Rc-Ductility Due To EQ

DUCTILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR BUILDINGS
Prof. P. C. Vasani, Applied Mechanics Department,

L. D. College of Engineering, Ahmedabad – 380015.
[email protected]
Bhumika B. Mehta
M. E. CIVIL - (CASAD) Sem - III
B-2, Kalindi Flats, Opp. Kadwa Patidar Boarding,
C. G. Road, Ahmedabad – 380006.
Ph. No. – (079)6561093
[email protected]
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ABSTRACT
At this stage, it is not necessary to explain why study of earthquake resistant structures with ductility requirement is
essential. After the killing earthquake of Bhuj on January 26, 2001, the attitude of the structural engineers of looking towards
the earthquakes has totally changed. In general, the analysis of earthquake forces and design of earthquake resistant structure
is very much complex in nature. Of course, there exist some simplifying assumptions and thoughts, which make this complex
problem somewhat simple to handle. It is to be noted that the actual practice of carrying out earthquake resistant construction
varies from country to country and from time to time.
The essentiality and provisions of the ductility of the engineering structure is discussed here. If ductile members are
used to form a structure, the structure can undergo large deformations before failure. This is beneficial to the users of the
structures, as in case of overloading, if the structure is to collapse, it will undergo large deformations before failure and thu s
provides warning to the occupants. This gives a notice to the occupants and provides sufficient time for taking preventive
measures. This will reduce loss of life.
Ø Ductility
Ductility can be defined as the “ability of material to undergo large deformatio ns without rupture before failure”.
The ductility is increased by,
• An increase in compression steel content.
• An increase in concrete compressive strength.
• An increase in ultimate concrete strain.
And is decreased by,
• An increase in tension steel content.
• An increase in steel yield strength.
• An increase in axial load.
Ø Significance of ductility
Ductility gives a notice to the occupants and provides sufficient time for taking preventive measures. This will
reduce loss of life.
Ø Comparison with brittle material
In the case of reinforced concrete members subjected to inelastic deformation, not only strength but also ductility
plays vital role in the design. A ductile material is the one that can undergo large strains while resisting loads.
Ø Necessity of ductile detailing
Ductile detailing is provided in structures so as to give them adequate toughness and ductility to resist severe
earthquake shocks without collapse.
Ø Ductility criteria for earthquake resistant structures
The performance criteria is given in earthquake code
Ø Variables affecting the ductility
Ø Design for ductility
Ø Ductile detailing for flexure members
Ø Sources
Ø References
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CONTENTS
Ductility requirements for building

Ø Ductility
Ø Significance of ductility
Ø Comparison with brittle material
Ø Necessity of ductile detailing
Ø Ductility criteria for earthquake resistant structures
Ø Variables affecting the ductility
Ø Design for ductility
Ø Ductile detailing for flexure members
Ø Sources
Ø References
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v Ductility requirements for building
Ø Ductility
Ductility can be defined as the “ ability of material to undergo large deformations without rupture before
failure”.
Ductility in concrete is defined by the percentage of steel reinforcement with in it. Mild steel is an
example of a ductile material that can be bent and twisted without rupture.
Member or structural ductility is also defined as the ratio of absolute maximum deformation to the
corresponding yield. This can be defined with respect to strains, rotations, curvature or deflections.
Strain based ductility definition depends almost on the material, while rotation or curvature based
ductility definition also includes the effect of shape and size of the cross-sections.
Each design code recognizes the importance of ductility in design because if a structure is ductile it
ability to absorb energy without critical failure increases. Ductility behavior allows a structure to
undergo large plastic deformations with little decrease in strength.
In general the ductility is increased by,

• An increase in compression steel content.
• An increase in concrete compressive strength.
• An increase in ultimate concrete strain.
And is decreased by,
• An increase in tension steel content.
• An increase in steel yield strength.
• An increase in axial load.
Ø SIGNIFICANCE OF DUCTILITY
• If ductile members are used to form a structure, the structure can undergo large deformations
before failure. This is beneficial to the users of the structures, as in case of overloading, if the
structure is to collapse, it will undergo large deformations before failure and thus provides
warning to the occupants. This gives a notice to the occupants and provides sufficient time for
taking preventive measures. This will reduce loss of life.
• Structures are subjected to unexpected overloads, load reversals, impact and structural
movements due to foundation settlement and volume changes. These items are generally ignored
in the analysis and design. If a structure is ductile than taken care by the presence of some
ductility in the structure.
• The limit state design procedure assumes that all the critical sections in the structure will reach
their maximum capacities at design load for the structure. For this to occur, all joints and splices
must be able to withstand forces and deformations corresponding to yielding of the
reinforcement.
Ø COMPARISON WITH BRITTLE MATERIAL
Brittleness is a property of material that will fail suddenly without undergoing noticeable deformations.
Brittle structures do not give notice before failure and may collapse and the occupants may not have
time to take measures to prevent collapse.
Concrete is an example of brittle material. To avoid failure of structure the structural engineer must take
all provisions to increase the ductility of structure. The structural engineer should design a structure
functioning as a ductile one. By suitably anchoring the reinforcement, the ductility of a structure can be
increased to a greater extent with little increase in cost.
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Reinforced concrete structures, unlike steel structures, tend to fracture or fail in a relatively brittle
fashion as the ductility or deformation capacity of conventional concrete is limited. In such structures
the brittle failure as result of inelastic deformation can be avoided only if the concrete is made to behave
in a ductile manner so that the member can absorb and dissipate large amount of energy.
Hence in the case of reinforced concrete members subjected to inelastic deformation, not only strength
but also ductility plays vital role in the design. A ductile material is the one that can undergo large
strains while resisting loads. Graph shown below also show comparison between brittle and ductile
material regarding to deformation.
BRITTLE AND DUCTILE FORCE-DEFORMATION BEHAVIOUR
Ø NECESSITY OF DUCTILE DETAILING
Ductile detailing is provided in structures so as to give them adequate toughness and ductility to resist
severe earthquake shocks without collapse.
Ductile detailing is provided for the following structures.

• The structures is located in seismic zone IV and V.
• The structure is located in seismic zone III and has the important factor (I) greater than 1.
• The structure is located in seismic zone III and is an industrial structure.
• The structure is located in seismic zone III and is more than 5 storeys high.
Ø DUCTILITY CRITERIA FOR EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT STRUCTURES
The performance criteria in most earthquake code provisions require that a structure be able to :
• Resist earthquakes of minor intensity without damage. A structure would be expected to resist
such frequent but minor shocks within its elastic range of stresses.
• Resist moderate earthquakes with minor structural and some non-structural damage. With proper
design and construction, it is believed that structural damage due to the majority of earthquakes
will be limited to repairable damage.
• Resist major catastrophic earthquake without collapse.
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Ø VARIABLES AFFECTING DUCTILITY
• Tension steel ratio pt

The ductility of a beam cross-section increases as the steel ratio p or (p-p0) decreases. If
excessive reinforcement is provided the concrete will crush before the steel yields, leading to
brittle failure corresponding to µ0=1.0. In other words, a beam should be designed as under
reinforced.
The ductility is directly affected by the values ρa, σck, and δy. the ultimate strain εu is a function
of a number of variables such as the characteristic strength of concrete, rate of loading and
strengthening effect of stirrups. The code recommends a value of 0.0035 for εu. Ductility
increases with the increase in characteristic strength of concrete and decrease with the
characteristic strength of steel. In fact, ductility is inversely proportional to square of δy. It
suggests that Fe 250 grade mild steel is more desirable from the ductility point of view as
compared with the Fe 415 grade or Fe 500 grade high strength steels.
• Compression steel ratio pc

Compression steel ratio is an important parameter defining the ductility ratio. The ductility
increases with the decrease in (p-p0) value, that is, ductility increases with increase in
compression steel.
• Shape of cross-section
The presence of an enlarged compression flange in a T-beam reduces the depth of the
compression zone at collapse and thus increases the ductility.
• Lateral reinforcement
Lateral reinforcement tends to improve ductility by preventing premature shear failures and by
confining the compression zone, thus increasing deformation capability of a reinforced concrete
beam.
Ductility can be increased by

• Decrease in the % tension steel (pt).
• Increase in the % compression steel (pc).
• Decrease in the tensile strength of steel.
• Increase in the compressive strength of concrete (But very high grades of concrete are
undesirable).
• Increase in the compression flanges area in flanged beams.
• Increase in the transverse (shear) reinforcement.
Ø DESIGN FOR DUCTILITY
Following certain simple design details such as can ensure sufficient amount of ductility:
• The structural layout should be simple and regular avoiding offsets of beams to columns, or
offsets of columns from floor to floor. Changes in stiffness should be gradual from floor to floor.
• The amount of tensile reinforcement in beam should be restricted and more compression
reinforcement should be provided. The latter should be enclosed by stirrups to prevent it from
buckling.
• Beams and columns in a reinforced concrete frame should be designed in such a manner that
inelasticity is confined to beams only and the columns should be remain elastic. To ensure this,
sum of the moment capacities of the columns for the design axial loads at a beam-column joint
should be greater than the moment capacities of the beams along each principal plane.
• The shear reinforcement should be adequate to ensure that the strength in shear exceeds the
strength in flexure and thus, prevent a non-ductile shear failure before the fully reversible flexure
strength of a member has been developed.
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• Closed stirrups or spirals should be used to confine the concrete at sections of maximum moment
to increase the ductility of members. Such sections include upper and lower ends of columns and
within beam-column joints, which do not have beams on all sides. If axial load exceed 0.4 times
the balanced axial load, spiral column is preferred.
• Splices and bar anchorages must be adequate to prevent bond failures.
• The reversal of stresses in beams and columns due to reversal of direction of earthquake force
must be taken into account in the design by appropriate reinforcement.
• Beam-column connections should be made monolithic.
Ø DUCTILE DETAILING FOR FLEXURE MEMBER
• The factored axial stress on the member under earthquake loading shall not exceed 0.1fck.
• The member shall have preferably had a width-to-depth ratio of more than 0.3.
• The width of the member shall not be less than 200 mm.
• The depth of the member shall preferably be not less than ¼ of the clear span.
LONGITUDINAL REINFORCEMENT
• The top as well as bottom reinforcement shall consist of at least two bars throughout the member
length
• The tension steel ratio on any face, at any section, shall not be less than ρmin=0.24(fck/fy)1/2.
• The maximum steel ratio on any face at any section, shall not exceed ρmax=0.025.
• The positive steel at a joint face must be at least equal to half the negative steel at that face.
ANCHORAGE OF BEAM BARS IN AN EXTERNAL JOINT
Ld=DEVELOPMENT LENGTH IN TENSION

db=BAR DIAMETER
• In an external joint, both the top and the bottom bars of the beam shall be provided with
anchorage length, beyond the inner face of the column, equal to the development length in
tension plus 10 times the bar diameter minus the allowance for 90 degree bend.
• In an internal joint, both face bars of the beam shall be taken continuously through the column.
PURPOSE
Flexure members of lateral force resisting ductile frames are assumed to yield at the design earthquake
load. To ensure proper development of reversible plastic hinges near continuous supports (beam column
connections) where they are usually develop in such members.
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LAP, SPLICE IN BEAM
NOT LESS THAN Ld
NOT GREATER Ld=DEVELOPMENT LENGTH IN TENSION

