IS 1893 (part 1):2002

Base isolation
In contrast to the current norms of designing an
entire structure to withstand the distortions
resulting from earth quake motions, an adaptive
system is designed to isolate the upper portions of
a structure from destructive vibrations by is
conforming the serve distortions to a specially
designed portion at its base. The building is
detached or isolated or isolated from the ground in
such a way that only a very small portion of
seismic ground motions is transmitted up through
the building. This base isolation results in
significant reduction in floor accelerations and
inter storey drifts, these by providing protection
to the building components . in practice, isolation
is limited to a consideration of the horizontal
forces to which buildings are most sensitive the
principle of seismic isolation is to introduce
flexibility in the basic structure in the horizontal
plane, while at the sometime adding damping
elements to restrict the resulting motion.
(a).

A flexible mounting to increase the

period of vibration of the building
sufficiently to reduce forces in the
structures.

(b).

A damper energy dissipater to reduce the

relative deflections between the building
and the ground to a practical level.

(c).

A method of providing rigidity to control

the behaviour under minor earthquakes
and wind loads.

Flexibility can be introduced base of the building

by money devices such as elastometric pads,
rollers, sliding etc. cable suspension sleeved piles,
rocking foundations, etc. period and a consequent
reduction in base shear are possible, the degree of
reduction depending on the initial fixed-base
period and shape of the response curve. The
damping can be provide through hysteretic energy
dissipation of either lead or mild steel to achieve
high damping .An isolation system should be able
to support a structure , while providing additional
horizontal flexibility and energy dissipation the

provision of this resisting elements having

adequate under the maximum wind load, but
yields when subjected to earthquake forces slightly
greater than those corresponding to the, the base
of the structure to yield at a predetermined lateral
load , the structure above it is effective isolated
forces (cause inelastic deformation ).
conventional methods of retrofitting:
A. conventional methods of retrofitting are used to
enhance the seismic resistance of existing
structures by eliminating or reducing the adverse
effects of design or construction . the methods
include adding of shear wall , in fills and steel
braces
Adding New shear walls:
One of the most common methods to increase
the lateral strength of the reinforced concrete
buildings is to make a provision for additional
shear walks is often taken as the best and simple
solution for improving seismic performance.
Therefore, it is frequently used for retrofitting of
non ductile reinforced concrete frame building,
the added elements can be either cast in- place or
pre-cast concrete elements. New elements
preferably be placed at the exterior of the building,
however it may cause alteration in the appearance
and window layouts. Placing of shear walls in the
interior of the structure is not preferred in order to
avoid interior mouldings.
Technical consideration
The addition of new shear walls to existing
frame has many technical considerations which
may be
(a) Determining the adequacy of existing
floor and roof slabs to carry the seismic
forces.
(b) Transfer of diaphragm shear into the new
shear walls with dowels.
(c) Adding new collector and drag members
to the diaphragm.
(d) Increase in the weight and concentration
of shear by the addition of wall which
may affects the foundation s.
Constructional considerations:

IS 1893 (part 1):2002

The first consideration during
construction is to find locations where
walls can be added and well located
which may align to the fuel height of the
building to minimise torsion . the design
of the shear wall may be similar to the
new construction. It is often desirable to
locate walls adjacent to the beam between
columns. So that only minimum slab
demolition is required with connections
made to beam at the sides of columns.
The longitudinal reinforcement must be
placed at the ends of the wall running
continuously through the entire height. In
order to realise this end, the
reinforcement has to pass through holes,
in the slab and around the beams to avoid
interference. Wall thick ness varies from
15 to 25 cm.
Limitations:
(i)
Increase in lateral resistance but
it is concentrated at a few
places,
(ii)
Increased overturning moment
at foundations cause very high
uplifting that needs either new
foundations or strengthening of
the existing foundations,
(iii)
Increased dead load of the
structure ,
(iv)
Excessive destruction at each
floor level results in functional
disability of the buildings,
(v)
Closing of open spaces have
negative impact on the interior

