EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT DESIGN

DISSERTATION IN ARCHITECTURE
2010-2011

Coordinators : Mr. Suptendu. P. Biswas Mr. Leon Morenas

Submitted by Aman Bhadauria 28/SSAA/B.ARCH/2006 SUSHANT SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE

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SUSHANT SCHOOL OF ART AND ARCHITECTURE

SECTOR-55, GURGAON-122 003, HARYANA

BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE

Dated: May 3rd 2011

Dissertation Title: Earthquake Resistant Design. This following study is hereby approved as a creditable work on the approved subject, carried out and presented in a manner sufficiently satisfactory to warrant acceptance as a pre requisite to the degree for which it has been submitted.

It is understood by this approval that the undersigned does not necessarily endorse or approve any statement made, opinion expressed or conclusion drawn therein but approves the study only for the purpose for which it had been submitted and satisfies as per the requirements laid down by the seminar committee.

Student: Aman Bhadauria 0371691606/SSAA/B.Arch./2006-11

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Table of Contents
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 4 Design Philosophy of Earthquake Resistant Structures .................................................................... 7 Design Philosophy .......................................................................................................................... 8 Impact of Earthquakes ...................................................................................................................... 9 Effects of Earthquakes .................................................................................................................... 10 Direct Effects ............................................................................................................................... 10 Indirect Effects ............................................................................................................................. 11 How Architectural features affects Buildings during Earthquakes ? ................................................ 13 Importance of Architectural features ........................................................................................... 14 Size of the Buildings .............................................................................................................. 16 Construction Materials ................................................................................................................... 19 Brittle and Ductile Building Materials ........................................................................................... 20 Masonry ................................................................................................................................ 20 Concrete ............................................................................................................................... 20 Steel ...................................................................................................................................... 21 Earthquake Construction Typologies ............................................................................................ 22 How to reduce Earthquake effects on Buildings.............................................................................. 24 Base Isolation .............................................................................................................................. 25 Guidelines for the Earthquake resistant Buildings .......................................................................... 27 The Seismic zones in Indi a ............................................................................................................... 29 Basic Geography and Tectonic features ....................................................................................... 30 Prominent past Earthquakes in India ........................................................................................... 31 Indi an standards on Earthquak e Engineering .................................................................................. 34 The Affects of the Earthquake on the Reinforced concrete Buildings ............................................. 43 Roles of Floor slabs and Masonry walls ........................................................................................ 44 How to make stone Masonry Buildings Earthquake resi stant? ..................................................... 44 How to reduce Earthquake Effects on Buildings? .......................................................................... 49 Various Methods ......................................................................................................................... 51

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INTRODUCTION
Earthquakes are major geological phenomena. Man has been terrified of this phenomenon for ages, as little has been known about the causes of earthquakes, but it leaves behind a trail of destruction. There are hundreds of small earthquakes around the world every day. Some of them are so minor that humans cannot feel them, but seismographs and other sensitive machines can record them. Earthquakes occur when tectonic plates move and rub against each other. Sometimes, due to this movement, they snap and rebound to their original position. This might cause a large earthquakes as the tectonic plates try to settle down. This is known as the Elastic Rebound Theory. Every year, earthquakes take the lives of thousands of people, and destroy property worth billions. The 2010 Haiti Earthquake killed over 1,50,000 people and destroyed entire cities and villages. Designing

Earthquake Resistant Structures is indispensable. It is imperative that

structures are designed to resist earthquake forces, in order to reduce the loss of life. The science of Earthquake Engineering and Structural Design has improved tremendously, and thus, today, we can design safe structures magnitude. The most destructive of all earthquake hazards is caused by seismic waves reaching the ground surface at places where human-built structures, such as buildings and bridges, are located. When seismic waves reach the surface of the earth at such places, they give rise to what is known as strong ground motion. Strong ground motions causes buildings and other structures to move and shake in a variety of complex ways. which can safely withstand earthquakes of reasonable

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Many buildings cannot withstand this movement and suffer damages of various kinds and degrees. Most deaths, injuries, damages and economic losses caused by earthquake result from ground motion acting on buildings and other manmade structures not capable of withstanding such movement. Experience in past earthquakes has demonstrated that many common buildings and typical methods of construction lack basic resistance to earthquake forces. In most cases this resistance can be achieved by following simple, inexpensive principles of good building construction practice. Adherence to these simple rules will not prevent all damage in moderate or large earthquakes, but life threatening collapses should be prevented, and damage limited to repairable proportions. These principles fall into several broad categories:

Planning and layout of the building involving consideration of the location of rooms and walls, openings such as doors and windows, the number of storeys, etc. At this stage, site and foundation aspects should also be considered.

Lay out and general design of the structural framing system with special attention to furnishing lateral resistance, and

Consideration of highly loaded and critical sections with provision of reinforcement as required.

Earthquakes cause massive vibrations in the Earths crust. This can cause a number of problems in the ground, which in turn becomes a hazard to all life and property. The effect depends on the geology of soil and topography of the land.

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For categorising the buildings with the purpose of achieving seismic resistance at economical cost, three parameters turn out to be significant: 1. Seismic intensity zone where the building is located, 2. How important the building is, 3. How stiff is the foundation soil. A combination of these parameters will determine the extent of appropriate seismic strengthening of the building.

The importance of the building should be a factor in grading it for strengthening purposes. Therefore, following is the classification of the buildings.