THAN db=BAR DIAMETER
150 mm
• The longitudinal bars shall be spliced, only if hoops are provided over the entire splice length, at
spacing not exceeding 150 mm.
PURPOSE
For confining the concrete and to support longitudinal bars.
• The lap length shall not be less than the bar development length in tension.
• Lap splices shall not be provided
Within a joint
Within a distance of 2d from joint face
Within a quarter length of the member where flexural yielding may generally occur under the
effect of earthquake forces.
• Not more than 50% of the bars shall be spliced at one section.
PURPOSE
To avoid the possibility of spalling of concrete cover under large reversed strains.
BEAM REINFORCEMENT
50 mm MAX
50 mm MAX
2d HOOP SPACING 2d
HOOP SPACING NOT GREATER THAN d/2 HOOP SPACING
<d/4 AND 8db <d/4 AND 8db
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• The spacing of hoops over a length of 2d at either end of a beam shall not exceed
d/4
8 times the diameter of the smallest longitudinal bar (it must not less than 100 mm).
• The first hoop shall be at a distance not exceeding 50 mm from the joint face.
• Vertical hoops at the same spacing shall also be provided over a length equal to 2d on either side of a
section where flexural yielding may occur under the effect of earthquake forces.
• Elsewhere, the beam shall have vertical hoops at a spacing not exceeding d/2.
COLUMN AND JOINT DETAILING
• Lap splice shall be provided only in the central half of the member length. It should be proportioned
as a tension splice. Hoops shall be provided over the entire splice length at spacing not exceeding
150mm center to center. Not more than 50% of the bars shall be spliced at one section.
• The spacing of the hoops shall not exceed half the least lateral dimension of the column, except
where special confining reinforcement is provided.
• Special confining reinforcement shall be provided over a length l0 from each joint face, towards
mid-span, and on either side of any section, where flexural yielding may occur under the effect of
earthquake forces.
• The length l0 shall not be less than
Larger lateral dimension of the member at the section where yielding may occurs
1/6 of the clear span of the member
450mm.
• The special confining reinforcement as required at the end of column shall be provided through the
joint.
• A joint, which has beams framing into all vertical faces of it and where each beam width is at least ¾
of the column width, may be provided with half the special confining reinforcement required at the
end of the column. The spacing of the hoops shall not exceed 150 mm.
l0 JOINT
REINFORCEMENT
l0
>=hc/4
REINFORCEMENT
TRANSVERSE
TRANSVERSE
REINFORCEMENT
>=hc/4
l0
l0
CONFINED JOINT WITH
BEAMS FRAMING INTO
ALL FOUR SIDES
CONFINING
REINFORCEMENT
PROVISION OF SPECIAL CONFINING REINFORCEMENT IN FOOTING
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SPECIAL CONFINING
REINFORCEMENT >= 300mm
PROVISION OF SPECIAL CONFINING

REINFORCEMENT IN FOOTINGS
• When a column terminates into a footing or mat, special confining reinforcement shall extend at
least 300 mm into the footing or mat.
v SOURCES
Ø LIBRARY
• The Central Library,
L. D. College of Engineering,
Ahmedabad – 15.
• The British Library,
Law Garden,
Ahmedabad – 6.
• The Library,
The Gujarat Institute of Civil Engineers & Architects,
Law Garden,
• Ahmedabad – 6.
v REFERENCES
Ø BOOKS
• Reinforced concrete (Limit state design) by Ashok K. Jain.
• Elementary reinforced concrete by H.J.Shah.
• A talk on guidelines for earthquake resistant construction by Dr. Sudhir Jain.
Ø IS CODE
• IS 1893-2002
Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structure
• IS 13920-1993
Ductile detailing of reinforced concrete structures subjected to seismic forces.
• IS 4326-1993
Earthquake resistant design and construction of buildings.
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06CV834 – EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT DESIGN OF STRUCTURES
UNIT 7 – EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT DESIGN OF RC BUILDINGS
DUCTILE DETAILING CONSIDERATIONS AS PER IS 13920: 1993
Introduction
The lateral loads used in seismic design are highly unpredictable. Actual forces that act
on structures during earthquakes are much higher than the design forces. It is
recognized that neither the complete protection against earthquakes of all sizes is
economically feasible nor design alone based on strength criteria is justified. The basic
approach of earthquake resistant design should be based on lateral strength as well as
deformability and ductility capacity of structure with limited damage but no collapse.
Thus, the design philosophy shall include provisions to provide minimum standards to
maintain public safety in an extreme earthquake and safeguard against major failures
and loss of life. The design assumes significant amount of inelastic behaviour to occur in
the structure during earthquake.
The collapse of RCC buildings is generally preventable if the following principles of
earthquake resistant design are observed
 Failure should be ductile rather than brittle – ductility with large energy
dissipation capacity with less deterioration in stiffness must be ensured.
 Flexure failure should precede shear failure
 Beams should fail before columns
 Connections should be stronger than the members which fit into them
The code IS 13920; 1993 entitled "Ductile Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures
Subjected to Seismic Forces-Code of Practice" is based on this approach. This standard
covers the requirements of lateral strength designing and detailing of monolithic
reinforced concrete buildings so as to give them adequate toughness and ductility to
resist severe earthquake shock without collapse. Thus, the ductility of a structure is in
fact one of the most important factors affecting its seismic performance and it has been
clearly observed that the well-designed and detailed reinforced structures behave well
during earthquakes and the gap between the actual and design lateral force is narrowed
down by providing ductility in the structure.
Advantages of Ductility
The following are the advantages of a reinforced concrete structure having sufficient ductility:
 A ductile reinforced concrete structure may take care of overloading, load reversals,
impact and secondary stresses due to differential settlement of foundation.
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 A ductile reinforced concrete structure gives the occupant sufficient time to vacate the
structure by showing large deformation before its final collapse. Accordingly, the loss of
life is minimized with the provision of sufficient ductility.
 Properly designed ductile joints are capable of resisting forces and deformations at the
yielding of steel reinforcement. Therefore, these sections can reach their respective
moment capacities, which is one of the assumptions in the design of reinforced concrete
structures by limit state method.
Ductile Detailing Considerations as per IS 13920: 1993

General Specifications
 The design and construction of reinforced concrete buildings should be governed by the
provision of IS 456: 2000, except as modified by the provisions of IS 13920: 1993.
 Concrete: For all buildings which are more than 3 storeys in height, the minimum grade
of concrete shall be M20 (fck= 20 MPa). However, for all buildings more than 4 storeys
or more than 15m in height and situated in Zones IV and V, the minimum grade of
concrete should be M25 (fck= 25 MPa). Most of the codes worldwide specify higher
grade of concrete for seismic regions than that for non-seismic constructions. Higher
grade of concrete facilitates ductile behaviour and the concrete strength below M 20
may not have the requisite strength in bond or shear.
 Steel: Steel reinforcements of grade Fe 415 or less shall be used. However, high strength
deformed steel bars, produced by the thermo-mechanical treatment process, of grades
Fe 500 and Fe 550, having elongation more than 14.5 percent and conforming to other
requirements of IS 1786 : 1985 may also be used for the reinforcement.
Based on a tensile test of steel, σ , −σ , ≯ 120MPa. If the difference is

more, shear or bond failure may precede the flexural hinge formation. Further, in order
to develop inelastic rotation capacity, a structural member needs an adequate length of
yield region along the axis of the member. Thus, σ , /σ , ≥ 1.25.
Strong steel is not preferable to low strength steel in earthquake prone region because
typical stress strain curve of low steel shows the following advantages:
o a long yield plateau
o a greater breaking strain
o less strength gain after first yield
 Cover: To develop the required bond strength and to protect the reinforcement against
corrosion, cover to reinforcement is provided. Minimum cover for reinforcement should
comply with Tables 16 and 16A of IS 456 : 2000.

Flexural Members
Beams sustain two basic types of failures namely flexure and shear as shown in Figure 1.
(a) Flexural (or Bending) Failure: As the beam sags under increased loading, it can fail in two
possible ways. If relatively more steel is present on the tension face, concrete crushes in
compression; this is a brittle failure and is therefore undesirable. If relatively less steel is
present on the tension face, the steel yields first and redistribution occurs in the beam until
eventually the concrete crushes in compression; this is a ductile failure and hence is
desirable. Thus, more steel on tension face is not necessarily desirable! The ductile failure is
characterized with many vertical cracks starting from the stretched beam face, and going
towards its mid-depth.
(b) Shear Failure: A beam may also fail due to shearing action. A shear crack is inclined at 45°to
the horizontal; it develops at mid-depth near the support and grows towards the top and
bottom faces. Closed loop stirrups are provided to avoid such shearing action. Shear damage
occurs when the area of these stirrups is insufficient.
Figure 1: Two types of damage in a beam: flexure and shear

Shear failure is brittle, and therefore, shear failure must be avoided in the design of RC
beams.
General
 These requirements apply to frame members resisting earthquake induced forces and
designed to resist flexure.

