C V R Murty

Soft or extreme soft storeys in multi-storied buildings cause localized damage (and even collapse) during strong earthquake shaking. The presence of such soft or extremely soft storey is identified through provisions of vertical stiffness irregularity in seismic design codes. Identification of the irregularity in a building requires estimation of lateral translational stiffness of each storey. Estimation of lateral translational stiffness can be an arduous task. A simple procedure is presented to estimate storey stiffness using only properties of fundamental lateral translational mode of oscillation (namely natural period and associated mode shape), which are readily available to designers at the end of analysis stage. In addition, simplified analytical expressions are provided towards identifying stiffness irregularity. Results of linear elastic time-history analyses indicate that the proposed procedure captures the irregularity in storey stiffness in both low- and mid-rise buildings.

Torsional response of buildings is attributed to poor structural configurations in plan, which arises due to two factors – torsional eccentricity and torsional flexibility. Usually, building codes address effects due to the former. This study examines both of these effects. Buildings with torsional eccentricity (e.g., those with large eccentricity) and with torsional flexibility (those with torsional mode as a fundamental mode) demand large deformations of vertical elements resisting lateral loads, especially those along the building perimeter in plan. Lateral-torsional responses are studied of unsymmetrical buildings through elastic and inelastic analyses using idealised single-storey building models (with two degrees of freedom). Displacement demands on vertical elements distributed in plan are non-uniform and sensitive to characteristics of both structure and earthquake ground motion. Limits are proposed to mitigate lateral-torsional effects, which guides in proportioning vertical elements and restricts amplification of lateral displacement in them and to avoid torsional mode as the first mode. Nonlinear static and dynamic analyses of multi-storey buildings are used to validate the limits proposed.

Seismic design codes permit the use of Equivalent Static Analysis of buildings considering torsional eccentricity e with dynamic amplification factors on structural eccentricity and some accidental eccentricity. Estimation of e in buildings is not addressed in codes. This paper presents a simple approximate method to estimate e in RC Moment Frame and RC Structural Wall buildings, which required no detailed structural analysis. The method is validated by 3D analysis (using commercial structural analysis software) of a spectrum of building. Results show that dynamic amplification factor should be applied on torsional eccentricity when performing Response Spectrum Analysis also. Also, irregular or mixed modes of oscillation arise in torsionally unsymmetrical buildings owing to poor geometric distribution of mass and stiffness in plan, which is captured by the mass participation ratio. These irregular modes can be avoided in buildings of any plan geometry by limiting the two critical parameters (normalised torsional eccentricity e/B and Natural Period Ratio τ =Tθ/T, where B is building lateral dimension, Tθ uncoupled torsional natural period and T uncoupled translational natural period). Suggestions are made for new building code provisions.

This article presents probabilistic seismic hazard analysis (PSHA) of India and adjoined region, carried out to develop a new national seismic hazard map for India. The hazard map is developed using fault oriented spatially smoothed seismicity approach. A catalog of earthquakes has been compiled for the region (Latitude 50N − 400 N and Longitude 650E − 1000E) from 2600BCE to 2019CE to estimate the seismicity parameters. Eighteen suitable ground motion prediction equations in the logic tree framework are used for the four major geological regions of the country. The hazard is estimated at rock sites (B-C boundary type) conditions in terms of peak ground acceleration (PGA), short-period (0.2 s), and long-period (1s) spectral acceleration maps and uniform hazard spectra, with 2% and 10% probabilities of exceedance in 50 years. Higher hazard values are observed in the Hindukush-Pamir regions and Northeast India, whereas central India and the southern peninsular regions are less prone to seismic threat. The proposed maps find their application in the seismic design of structures, risk assessment, and as an input for updating the existing code provisions.

In a companion paper, new tapered configurations are proposed of slender RC structural walls with and without enlarged boundary elements at the wall-footing junction region. On the basis of identified parametric limits and the wall response in linear-elastic finite-element analyses, a stepwise seismic design procedure is proposed of tapered integrated wall-footing systems with soil or rock anchors at the bottom. This incorporates a capacity design of the plastic hinge region above the tapered portion and an elastic design of the tapered portion. The location of the region of seismic damage and energy dissipation in the wall is controlled by proportioning of the tapered wall-footing as per the new design procedure. © 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.