IMPORTANT: Hospitals, clinics, communication buildings, fire and police stations, water supply facilities, meeting halls, schools, dormitories, cultural treasures such as museums, monuments and temples, etc. ORDINARY: Housings, hostels, offices, warehouses, factories, etc. Severity of ground shaking at a given location during an earthquake can be minor, moderate and strong. Thus relatively speaking, minor shaking occurs frequently; moderate shaking occasionally and strong shaking rarely. For instance, on average annually about 800 earthquakes of magnitude 5.0-5.9 occur in the world while about 18 for magnitude range 7.0-7.9. So we should design and construct a building to resist that rare earthquake shaking that may come only once in 500 years or even once
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in 2000 years, even though the life of the building may be 50 or 100 years

Design Philosophy of Earthquake Resistant Structures

Engineers do not attempt to make earthquake proof buildings that will not get damaged even during the rare but strong earthquake; such buildings will be too robust and also too expensive. Instead the engineering intention is to make buildings earthquake-resistant; such buildings resist the effects of ground shaking, although they may get damaged severely but would not collapse during the strong earthquake. Thus, safety of people and contents is assured in earthquake-resistant buildings, and thereby a disaster is avoided. This is a major objective of seismic design codes throughout the world.

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Design Philosophy 1
1. Under minor but frequent shaking, the main members of the buildings that carry vertical and horizontal forces should not be damaged; however buildings parts that do not carry load may sustain repairable damage. 2. Under moderate but occasional shaking, the main members may sustain repairable damage, while the other parts that do not carry load may sustain repairable damage. 3. Under strong but rare shaking, the main members may sustain severe damage, but the building should not collapse.

Naeim, F., Ed., (2001), The Seismic Design Handbook, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, USA.

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Earthquake resistant design is therefore concerned about ensuring that the damages in buildings during earthquakes are of acceptable variety, and also that they occur at the right places and in right amounts. This approach of earthquake resistant design is much like the use of electrical fuses in houses; to protect the entire electrical wiring and appliances in the house, you sacrifice some small parts of electrical circuit, called fuses; these fuses are easily replaced after the electrical over-current. Likewise to save the building from collapsing you need to allow some predetermined parts to undergo the acceptable type and level of damage. Earthquake resistant buildings, particularly their main elements, need to be built with ductility in them. Such buildings have the ability to sway back-and-forth during an earthquake, and to withstand the earthquake effects with some damage, but without collapse.

Impact of Earthquakes
Earthquakes do not kill people, but buildings do. We are heavily dependent upon the civic amenities or life-lines like water supply, electric power supply, drainage. Earthquake can disturb civic amenities in a major way. Lifeline like hospitals, health care centers have major role in natural catastrophe like earthquake. Hence additional care while designing these structures is needed. A severe earthquake can have very damaging consequences upon a regions development and economy. Its has its impacts on
y y y y y y y y y y y y

Lifeline and society Affects a Large number of People. Losses to Lives, Livelihoods, Property. Civic amenities Heritage Loss of housing. Damage to infrastructure Disruption of transport and communication. Disruption of marketing systems. Breakdown of social order. Loss of business. Loss of industrial output.

Among all disasters that can take place, earthquake has the maximum loss of life and limbs. Tremendous loss of property, especially buildings is caused, leaving a large mass of population shelter less. Buildings as badly damaged as this require demolition.
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Our heritage connects us with our ancestors and gives a sense of pride and belongings. The new structures can be often rebuilt but the loss of heritage is a huge loss. Since the reconstruction is difficult as well as the very sense of it being built historically is lost forever. The healthcare center where everyone looks for healing, itself looking for health touch is the sad scene during earthquakes. These type of facility needs to be given extra level of earthquake protection. Since healthcare buildings have to play a major role in case of catastrophe, additional care is needed in their design. Seismic code provisions require these buildings to be designed for higher levels of earthquake loads.

Effects of Earthquakes
In a comprehensive design approach, it should be recognized that damage to structures and facilities may result from different seismic effects. These effects can be classified as Direct and Indirect (or Consequential) as follows:

Direct Effects:

1. Ground failures (or instabilities due to ground failures) Surface faulting surface or fault rupture). Vibration of soil (or effects of seismic waves). Ground cracking. a. Liquefaction. I. Ground lurching. b. Differential settlement. c. Lateral spreading. d. Landslides. 2. Vibrations transmitted from the ground to the structure.

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Indirect Effects (or Consequential Phenomena):

(3) Tsunamis

(4) Seiches

(5) Landslides

(6) Floods

(7) Fires The seismic effect or damage that usually concerns the Architect, and which is taken into account by code seismic-resistant design provisions, is the vibration of the structure in response to ground shaking at its foundation. Although damage due to other effects may exceed that due to vibration, procedures for gauging the probability of these effects and for coping with them are outside the scope of the structural engineering discipline and so are usually not included in seismic-resistant codes. Nonetheless, the structural engineer should be aware of the different seismic hazards and should advise the client of potential damage involved in locating structures at certain sites. Thus the first step in the design procedure of a future structure should be the analysis of the suitability of the site selected with proper consideration for the potential of any one of the above types of damage. The effects of earthquakes include, but are not limited to, the following:

Shaking and ground rupture

Shaking and ground rupture are the main effects created by earthquakes, principally resulting in more or less severe damage to buildings and other rigid structures. The severity of the local effects depends on the complex combination of the earthquake magnitude, the distance from the epicenter, and the local geological and geomorphologic conditions, which may amplify or reduce wave propagation. The ground-shaking is measured by ground acceleration. Specific local geological, geomorphologic, and geostructural features can induce high levels of shaking on the ground surface even from lowintensity earthquakes. This effect is called site or local amplification. It is principally due to the transfer of the seismic motion from hard deep
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soils to soft superficial soils and to effects of seismic energy focalization owing to typical geometrical setting of the deposits. Ground rupture is a visible breaking and displacement of the Earth's surface along the trace of the fault, which may be of the order of several metres in the case of major earthquakes. Ground rupture is a major risk for large engineering structures such as dams, bridges and nuclear power stations and requires careful mapping of existing faults to identify any likely to break the ground surface within the life of the structure.2

Landslides and avalanches

Earthquakes, along with severe storms, volcanic activity, and coastal wave attack, and wildfires, can produce slope instability leading to landslides, a major geological hazard. Landslide danger may persist while emergency personnel are attempting rescue.