 Axial Stress
o Factored axial stress under earthquake loading ≤ 0.1 fck
o Generally, axial force in a flexural member is relatively very less
o If exceeds, design the member for bending and axial load
 Dimensions
o Preferably b/D ratio > 0.3
o b ≥ 200 mm
To avoid difficulties in confining concrete through stirrups in narrow beams
o Depth, D ≤ ¼ of clear span
To avoid deep beam behaviour under cyclic inelastic deformations
Longitudinal Reinforcement
 To ensure adequate ductility, the amount of longitudinal reinforcement must be limited
in relation to
o Dimensions of the beam
o The quality of concrete
o Yield stress of reinforcement
Under earthquake loading the critical sections for the longitudinal reinforcement in
frames occur at the face of the beam-column and girder-column connection and at the
beam-girder connection immediately adjacent to the columns. Since the distribution of
bending moment along the beams/girders framing into columns may be quite different
in severe earthquake from that under gravity loads, the cut-off points of the bars require
special consideration. It is desirable that only straight bars are used, however bent bars
may be used in beams that do not frame into columns.
 The minimum bar diameter permissible is 12 mm. There must be at least two bars both
the top and bottom face (Figure 2).
o To ensure integrity of the member under reversed loading
o A construction requirement rather than behavioral requirement
 The positive steel at a joint face must be at least equal to half of the negative steel at
that face (Figure 2).
o Compression reinforcement increases ductility and hence this provision ensures
adequate ductility at potential yielding regions
o The seismic moments are reversible and design seismic loads may be exceeded
by a considerable margin during strong shaking resulting in development of
substantial sagging moments at beam ends
 Maximum steel ratio on any face at any section shall not exceed ρmax = 0.025
o To avoid congestion of reinforcement which may cause insufficient compaction
or poor bond between concrete and reinforcement
 Tension steel ratio on any face at any section, shall not be less than ρmin = 0.24 √fck/fy
o To provide necessary ductility or to avoid brittle failure upon cracking

Figure 2: Location and amount of longitudinal steel bars in beams
 Steel provided at each of top and bottom face of member at any section along its length
≥ 1/4 of maximum negative steel provided at the face of either joint
o To ensure some positive and negative moment capacity throughout the beam in
order to allow unexpected deformations and moment distribution from severe
earthquake action
 In an external joint, Anchorage length = Ld + 10 dia - allowance for 90 degree bends for
both the top and bottom bars (Figure 3)
o Such an arrangement will make a ductile junction and provide adequate
anchorage of beam reinforcement into columns
 In an internal joint, for both faces of beam, bars shall be taken continuously through the
column (Figure 4)
 Splicing of longitudinal bars (Figure 5)

o Hoops to be provided over the entire splice length, at a spacing not exceeding
150 mm
o Lap length shall not be less than the bar development in tension
o Lap splices shall not be provided with in a joint and within a distance of 2d from
joint face
o Lap splices shall not be provided within a quarter length of the member where
flexural yielding may generally occur under the effect of earthquake forces
o Not more than 50 percent of the bars shall be spliced at one section
Web Reinforcement
 To ensure that beam capacity will be governed by flexure and not by shear
Web reinforcement
o Carry the vertical shear force and prevent the diagonal shear cracks
o Protect the concrete from bulging outwards due to flexure
o Prevent buckling of compression bars

Figure 3: Anchorage of beam bars in an external joint
Figure 4: Anchorage of beam bars in an external joint

Figure 5: Splicing of longitudinal bars
 Web reinforcement shall consists of vertical hoops and the details of requirements are
shown in (Figure 6, Figure 7 and Figure 8)
Figure 6: Web reinforcement details in a seismic beam

 In compelling circumstances, web reinforcement may also be made of TWO pieces of
reinforcement (Figure 7)
o a U – stirrup with a 1350 hook and a 10 dia extension (min of 75 mm), and
o a crosstie with hooks at ends similar to U – stirrup
Figure 7: Beam web reinforcement

 Minimum bar diameter 6 mm for Spans ≤ 5 m and 8 mm for Spans > 5 m
 First stirrup not less than 50 mm of column face
 Minimum spacing is 100 mm
Figure 8: Location and amount of vertical stirrups in beams
 Shear Force to be resisted by vertical hoops – Maximum of

o The calculated factored shear force as per analysis
o Shear force due to formation of plastic hinges at both ends of beam plus
factored gravity load on the span

Columns and Frame Members Subjected to Bending and Axial Load
General
 These requirements apply to frame members which have axial stress in excess of 0.1fck
under the effect of earthquake forces
 Minimum Dimensions
In General ≮ 200 mm
In frames which have beams of span > 5m ≮ 300 mm
columns having unsupported length > 4m ≮ 300 mm
To avoid
o very slender columns
o Column failure before beams
 Dimensions: Preferably b/D ratio ≥ 0.4
o Since confinement of concrete is better in a relatively square column than in a

column with large width-to-depth ratio
Longitudinal Reinforcement
 Lap Splicing
o Shall be provided only in the central half of the member length
o Length = Tension splice
o Hoops to be provided over the entire splice length
o Spacing of hoops ≯150 mm
o Not more than 50 percent of the bars shall be spliced at one section. If more
than 50% of the bars are spliced at one section, the lap length should be 1.3Ld
Transverse Reinforcement
 Transverse reinforcement (Figure 9)
o Provides shear resistance to the member
o Confines the concrete core and thereby increases ductility
o Provides lateral resistance against buckling to the compression reinforcement
o Prevents loss of bond strength within column vertical bar splices
 Closed Ties 1350 hook with a 10 dia extension ( min of 75 mm) that is embedded in the
confined core
 Spacing of hoops shall not exceed B/2, where B is the least lateral dimension of column
 Spacing of parallel legs of rectangular hoops  300 mm
 Provide cross-tie if the length of any side of the hoop is > 300 mm

Figure 9: Steel reinforcement in columns
Special Confining Reinforcement

 Provided over a length of
o l0 from each joint face towards mid-span
o l0 on either side of any section where flexural yielding may occur under the
effect of earthquake forces
 The length of l0 shall not be less than

o Larger lateral dimension of the member
o 1/6 of clear span of the member, and
o 450 mm
 Spacing of ties used as special confining reinforcement

o 1/4 of minimum member dimension.
o minimum 75 mm
o shall not be more than 100 mm
 Area of cross section, Ash, of the bar forming circular hoops or spiral is
 Area of cross section, Ash, of the bar forming rectangular hoops is
S = Spacing of ties
h = Longer dimension of the rectangular confining hoop measured to its outer face,
which shall not exceed 300 mm.
Ag = Gross area of the column cross section
Ak = Area of the concrete core
Dk = Diameter of core measured to the outside of the spiral or hoop

Figure 10: Placing vertical bars and closed ties in columns

STEPS FOR SAFE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF
MULTISTOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS
1. Introduction:
A large number of reinforced concrete multistoreyed frame buildings were heavily damaged and
many of them collapsed completely in Bhuj earthquake of 2001 in the towns of Kachchh District
(viz., Bhuj, Bhachao, Anjar, Gandhidham and Rapar) and other district towns including Surat and
Ahmedabad. In Ahmedabad alone situated at more than 250 kilometers away from the Epicentre of
the earthquake, 69 buildings collapsed killing about 700 persons. Earlier, in the earthquake at Kobe
(Japan 1995) large number of multistoreyed RC frame buildings of pre 1981 code based design were
severely damaged due to various deficiencies. Such behaviour is normally unexpected of RC frame
buildings in MSK Intensity VIII and VII areas as happened in Kachchh earthquake of January 26,
2001. The aim of this paper is to bring out the main contributing factors which lead to poor
performance during the earthquake and to make recommendations which should be taken into
account in designing the multistoreyed reinforced concrete buildings so as to achieve their adequate
safe behaviour under future earthquakes. The Indian Standard Code IS:1893 was suitably updated in
2002 so as to address the various design issues brought out in the earthquake behaviour of the RC
Buildings. The paper highlights the main provisions of this code.
2. Causes of the Collapse of RC Frame Buildings and Recommendations
2.1 Ignorance of the Architects and Structural Engineers about the Contents of the relevant
earthquake resistant Building Codes :
Recommendation:-
The following BIS Standards will be mainly required for the design of RCC Buildings.
Architect’s and Structural engineer’s design office should have the current copies of these
standards available in their offices and all their staff should fully familiarize with the contents of
these codes:-
1. IS: 456 -2000 “Code of Practice for Plain and Reinforced Concrete”
2. IS: 875 Part 1 “Unit weights of materials”.
3. IS: 875-1987Design loads ( other than earthquake ) for buildings and structures, Part2
Imposed Loads
4. IS: 875-1987Design loads ( other than earthquake ) for buildings and structures ,Part 3 Wind
Loads
5. IS: 1904-1987 “Code of Practice for Structural Safety of Buildings: Foundation”
6. IS: 1498-1970 Classification and identification of soils for general engineering purposes
(First Revision)
7. IS: 2131-1981 Method of Standard Penetration Test for soils (First Revision)
8. IS: 1905-1987, Code of Practice for Structural Safety of Buildings: Masonry
9. IS:1893(Part-I)-2002 "Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures (Fifth
Revision)”.
10. IS:13920-1993, "Ductile Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures subjected to Seismic
Forces - Code of Practice"
11. IS: 4326-1993, "Earthquake Resistant Design and Construction of Buildings - Code of
Practice (Second Revision)"
12. IS-NBC-2005: National Building Code of India.
Note: The design offices should keep in touch with BIS-CE division to keep track of any amendments
issued or further revisions.
1
2.2 Softness of Base Soil:
The soft soil on which most buildings in Ahmedabad were founded would have affected the
response of the buildings in three ways:
(i) Amplification of the ground motion at the base of the building;

(ii) Absence of foundation raft or piles;
(iii)Relative displacement between the individual column foundations vertically and laterally, in the
absence of either the foundation struts as per IS: 4326 or the plinth beams;
(iv) Resonance or, semi-resonance of the whole building with the long period ground waves;
(v) In the absence of the beam at plinth or, ground level, the length of ground storey columns gets
increased, which increases the flexibility of the ground storey and if the columns become ‘long’
the buckling moments due to P- Δ effect will increase bonding to cause collapse of the columns.
(vi) If the soil is sandy and water table is high, it may liquify. See IS:1893-2002 Cl 6.3.5.2 and
Table 1 for minimum N (corrected values) for safety and carryout soil liquefaction analysis by
standard procedures available in the literature. The adverse effects of liquefaction may be seen in
Figs. 1, 2 & 3.
Fig. 1 Fig. 3
The Building Sank evenly about 1 m Fig. 2
This inclined building sank unevenly The solid building tilted as a rigid
due to soil liquefaction. The displaced body and the raft foundation rises
soil caused a bulge in the road. and leans against a neighbouring
building above the ground
Recommendation:-
Soil exploration at the buildings site must be carried out at sufficient points and to sufficient depth
so as to give the following data:
(i) Soil classification in various layers and the properties like grain size distribution, fields density,
angle of internal fritting and cohesion a plastic and liquid limits and coefficient of consolidation
of cohesive sites.
(ii) Position of water table just before and just after monsoon.
(iii)SPT values and CPT values.
(iv) The output results should include liquefaction potential, safe bearing capacity and the type of
foundation to be adopted, viz. (i) individual column footing of given width (ii) combined row
footing or (iii) raft foundation or (iv) Pile foundations.
(v) Chemical analysis of soil to find if it has any harmful elements to the concrete, if so, precautions
to be taken in making the foundations.
(vi) Chemical analysis of water to be used in making the Concrete mixtures.
2.3 Soft-first Storey:
Open ground storey (stilt floor) used in most severely damaged or, collapsed R.C. buildings,
introduced ‘severe irregularity of sudden change of stiffness’ between the ground storey and upper
storeys since they had infilled brick walls which increase the lateral stiffness of the frame by a factor
of three to four times. Such a building is called a building with ‘soft’ ground storey, in which the
dynamic ductility demand during the probable earthquake gets concentrated in the soft storey and
2
the upper storeys tend to remain elastic. Hence whereas the ‘soft’ storey is severely strained causing
its total collapse, much smaller damages occurs in the upper storeys, if at all.
Behaviour of soft first storey buildings (buildings on stilts or with open plinth) during earthquakes
may be seen in Figs. 4, 5 & 6.
Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6

