EFFECT OF EARTH QUAKE

ON RCC BUILDINGS
IN SEISMIC ZONES

ER. U. P. Pandey
 Earthquake ?
• A sudden violent shaking of the ground, typically causing great
destruction, as a result of movements within the earth's crust
or volcanic action.
Earthquake resistant buildings?
Earthquake-resistant structures are structures designed to
withstand earthquakes. While no structure can be entirely immune
to damage from earthquakes, the goal of earthquake-resistant
construction is to erect structures that fare better during seismic
activity than their conventional counterparts. According to building
codes, earthquake-resistant structures are to withstand the largest
earthquake of a certain probability that is likely occur at their
location. This means the loss of life should be minimized
preventing collapse of the buildings for rare earthquakes while the
loss functionality should be limited for more frequent ones.
 EARTHQUAKE TYPES..
• Serviceability level Earthquake
• Frequent and minor earthquakes.
• Building should not be damaged and continue to remain in service.
• Expected ten times during the life of building.
• Damageability level Earthquake
• Occasional moderate earthquakes.
• No structural damage is expected.
• Non structural damage should not lead to any loss of life.
• Expected once or twice during the life of building.
• Safety level Earthquake
• Rare major earthquakes.
• Building should not collapse.
• Non structural & structural damage should not lead to any loss of life.
• Considerations:
(i) Structures should not be brittle or collapse suddenly. Rather,
they be tough, able to deflect or deform a considerable
amount.
(ii) Resisting elements, such as bracing or shear walls, must be
evenly throughout the building, in both directions side-to-side,
as well as top to bottom.
(iii) All elements, such as walls and the roof, should be tied together
so as act as an integrated unit during earthquake shaking,
transferring forces across connections and preventing
separation.
(iv) The building must be well connected to a good foundation and
earth. Wet, soft soils should be avoided, and the foundation
must be well tied together, as well as tied to the wall Planning:
• Planning and layout of the building involving consideration of the
location rooms and walls, openings such as and windows, the
number of storeys, etc. At this stage, site and foundation aspects
should also be considered.
• Lay out and general design of the structural framing system with
special attention to furnishing lateral resistance, and
• Consideration of highly loaded and critical sections with provision
of reinforcement as required Stress concentration zone Gradual
change in lateral stiffness and building floor mass in vertical
direction can be provided
GEOMETRICAL ASYMMETRY – BUILDING
JOINT
Typical problem occurs in the junction areas as two
neighbourhood block strikes each other and try to separate out
in a periodic motion During earthquake three blocks undergo
twist in three different orientations Solution Building blocks can
be separated by seismic Gaps. The individual building blocks
now vibrate in plan separately. The Stress concentration in
block joints can be avoided.

MASS ASYMMETRY

Difference in CoM & CoR will invite Torsion Couple, which produce
instability.
LIQUEFACTION
Three main prerequisites for liquefaction :
1. A layer of relatively loose sand or silt.
2. A water table high enough to submerge a layer of loose soil.
3. An intensity of ground shaking sufficient to increase the water pressure
between soil particles to cause the soil-water mixture to liquefy.

