Learning

8
Earthquake Design
Earthquake Tip and
Construction
What is the Seismic Design Philosophy for Buildings?
The Earthquake Problem may sustain severe (even irreparable) damage, but
Severity of ground shaking at a given location the building should not collapse.
during an earthquake can be minor, moderate and
strong. Relatively speaking, minor shaking occurs
frequently, moderate shaking occasionally and strong
shaking rarely. For instance, on average annually
about 800 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0-5.9 occur in
the world while the number is only about 18 for
magnitude range 7.0-7.9 (see Table 1 of IITK-BMTPC
Minor Shaking
Earthquake Tip 03 at www.nicee.org). So, should we
design and construct a building to resist that rare
earthquake shaking that may come only once in 500
years or even once in 2000 years at the chosen project Moderate Shaking
site, even though the life of the building itself may be
only 50 or 100 years? Since it costs money to provide
additional earthquake safety in buildings, a conflict
arises: Should we do away with the design of buildings for Strong Shaking
earthquake effects? Or should we design the buildings to be
“earthquake proof” wherein there is no damage during the Figure 1: Performance objectives under different
strong but rare earthquake shaking? Clearly, the former intensities of earthquake shaking – seeking
approach can lead to a major disaster, and the second low repairable damage under minor shaking and
approach is too expensive. Hence, the design collapse-prevention under strong shaking.
philosophy should lie somewhere in between these
two extremes. Thus, after minor shaking, the building will be
fully operational within a short time and the repair
Earthquake-Resistant Buildings
costs will be small. And, after moderate shaking, the
The engineers do not attempt to make earthquake-
building will be operational once the repair and
proof buildings that will not get damaged even during
strengthening of the damaged main members is
the rare but strong earthquake; such buildings will be
completed. But, after a strong earthquake, the building
too robust and also too expensive. Instead, the
may become dysfunctional for further use, but will
engineering intention is to make buildings earthquake-
stand so that people can be evacuated and property
resistant; such buildings resist the effects of ground
recovered.
shaking, although they may get damaged severely but
The consequences of damage have to be kept in
would not collapse during the strong earthquake.
view in the design philosophy. For example, important
Thus, safety of people and contents is assured in
buildings, like hospitals and fire stations, play a critical
earthquake-resistant buildings, and thereby a disaster
role in post-earthquake activities and must remain
is avoided. This is a major objective of seismic design
functional immediately after the earthquake. These
codes throughout the world.
structures must sustain very little damage and should
Earthquake Design Philosophy be designed for a higher level of earthquake
The earthquake design philosophy may be protection. Collapse of dams during earthquakes can
summarized as follows (Figure 1): cause flooding in the downstream reaches, which itself
(a) Under minor but frequent shaking, the main can be a secondary disaster. Therefore, dams (and
members of the building that carry vertical and similarly, nuclear power plants) should be designed
horizontal forces should not be damaged; however for still higher level of earthquake motion.
building parts that do not carry load may sustain
Damage in Buildings: Unavoidable
repairable damage.
Design of buildings to resist earthquakes involves
(b) Under moderate but occasional shaking, the main
controlling the damage to acceptable levels at a reasonable
members may sustain repairable damage, while the
cost. Contrary to the common thinking that any crack
other parts of the building may be damaged such
in the building after an earthquake means the building
that they may even have to be replaced after the
is unsafe for habitation, engineers designing
earthquake; and
earthquake-resistant buildings recognize that some
(c) Under strong but rare shaking, the main members
IITK-BMTPC Earthquake Tip 8
What is the Seismic Design Philosophy for Buildings? page 2
damage is unavoidable. Different types of damage factors affecting the building performance. Thus,
(mainly visualized through cracks; especially so in earthquake-resistant design strives to predetermine
concrete and masonry buildings) occur in buildings the locations where damage takes place and then to
during earthquakes. Some of these cracks are provide good detailing at these locations to ensure
acceptable (in terms of both their size and location), ductile behaviour of the building.
while others are not. For instance, in a reinforced

Total Horizontal Earthquake Force

concrete frame building with masonry filler walls Ductile
between columns, the cracks between vertical columns Performance
and masonry filler walls are acceptable, but diagonal
cracks running through the columns are not (Figure 2).

on Building
In general, qualified technical professionals are
knowledgeable of the causes and severity of damage Brittle
in earthquake-resistant buildings. Collapse

Horizontal Movement of Roof of Building

relative to its base
(a) Building performances during earthquakes:
two extremes – the ductile and the brittle.

Earthquake Design Criteria, EERI, USA

Figure 2: Diagonal cracks in columns jeopardize

Photo from: Housner & Jennings,

vertical load carrying capacity of buildings -
unacceptable damage.

Earthquake-resistant design is therefore concerned

about ensuring that the damages in buildings during
earthquakes are of the acceptable variety, and also that
they occur at the right places and in right amounts.
This approach of earthquake-resistant design is much
like the use of electrical fuses in houses: to protect the (b) Brittle failure of a reinforced concrete
entire electrical wiring and appliances in the house, you column
sacrifice some small parts of the electrical circuit, called Figure 3: Ductile and brittle structures – seismic
fuses; these fuses are easily replaced after the electrical over- design attempts to avoid structures of the latter
kind.
current. Likewise, to save the building from collapsing,
you need to allow some pre-determined parts to Resource Material
undergo the acceptable type and level of damage. Naeim,F., Ed., (2001), The Seismic Design Handbook, Kluwer Academic
Acceptable Damage: Ductility Publishers, Boston, USA.
Ambrose,J., and Vergun,D., (1999), Design for Earthquakes, John Wiley
So, the task now is to identify acceptable forms of & Sons, Inc., New York.
damage and desirable building behaviour during Next Upcoming Tip
earthquakes. To do this, let us first understand how How to make buildings ductile for good seismic performance?
different materials behave. Consider white chalk used
to write on blackboards and steel pins with solid heads Authored by:
used to hold sheets of paper together. Yes… a chalk C.V.R.Murty
breaks easily!! On the contrary, a steel pin allows it to be Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur
bent back-and-forth. Engineers define the property that Kanpur, India
allows steel pins to bend back-and-forth by large Sponsored by:
amounts, as ductility; chalk is a brittle material. Building Materials and Technology Promotion
Earthquake-resistant buildings, particularly their Council, New Delhi, India
main elements, need to be built with ductility in them.
This release is a property of IIT Kanpur and BMTPC New
Such buildings have the ability to sway back-and-forth Delhi. It may be reproduced without changing its contents
during an earthquake, and to withstand earthquake and with due acknowledgement. Suggestions/comments
effects with some damage, but without collapse may be sent to: [email protected]. Visit www.nicee.org or
www.bmtpc.org, to see previous IITK-BMTPC Earthquake Tips.
(Figure 3). Ductility is one of the most important
November 2002