Sway mechanisms with soft Soft first storey collapsed, upper Soft Storey (Open Plinth), Vertical
storey ground floors (Izmit, part of the building fall onto the Split between two blocks (Bhuj)
Turkey 1999 ground, (kachchh, 2001)
Recommendation:-
In view of the functional requirements of parking space under the buildings, more and more tall
buildings are being constructed with stilts. To safeguard the soft first storey from damage and
collapse, clause 7.10 of IS: 1893-2002 (Part 1) provides two alternative design approaches
(i) The dynamic analysis of the building is to be carried out which should include the strength and
stiffness effects of infills as well as the inelastic deformations under the design earthquake force
disregarding the Reduction Factor R.
(ii) The building is analysed as a bare frame neglecting the effect of infills and, the dynamic forces
so determined in columns and beams of the soft (stilt) storey are to be designed for 2.5 times the
Bracings in the columns of open ground storey

Largest size stilt columns
Providing R.C. Shear Wall

Providing Brick infills between 3
columns
Fig. 7:- Remedial Measures for Soft Storey
storey shears and moments: OR the shear walls are
introduced in the stilt storey in both directions of the
building which should be designed for 1.5 times the
calculated storey shear forces.
Some remedial measures to counter the bad performance are

shown in Fig. 7.
Some times a soft storey is created some where at mid-height

of the multi-storey building, for using the space as restaurant
or gathering purposes, see fig.8. Such soft storey in building
also collapsed in Kutch and Kobe earthquakes. For such a
case also, the storey columns should be designed for the
higher forces OR a few shear walls introduced to make up for
the reduced stiffness of the storey.
2.4 Bad Structural System:
The structural system adopted using floating columns, for

reasons of higher FSI is very undesirable in earthquake zones
of moderate to high intensity as in Zone III, IV & V since it
will induce large vertical earthquake forces even under
horizontal earthquake ground motions due to overturning
effects.
Recommendation:- Fig.8:- Collapse of soft middle storey in a

The structural engineer should provide for the load path in the building at Bhuj.
building from roof to the foundation. For example, a building
with floating columns requires transfer of the floating column Fc
loads to horizontal cantilever beams through shear forces. The

load path, therefore, is not vertical but changes from vertical to Cb
horizontal members before reaching the foundation. Sometimes

Fc
similar situations arise within the frames where, for any reason,
either the beam is missing or a column is missing. These are Cb
structural discontinuities and should better be avoided as far as
possible. Other irregularities such as those defined in Table 4
& 5 of IS: 1893-2002 (Part 1) become the cause for large
torsional moments and stress concentration in the buildings Fig.9:-Floating columns
Fc= Floating Columns
which should better be avoided by the architect and structural Cb= Cantilever Beams
engineer in the initial planning of the building configuration.
Otherwise, they should be carefully considered in structural
analysis and properly detailed in the structural design.
2.5 Heavy Water Tanks on the Roof:
Heavy water tanks add large lateral inertia forces on the

building frames due to the so called ‘whipping’ effect under
seismic vibrations, but remain unaccounted for in the design.
See the fall of such water tank in Fig.10
Recommendation:-
All projected systems above the roof top behave like secondary
elements subjected to roof level horizontal earthquake motions Fig.10
which act as base motions to such projecting systems. To 5 storey R.C., collapse of open plinth, water
tank at top dislocated (Bhuj)
4
account for such heavy earthquake forces, IS:1893-2002 (Part 1) provides in clause 7.12 that their
support system should be designed for five times the design horizontal seismic co-efficient Ah
specified in clause 6.4.2. Similarly any horizontal projections as the balconies or the cantilevers
supporting floating columns, the cantilevers need to be designed for five times the design vertical
co-efficient as specified in clause 6.4.5 of IS: 1893-2002 (Part 1)
2.6 Lack of Earthquake Resistant Design:
Many buildings in Gujarat were not designed for the

earthquake forces specified in IS:1893, which was in existence
from 1962, revised in 1970, 1976 & 1984. The applicable
seismic zoning in Gujarat had remained the same as adopted in
1970 version. It is the same even in 2002 version of IS:1893
(Part I).
Inspite of that, the structural designers ignored the seismic

forces in design. It may also be stated that most buildings are
designed against lateral load in the transverse direction. Hence All the upper floors weak in long directions
(Izmit, Turkey 1999)
they collapse in the longitudinal directions.
Proper arrangement of columns is shown in

Fig. 11 which would give adequate seismic WEAK STRONG
resistance along both axes of the building.
Recommendation:-
It does not need emphasizing that all
buildings including the multistoried
buildings should be designed in accordance STRONG STRONG
with IS: 1893 (Part 1) and IS: 4326 – 1993.
The salient features of the design will be Fig.11:- Lateral Strength of Building Frame
presented in Para 3.0 in this guide.
2.7 Improper Dimensioning of Beams &

Columns:
The structural dimensioning of beams and

columns was inadequate in terms of provisions
in IS: 13920-1993 and also for proper
installation of reinforcements in Beam-Column
joints as per IS: 456 and IS: 13920.
Recommendation:
The relative dimensions of beams &
columns become very important in tall
buildings from the point of view of
provision of longitudinal & transverse
reinforcement in the members as well
as the reinforcement passing through
and anchored in the beam-column
joints, permitting enough space for
proper concreting and without
involving any local kinking of the
reinforcing bars. The practice of using
small dimension columns like 200 or
Fig.13:- Plan of Reinforcement in Beams & Columns 5

230 mm and beams of equal width is totally unacceptable from the reinforcement detailing view
point. Infact for permitting the beam bars passing through the columns, without any local bending
then straightening (introducing kinks), the proper scheme would be to use wider columns than the
beams. Minimum dimensions of beams and columns, also limiting aspect ratios of the two members,
are specified in IS: 13920 which need to be adhered to.
2.8 Improper Detailing of Reinforcement:
In detailing the stirrups in the columns, no conformity appeared to satisfy lateral shear requirements
in the concrete of the joint as required under IS 4326- 1976 and IS: 13920-1993. The shape and
spacing of stirrups seen in collapsed and severely damaged columns with buckled reinforcement was
indicative of non-conformity even with the basic R.C. Code IS: 456-1978.
Recommendation:
In respect of proper detailing of reinforcement in beams, columns, beam-column joints as well as
shear walls, all the provisions in IS:13920 have to be carefully understood and adopted in design.
The philosophy of over-design of beams in shear to force flexural hinge formation before shear
failure, confining of highly compressed concrete in columns and the use of properly shaped shear
stirrups with 135 degree hooks are some low-cost but extremely important provisions. For overall
safety of the frame, design based on the concept of strong-column, weak-beam system should be
adopted as far as practical. It may be mentioned that the full ductility details as specified in IS:
13920 permit the use of the High Reduction Factor R=5 which would make the design economical.
But if such ductility details are not adopted, the Reduction Factor is permitted as only 3.0, which
means that the design force will become 1.67 times the case when full ductile detailing is adopted
which may indeed turnout to be more expensive and at the same time brittle and relatively unsafe
(see fig.13).
Fig.13:- Detailing of reinforcement (Overlapping Hoops & Crosstie)
6
2.9 Short Column Detailing
In some situations the column is surrounded by walls on

both sides such as upto the window sills and then in the
spandrel portion above the windows but it remains exposed
in the height of the windows. Such a column behaves as a
short column under lateal earthquake loading where the
shear stresses become much higher than normal length
columns and fail in shear. (See fig. 14)
Recommendation:
To safe guard against this brittle shear failure in such Fig.14:- Damage
to buildings due to
columns the special confining stirrups should be provided short column
throughout the height of the column at short spacing as effect on columns
required near the ends of the columns.
2.10 Torsional Failures
Torsional failures are seen to occur where the symmetry is

not planned in the location of the lateral structural elements
as for example providing the lift cores at one end of the
building or at one corner of the building or
unsymmetrically planned buildings in L shape
at the street corners. Large torsional shears are
caused in the building columns causing there
torsional shear failures (See fig.15).
Recommendation:
Where site requirements of from functional
requirements control the building plan shape,
either it should be split into two symmetrical
rectangular blocks by providing separation
sections of appropriate with between the
blocks or the structural elements should be so
adjusted that the centre of stiffness and the Fig.15:- Very unsymmetrical building
centre of mass should coincide along both axis
of the building needless to say that any non-coincidence of the centre of mass and centre of stiffness
should be taken into design calculations as per IS:1893
2.11 Pounding Damage of Adjacent Buildings
Severe damage even leading to collapse are

seen due to severe impact between two
adjacent buildings under earthquake shaking if
the adjacent blocks of a building or two
adjacent buildings are of different heights with
floors at different levels and with inadequate
separation. Such buildings can vibrate out of
phase with each other due to very different
natural frequencies thus hitting each other
quite severely (see fig.16).
Recommendation: Fig.16:- Pounding damage of adjacent buildings
7
To avoid such pounding damage the amount of separation between them should be liberally
provided so as to cater for the combined maximum out of phase displacements. A simple
recommendation is given in IS:4326 (Cl.5.1.2) for flexible as well as stiff buildings which must be
adopted as a minimum to avoid the possibility of pounding between two unsimilar buildings/blocks
2.12 Lack of Stability of Infill Walls
The infill walls were not properly attached either to