SOLUTION FOR

Isolated Foundation Individual footings should be interconnected with tie-beams

or a structural slab to prevent any relative horizontal movement occurring during
earthquake shaking.
Raft Foundation As the raft has a common base and it equally and uniformly
distribute the super structure load to the sub soil. It spreads concentrated loads
onto a larger area and makes the structure tolerant of minor ground subsidence.
It mobilizes the entire weight of the building to resist inertia-induced overturning
moments.
 BASE ISOLATION:
This concept relies on separating the substructure of
a building from its superstructure. One such system
involves floating a building above its foundation on
lead-rubber bearings, which contain a solid lead core
wrapped in alternating layers of rubber and steel.
Steel plates attach the bearings to the building and its
foundation and then, when an earthquake hits, allow
the foundation to move without moving the structure
above it. Now some Japanese engineers have taken
base isolation to a new level. Their system actually
levitates a building on a cushion of air. Here's how it
works: Sensors on the building detect the telltale
seismic activity of an earthquake. The network of
sensors communicates with an air compressor, which,
within a half second of being alerted, forces air
between the building and its foundation. The cushion
of air lifts the structure up to 1.18 inches (3
centimeters) off the ground, isolating it from the
forces that could tear it apart. When the earthquake
subsides, the compressor turns off, and the building
settles back down to its foundation.
SHOCK ABSORBERS:
Shock absorbers slow down and reduce the
magnitude of vibratory motions by turning the
kinetic energy of your bouncing suspension
into heat energy that can be dissipated
through hydraulic fluid. In physics, this is
known as damping, which is why some people
refer to shock absorbers as dampers. Turns out
dampers can be useful when designing
earthquake-resistant buildings. Engineers
generally place dampers at each level of a
building, with one end attached to a column
and the other end attached to a beam. Each
damper consists of a piston head that moves
inside a cylinder filled with silicone oil. When
an earthquake strikes, the horizontal motion of
the building causes the piston in each damper
to push against the oil, transforming the
quake's mechanical energy into heat.
Researchers from Stanford University
and the University of Illinois call their
idea a controlled rocking system
because the steel frames that make up
the structure are elastic and allowed to
rock on top of the foundation. In
addition to the steel frames, the
researchers introduced vertical cables
that anchor the top of each frame to
the foundation and limit the rocking
motion. Not only that, the cables have
a self-centering ability, which means
they can pull the entire structure
upright when the shaking stops. The
final components are the replaceable
steel fuses placed between two frames
or at the bases of columns. The metal
teeth of the fuses absorb seismic
energy as the building rocks. If they
"blow" during an earthquake, they can
be replaced relatively quickly and cost-
effectively to restore the building to its
original, ribbon-cutting form.
It is essential that the foundation system move in unison during an earthquake. When supports consist largely of
isolated column footings, it is advisable to add ties of the type illustrated in in order to achieve this and to enable the
lateral loads to be shared among all the independent footings.

When they consist of separate elements building frames of the traditional post and beam system lack lateral force
resistance. For a single bay of such a system, stability may be achieved by:
Strengthening the connections between the elements of the frame to make them moment-resistant
Providing bracing in the shape of the letter (X)
Building rigid infill walls between the columns
Factors that influence the building’s response to lateral loading effects of earthquakes are:
Building Sites
High-risk sites of the types illustrated and locations with low bearing capacity soils such as expansive clay, loose sand,
unstable hillsides etc. should be avoided.
Weight of the Construction
Heavy buildings are a seismic hazard. Buildings, particularly the roof and the floors should be kept as light as
structurally possible.
Building Form
Symmetrical buildings of relatively simple form usually perform better than complex shapes where walls are
asymmetrically distributed on the plan.

Floors and Roofs

During earthquakes, floors and roofs should act as rigid horizontal diaphragms, which distribute the seismic
forces among structural walls in proportion to their stiffness. One of the main reasons for the poor behaviour of
existing masonry buildings is a lack of proper horizontal diaphragm action of floor and roof structures and or lack
of proper connections between them and the structural walls which carry them.
Use of timber floors and roofs in high-risk seismic zones is only recommended where the requisite carpentry
skills exist and if specially designed details to ensure the integrity of these elements and their anchorage to the
supporting walls.
 Jack arches in lime mortar spanning between steel joists are adequate, provided the spans do not exceed 900 mm and
steel cross bracing welded to corners of the outer joists above on the upper surface of the floor or roof is provided. Use
of deformed bars for this is not allowed because they produce brittle welded joints.

In the case of reinforced concrete floors and roofs, two-way slabs are to be used in preference to one-way slabs.
Connections to walls are to follow the details illustrated.
 In many modern high-rise buildings, engineers use
core-wall construction to increase seismic
performance at lower cost. In this design, a
reinforced concrete core runs through the heart of
the structure, surrounding the elevator banks. For
extremely tall buildings, the core wall can be quite
substantial -- at least 30 feet in each plan direction
and 18 to 30 inches thick.
A better solution for structures in earthquake zones calls for a
rocking- core wall combined with base isolation. A rocking core-wall
rocks at the ground level to prevent the concrete in the wall from
being permanently deformed. To accomplish this, engineers
reinforce the lower two levels of the building with steel and
incorporate post-tensioning along the entire height. In post-
tensioning systems, steel tendons are threaded through the core
wall.