Fires

Earthquakes can cause fires by damaging electrical power or gas lines. In the event of water mains rupturing and a loss of pressure, it may also become difficult to stop the spread of a fire once it has started.

Soil liquefaction

Soil liquefaction occurs when, because of the shaking, water-saturated granular material (such as sand) temporarily loses its strength and transforms from a solid to a liquid. Soil liquefaction may cause rigid structures, like buildings and bridges, to tilt or sink into the liquefied deposits. This can be a devastating effect of earthquakes.

Tsunami

Tsunamis are long-wavelength, long-period sea waves produced by the sudden or abrupt movement of large volumes of water. In the open ocean the distance between wave crests can surpass 100 kilometers (62 miles), and the wave periods can vary from five minutes to one
2

http://nisee.berkeley.edu/bertero/html/earthquake-resistant_construction.html

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hour. Such tsunamis travel 600-800 kilometers per hour (373497 miles per hour), depending on water depth. Large waves produced by an earthquake or a submarine landslide can overrun nearby coastal areas in a matter of minutes. Tsunamis can also travel thousands of kilometers across Open Ocean and wreak destruction on far shores hours after the earthquake that generated them. Ordinarily, subduction earthquakes under magnitude 7.5 on the Richter scale do not cause tsunamis, although some instances of this have been recorded. Most destructive tsunamis are caused by earthquakes of magnitude 7.5 or more.

Floods

A flood is an overflow of any amount of water that reaches land.[34] Floods occur usually when the volume of water within a body of water, such as a river or lake, exceeds the total capacity of the formation, and as a result some of the water flows or sits outside of the normal perimeter of the body. However, floods may be secondary effects of earthquakes, if dams are damaged. Earthquakes may cause landslips to dam rivers, which then collapse and cause floods.

Human impacts

Earthquakes may lead to disease, lack of basic necessities, loss of life, higher insurance premiums, general property damage, road and bridge damage, and collapse or destabilization (potentially leading to future collapse) of buildings. Earthquakes can also precede volcanic eruptions, which cause further problems.

HOW ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES AFFECTS BUILDINGS DURING EARTHQUAKES?

Importance of Architectural features:
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The behaviour of a building during earthquakes depends critically on its overall shape, size and geometry, in addition to how the earthquake forces are carried to the ground. Hence, at the planning stage itself, architects and structural engineers must work together to ensure that the unfavourable features are avoided and a good building configuration is chosen. The importance of the configuration of a building was aptly summarised by Late Henry Degenkolb, a noted Earthquake Engineer of USA, as:

If we have a poor configuration to start with, all the engineer can do is to provide a band-aid - improve a basically poor solution as best as he can. Conversely, if we start-off with a good configuration and reasonable framing system, even a poor engineer cannot harm its ultimate performance too much.

Architectural Features:
A desire to create an aesthetic and functionally efficient structure drives architects to conceive wonderful and imaginative structures. Sometimes the shape of the building catches the eye of the visitor, sometimes the structural system appeals, and in other occasions both shape and structural system work together to make the structure a marvel. However, each of these choices of shapes and structure has significant bearing on the performance of the building during strong earthquakes. The wide range of structural damages observed during past earthquakes across the world is very educative in identifying structural configurations That is desirable versus those which must be avoided. 3

Size of Buildings:
In tall buildings with large height-to-base size ratio (Following figure a), the horizontal movement of the floors during ground shaking is large. In short but very long buildings (Following figure b), the damaging effects during earthquake shaking are many. And, in buildings with large plan area like warehouses (Figure c); the horizontal seismic forces can be excessive to be carried by columns and walls.

Arnold., and Reitherman,R., (1982), Building Configuration and Seismic Design, John Wiley, USA.

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Horizontal Layout of Buildings:

In general, buildings with simple geometry in plan (Following figure a) have performed well during strong earthquakes. Buildings with re-entrant corners, like those U, V, H and + shaped in plan (Figure b), have sustained significant damage. Many times, the bad effects of these interior corners in the plan of buildings are avoided by making the buildings in two parts. For example, an L-shaped plan can be broken up into two rectangular plan shapes using a separation joint at the junction (Figure c). Often, the plan is simple, but the columns/walls are not equally distributed in plan. Buildings with such features tend to twist during earthquake shaking.4

Lagorio,H,J, (1990), EARTHQUAKE S An Architects Guide to Non- Structural Seismic Hazard, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA.

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Vertical Layout of Buildings:

The earthquake forces developed at different floor levels in a building need to be brought down along the height to the ground by the shortest path; any deviation or discontinuity in this load transfer path results in poor performance of the building. Buildings with vertical setbacks (like the hotel buildings with a few storeys wider than the rest) cause a sudden jump in earthquake forces at the level of discontinuity (Following figure a). Buildings that have fewer columns or walls in a particular storey or with unusually tall storey (Figure b), tend to damage or collapse which is initiated in that storey. Many buildings with an open ground storey intended for parking collapsed or were severely damaged in Gujarat during the 2001 Bhuj earthquake. Buildings on sloppy ground have
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unequal height columns along the slope, which causes ill effects like twisting and damage in shorter columns (Figure c). Buildings with columns that hang or float on beams at an intermediate storey and do not go all the way to the foundation, have discontinuities in the load transfer path (Figure d). Some buildings have reinforced concrete walls to carry the earthquake loads to the foundation. Buildings, in which these walls do not go all the way to the ground but stop at an upper level, are liable to get severely damaged during earthquakes. 5

Arnold,C., and Reitherman,R., (1982), Building Configuration and Seismic Design, John Wiley, USA.

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Adjacency of Buildings:
When two buildings are too close to each other, they may pound on each other during strong shaking. With increase in building height, this collision can be a greater problem. When building heights do not match (Figure 4), the roof of the shorter building may pound at the mid-height of the column of the taller one; this can be very dangerous.

