig. 8 Separation details at roof

The gap should be

properly detailed (Figs.7-
9) to avoid water leakage
and at the same time it should
be functional during earthquake
to allow free relative movement
of the adjacent buildings.
Fig. 9 Separation details at floors
∑ Large over hangs and balconies (Fig.10) are subjected to much higher forces
and should be avoided. Buildings with floating columns (Fig.11) are
particularly dangerous from earthquake safety point of view and should be
avoided.

Fig. 10 Overhang & Balconies Fig. 11 Floating columns

∑ Sloping roofs (Fig.12) have the tendency to open out and exert excessive
forces on walls during earthquake. In case of Pitched roofs (sloping in two
directions), gable ends are much more prone to damage and therefore
Hipped roofs (sloping in four directions ) are preferable. Sloping roofs should
be provided with horizontal tie members to avoid the opening up effect. To
 Avoid the relative motion of the top and bottom members, appropriate cross
bracings should be used.
∑ Staircases have sloping
flights, which act as
diagonal bracings under
lateral load. These
bracings provided large
stiffness to staircase
against lateral loads. Due
Fig. 12 Sloping roofs to this effect staircases
attract very high lateral
force during
earthquake, which
results in the collapse of
the staircases and
punching of floor slabs
by stair case flights. Two
alternatives have been
suggested to avoid this:
(i)complete separation
of the staircase from the Fig. 13 Separation ofstaircase

remaining building (Fig.13),

and (ii) enclosure of the
staircase by rigid (minimum
one brick thick) walls
(Fig.14). As shown in Fig.13,
for structurally separating
the staircase, the stair case
need not be outside the
building. By proper use of
Fig.14 Enclosed staircase separation joints, this can be
achieved at any location
building. This arrangement has in the
additional advantage that the stair case
may be provided at any location in the
building without causing asymmetry.
∑ Parapet is a neglected element in a
building and this is the first element to
fall during earthquake. This may hit the
people running out of the building or
moving on the street during earthquake
and in many cases result in fatal
injuries. To avoid falling of parapets, its
height should be small and it should be Fig.15 Securing of parapet
 properly secured with the building by providing a closed loop of steel
reinforcement through the coping (Fig.15).
∑ Swimming pools and large water storage tanks at the terrace (Fig.16) cause
severe mass irregularity and have resulted in collapse of buildings in past
earthquakes. These should be avoided. If smaller water tanks are to be
provided at the roof, these should be properly anchored against sliding and
overturning. Similarly, large mass at any floor of the building also results in
mass irregularity and it should be avoided.

Fig. 16 Large mass at roof is undesirable

∑ In case of hilly areas, it is common to have buildings as shown in Fig. 23. In
such buildings, the length of the columns on down-slope direction is more,
compared to columns on the up-slope direction (short column effect).Longer
columns have lower stiffness compared to smaller columns. This results in
torsion in the building. To avoid this, shear walls should be used on down-slope
direction to compensate for the loss of stiffness due to longer columns.

Fig. 23 Buildings on slopes

∑ In cities, parking space is a big problem and usually the ground storey of a
multi-storey building is kept open for parking. Such configuration results in
soft ground storey buildings. The performance of has been observed to be very
poor, as the soft storey under goes large non-linear displacements and the
building collapses. To avoid this the ground storey should be provided with
shear walls (Fig.24), so that the stiffness and strength of ground storey match
with those of upper storeys. Alternatively, the ground storey columns should
be designed 2.5 times stronger than upper storey columns (Fig.25)

Fig. 24 Soft ground storey buildings

Fig. 25 Stronger ground storey columns