the column or the top beams for stability against
out-of-plane bending under horizontal earthquake
forces. Their cracking and falling was widespread
(See Fig. 17).
Recommendation:
Stability of infill walls is important in two ways:
first, they introduce their brittle failure due to the
diagonal compression in the panel and or diagonal
tension cracking; secondly, and more important is Fig. 17:- Infill wall damage
their lateral stability under out of plane earthquake
force acting on their own mass. While conducting the retrofitting studies of three lifeline buildings
in Delhi, the 114 mm thick brick infill walls have turned out to be one of the main issues to handle
while retrofitting the building so as to save the inmates and the property inside from damage due to
the failure of the infill walls. It has been found that such walls will have to be contained with in pairs
of vertical angles spaced at 1.2 – 1.5 m apart. Therefore, while designing a new multistoried
building, the stabilisation of the infill wall panels should be properly considered either by providing
confining angles near the top or by providing slits on the vertical sides and stabilising by the means
of vertical angles or channels.
2.13 Poor Construction Quality:
The construction quality of the damaged R.C. buildings was found to be much below that desired, as
seen by the cover to reinforcement in the damaged members and the bad quality of concrete in the
columns in 150 to 300 mm length just below the floor beams and within the beam column joints.
Recommendation:
Needless to say that if the quality of construction is not commensurate with the quality of design,
even a well planned and a well designed building can show extremely bad behavior under
earthquake shaking. It should be remembered that during earthquake shaking all bad quality
constructions will be revealed and nothing can be kept hidden. Good quality of construction will
include: proper mixing and quantity of water, good quality sand and aggregates, designed quantity
of cement in the mix, proper mixing of all the ingredients with control on water cement ratio,
adequate compaction in the placement of concrete preferably by using vibrators, proper placement
of steel with control on the cover to steel and adequate curing before striking of the form work. The
engineer incharge of the construction should personally be present at site to supervise all operations.
He should have appropriate sampling and testing of materials carried out in a recognized laboratory,
the results of test being kept in well maintained register for inspection by quality audit team. He
should organize the taking of sample of steel reinforcement & concrete cubes in adequate numbers
which should be tested at the specified age of testing.
3. Some Important Codal Design Provisions:
In the last few years the author has had the opportunity of reviewing many reinforced concrete
building designs prepared by well-established consulting companies as well as individual
8
consultants and felt the need of preparing brief guidelines so that no important Codal provisions are
missed out and the various design details for achieving better construction in the field and better
ductile performance in the event of a great earthquake are ensured. Thus a safe and ductile building
could be achieved.
3.1 Building Configuration
For achieving basic structural safety of buildings under postulated earthquake forces the first
important requirement is that the building should be designed with symmetrical configuration both
horizontally and vertically. In any case the seismic force resisting elements must be planned
symmetrically about the centre of the mass of the building. IS:1893 (Part 1-2002) presents in detail
in cl.7.1 the various types of irregularities which should be avoided as far as possible or corrected by
planning the structural resisting elements. The present day requirements of large column free spaces
inside can be met by designing strong frames on the periphery of the building so as to resist most of
the horizontal design seismic forces and relieving the internal columns relatively from the
earthquake forces. For this purpose shear walls may be provided in the building perimeter to
increase the stiffness in both principal axes of the building as compared with the internal columns
which could be designed basically for vertical loads.
3.2 Calculation of Loads
The loads will include the following:
(i) Dead Loads: These will include the weight of all components at each level, viz., roof
including water tanks, Barsatis, Parapets, roof finishes, slabs, beams, elevator machine room
etc. and including all plasters and surface cladding etc., and each floor level including fixed
masonry or other partitions, infill walls, columns, slabs and beams, weight of stairs,
cantilever balconies, parapets and plastering or cladding wherever used. The unit weights
may be taken from IS:875 (Part 1) or ascertained from the manufacturer.
(ii) Imposed Floor Loads: IS 875 (Part 2) deals with the imposed loads on roofs, floors, stairs,
balconies, etc., for various occupancies. There is a provision for reduction in the imposed
loads for certain situations, e.g. for large span beams and number of storeys above the
columns of a storey. The earthquake code IS: 1893 (Part 1)-2002 permits general reduction
in roof and floor imposed load when considering the load combination with the earthquake
loading. But the two types of reductions, that is, in IS: 875 (Part 2) and IS: 1893 (Part 1) are
not to be taken together.
3.3 The Earthquake Load:
For working out the earthquake loading on a building frame, the dead load and imposed load and
weights are to be lumped at each column top on the basis of contributory areas. The imposed load is
to be reduced as specified in IS: 1893 (Part1)-2002 for seismic load determination. Let us call them
Wi at ith floor and Wn at the nth level at the roof level for a n-storey building. Hence the total load
at the base of the building just above the foundation will be
n
W = Σ i=1 W i + Wo
where Wo is the weight of elements in the ground storey.
3.4 Earthquake Resistant Design
Now the following steps may be taken:

(a) Estimate fundamental time period Ta using empirical expressions given in the Code IS: 1893-
9
2002.
Ta = 0.075 H0.75, IS: 1893 Cl.7.6.1 for bare frame along each axis
Tax = 0.09h/√d along x-axis IS: 1893 Cl.7.6.2 for frame with substantial infills
Ta z = 0.09h/√b, along z-axis, IS: 1893 Cl.7.6.2 for frame with substantial infills
where h is the height of the building and d and b are the base dimensions of the building
along x and z axis respectively.
(b) Calculate the design horizontal Seismic coefficient Ah
Now compute the fundamental time periods T/x and T/z for the bare frame along the two axes by
dynamic analysis. These are generally found to be higher than Tax and Taz respectively.
The design horizontal coefficient Ah is given by
Ah = (Z/2). (I/R). (Sa/g)
Take Z for the applicable seismic zone (IS: 1893 Cl.6.4.2),

Take I for the use importance of the building (IS: 1893 Table 2),
Take R for the lateral load resisting system adopted (IS: 1893 Table 7),
and take Sa/g for the computed time period values T/x, Tax, T/z and Taz with 5% damping
coefficient using the response spectra curves IS: 1893 Fig 2 for the soil type observed. Thus four
values of Ah will be determined as follows:-
In x-direction A/hx for T/x & Ahax for Tax

In z-direction A/hz for T/z & Ahaz for Taz
(c) Calculate the total horizontal shear (the base shear)

The design value of base shear VB
VB = Ah W
as per 1893 Cl.7.5.3.

For design of the building and portions thereof, the base shear corresponding to higher of Ahax
and A/hx, similarly between Ahaz and A/hz will be taken as minimum design lateral force.
(d) Seismic Moments and Forces in Frame Elements:
Calculate the seismic moments and axial forces in the columns, shears and moments in the
beams by using the seismic weights on the floors/(column beam joints) through an appropriate
computer software (having facility for using floors as rigid diaphragm and torsional effects as
per IS: 1893:2002).
It may be performed by Response Spectrum or Time History analysis. The important point is
that according to IS: 1893 Cl.7.8.2., the base shear computed in either of the dynamic method,
say V/B shall not be less than VB calculated under Cl.7.5.3 using Ahax and Ahaz. If so, then all
shears, moments, axial forces etc worked out under dynamic analysis will be increased
proportionately, that is, in the ratio of VB/V/B.
(e) Soft Ground Storey
It must be designed according to Cl.7.10 of IS: 1893-2002.
10
4. Method of Design
Structural design of various members has to be done by Limit State Method, as per IS 456-2000 for
which the following load combinations should be used to work out the maximum member forces:-
Using
DL for DEAD LOAD
LL for LIVE LOAD
EQX for SEISMIC LOAD (X) DIRECTION
EQZ for SEISMIC LOAD (Z) DIRECTION
The load combinations for analysis and design will be taken as follows:
1. (DL+LL)*1.5 8. (DL-EQX)*1.5
2. (DL+LL+EQX)*1.2 9. (DL-EQZ)*1.5
3. (DL+LL+EQZ)*1.2 10. 0.9DL+EQX*1.5
4. (DL+LL-EQX)*1.2 11. 0.9DL+EQZ*1.5
5. (DL+LL-EQZ)*1.2 12. 0.9DL-EQX *1.5
6. (DL+EQX)*1.5 13. 0.9DL-EQZ*1.5
7. (DL+EQZ)*1.5
The members (beams, columns, shear walls etc.) and their joints will be designed for the worst
combination of loads, shears and moments.
MATERIALS:
a) Cement: Ordinary portland cement conforming to IS 269 - 1976 shall be used along with fly ash
after carrying out the design mix from approved consultant.
b) Reinforcement: Cold twisted high yield strength deformed bars grade Fe 415 conforming to IS:
1786-1985, or preferably TMT bars of standard manufacturer e.g. TATA Steel, SAIL or equivalent
shall be used.
The following grades of concrete mix may be adopted or as required for safe design:
(a) For RCC columns in lowest few storeys : M35
(b) For RCC columns in the middle few storeys : M30
(c) For RCC columns in the top few storeys : M25
(d) For beams, slabs, staircase etc. : M20
(e) For raft foundation : M 20 or 25
(f) Max. Water cement Ratio : 0.45
(g) Minimum cement content : 300 kg/m3 of concrete.
(h) Admixtures of approved brand may be used as per mix design
CLEAR COVER TO ALL REINFORCEMENT:

For mild Exposure and fire rating of 1 hr. following clear covers may be adopted
(a) For foundation R.C.C.:
i) Footings : 60 mm.
11
ii) Raft : 60 mm.
(b) For columns : 40 mm
(c) For Beams : 25 mm or main bar dia. whichever is more.
(d) For Slab : 20 mm.
4.1 Ductile Detailing

After designing the frame column-beam, shear walls and foundation by limit state theory as per
IS: 456:2000, all details of longitudinal steel, overlaps, shear capacities, confining reinforcement
requirements, stirrups and ties etc. shall be worked out using the provisions of IS: 13920-1993.
The drawings should clearly show all the adopted details.
5. Concluding Remarks
In a nut-shell, the seismic safety of a multi-storeyed reinforced concrete building will depend upon the
initial architectural and structural configuration of the total building, the quality of the Structural
analysis, design and reinforcement detailing of the building frame to achieve stability of elements and
their ductile performance under severe seismic lading. Proper quality of construction and stability of
the infill walls and partitions are additional safety requirements of the structure as a whole. Any
weakness left in the structure, whether in design or in construction will be fully revealed during the
postulated maximum considered earthquake for the seismic zone in the earthquake code IS: 1893.
Acknowledgement:
The figures have been taken from various sources to suit the text message and are anonymously
acknowledged.
---------------------
12
Seismic Detailing of RC
Structures (IS:13920-1993)
Sudhir K Jain
Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar
November 2012
1
Outline
 This lecture covers:
 Covers important clauses of IS13920
 With particular emphasis on Buildings
 Many important clauses applicable to buildings may not be
discussed in this lecture in detail.
Sudhir K. Jain, IITGN Slide 2

Seismic Design of Buildings / November 2012
How to ensure ductility
 Correct collapse mechanism
 Adequate ductility at locations likely to form
hinge in collapse mechanism
 Need sufficient member ductility to ensure
adequate structural ductility.
 Prevent brittle failure mechanisms to take place
prior to ductile yielding

Collapse Mechanism
 Storey Mechanism
 Columns require too much ductility
 Columns are difficult to make ductile

Collapse Mechanism
 Beam – Hinge Mechanism (Sway Mechanism)
 Preferred mechanism
 Ensure that beams yield before columns do
 Strong Column –Weak Beam Design

R C Members
 Bond Failure: Brittle
 Shear Failure: Brittle
 Flexural Failure
 Brittle: if over-reinforced section (compression
failure)
 Ductile: if under-reinforced section (tension
failure)
 Hence, Ensure that
 Bond failure does not take place
 Shear failure does not precede flexural yielding
 Beam is under-reinforced.