Building Design and Codes:

Looking ahead, of course, one will continue to make buildings interesting rather than monotonous. However, this need not be done at the cost of poor behaviour and earthquake safety of buildings. Architectural features that are detrimental to earthquake response of buildings should be avoided. If not, they must be minimised. When irregular features are included in buildings, a considerably higher level of engineering effort is required in the structural design and yet the building may not be as good as one with simple architectural features. Decisions made at the planning stage on building configuration are more important, or are known to have made greater difference, than accurate determination of code specified design forces.

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CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS:
In India, most non-urban buildings are made in masonry. In the plains, masonry is generally made of burnt clay bricks and cement mortar. However in hilly areas, stone masonry with mud mortar is more prevalent. But now a day we are very familiar with R. C. C. buildings, and a variety of new composite constructions materials.

Brittle and Ductile Building Materials

I. Masonry
Masonry is made up of burnt clay bricks and cement or mud mortar. Masonry can carry loads that cause compression (i.e. pressing together) but can hardly take load that causes tension (i.e. pulling apart). Masonry is a brittle material, these walls develop cracks once their ability to carry horizontal load is exceeded. Thus infill walls act like sacrificial fuses in buildings: they develop cracks under severe ground shaking but they share the load of the beams and columns until cracking.

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II. Concrete
Concrete is another material that has been popularly used in building construction particularly over the last four decades. Cement concrete is made of crushed stone pieces (called aggregate), sand, cement and water mixed in appropriate proportions. Concrete is much stronger than masonry under compressive loads, but again its behavior in tension is poor. The properties of concrete critically depend on the amount of water used in making concrete, too much and too little water both can cause havoc.

III. Steel
Steel is used in masonry and concrete buildings as reinforcement bars of diameter ranging from 6mm to 40mm. reinforcing steel can carry both tensile and compressive loads. Moreover steel is a ductile material. This important property of ductility enables steel bars to undergo large elongation before breaking. Concrete is used with steel reinforcement bars. This composite material is called as reinforced cement concrete. The amount and location of steel in a member should be such that the failure of the member is by steel reaching its strength in tension before concrete reaches its strength in compression. This type of failure is ductile failure, and is preferred over a failure where concrete fails first in compression. Therefore, providing more steel in R.C.C. buildings can be harmful even

EARTHQUAKE CONSTRUCTION TYPOLOGIES:

Earthquake construction means implementation of seismic design to enable building and non-building structures to live through the anticipated earthquake exposure up to the expectations and in compliance with the applicable building codes. Design and construction are intimately related. To achieve a good workmanship, detailing of the members and their connections should be, possibly, simple. As any construction in general, earthquake construction is a process that consists of the building, retrofitting or assembling of infrastructure given the construction materials available. The destabilizing action of an earthquake on constructions may be direct (seismic motion of the ground) or indirect (earthquake-induced landslides, soil liquefaction and waves of tsunami). A structure might have all the appearances of stability, yet offer nothing but danger when an earthquake occurs. The crucial fact is that, for safety,
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earthquake-resistant construction techniques are as important as quality control and using correct materials. To minimize possible losses, construction process should be organized with keeping in mind that earthquake may strike any time prior to the end of construction. Each construction project requires a qualified team of professionals who understand the basic features of seismic performance of different structures as well as construction management.

Adobe structures
One half of the world's population lives or works in the buildings made of earth. Adobe type of mud bricks is one of the oldest and most widely used building materials. The use of adobe is very common in some of the world's most hazard-prone regions, traditionally across Latin America, Africa, Indian subcontinent and other parts of Asia, Middle East and Southern Europe. Adobe buildings are considered very vulnerable at strong quakes. However, multiple ways of seismic strengthening of new and existing adobe buildings are available. Key factors for the improved seismic performance of adobe construction are:
y y y

Quality of construction. Compact, box-type layout. Seismic reinforcement.

Limestone and sandstone structures

Limestone is very common in architecture. Many landmarks across the world, including the pyramids in Egypt, are made of limestone. Many medieval churches and castles in Europe are made of limestone and sandstone masonry. They are the long-lasting materials but their rather heavy weight is not beneficial for adequate seismic performance. Application of modern technology to seismic retrofitting can enhance the survivability of unreinforced masonry structures.

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Timber frame structures

Timber framing dates back thousands of years, and has been used in many parts of the world during various periods such as ancient Japan, Europe and medieval England in localities where timber was in good supply and building stone and the skills to work it were not. The use of timber framing in buildings provides their complete skeletal framing which offers some structural benefits as the timber frame, if properly engineered, lends it to better seismic survivability.

Light-frame structures
Light-frame structures usually gain seismic resistance from rigid plywood shear walls and wood structural panel diaphragms. Special provisions for seismic load-resisting systems for all engineered wood structures requires consideration of diaphragm ratios, horizontal and vertical diaphragm shears, and connector/fastener values. In addition, collectors, or drag struts, to distribute shear along a diaphragm length are required.

Reinforced masonry structures

A construction system is used where steel reinforcement is embedded in the mortar joints of masonry or placed in holes and after filled with concrete or grout is called reinforced masonry. There are various practices and techniques to achieve reinforced masonry. The most common type is the reinforced hollow unit masonry. The effectiveness of both vertical and horizontal reinforcement strongly depends on the type and quality of the masonry, i.e. masonry units and mortar. To achieve a ductile behavior of masonry, it is necessary that the shear strength of the wall is greater than the tensile strength of reinforcement to ensure a kind of bending failure.