adjacent to each other, then one design

feature should be to have the floors of
both buildings at the same elevations, so
that the floor of one building does not hit
a supporting column of an adjacent
building.
`Pounding damage can occur when two
buildings are constructed close to each
other and , as they rock back and forth
during the eq, they collide into each other.
Even when 2 buildings having dissimilar
construction materials or diff hts are
constructed adjacent to each other , it
does not necessarily mean that they will
be subjected to pounding Damage . for ex
, as shown in fig , the restaurant that was
constructed adjacent to the parking
garage actually provided lateral support
to the garage and prevented the three
lower levels from collapsing .
In the common situ8ation for pounding
damage , a much taller building ,which
has a higher period and larger amplitude
of vibration,is constructed against a squat
and short building that has a lower
periods and smaller amplitude of
vibration. Thus during the eq, the
buildings will vibrate at diff frequencies
and amplitudes , and they can collide with
each other . the effects of pounding can b
especially severe if the floors of one
building impact the other building at
different elevations , so that, for ex the
floor of 1 building hits a supporting
column of an adjacent building.

Pounding effect:

Two buildings next to each other may

move differently during an eq , and may
therefore collide. This collision , called
pounding, has occurred in many eqs and
can be disastrous. To minimise the
possibility of pounding , a seismic
separation btn the buildings should be
provided atleast equal to sum of the
expected drifts of the two buildings.

Fig shows an example of pounding

damage to the hotel caused by eq in
Alaska.the doorway of the structural
weak point which has been exploited
during the side to side shaking during
eq.Fig shows the pounding damage was
accompanied by the collapse of the two
buildings into each other. Its very difficult
to model the pounding effects of two
structures and hence design structures to
resist such damage. As a practical matter
the best design approach to prevent
pounding damage is to provide sufficient
space btw the structures to avoid the prob.
If two buildings must b constructed

Near ground and far ground rotation and

their effects :
The earth vibrates continuously at
periods ranging from milli seconds to
days and the amplitudes may vary from
nanomts to mts. It is pertinent to note that
most vibrations are quite weak even be

IS 1893 (part 1):2002

felt . such microscopic activity is
important for seismologists only. The
motion that affects living beings and
their environment is of interest for
engineers and is termed as strong ground
motion. As already mentioned in sec.1.3 ,
the ground motion at a particular instant
of tym can be completely defined by the 3
orthogonal components of translation; the
3 components of rotation being quite
small are neglected,.
Vibration of the earths surface is a net
consequences of motions , vertical as well
as horizontal, caused by seismic waves
that are generated by energy release at
each material pt within the 3dimensional
volume that ruptures at the fault . these
waves arrive at various instants of tym,,
hav diff amplitudes, and carry diff levels
of energy. Thus ,the motion at any site on
the ground is random in nature, its
amplitude and direction varying randomly
with tym .
Large eqs at great distances can produce
weak motions that may not damage
structures or even be felt by humans.
However from an engineering view
point , strong motions that can be posibily
damage structures are of interest. This
may occur with eqs in the vicinity or
even with high intensity eqs at medium
to large distances.
Non structural elements :
Damage to infill walls:
Masonry infill walls are used as interior
particulars and as exterior walls to form a
part of the building envelope in multistoreyed buildings. In general design
practices In India , the strength and
stiffness of infill walls a reinforced with
the assumption of conservative design . in
actual infill walls add considerably to the
strength and rigidity of structure and their
negligence will cause failure of many
multi-storeyed buildings the failure is
basically due to stiffing effect of infill
panel which is cause of
1. unequal distribution of lateral forces
in the different frames and over
stressing of some of the building
frame
2. soft storey or weak storey

3.

short column or captive column

effect
4. torsional forces
5. cracking of the infill walls
during the excitation of the structure
the rc frame begins to deform and
initially the first crack appears on the
plaster along the line of contact of the
masonry infill with the frame .
Damage to exterior walls:
This walls are subjected to out of
plane vibrations . this form of
construction of large exterior walls
creates a weak plane around the perimeter
when subjected to intense shaking , these
large unreinforeced masonry panels
confined by stiff frame members have a
tendency to resistance large out of plane
vibrations with little sign of distress.
When the flexure strength of these panels
becomes insufficient to resist these
foreces the entire infill panels fail. the
magnitude of damage is found to be
dependent on the quality of materials and
method of construction .
Damage to water tank and parapets :
Water tanks constructed at the roof
level of buildings experience large inertia
forces due to amplifications of the
ground acceleration along the height of
the building . unreinforced concrete
parapets with ;are height to thickness
ratio and not improper anchoring to the
roof diaphragm may also constitute a
hazard . the hazard posed by a parapet
increases in direct proportion to its height
above building base, which has been
observed at several places.