Failure of RC Section
 Yielding of tension bars
 Ductile
 Tension failure
 Under-reinforced section
 Crushing of compression concrete
 Brittle
 Compression failure
 Over-reinforced section

R C Section
 Tension failure more likely if:
 Less tension reinforcement
 More compression reinforcement
 Higher grade of concrete
 Lower grade of steel
 Lower value of axial compression

Section ductility increases as
 Grade of concrete improves
 Grade of steel reduces
 Tension steel reduces
 Compression steel increases
 Axial compression force reduces
 Generally, columns are less ductile than beams

Capacity Design Concept
Brittle Ductile
Link Link
 The chain has both ductile and brittle elements.

 To ensure ductile failure, we must ensure that
the ductile link yields before any of the brittle
links fails.

Capacity Design Concept (contd…)
 Assess required strength of chain from code.

 Apply suitable safety factors on load and
material
 Design/detail ductile element(s).
 Assess upper-bound strength of the ductile
element
 Design brittle elements for upper-bound load
 Ensures that brittle elements are elastic when
the ductile elements yield.

Capacity Design Concept (contd…)
 For instance, in a RC member

 Shear failure is brittle
 Flexural failure can be made ductile
 Element must yield in flexure and not fail in shear

Capacity Design of Frames
 Choose yield mechanism
 Locate desirable hinge locations
 Estimate reasonable design seismic force on the
building
 Design the members at hinge locations
(upper bound type)
 Assess the member forces at other locations
under the action of “capacity” force
 Design other locations for that force; need not
detail these for high ductility

Materials in RC Members
 Concrete and steel have very different
characteristics
 Steel ductile: strain capacity: ~12% to 25%
 Concrete brittle: strain capacity: ~0.35%
HYSD
Mild Steel
20-25% 0.35%

Confinement of concrete
 Considerably improves its strain capacity
Stress-strain relationship for concrete proposed by Saatcioglu and

Razvi, (1992)

Confinement of Column Sections
Fig. from Paulay

and Priestley, 1992

Main Steps
 Weak Girder – Strong Column Philosophy
 Shear Failure Prevented by Special Calculations
(Capacity Design Method)
 Good Development Length
 Regions Likely to have Hinges Confined with
Closely-spaced and Closed Stirrups

Applicability of Code (Cl. 1.1.1)
 Originally, this code was applicable for:
 All structures in zones IV or V
 Structures in zone III with I > 1.0
 Industrial structures in zone III
 More than 5-storey structures in zone III
 After the Bhuj earthquake, the code made

applicable to all structures in zones III, IV and
V.
 Even though the code title says “structures”, it
was written primarily for buildings.

Background Materials
 The code emerged from the following. These also
provide commentary:
 Medhekar M S, Jain S K and Arya A S, "Proposed Draft for
IS:4326 on Ductile Detailing of Reinforced Concrete
Structures," Bulletin of the Indian Society of Earthquake
Technology, Vol 29, No. 3, September 1992, 15 - 35.
 Medhekar M S and Jain S K, "Seismic Behaviour, Design,
and Detailing of R.C. Shear Walls, Part I: Behaviour and
Strength," The Indian Concrete Journal, Vol. 67, No. 7, July
1993, 311-318.
 Medhekar M S and Jain S K, "Seismic Behaviour, Design,
and Detailing of R.C. Shear Walls, Part II: Design and
Detailing," The Indian Concrete Journal, Vol. 67, No. 8,
September 1993, 451-457.

Concrete Grade
 Originally, as per Cl.5.2: buildings more than 3
storeys high, minimum concrete grade shall
preferably be M20.
 Now, word “preferably” has been dropped.
 Most codes specify higher grade of concrete for
seismic regions than that for non-seismic
constructions. Examples:
 ACI allows M20 for ordinary constructions, but a
minimum of M25 for aseismic constructions.
 Euro code allows M15 for non seismic, but
requires a min grade of M20 for low-seismic and
M25 for medium and high seismic regions.

Steel Grade (Cl. 5.3)
 Originally, the code required that steel
reinforcement of grade Fe415 or less only be
used.
 Higher grade of steel reduces ductility. Hence,
there is usually an upper limit on grade of steel
required.

Steel Grade (Contd…)
 Recently, the code relaxed this requirement.

Cl.5.3 now reads as
5.3 Steel reinforcements of grade Fe415 (see IS 1786:1985) or less
only shall be used.
However, high strength deformed steel bars, produced by
the thermo-mechanical treatment process, of grades
Fe500 and Fe550, having elongation more than 14.5
percent and conforming to other requirements of IS
1786:1985 may also be used for the reinforcement.
 Thus, higher grades of steel are now allowed in

the Indian code subject to the above restrictions
on ductility of bars.
Steel Grade (Contd…)
 ACI has two additional requirements on steel

reinforcement:
 Actual yield strength must not exceed specified
yield strength by more than 120 MPa.
 The shear or bond failure may precede the flexural hinge
formation.
 If the difference is very high, the capacity design concept
will not work.
 Ratio of actual ultimate strength to actual yield
strength should be at least 1.25.
 To develop inelastic rotation capacity, need adequate length
of yield region along axis of the member. This attempts to
ensure that.

Flexural Members

Positive Reinforcement
 At a joint face, positive reinforcement should be at least
50% of the negative reinf.
Negative steel (At) Negative steel (At)
Positive steel (Ab 0.5At) Positive steel (Ab 0.5At)
 Two reasons:
 Need adequate compression reinforcement to ensure
ductility.
 Seismic moments are reversible.
 See next slide.

Reinforcement Elsewhere (Cl. 6.2.4)
 Steel at top and bottom face anywhere should

be at least 25% of max negative moment steel
at face of either joint.
8 Nos 20 12 Nos 20
Min 3 Nos 20
Min 4 Nos 20 Min 6 Nos 20

Reinforcement (Contd…)
 Reasons:
 Actual moments away from joint may be higher
than the design moment.
 We do not want to reduce large amount of steel
abruptly away from the joint.

External Joint of Beam with Column
 Very important to
ensure adequate
anchorage of
beam bars in the
column

External Joint (Contd…)
 Notice the top bar of beam is shown to go into
column well below soffit of the beam.
 This is a problem in the construction.
 One would cast the columns up to beam soffit
level before fixing the beam reinforcement.
 Problem arises since Indian code does not
require minimum column width.
 If column is wide enough, this will not be a
problem.
 Seismic codes generally require column width to
be at least 20 times the largest beam bar dia.
 More on column width later in the section on
joints.

Lap Splice (Cl. 6.2.6)
 Lap length development length in tension
 Due to reversal of seismic loads, the bar could
be in compression or tension.
 Lap splice not to be provided
 Within a joint
 Within a distance of 2d from joint face
 Within a quarter length of member where
yielding may occur due to seismic forces.
 Lap splices are not reliable under cyclic inelastic
deformations and hence not to be provided in the critical
regions.

Lap Splice (Contd…)
 Wherever longitudinal bar splices are provided:

 Hoops @ not more than 150 mm c/c should be
provided over the entire splice length
Ld = development length in tension

db = bar diameter

Web Reinforcement
 Most important requirement in seismic regions

Web Reinforcement (Contd…)
 Several actions by web reinforcement:

 Shear force capacity
 Confinement of concrete
 Lateral support to compression reinforcement
bars

 Vertical hoops
 Shear direction may reverse during earthquake
shaking
 Hence, inclined bars not effective.
 Closed stirrups
 Open stirrups cannot confine concrete
 135 degree hooks
 As against normal 90 degree hooks
 Provides good anchorage to stirrups
 10 dia extension ( 75 mm)
 As against 4 dia extension
 Provides good anchorage.

 Two pieces allowed:

 U-stirrup and a cross tie
 Both with 135 degree hooks at either end.
 This is more conservative than the ACI Code
 See next slide for ACI provision.

Hoops as per
ACI318

Spacing of Hoops
 Hoop spacing over 2d length at either end of
beam not to exceed
 d/4
 8 times dia of smallest longitudinal bar
Spacing >d/4
>8db
2d 2d 2d

Spacing of Hoops (Contd…)
 But, hoop spacing need not be less than 100

mm
 To ensure space for needle vibrator.
 Also, close spacing of hoops over 2d on either
side of any other location where flexural yielding
is likely
 Elsewhere, hoop spacing to not exceed d/2
 As against 3d/4 permitted by IS:456
 First hoop should be placed within 50 mm of the
joint face.

Shear Design
 Shear reinforcement to be designed for:
 Factored shear forces as per calculations for
applied design loads.
 Shear forces that will develop when flexural
yielding takes place at either end of the beam
 Capacity design concept to ensure shear failure (brittle
failure) will not precede the flexural yielding.

Capacity Design for Shear
 Cantilever Beam Example
Factored design load 100 kN,
100kN (Factored Design Load)

 Height of 5m
 Design moment at base =100 5m
x 5 = 500 kNm
 Design for this moment.
 Generally, the actual
reinforcement may be
somewhat higher than
calculated.
 Say the moment capacity of the
section is 600 kNm (instead of 500
kNm).

Cantilever example (Contd…)
 Design assumes steel stress as 0.87fy (due to

partial safety factor of 1.15)
 But, steel can take upto say 1.25fy (due to strain
hardening).
 Hence, section can take moment upto about 860
kNm (= 600x1.25/0.87).
 When moment at base is 860 kNm, the shear
force must be 172 kN (= 860/5).
 Hence, to prevent shear failure prior to flexural
yielding, design shear force is 172 kN
 As against 100 kN factored shear force!

Capacity Design (Contd…)
 Ratio 1.25 / 0.87 = 1.44 has been rounded off

to 1.4 in the code (Cl. 6.33)

Capacity Design for Shear
 Consider beam part of a frame.
EQ Force
Sagging Hogging
EQ Force
Hogging Sagging
 Flexural yielding will be in sagging at one end

and hogging at the other end, and vice versa.
Capacity Design for Shear (Contd…)
MSA MHB
MSA + MHB
Shear force =
L
MHA MSB
L
MHA + MSB
Shear force =
L

Capacity Design for Shear (Contd…)

Example
D L D L 1.2 D L
V a Vb 61.5 kN
2
' '
M pa M pb
105
L
'
' M pb 295
M pa 231
(Va)min = 61.5 -105 = - 45.5 kN
(Vb)max = 61.5 + 105 = 166.5 kN

Example (Contd…)
'
M pa M mb
102
M pa 303 M 'pb 209 L
(Va)max = 61.5 + 102 = 163.5 kN
(Vb)min = 61.5-102 = 40.5 kN
Design shear reinforcement for these shear

force values as usual.
Detailing Reqmnts for Beams

Columns

Location of Lap Splices
 All laps should be only in the central half of the
column height.
 Seismic moments are maximum in columns just
above and just below the beam: hence,
reinforcement must not change at those
locations.
 Seismic moments minimum in the central half of
the column height.
 Hence, reinforcement should be specified from
mid-storey-height to next mid-storey-height.