Reinforced concrete structures

Reinforced concrete is concrete in which steel reinforcement bars (rebars) or fibres have been incorporated to strengthen a material that would
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otherwise be brittle. It can be used to produce beams, columns, floors or bridges. Prestressed concrete is a kind of reinforced concrete used for overcoming concrete's natural weakness in tension. It can be applied to beams, floors or bridges with a longer span than is practical with ordinary reinforced concrete. Prestressing tendons (generally of high tensile steel cable or rods) are used to provide a clamping load which produces a compressive stress that offsets the tensile stress that the concrete compression member would, otherwise, experience due to a bending load. To prevent catastrophic collapse in response earth shaking (in the interest of life safety), a traditional reinforced concrete frame should have ductile joints. Depending upon the methods used and the imposed seismic forces, such buildings may be immediately usable, require extensive repair, or may have to be demolished.

Prestressed structures
Prestressed structure is the one whose overall integrity, stability and security depend, primarily, on a prestressing. Prestressing means the intentional creation of permanent stresses in a structure for the purpose of improving its performance under various service conditions. Naturally pre-compression is used in the exterior wall of Colosseum, Rome. There are the following basic types of prestressing:
y y y

Pre-compression (mostly, with the own weight of a structure) Pretensioning with high-strength embedded tendons Post-tensioning with high-strength bonded or unbonded tendons

Today, the concept of prestressed structure is widely engaged in design of buildings, underground structures, TV towers, power stations, floating storage and offshore facilities, nuclear reactor vessels, and numerous kinds of bridge system.A beneficial idea of prestressing was, apparently, familiar to the ancient Rome architects; look, e.g., at the tall attic wall of Colosseum working as a press for the wall piers beneath.

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Steel structures
Steel structures are considered mostly earthquake resistant but their resistance should never be taken for granted. A great number of welded steel moment frame buildings, which looked earthquake-proof, surprisingly experienced brittle behavior and were hazardously damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake. After that, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) initiated development of repair techniques and new design approaches to minimize damage to steel moment frame buildings in future earthquakes. For structural steel seismic design based on Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) approach, it is very important to assess ability of a structure to develop and maintain its bearing resistance in the inelastic range. A measure of this ability is ductility, which may be observed in a material itself, in a structural element, or to a whole structure. All pre-qualified connection details and design methods contained in the building codes of that time have been rescinded. The new provisions stipulated that new designs be substantiated by testing or by use of testverified calculations. 6

HOW TO REDUCE EARTHQUAKE EFFECTS ON BUILDINGS:

Why Earthquake Effects are to be reduced?
Conventional seismic design attempts to make buildings that do not collapse under strong earthquake shaking, but may sustain damage to non-structural elements (like glass facades) and to some structural members in the building. This may render the building non-functional after the earthquake, which may be problematic in some structures, like hospitals, which need to remain functional in the aftermath of the earthquake. Special techniques are required to design buildings such that they remain practically undamaged even in a severe earthquake. Buildings with such improved seismic performance usually cost more than normal buildings do. However, this cost is justified through improved earthquake performance. Two basic technologies are used to protect
6

http://www.hazardmapping.com/

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buildings from damaging earthquake effects. These are Base Isolation Devices and Seismic Dampers. The idea behind base isolation is to detach (isolate) the building from the ground in such a way that earthquake motions are not transmitted up through the building, or at least greatly reduced. Seismic dampers are special devices introduced in the building to absorb the energy provided by the ground motion to the building (much like the way shock absorbers in motor vehicles absorb the impacts due to undulations of the road).

Base Isolation7
The concept of base isolation is explained through an example building resting on frictionless rollers (Following figure a). When the ground shakes, the rollers freely roll, but the building above does not move. Thus, no force is transferred to the building due to shaking of the ground; simply, the building does not experience the earthquake. Now, if the same building is rested on flexible pads that offer resistance against lateral movements (Figure b), then some effect of the ground shaking will be transferred to the building above. If the flexible pads are properly chosen, the forces induced by ground shaking can be a few times smaller than that experienced by the building built directly on ground, namely a fixed base building (Figure c). The flexible pads are called base-isolators, whereas the structures protected by means of these devices are called base-isolated buildings. The main feature of the base isolation technology is that it introduces flexibility in the structure. As a result, a robust medium-rise masonry or reinforced concrete building becomes extremely flexible. The isolators are often designed to absorb energy and thus add damping to the system. This helps in further reducing the seismic response of the building. Several commercial brands of base isolators are available in the market, and many of them look like large rubber pads, although there are other types that are based on sliding of one part of the building relative to the other. A careful study is required to identify the most suitable type of device for a particular building. Also, base isolation is not suitable for all buildings. Most suitable candidates for base-isolation are low to medium-rise buildings rested on hard soil underneath; highrise buildings or buildings rested on soft soil are not suitable for base isolation.

EERI, (1999), Lessons Learnt Over Time Learning from Earthquakes Series: Volume II Innovative Recovery in India

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Base Isolation in Real Buildings

Seismic isolation is a relatively recent and evolving technology. It has been in increased use since the 1980s, and has been well evaluated and reviewed internationally. Base isolation has now been used in numerous buildings in countries like Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and USA. Base isolation is also useful for retrofitting important buildings (like hospitals and historic buildings). By now, over 1000 buildings across the world have
8

Earthquake Research Institute, Oakland (CA), USA; alsoavailable at http://www.nicee.org/readings/EERI_Report.htm.

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been equipped with seismic base isolation. In India, base isolation technique was first demonstrated after the 1993 Killari (Maharashtra) Earthquake [EERI, 1999]. Two single storey buildings (one school building and another shopping complex building) in newly relocated Killari town were built with rubber base isolators resting on hard ground. Both were brick masonry buildings with concrete roof. After the 2001 Bhuj (Gujarat) earthquake, the four-storey Bhuj Hospital building was built with base isolation technique (Following figure).9

GUIDELINES FOR THE EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT BUILDINGS:

One of the most critical decisions influencing the ability of a superstructure to withstand earthquake ground shaking is the choice of its basic plan shape and configuration. The importance of a proper selection of the superstructure configuration will be discussed and illustrated for the case of building structures. Building structures may be of many types and configurations and there is, of course, no universal ideal configuration for any particular type
9

Hanson,R.D., and Soong,T.T., (2001), Seismic Design with Supplemental Energy Dissipation Devices, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Oakland (CA), USA.