Damage to vertical circulation systems:

Staircase and lifts are the only means
of vertical movement in building and the
staircases also serve as escape routes
during an earthquake.

Damage to staircase:
In quite a few multi-storey
complexes, failure of staircase is a major

IS 1893 (part 1):2002

cause of damage. Staircase and corridors
are found to have been blocked by the
failure of the unreinforced masonry
enclosure walls. Many exit doors are
found to be jammed due to racking of
doorframes. Stair can start acting as
diagonal-bracing elements during
earthquake induced motion, and
therefore, should be used with sliding
joints I the seismic design of buildings.
Isolation of stairs from the primary
structural system may also minimise the
damage to the stair system.

(i)

(ii)

(iii)

definitions, contents, methodology,

architectural responses in morphological
terns and guidelines to make the
architectural and the structural designs
compatible.
This theory considers the building as
asset of components interacting during
the earthquake. The situations affecting
negatively the building earthquake
resistant behaviour are avoided. On the
other hand, such negative situation causes
the stepping of the building seismic
resistant capacity. This allows the
formulation of the theorys principle: the
earthquake resistant structure should be
capable of all its seismic resistant
capacity simultaneously during the
ground shake. Otherwise, the stepping
occurs causing the building be on the
point of collapsing. Therefore, the aims
of the earthquake resistant architecture
are: first, to avoid the building earthquake
resistant stepping and, second, the
interaction of all elements interacting
during the quake should be positive; thus
the optimisation of the building
earthquake resistant capacity is achieved.

Damage to elevators:
Elevators constitute an integral part of the
building, and are vulnerable to
earthquake. It is important to prevent
damage to the elevators for the following
reasons:
danger to the passengers trapped during
the occurance and difficulties in recuse
operations;
undetected damage can cause substantial
danger in elevators used after the
earthquake;
vertical circulation systems is essential in
hospitals which deliver crucial health
services after an earthquake.

The final conclusion is that the

earthquake resistant architecture
constitutes a general theory that enables
architects to properly design buildings In
seismic zones not only avoiding the
negative situations but also making their
earthquake resistant capacity optimum.

Seismic resistant building architecture

The interactions b/w the architectural and
the structural design produces situations
that reduce The seismic resistant capacity
of buildings. Though several studies and
recommendations have been carried out
to such situations , the author proposes a
general theory to be developed in the
earthquake engineering research institute
Ing. Aldo Bruschi,national university of
San Juan. Such theory allows architects
to develop a systematic study and a
methodology to be applied to the
architectural design of buildings in
seismic zones. This theory is called
earthquake Resistant Architecture.
The partial advances were presented in
meetings all over the world: Tokyo, 1988;
Madrid , 1992; Acapulco, 1996.
This paper complies the advances and the
theory. That is, purposes, principles,

Impact of ductility
1.

3.

consider a single degree of freedom

system consisting of a metal rod and
a weight. As the ground moves or
displaces the characteristics of the
ground to weight plays a vital role
2. connection is rigid, the weight will
experience the same or large forces
as compared to ground force
connection is flexible as in case of a
metal rod, it will bend or deform and the
weight will be subjected to lesser forces
because some of the energy will be
consumed to displace the system.

IS 1893 (part 1):2002

4.

Ductility is an essential attribute of an

earthquake resistant design of structure
that serves as a absorber in a structure and
the transmitted force to one that is
sustainable.

1.

2.

Requirements of ductility
1.
2.

3.

The overall design concept for the

building concept must be sound
Individual members must be
designed for ductility, and finally
other structural details need careful
attention
Two main reasons for ductility
requirement:
_ it allows the a structure as a whole,
to develop its maximum potential
strength, through distribution of
internal forces, which is given by the
combinations of maximum strengths
of all components
_ large structural ductility allows the
structure to move as a mechanism
under its maximum potential
strength, resulting in the dissipation
of large amount of energy

Assessment of ductility
1.

2.
3.