Locations of Laps in Columns
Region for
lap splices
Bending Moment Diagram

Lap Splices
 Should be proportioned as tension splices.
 Columns may develop substantial moments.
 The moments are reversible in direction.
 Hence, all bars are liable to go under tension.

No of bars to be lapped
 Code does not allow more than 50% of the bars
to lapped at the same location.
 For buildings of normal proportions, it means:
 Half the bars to be spliced in one storey, and the
other half in the next storey.
 Construction difficulties.
 The clause appears to be very harsh.
 It should allow all bars to be lapped at the same
location but with a penalty on the lap length.

Detailing at Lap Locations
 Hoops to be provided over entire splice length
at spacing not exceeding 150 c/c.

 A hoop must be (Cl. 7.3.1):
 Closed stirrup
 Have 135 degree hook
 Have 10 dia extension (but not less than 75mm)
at each end which is embedded in core
concrete.
 10 dia extension: difficulties in construction
 ACI now allows 6 dia extension (subject to a
minimum of 75 mm).

 If length of any side of hoop exceeds 300mm,
cross tie to be provided (Cl. 7.3.2)

Transverse Reinforcement (Contd…)

As per ACI318

Spacing of Hoops (Cl. 7.3.3)
 Spacing of hoops anywhere not to exceed half
the least lateral dimension of the column.
 Except where confinement reinforcement is
needed: closer spacing will be needed there.

Shear Design
 Column to be designed for larger of
 Calculated factored shear force.
 Shear force by capacity design concept
assuming plastic hinge forms at the beams on
either side.
 It is assumed in this clause that the columns will not yield
before the beams do (Strong Column – Weak Beam
Design)
 However, recall that our code does not have the clause for
strong column – weak beam design.

Design Shear Force for Column

Special Confining Reinf.
 Must be provided over a length lo from each
joint face. Length lo must be larger of:
 Larger lateral dimension of the column
 1/6 of the clear span of member
 450mm

Special Confining Reinf. (Contd…)
 If point of contraflexure not within middle half

of the member clear height:
 Special confining reinforcement should be
provided over full column height.

Column End at Footing

Spacing of Special Conf. Reinf.
 Spacing of hoops for special confinement
reinforcement
 Not to exceed ¼ of minimum column dimension.
 But need not be less than 75mm nor more than
100 mm.
 The above spacing is really for buildings.
 For large bridge piers, may allow larger spacing
 AASHTO: minimum spacing of 100mm
 Japanese code: minimum spacing of 150mm
 Indian code needs to incorporate this.

Confinement Reinf. Area
 Area of cross section of circular hoops or spirals
to be not less than:
fck Ag
Ash 0.09SDk 1.0
fy Ak

Example:
 Column dia: 300 mm
 M20 concrete, Fe415 reinforcement
 Spacing of confinement reinforcement should not
exceed 300/4 = 75, or 100mm and cannot be less
than75mm.
 Hence, spacing of confinement reinf. = 75 mm
 Assuming clear cover of 40mm:
 Core dia (Dk) is 220mm; Ak=38,000 sq.m
 Overall dia = 300mm; Ag=70,700 sq.m
Ash = 0.09 x 75 x 220 x (20/415) x [(300/220)2 - 1] = 61.5 sq.mm
Hence, 10 mm dia bars are needed.

Another Example:
 Same as earlier: change column dia to 200mm.

 Stirrup spacing will still be 75mm.
 Core dia is 120mm
Ash = 0.09 x 75 x 120 x (20/415) x [(200/120)2 - 1] = 69.4 sq.mm
Need 10 mm stirrups.
 Stirrup spacing will still be 75mm.
 Core dia is 70mm
Ash = 0.09 x 75 x 70 x (20/415) x [(150/70)2 - 1] = 81.8 sq.mm
Need 12 mm dia stirrups!!

Confinement Reinforcement
 The last term in bracket tends to increase as the

column size reduces.
 For very small sections, you will get larger dia
bars.
 Can be a problem in the detailing of boundary
elements of shear walls.

More Example
Stirrup spacing will now be 100mm.
Core dia is 1920mm
Ash = 0.09 x 100 x 1920 x (20/415) x [(2000/1920 )2 - 1]
= 70.84 sq.mm
Need 10 mm stirrups!! Clearly, too small for 2 m
dia column.

Confinement Reinforcement
 For very large diameters, the last term in

bracket tends to be very small.
 This leads to under-design of large
diameter bridge piers.

Rectangular Hoops
fck Ag
Ash 0.18Sh 1.0
fy Ak

Confinement Hoops
Thus, equations of Cl. 7.4.7 and Cl. 7.4.8
break down for very large sections and
very small sections.
This needs to be fixed in the code. IRC draft
under discussion provides additional
requirements on this.

Beam Column Joints

Joints in RC Frames
 Moment resisting frame has three components
 Beams
 Columns
 Rigid joint between beams and columns.
 Joint is a very important element.
 Earlier, joint was often ignored in RC
constructions, even though in steel constructions
adequate attention was always paid to the joint.

Codal Provisions
 Provisions in IS:13920 on joints are very weak.
 Considerable improvements are needed in the
next edition.
 Partly, this is because IS:456 lacks general
framework for joint calculations.

Reinforcement in Joint
 Joint too needs to have stirrups like columns do.
 In most constructions in our country, joints are
not provided with stirrups.
 It is often tedious to provide stirrups in joint due to
congestion.
 In gravity design, there was a practice that
bottom beam bars need not be continuous
through the joint.
 It is simply not acceptable when building has to
carry lateral loads.

RC Detailing Handbook of BIS
Incorrect
Practice

Issues
 Serviceability
 Cracks should not occur due to
 Diagonal compressionm
 Joint shear
 Strength
 Should be more than that in adjacent members
 Ductility
 Not needed for gravity loads
 Needed for seismic loads
 Ease of Construction
 Should not be congested.

Cracks in Joint Region

Type of Joints

Geometric Description of Joints

Moment Strength Ratio
 Moment strength ratio to ensure Strong
Column – Weak Beam
 Columns should have higher moment capacity
than the beams
M n( cols )
1.0
M n( beams )
 Normally, the codes require this ratio to be at

least 1.2

Moment Strength Ratio (Contd…)
 Our code does not have this requirement.
 Notice that the original draft contained in
Medhekar’s paper had this clause
 This clause requires much larger column sizes
than prevalent in India.
 It was felt that this may not be followed in
practice and hence it should be deferred for the
time being.
 It is perhaps time to think of bringing this clause
in the code.

Confinement of Concrete Core
 Core concrete acts as compression strut, and
 It carries shear force.
core
shell

Compression Strut
Compression Strut
Moment Moment

Confinement
 Provided by the beams (and slabs) around the
joint, and
Col.
Plan
 By the reinforcement:
 Longitudinal bars (from beams and columns,
passing through the joint), and
 Transverse reinforcement

Confinement (Contd…)
 Better to provide more number of smaller dia

longitudinal bars in beams and columns.
 Requirements on transverse reinforcement
reduced if joint is confined by beams on all
faces.

IS:13920
 Unless the joint is confined by beams, special
confinement reinforcement provided in the
columns to also be provided in joint.
 If beams frame on all four faces of the joint, the
joint may be provided half the reinforcement
given above. This is provided:
 Beam widths are at least ¾ column width.
 Spacing of hoops in the joint region not to
exceed 150 mm.

Shear Force in Joint

Shear Force in Joint (Contd…)

Shear Strength
 Indian code does not require shear strength of
joint to be checked.
 This should be introduced.
 ACI and other codes provide a formal method to
check shear stress within the joint region.

Anchorage for Longitudinal Bars
 Joints should be capable of providing anchorage
to beam and column bars.

External Joints
 ACI has standard hooks. Hence, the column
width is checked to ensure anchorage.
f y db l
l dh
65 f ' c

Bar Stresses
Gravity Loads Lateral Loads Under Lateral

Loads
Internal Joints
 Codes usually requi
• Seismic Codes usually require that

Column Width
20
Beam Bar Diameter

number of plastic hinges before collapse and therefore it will exhibit higher ductility.
On the other hand a determinate structure will become unstable on the formation of
first plastic hinge, without showing much ductility.
The local failure mechanism resulting due to formation of plastic hinges in columns
prior to those in beams causes brittle failure of structure and should be avoided.
This can be avoided by designing the columns to be stronger than the beams. Failure
of joints is another cause of poor seismic performance of structures. If the joints fail
in shear which is a brittle mode of failure and if joints fail prior to yielding of
components, the ductility can not be achieved. This requires proper detailing of the
reinforcement in joints.
3.3 Capacity Design Concept

The capacity design is the art of avoiding failure of structure in brittle mode. This
can be achieved by designing the brittle modes of failure to have higher strength
than ductile modes. In a RC building this can be achieved by following the following
design sequence:
(i) First design the beams in flexure for the moments obtained from the
analysis for Gravity, Wind and earthquake Loads.
(ii) Calculate the provided flexural strength of beams and the corresponding
shear strength requirement.
(iii) Design the beams for higher of the shear obtained above in (ii) and that
obtained from analysis.
(iv) Calculate the flexural strength requirement of the columns by considering
the strength of beams joining the columns. The combined flexural strength
of columns joining at a node must be higher than the combined flexural
strength of beams joining at the node.
(v) Design the columns for the higher of the moment obtained in (iv) above and
that obtained from analysis.
(vi) Design the columns for the shear force higher of that obtained from the
flexural capacity and obtained from analysis.
4. HOW CAN WE MAKE RC STRUCTURES DUCTILE ?

Concrete is known to be brittle material, i.e. it fails suddenly when subjected to load.
But concrete can be made ductile when confined by reinforcement. Fig. 3 shows the
behaviour of unconfined and confined concrete. It can be seen that confinement not
only increases the strength of concrete, but it tremendously increases the ductility of
concrete. The confinement of concrete is obtained by providing stirrups, as shown in
Figs. 4-5. Here, it is very important, that stirrups should be hooked at 1350 into the
Design and Detailing of RC Buildings / 7

core concrete, otherwise these stirrups open up under force due to earthquake and
the confining action is not available (Fig. 6).
Fig. 3 Behaviour of Confined and Unconfined Concrete
Fig. 4 Confining concrete by hoops / stirrups
Fig. 5 Effect of spacing of hoops / stirrups

Fig. 6 Role of anchorage of hoops / stirrups
Fig. 7 Variation in ductility of steel with strength
An important issue in detailing of RC structures is the grade of steel used for

reinforcement. As seen from Fig. 7, the ductility of steel decreases with increase in
strength. Therefore, it is important that the minimum ductility of steel is ensured.