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of building. However, there are certain basic or guiding principles of seismic-resistant design that can be used as guidelines in selecting an adequate building configuration structural layout, structural system, structural material and the non-structural components. These basic guidelines are as follows: 1. Building (superstructure and non-structural components) should be light and avoid unnecessary masses.

2. Building and its superstructure should be simple, symmetric, and regular in plan and elevation to prevent significant torsional forces, avoiding large height-width ratio and large plan area.

3. Building and its superstructure should have a uniform and continuous distribution of mass, stiffness, strength and ductility, avoiding formation of soft stories.

4. Superstructure should have relatively shorter spans than non-seismicresistant structure and avoid use of long cantilevers.

5. The non-structural components should either be well separated so that they will not interact with the rest of the structure, or they should be integrated with the structure. On the latter case, it is desirable that the structure should have sufficient lateral stiffness to avoid significant damage under minor and moderate earthquake shaking, and toughness with stable hysteric behaviour (that is, stability of strength, stiffness and deformability) under the repeated reversal of deformations which could be induced by severe earthquake ground motion. The stiffer the structure, the less sensitive it will be to the effects of the interacting nonstructural components, and the tougher it is, the less sensitive it will be to effect of sudden failure of the interacting non-structural elements.

6. Superstructure should be detailed so that the inelastic deformations can be constrained (controlled) to develop in desired regions and according to a desirable hierarchy.

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7. Superstructure should have the largest possible number of defence lines, that is, it should be composed of different tough structural subsystems which interact or are interconnected by very tough structural elements (structural fuses) whose inelastic behaviour would permit the whole structure to find its way out from a critical stage of dynamic response.

8. Superstructure should be provided with balanced stiffness and strength between its members, connections and supports.

9. The stiffness and strength of the entire building should be compatible with the stiffness and strength of the soil.

THE SEISMIC ZONES IN INDIA

Basic Geography and Tectonic Features10

BMTPC, (1997), Vulnerability Atlas of India, Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, New Delhi.

10

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India lies at the north-western end of the Indo- Australian Plate, which encompasses India, Australia, a major portion of the Indian Ocean and other smaller countries. This plate is colliding against the huge Eurasian Plate (Figure 1) and going under the Eurasian Plate; this process of one tectonic plate getting under another is called subduction. A sea, Tethys, separated these plates before they collided. Part of the lithosphere, the Earths Crust, is covered by oceans and the rest by the continents. The former can undergo subduction at great depths when it converges against another plate, but the latter is buoyant and so tends to remain close to the surface. When continents converge, large amounts of shortening and thickening takes place, like at the Himalayas and the Tibet. Three chief tectonic sub-regions of India are the mighty Himalayas along the north, the plains of the Ganges and other rivers, and the peninsula. The Himalayas consist primarily of sediments accumulated over long geological time in the Tethys. The Indo- Gangetic basin with deep alluvium is a great depression caused by the load of the Himalayas on the Continent. The peninsular part of the country consists of ancient rocks deformed in the past Himalayan-like collisions. Erosion has exposed the roots of the old mountains and removed most of the topography. The rocks are very hard, but are softened by weathering near the surface. Before the Himalayan collision, several tens of millions of years ago, lava flowed across the central part of peninsular India leaving layers of basalt rock. Coastal areas like Kachchh show marine deposits testifying to submergence under the sea millions of years ago.

Prominent Past Earthquakes in India11

11

Dasgupta,S., et al, (2000), Seismotectonic Atlas of Indian and itsEnvirons, Geological Survey of India.

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A number of significant earthquakes occurred in and around India over the past century (Figure 2). Some of these occurred in populated and urbanized areas and hence caused great damage. Many went unnoticed, as they occurred deep under the Earths surface or in relatively uninhabited places. Some of the damaging and recent earthquakes are listed in Table 1. Most earthquakes occur along the Himalayan plate boundary (these are inter-plate earthquakes), but a number of earthquakes have also occurred in the peninsular region (these are intra-plate earthquakes). Four Great earthquakes (M>8) occurred in a span of 53 years from 1897 to 1950; the January 2001 Bhuj earthquake (M7.7) is almost as large. Each of these caused disasters, but also allowed us to learn about earthquakes and to advance earthquake engineering. For instance, 1819 Cutch Earthquake produced an unprecedented ~3m high uplift of the ground over 100km (called Allah Bund). The 1897 Assam Earthquake caused severe damage up to 500km radial distances; the type of damage sustained led to improvements in the intensity scale from I-X to I-XII. Extensive liquefaction of the ground took place over a length of 300km (called the Slump Belt) during 1934 Bihar-Nepal earthquake in which many structures went afloat.

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The timing of the earthquake during the day and during the year critically determines the number of casualties. Casualties are expected to be high for earthquakes that strike during cold winter nights, when most of the population is indoors.

Seismic Zones of India

The varying geology at different locations in the country implies that the likelihood of damaging earthquakes taking place at different locations is different. Thus, a seismic zone map is required to identify these regions. Based on the levels of intensities sustained during damaging past earthquakes, the 1970 version of the zone map subdivided India into five zones I, II, III, IV and V (Following figure). The maximum Modified Mercalli (MM) intensity of seismic shaking expected in these zones were V or less, VI, VII, VIII, and IX and higher, respectively. Parts of Himalayan boundary in the north and northeast, and the Kachchh area in the west were classified as zone V.