Ductility is capability of a material,

structural component, or entire
structure to undergo deformation
after its initial yield strength.
Ductility is generally measured in
terms of ductility factor, which is the
ratio of the maximum deformation
that a structure or element can
undergo without significant loss of
initial yielding resistance to the
initial yield deformation.
Member/element ductility:
_ displacement ductility
_ rotational and curvature ductility
Structural ductility:
_ structural ductility in a global sense
depends on the displacement
ductility of its members because
response displacement requires a
relationship between lateral loads
and displacement of whole building

Ductility factors

3.

4.

The displacement ductility ratio or

ductility factors are used in reduction
of the required linear elastic strength
of structure.
The need for incorporation of
response reduction factor(R) in base
shear formula in IS 1893 (Part 1):
2002 is an attempt to consider the
structural ductility in addition to over
strength, energy dissipating capacity,
the stability of vertical load carrying
system at maximum induced inelastic
deformations.
Lower value of R approaching 1.5
assigned to an extremely brittle
building
High value of R (=5) is assigned to
more ductile structure like special
moment resistant frame reinforced
concrete or shear wall building.

Floor diaphragms
Definition and function:
A horizontal system (roof .floor or other
membrane or horizontal bracing) acting
to transmit lateral forces to verticalresisting elements.
The floors and roof of abuilding, in
addition to resisting gravity loads, are
also generally designed to act as
diaphragms. In this respect, they are
required both to distribute seismic forces
to the main elements of horizontal
resistance, such as frames and shear
walls, and also to tie the structure so that
it acts as a single entity during an
earthquake. The robustness and
redundancy of a structure is highly
dependent on the performance of the
diaphragms.
Precast floors without an in-situ are not
generally recommended in seismic areas.
Types of diaphragm:
a. Rigid Diaphragms
A diaphragm may be considered rigid
when its midpoint displacement, under
lateral load, is less than twice the average
displacements at its ends. Rigid
diaphragm distributes the horizontal
forces to the vertical resisting elements in
direct proportion to the relative rigidities.

IS 1893 (part 1):2002

It is based on the on the assumption that
the diaphragm does not deform itself and
will cause each vertical element to defect
the same amount. Rigid diaphragm
capable of transferring torsional and shear
deflections and forces are also based on
this produces additional shear walls
undergo rigid body rotation and this
produces additional shear forces in shear
walls. Rigid diaphragms consist
diaphragm , precast concrete diaphragm ,
and composite steel deck.
b. FLEXIBLE DIAPHRAGM
Flexible diaphragm _ roofs of floors
including , but not necessarily concrete
sheathed with plywood, wood decking, or
metal decks without structural concrete
topping slabs. Metal decks with
lightweight fill may or may not be
flexible. Diaphragm are considered
flexible when the maximum lateral
deformation of the diaphragm is more
than two times the computed midpoint inplane deflection of the diaphragm itself
under lateral load with the drift to
adjoining vertical elements under
tributary lateral load.
(5) roof diaphragm
A roof diaphragm is a structural
component of braced frame buildings that
helps to distribute the load across the
load-bearing members, equalizing the
pressure and lending rigidity to the frame.
It may be used in rigid frame building but
isnt quite as critical for structural
strength as long as endwall bracing has
been used. Roof diaphragms can also be
thought of as trusses placed horizontally
and include the rafters of the primary
frames.
Two types of non-rigid frame buildings
with roof diaphragms are are single span
beam and bar joist beam. The diaphragm
spans between the end walls.
1. Roof bracing diagonal steel rods or
cables and struts supporting the
resisting tension faces of the frame
members. The struts are designed for
compression.
2. Roof decking: a steel, wood, or
concrete panel/ slab of decking beow