According to IS 13920, the steel having total elongation more than 14.5% only can be
used for reinforcement in RC structures in Seismic Areas.
Fig. 8 Capacity Design concept explained through an analogy with a chain
Fig. 9 Capacity shear in beams
The most important issue in ductile design of RC structures is avoiding the failure in
brittle modes. This is ensured through capacity design. Fig. 8, shows a chain, which
has one ductile link, while all other links are brittle. This chain is subjected to load P

at the ends, as shows in the Fig. Now, the question is, whether the failure of chain
will be brittle or ductile? This can be answered, if we know whether the ductile link
is going to fail first or a brittle link. If the capacity of all brittle links is higher than
the ductile link, the failure of the chain will be ductile, otherwise it will be brittle.
This concept is used in making a structure to behave in a ductile manner by
designing all the brittle modes to have higher strength than the ductile modes. In
case of RC members, shear is known to be a brittle mode of failure. It can be avoided
by designing the beams for the higher of the two: (i) factored applied shear, as
obtained from analysis, and (ii) capacity shear as obtained using the procedure
shown in Fig. 9.
Fig. 10 Strong column and weak beam design concept
In a RC frame building, two common modes of failure are possible (Fig. 10). In the
first mode of failure columns of one storey yield and building fails in a local
mechanism. On the other hand, in the second mode of failure, all the beams yield
first than the columns. This type of failure mechanism is called global mechanism. It
is obvious that the second mode of failure provides much larger ductility than the
first mode. This can be achieved by designing the beams of the building weaker than
the columns. “Weak beam and strong column design” is the most important concept
of building design.

4. SPECIAL REINFORCEMENT DETAILING FOR DUCTILITY
As discussed in the previous section, ductile buildings can be designed even with
concrete, which a non-ductile material. This can be achieved by providing proper
amount of steel reinforcement at proper location. The following sections describe the
reinforcement detailing for ductility
4.1 Anchorage and Splicing of Reinforcement

Joints are subjected to very large earthquake forces and it has been observed that the
beam reinforcement pulls out of columns and the building collapses. To avoid this,
the code IS: 13920 recommends that the beam reinforcement should be anchored
into columns by a length ld + 10  (Fig. 11). The increase of 10  to the development
length is to take into account the loss of
bond due to cracking of concrete during
earthquake.
Similarly, care should be taken in
splicing the reinforcement. The splicing
should not be done near the beam
column joints as these locations are
subjected to high bending moments and
concrete may crack and bond may be lost
at these locations. Further, the code
require that not more than 50% of
reinforcement should be spliced at one
Fig. 11 Anchorage of beam reinforcement
location.
5.2. Special confining reinforcement

As discussed above, it is the confinement of concrete, which makes it ductile. Code
requires special confining reinforcement at the location where moment hinges are
likely to occur. The diameter and spacing of these hoops special confining
reinforcement is to be calculated according to codal requirements, but in no case this
spacing of stirrups should be more than 100 mm for columns and it should not be
more than 150 mm for beams. Figs. 12 -13 summarize the requirements of special
confining reinforcements of and columns.
5.3 Reinforcement in Shear Walls
Shear walls are similar to a wide column and these have reinforcement grid,
generally on both faces. These walls resist large shear forces and bending moments
and the reinforcement should be provided to resist both shear and bending moment.
The code requires that if the stress in the shear wall exceeds 0.2 fck then these should
be provided with boundary elements. These boundary elements are similar to

columns but monolithic with shear walls (Fig 14). The width these boundary
elements may be same as the thickness of the shear wall or it may be more.
Fig. 12 Arrangement of stirrups Fig. 13 Special confining reinforcement
Fig. 14 Boundary Elements Fig. 15 Reinforcement at openings

Special care is required at openings in the shear walls. Concentration of stresses
takes place near opening. To take care of this, additional reinforcement (Fig. 15)
should be provided around the openings. In case of coupled shear walls, the
coupling beams are subjected to very high
shear forces. Due to reversal of stresses under
earthquake conditions, the concrete in coupling
beams gets crushed. To take care of the shear
force, diagonal reinforcement should be
provided (Fig. 16) in the coupling beams. This
diagonal reinforcement should be anchored by
1.5 times the full development length, into the
shear wall concrete.
Fig. 16 Reinforcement in coupling beam
5.4 Detailing requirements in special conditions

There are two commonly found conditions in RC buildings, which need special
attention in detailing. First, whenever, there is an abrupt change in stiffness of
members, special confining reinforcement should be provided. Two such cases are
encountered when the shear wall is supported on columns (Fig. 17) or columns are
supported on shear wall (Fig. 18). The first case is not desirable from earthquake
safety point of view and must be avoided. In both the conditions, the columns
should be provided with special confining reinforcement throughout the length.
Fig. 17 Shear wall on columns Fig. 18 Columns on shear walls

The second case is whenever, there is a possibility of short-column effect, due to
partial infill or a mezzanine floor (Fig. 19), the columns should be provided with
special confining reinforcement throughout the length.
Fig. 19 Short-column effect
6. PRECAUTIONS DURING CONSTRUCTION

For satisfactory performance of buildings, during earthquake, construction
supervision is also equally important. Several failures have been observed due to
faulty construction.
 The most important point during construction is the construction joint. To
avoid failure at the construction joints, shear keys should be provided at
construction joints. Before placing the new concrete, the surface of old
concrete should be thoroughly cleaned by water jets. Wooden blocks should
be used for making shear keys and these blocks should be removed after
initial sitting of concrete. These blocks should never be left in place.
 Splicing of reinforcement during construction is very important. As discussed
above, not more than half of the reinforcing bars should be spliced at the
location and splicing should be avoided near the joints.
 Anchorage of stirrups in the most important factors on which the safety of
building depends. In no case the stirrups should be anchored at 90o as these
open up during earthquake and confinement is lost
 Alignment of columns is also very important as any eccentricity will give rise
to high bending moments in columns.
 There is considerable congestion of reinforcement at the joints. Compaction of
concrete at joints is a difficult task and honeycombed concrete at joints is

quite common. Special care should be taken to compact the concrete at joints,
as joints are the highly stressed parts of a building.
REFERENCES
1. ACI 352R-02. 2002. Recommendations for Design of Beam-Column Connections in
Monolithic Reinforced Concrete Structures. Detroit, Michigan, American Concrete
Institute.
2. ATC 40, 1996, Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Concrete Buildings, Applied
Technology Council, California.
3. Erduran, E., and Yakut, A. 2007. “Vulnerability Assessment of Reinforced Concrete
Moment Resisting Frame Buildings.” Journal of Structural Engineering; American
Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), 133 (4):576-586
4. Eurocode-8. 2004. BS EN 1998-1: Design of Structures for Earthquake Resistance-
Part 1: General Rules, Seismic Actions and Rules for Buildings. Brussels, Belgium,
European Committee for Standardization (CEN).
5. FEMA-356. 2000. Prestandard and Commentary for the Seismic Rehabilitation of
Buildings. Washington, DC, U. S. A., Federal Emergency Management Agency.
6. Hegger, J., Sherif, A., and Roeser, W. 2003. “Nonseismic Design of Beam-Column
Joints.” ACI Structural Journal, 100 (5):654-664.
7. IS 13920-1993, Ductile Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures Subjected to
Seismic Forces – Code of Practice, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
8. IS 1893-2002, Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures, Part 1 General
Provisions and Buildings, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi.
9. IS 4326-1993, Earthquake Resistant Design and Construction of buildings – Code of
practice, Bureau of India Standards, New Delhi.
10. IS 456-2000, Plain and Reinforce Concrete – Code of Practice, Bureau of Indian
Standards, New Delhi.
11. Key, David, 1988, Earthquake Design Practice for Buildings, Thomas Telford,
London.
12. Lehman, D. E., and Moehle, J. P. 2000. Seismic Performance of Well confined
Concrete Bridge Columns, PEER Rep. 98/01 University of California at Berkeley,
Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research Center.
13. NZS-3101:Part1. 2006. Concrete Structures Standard, Part 1, Design of Concrete
Structures. Wellington, New Zealand, Standards Association of New Zealand.
14. Paulay T., and Priestley, M.J.N., 1992, Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete and
Masonry Buildings, John Wiley & sons, Inc., New York.
15. Penelis, George G., and Kappos, Andreas J., 1997, Earthquake Resistant Concrete
Structures, E & FN Spon.

Rc-Ductility Due To EQ

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DUCTILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR BUILDINGS

Prof. P. C. Vasani, Applied Mechanics Department,

Ductility requirements for building

In general the ductility is increased by,

Ø COMPARISON WITH BRITTLE MATERIAL

BRITTLE AND DUCTILE FORCE-DEFORMATION BEHAVIOUR

Ø NECESSITY OF DUCTILE DETAILING

Ductile detailing is provided for the following structures.

Ø DUCTILITY CRITERIA FOR EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT STRUCTURES

• Tension steel ratio pt

• Compression steel ratio pc

Ductility can be increased by

Ø DESIGN FOR DUCTILITY

Ø DUCTILE DETAILING FOR FLEXURE MEMBER

ANCHORAGE OF BEAM BARS IN AN EXTERNAL JOINT

Ld=DEVELOPMENT LENGTH IN TENSION

NOT LESS THAN Ld

NOT GREATER Ld=DEVELOPMENT LENGTH IN TENSION

COLUMN AND JOINT DETAILING

PROVISION OF SPECIAL CONFINING REINFORCEMENT IN FOOTING

PROVISION OF SPECIAL CONFINING

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Ductile Detailing Considerations as per IS 13920: 1993

Based on a tensile test of steel, σ , −σ , ≯ 120MPa. If the difference is

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Figure 1: Two types of damage in a beam: flexure and shear

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 Splicing of longitudinal bars (Figure 5)

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Figure 4: Anchorage of beam bars in an external joint

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Figure 6: Web reinforcement details in a seismic beam

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Figure 7: Beam web reinforcement

 First stirrup not less than 50 mm of column face

 Minimum spacing is 100 mm

Figure 8: Location and amount of vertical stirrups in beams

 Shear Force to be resisted by vertical hoops – Maximum of

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 Dimensions: Preferably b/D ratio ≥ 0.4

o Since confinement of concrete is better in a relatively square column than in a

 Spacing of parallel legs of rectangular hoops  300 mm

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Special Confining Reinforcement

 The length of l0 shall not be less than

 Spacing of ties used as special confining reinforcement

 Area of cross section, Ash, of the bar forming rectangular hoops is

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2. Causes of the Collapse of RC Frame Buildings and Recommendations

(i) Amplification of the ground motion at the base of the building;

2.3 Soft-first Storey:

Fig. 4 Fig. 5 Fig. 6

Bracings in the columns of open ground storey

Providing R.C. Shear Wall

Some remedial measures to counter the bad performance are

Some times a soft storey is created some where at mid-height