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The seismic zone maps are revised from time to time as more understanding is gained on the geology, the seism tectonics and the seismic activity in the country. The Indian Standards provided the first seismic zone map in 1962, which was later revised in 1967 and again in 1970. The map has been revised again in 2002 (Following Figure), and it now has only four seismic zones II, III, IV and V. The areas falling in seismic zone I in the 1970 version of the map are merged with those of seismic zone II. Also, the seismic zone map in the peninsular region has been modified. Madras now comes in seismic zone III as against in zone II in the 1970 version of the map. This 2002 seismic zone map is not the final word on the seismic hazard of the country, and hence there can be no sense of complacency in this regard.

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The national Seismic Zone Map presents a large-scale view of the seismic zones in the country. Local variations in soil type and geology cannot be represented at that scale. Therefore, for important projects, such as a major dam or a nuclear power plant, the seismic hazard is evaluated specifically for that site. Also, for the purposes of urban planning, metropolitan areas are micro zoned. Seismic microzonation accounts for local variations in geology, local soil profile, etc.

INDIAN STANDARDS ON EARTHQUAKE ENGINEERING12:

Bureau of Indian standards, the National Standard Body of India, is a Statutory Organization under the Bureau of Indian Standards Act 1986. One of the activities is formulation of Indian Standards on different subjects of Engineering through various Division Councils. The Civil
12

Bureau of Indian Standards (http://www.bis.org.in/other/quake.htm)

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Engineering Division Council is responsible for standardization in the field of Civil Engineering including Structural Engineering, Building materials and components, Planning Design, Construction and Maintenance of Civil Engineering Structures, Construction Practices, Safety in Building etc. These standards are evolved based on consensus principle through a net work of technical committee comprising representatives from Research and Development Organizations, Consumers, Industry, Testing Labs and Govt. Organizations etc. The Civil Engineering Division Council is working towards to achieve the above goal through 34 Sectional Committees covering wide range of subjects and one of the Sectional Committee is Earthquake Engineering Sectional Committee, CED 39. India is one of the most disaster prone countries, vulnerable to almost all natural and manmade disasters. About 85% area is vulnerable to one or multiple disasters and about 57% area is in high seismic zone including the capital of the country. Disaster prevention involves engineering intervention in buildings and structures to make them strong enough to withstand the impact of natural hazard or to impose restrictions on land use so that the exposure of the society to the hazard situation is avoided or minimized. Bureau of Indian Standards has rendered invaluable services by producing large number of national standards, which are of direct relevance to the construction industry and some of them particular to the mitigation of disasters. A detail of Indian Standards in the area of mitigation of natural hazard of earthquake is given underneath.

Earthquake Engineering
Himalayan-Nagalushai region, Indo-Gangetic plain, Western India and Cutch and Kathiawar regions are geologically unstable parts of the country and some devastating earthquakes of the world have occurred there. A major part of peninsular India has also been visited by strong earthquakes, but these were relatively few in number and had considerably lesser intensity. It has been a long felt need to rationalize the earthquake resistant design and construction of structures taking into account seismic data from studies of these earthquakes.

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It is to serve this purpose that standards have been formulated in the field of Design and Construction of Earthquake Resistant Structures and also in the field of measurement and tests connected therewith by the Earthquake Engineering Sectional Committee, CED 39. Following standards have been formulated under this Committee:

IS 1893:1984 Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures

This standard deals with earthquake resistant design of structures and is applicable to buildings; elevated structures; bridges; dams etc. It also gives a map which divides the country into five seismic zones based on the seismic intensity.

IS 1893 was initially published in 1962 as `Recommendations for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures and then revised in 1966. As a result of additional seismic data collected in India and further knowledge and experience gained the standard was revised in 1970, 1975 and then in 1984. Consequent to the publication of this standard on account of earthquakes in various parts of the country including that in UttarKashi, Latur and Bhuj and technological advancement in the field, the Sectional Committee decided to revise the standard into five parts which deals with different types of structures:

Part 1: General provisions and Buildings

Part 2:

Liquid Retaining Tanks Elevated and Ground Supported

Part 3

: Bridges and Retaining Walls

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Part 4

Industrial Structures Including Stack L ike Structures

Part 5

Dams and Embankments

IS 1893(Part 1):2002 `Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures: Part 1 General provisions and Buildings
This standard contains provisions that are general in nature and applicable to all structures. Also, it contains provisions that are specific to buildings only. It covers general principles and design criteria, combinations, design spectrum, main attributes of buildings, dynamic analysis, apart from seismic zoning map and seismic coefficients of important towns, map showing epicentres, map showing tectonic features and litho logical map of India.

Following are the major and important modifications made in this revision: a) The seismic zone map is revised with only four zones, instead of five. Erstwhile Zone I has been merged to Zone II and hence Zone I does not appear in the new zoning; only Zones II, III, IV and V do. The killari area has been included in Zone III and necessary modifications made, keeping in view the probabilistic Hazard Evaluation. The Bellary isolated zone has been removed. The parts of eastern coast area have shown similar hazard to that of the killari area, the level of Zone II has been enhanced to Zone III and connected with Zone III of Godavari Graben area. This revision adopts the procedure of first calculating the actual force that may be experienced by the structure during the probable maximum earthquake, if it were to remain elastic. Then the concept of response reduction due to ductile deformation or frictional energy dissipation in the cracks is brought into the code explicitly, by introducing the `response reduction factor in place of the earlier performance factor. The values of seismic zone factors have been changed; these now reflect more realistic values of effective peak ground

b)

c)

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acceleration considering Maximum Considered Earthquake (MCE) and service life of structure in each seismic zone. d) A clause has been introduced to restrict the use of foundations vulnerable to differential settlements in severe seismic zones.

Here it is worthwhile to mention that it is not intended in this standard to lay down regulation so that no structure shall suffer any damage during earthquake of all magnitudes. It has been endeavoured to ensure that as far as, possible structures are able to respond, without structural damage to shocks of moderate intensities and without total collapse to shocks of heavy intensities.

