Earthquake Resistant
Architecture
L04 BUILDING CONFIGURATION & SEISMIC
BEHAVIOUR
Thanseem A | KMEA College of Architecture
Earthquakes are destructive tests on actual structures in situ.
They reveal that
(a) damages occur only when there are deficiencies, and
(b) they occur at locations where stresses and/or strains exceed bearing
capacity.
The damages to buildings can be divided broadly into three categories, namely
(a) damages owing to deficiencies in building system as a whole,
(b) damage owing to deficiencies in individual structural components, and
(c) damages owing to deficiencies in construction aspects.
The first two types can be eliminated or at least minimized by undertaking
proper seismic design in the design office, while the latter by enforcing strict
quality control and quality assurance measures at site.
Deficiencies in building systems
HEAVY MASS:
Heavy buildings develop stronger seismic forces in horizontal and vertical directions, and
undergo heavy damage when inertia effects exceed their bearing capacity;
NATURAL PERIOD:
Stiff buildings with short natural periods sustain more cycles of shaking and possibly more
damage, if the duration of ground shaking is long. And, flexible buildings with long natural
periods undergo large swinging action and possibly more damage, if the ground motion has long
period waves.
Damage in stiff buildings is due to large accelerations (i.e., force effects) and that in flexible
buildings is due to large displacements;
Lateral strength and deformation capacity:
Buildings sustain heavy damage when the inertia forces generated in them exceed their lateral
strength, and when deformation demand exceeds deformation capacity;
Vertical irregularity:
Buildings with irregularities in parts of the structural system or properties across the building
(like mass, stiffness, strength, deformability and path of force flow) invite damage through
discontinuity or abrupt change along their height;
Plan irregularity:
Buildings with irregularities in parts of the structural system or properties (like mass, stiffness,
strength, deformability, and path of force flow) invite damage through torsion action in plan at
each elevation of the building;
Pounding :
Buildings or structurally independent parts of building, that are very close to each other, collide
during earthquake shaking – this causes large localized impact on building components which is
detrimental;
Non-structural elements:
Building contents, that are massive and loosely affixed to the lateral load resisting system, like
false ceiling and major equipment, collide with each other and with structural system of the
building. On the other hand, building contents that are too rigidly affixed to the lateral load
resisting system but do not have the capacity to deform with the lateral load resisting system
(like sewer mains and electric cables) snap during lateral shaking of the building;
Soil and foundation systems:
Usually, deficiencies in soil (like soil liquefaction, landslides, and differential settlement) cannot
be corrected by foundation systems, and hence the whole building suffers damage or collapses.
Also, it is difficult to protect buildings from large ground deformations associated with fault
rupture under the building. Foundation inspection and strengthening are extremely difficult and
expensive, and hence deficiencies in soil and foundation system need to be minimized to the
extent possible.
Modes of failure
Failure of beams:
Long beams subjected to bending moment undergo the following predominant modes
of failure. These are, flexural tension and compression failures, and flexural shear failure.
When concrete is confined properly (i.e., held in place without being allowed to dilate
transverse to the direction of compression) by transverse reinforcement bars, long
beams undergo bending tension failure causing reinforcing bars to yield in tension
followed by crushing of concrete in compression. (diagonal cracking followed by opening
of the stirrups, buckling of longitudinal bars and transverse displacement across the
diagonal crack along one of the diagonals)
when spacing of transverse reinforcement is large and the transverse reinforcement is
bent at 90, they undergo shear failure and flexural compression failure(sudden crushing
failure of concrete in compression.)
When there is insufficient anchorage of longitudinal bars, slip of longitudinal bars occurs
when they are in tension
Failure of columns:
Columns subjected to compression
and bending moment also sustain the
above first three types of failure –
flexural compression failure, flexural
shear failure and anchorage failure.
But, the safest mode is again the
flexural tensile failure, with the
longitudinal bars yielding in tension at
beam ends before the other three
modes of failure occur.
Failure of walls:
Structural walls also undergo
flexural compression, flexural
shear failures and anchorage
failure. In addition, they undergo
sliding failure, particularly at the
construction joints. But, again,
flexural tensile failure is the
safest, with the vertical bars
yielding in tension particularly
along the outer edge of the
structural walls.
When a few adjoining members together turn out to be too weak to meet the
demand offered by the forces induced in that local region, unrestrained
deformation occurs in that region and damage is localized in a small region. If
the deformation capacity of a member is exceeded by this unrestrained
deformation, strength loss occurs in these elements and the load carried by
these elements is transferred away to the adjoining members; as a result the
adjoining elements can be damaged. The situation becomes critical when the
damage occurs in a critical column and it looses the capacity to carry vertical
load. The other vertical members in the storey are now required to redistribute
this load. But, sometimes this redistribution may result in damage to those other
vertical elements also and/or to the interconnecting beams and can incapacitate
the whole storey from carrying vertical load leading to its collapse. This, in turn,
can even lead to a progressive collapse of the whole building.
Common errors
• Transverse reinforcement bars: When the ends
of transverse ties in columns and beams are
bent to form 90degree hooks and not 135-
degree hooks, the loops open up under
compressive load generated by combined effects
of axial compression and bending in columns
and bending in beams.
• Lapping of longitudinal bars: When the
longitudinal bars are provided with insufficient
lap lengths in columns and beams, the lapped
bars are pulled apart under tension generated
by combined action of axial tension and bending
in columns and bending tension in beams.
• Cover to steel reinforcement: Improper use or
lack of cover blocks results in ingress of foreign
elements (oxygen, chloride, etc.) to steel bars
resulting in undue damage to reinforcing steel
and concrete by corrosion, well before the design
life of the building is reached.
• Concrete quality: Mix-design of concrete with
weigh batching is a requirement to ensure good
quality of concrete. Controlling the correct
amount of materials including water is a major
responsibility of field engineers. Failing to ensure
this results in poor concrete with high porosity or
with honey-combing; such concretes deteriorate
quickly and result in poor life of the
reinforcement bars, and hence of the structure.