the roof. The most common decking

is corrugated steel.
Roof diaphragm rads are set below the
roof purlins still rxperience a full vertical
gravity load. In certaincases, steel cables
are substituted for rods. Both are
commonly used. Cables tend to loosen
overtime while rods may be difficult to
tighten properly upon instillation. In
either case, maintenance can be difficult
and loose rods or cables can allow a
building more movement than it should
before the cables or rods engage. This
movement causes more wear and tear on
non-structural components.
For higher compression capacity purlin
struts are available but if an even stronger
strut is required a pipe strut may be used.
Pipe struts are attached to the primary
frame either at the web of the column or
boiled to the top fange of the frame. Both
methods of fastening must have at least
two high-strength bolts.
The layout of the compression struts
should be included in the manufaacturers
roof erection plan. Careful coordination
os needed regarding the details of
attachment of the location and detail of
the purlin bracing.
If your building will be constructed in an
area of heavy seismic activity , the
standards for structural roof members and
diaphragms will be higher. They usually
require thicker decking panels and more
densely placed diaphragm connections.
This will, of course, increase the initial
cost of the building but considering
maintenance and replacement costs for
damages will likely pay for itself many
times over.
Seismic Design factors
The following factors affect and are
affected by the design of the building. It
is important that the design team
understands these factors and deal with
them prudently in the design phase.
Torsion: Objects and buildings have a
center of mass, a point by which the
object (building) can be balanced without
rotation occurring. If the mass is
uniformly distributed then the geometric
center of the floor and the center of mass
may coincide. Uneven mass distribution

IS 1893 (part 1):2002

will position the center of mass outside of
the geometric center causing torsion
generating stress concentrations. A certain
amount of torsion is unavoidable in every
building design. Symmetrical
arrangement of masses, however, will
result in balanced stiffness against either
direction and torsion within a manageable
range.
Damping : Buildings in general are poor
resonators to dynamic shock and dissipate
vibrations by absorbing it. Damping is a
rate at which natural vibration is
absorbed.
Ductility: Ductility is the characteristic of
a material (such as steel) to bend,flex, or
move, but fails only after considerable
deformation has occurred. Non-ductlity
can be achieved with carefully detailed
joints.
Strength and Stiffness: strength is a
property of a material to resist and bear
applied forces within a safe limit.
Stiffness of a material is a degree of
resistance to deflection or drift (drift
being a horizontal story-to-story relative
displacement).
Building Configuration :
This term defines a buildings size and
shape, and structural and nonstrutural
elements. Building configuration
determines the way seismic forces are
distributed within the structure, their
relative magnitude, and problematic
design concerns.
Diaphragms: Floors and roofs can be
used as rigid horizontal planes, or
diaphrogms, to transfer lateral forces to
vertical resisting elements such as walls
or frames.
Shear walls: Strategically located
stiffened walls are shear walls and are
capable of transferring lateral forces from
floors and roofs to the foundation.
Braced Frames: vertical frames that
transfer loads from floors and roofs to
foundations. Like shear walls, Braced
Frames are designed to take lateral loads
but are used where shear walls are
impractical.
Non structural Elements
The non-structural damage problem is
practically difficult to deal with because

the non structural components that are

subjected to seismic forces are not
normally within the design scope of the
structural engineer whose responsible to
provide the seismic safety of the
building . in addition to non-structural
components such as partition walls are
often added after the initial building
design, and the original architect, or an
architect at all, is often not involved.
Finally, non-structural components
remain uninvolved in the building design
and become the source of damage. In
general, non-structural damage is caused
in two ways. The component may be
directly affected by the ground motion
transmitted by the moin structure of the
building structure subjected to
accelerations and consequent inertial
forces in similar way to the building
structure.alternatively, the non-structural
components may be affected by the
movement of dislortion in the structural
elements that support or abet the element.
These two causes can be summarized as
acceleration or drift related damage.
Methods of mitigating the damageto nonstructural components must recognise the
probable mode of failure, whether
through inertial forces or movement of
failure in backing or betting structures for
the former, non-structural components
must be designed and detailed in asimilar
way to the building structure , using an
analysis of forces to determine bracing
support requirements. For the latter,
separation from backup or abetting
structures is necessary. Mechanical,
electrical, and plumbing distribution
system must be secured to the building
structure, with allowance for differential
movement where applicable.
Seismicity of India :
Earthquakes have been occurring in the
Indian sub -continent from the times
immemorial but reliable historical records
are available for the last 200 years
(oldhan 1883) from the beginning of 20th
century, more than 700 earthquakes of
magnitude5 or more have been recorded
and felt in India , as given in the
catalogues prepared by oceanographic

IS 1893 (part 1):2002

and atmospheric administration, India
meteorological department, national
geophysical research institute . the
seismity of india can be divided in 4
groups, namely , Himalayas region ,

Andaman nicobar , kutch region , and

peninsular india. Some of the damaging
eqs which have occurred in there 4
regions are listed in table 1.10 .