An analytical method is presented to estimate lateral shear strength (and identify likely mode and location of failure) in reinforced concrete (RC) cantilever columns of rectangular cross-section under combined axial force, shear force and bending moment. Change in shear capacity of concrete with flexural demand at a section is captured explicitly and the shear resistance offered by concrete estimated; this is combined with shear resistance offered by transverse and longitudinal reinforcement bars to estimate the overall shear capacity of RC columns. Shear–moment (V-M) interaction capacity diagram of an RC column, viewed alongside the demand diagram, identifies the lateral shear strength and failure mode. These analytical estimates compare well with test data of 107 RC columns published in literature; the test data corresponds to different axial loads, transverse reinforcement ratios, longitudinal reinforcement ratios, shear span to depth ratios, and loading conditions. Also, the analytical estimates are compared with those obtained using other analytical methods reported in literature; in all cases, the proposed method gives reasonable accuracy when estimating shear capacity of RC columns. In addition, the method provides insights into the shear resistance mechanism in RC columns under the combined action of P-V-M, and it is simple to use.

This paper presents an externally reinforced I-beam-to-box-column seismic connection. An inclined rib-plated collar-plated configuration with web plates is used to ensure planar continuity between I-beam and box-column webs; the rib plates, inclined in plan between the beam web and the two column web planes, along with collar-plates encircling the box-column at beam flange levels and web plates in plane with the rib plates at the beam web level constitute the new configuration. This connection configuration relieves stresses on box-column flanges and helps in force transfer to the box-column webs. Performance evaluation of the proposed connection configuration shows that sufficient inelasticity is mobilized in the beam away from the column face with connection elements and welds remaining elastic. The seismic performance of the proposed connection is also found to be better than two state-of-the-art connection schemes in terms of higher strength, stiffness, and higher reserve strength of the welds under cyclic displacement loading. © 2010 ASCE.

In multistoried RC wall-frame buildings, properly designed and detailed RC slender structural walls significantly improve earthquake resistance. In walls on isolated spread footings with marginal taper, severe stress concentration is observed at the wall-footing junction during earthquake shaking. In this paper, new tapered configurations are proposed in the bottom portion of walls with and without enlarged boundary elements. Analytical correlations are derived among salient structural and soil parameters of the tapered wall-footing. An extensive parametric study is carried out through linear-elastic finite-element analysis of an isolated wall-footing system under estimated actual vertical and lateral forces. Under the estimated forces, significant loss of contact is observed at the bottom of the wall-footing; thus, soil or rock anchors need to be provided to ensure stability of the wall-footings during strong shaking. Force flow from wall to footing improves significantly in the proposed integrated wall-footing system. In the wall, the region of the inelastic response and possible seismic damage is expected to occur above the tapered region and away from the footing level. Permissible parametric limits are also proposed through the observed stress-deformationresponse. © 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Earthquake Resistant Design Philosophy seeks (a) no damage, (b) no significant structural damage, and (c) significant structural damage but no collapse of normal buildings, under minor, moderate and severe levels of earthquake shaking, respectively. A procedure is proposed for seismic design of low-rise reinforced concrete special moment frame buildings, which is consistent with this philosophy; buildings are designed to be ductile through appropriate sizing and reinforcement detailing, such that they resist severe level of earthquake shaking without collapse. Nonlinear analyses of study buildings are used to determine quantitatively (a) ranges of design parameters required to assure the required deformability in normal buildings to resist the severe level of earthquake shaking, (b) four specific limit states that represent the start of different structural damage states, and (c) levels of minor and moderate earthquake shakings stated in the philosophy along with an extreme level of earthquake shaking associated with the structural damage state of no collapse. The four limits of structural damage states and the three levels of earthquake shaking identified are shown to be consistent with the performance-based design guidelines available in literature. Finally, nonlinear analyses results are used to confirm the efficacy of the proposed procedure.

This paper presents the results of a study on the characteristics of vertical-to-horizontal ratio (V/H) of 5% damped acceleration spectra for Indian ground motion records. Preliminary analysis indicates that at least 50% of the records exceed the Indian seismic design code considered norm of 2/3 at both the short and long period ranges. In addition, currently there are no V/H spectral ratio models available for India and the global models do not capture the trend across all the periods efficiently. Therefore, new ground motion models for the V/H spectral ratio are derived for two of the active tectonic regions of India: the Western Himalayas and the North-East India. Moment magnitude, focal depth, distance, site soil class, and focal mechanism are considered while deriving these models for a wide range of spectral periods (0.01–10s). The goodness of these models is verified through comparison with other globally available V/H models.