IS 1893(Part 4):2005 `Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures: Part 4 Industrial Structures Including Stack Like Structures
This standard deals with earthquake resistant design of the industrial structures (plant and auxiliary structures) including stack-like structures such as process industries, power plants, textile industries, off-shore structures and marine/port/harbour structures. In addition to the above, stack-like structures covered by this standard are such as transmission and communication towers, chimneys and stacklike structures and silos (including parabolic silos used for urea storage). The characteristics (intensity, duration, etc) of seismic ground vibrations expected at any location depends upon the magnitude of earthquake, its depth of focus, distance from the epicentre, characteristics of the path through which the seismic waves travel, and the soil strata on which the structure stands. The response of a structure to ground vibrations is a function of the nature of foundations, soil, materials, form, size and mode of construction of structures; and the duration and characteristics of ground motion. This standard specifies design forces for structures standing on rocks or soils, which do not settle, liquefy or slide due to loss of strength during vibrations. The design approach adopted in this standard is to ensure that structures possess minimum strength to withstand minor earthquakes (<DBE) which occur frequently, without damage; resist moderate earthquakes (DBE) without significant structural damage though some non-structural damage may occur; and withstand a major earthquake (MCE) without collapse.
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Formulation of revised codes for other parts of IS 1893 are in advance stages.

IS 4326:1993 Earthquake Resistant Design and Construction of Buildings - Code of Practice

This standard provides guidance in selection of materials, special features of design and construction for earthquake resistant buildings including masonry construction, timber construction, prefabricated construction etc. In this standard, it is intended to cover the specified features of design and construction for earthquake resistance of buildings of conventional types. The general principles to be observed in the construction of such earthquake resistant buildings as specified in this standard are L ightness, Continuity of Construction, avoiding/reinforcing Projecting and suspended parts, Building configuration, strength in various directions, stable foundations, Ductility of structure, Connection to non-structural parts and fire safety of structures. Special Construction Features like Separation of Adjoining Structures, Crumple Section, and Foundation design, Roofs and Floors and Staircases have been elaborated in the standard. It also covers the details pertaining to the type of construction, masonry construction with rectangular masonry units, masonry bearing walls, openings in bearing walls, seismic strengthening arrangements, framing of thin load bearing walls, reinforcing details for hollow block masonry, flooring/roofing with precast components and timber construction.

IS 13827:1993 Improving Earthquake Resistance of Earthen Buildings Guidelines

The guidelines covered in this standard deal with the design and construction aspects for improving earthquake resistance of earthen houses, without the use of stabilizers such as lime, cement, asphalt, etc. The provisions of this standard are applicable for seismic zones III, IV and V. No special provisions are considered necessary in Zone II. However, considering inherently weak against water and earthquake, earthen buildings should preferably be avoided in flood prone, high rainfall areas and seismic zones IV and V.
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It has been recommended that such buildings should be light, single storied and of simple rectangular plan. Qualitative tests for the suitability of soil have been suggested. Guidelines for Block or Adobe Construction, Rammed earth construction, Seismic strengthening of bearing wall buildings, Internal bracing in earthen houses and earthen constructions with wood or cane structures have been elaborated in this standard.

IS 13828:1993 Improving Earthquake Resistance of Low Strength Masonry Buildings Guidelines

This standard covers the special features of design and construction for improving earthquake resistance of buildings of low-strength masonry. The provisions of this standard are applicable in all seismic zones. No special provisions are considered necessary for buildings in seismic zone II if cement-sand mortar not leaner than 1:6 is used in masonry and through stones or bonding elements is used in stone walls. The various provisions of IS 4326:1993 regarding general principles, special construction features, types of construction, categories of buildings and masonry construction with rectangular masonry buildings of low strength dealt with in this standard. There are however certain restrictions, exceptions and additional details which are specifically included herein.

IS 13920:1993 Ductile Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures Subjected to Seismic Forces Code of Practice
This standard covers the requirements for designing and detailing of monolithic reinforced concrete buildings so as to give them adequate toughness and ductility to resist severe earthquake shocks without collapse. The provisions for reinforced concrete construction given in this standard apply specifically to monolithic reinforced concrete construction. Precast and/or prestressed concrete members may be used only if they can provide the same level of ductility as that of a monolithic reinforced concrete construction during or after an earthquake.
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Provisions on minimum and maximum reinforcement have been elaborated which includes the requirements for beams at longitudinal reinforcement in beams at joint face, splices and anchorage requirements. Provisions have been included for calculation of design shear force and for detailing of transverse reinforcement in beams. Material specifications are indicated for lateral force resisting elements of frames. The provisions are also given for detailing of reinforcement in the wall web, boundary elements, coupling beams, around openings, at construction joints, and for the development, splicing and anchorage of reinforcement.

IS 13935:1993 Repair and Seismic Strengthening of Buildings Guidelines

This standard covers the selection of materials and techniques to be used for repair and seismic strengthening of damaged buildings during earthquakes and retrofitting for upgrading of seismic resistance of existing buildings. The provisions of this standard are applicable for buildings in seismic zones III to V of IS 1893:1984, which are based on damaging seismic intensities VII and more on MSK Scales. The buildings affected by earthquake may suffer both non-structural and structural damages. This standard lays down guidelines for nonstructural/architectural as well as structural repairs, seismic strengthening and seismic retrofitting of existing buildings. Guidelines have been given for selection of materials for repair work such as cement, steel, epoxy resins, epoxy mortar, quick setting cement mortar and special techniques such as shotcrete, mechanical anchorage etc. Seismic strengthening techniques for the modification of roofs or floors, inserting new walls, strengthening existing walls, masonry arches, random rubble masonry walls, strengthening long walls, strengthening reinforced concrete members and strengthening of foundations have been elaborated in detail.

IS 6922:1973 Criteria for Safety and Design of Structures Subject to Underground Blasts

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This standard deals with the safety of structures during underground blasting and is applicable to normal structures like buildings, elevated structures, bridges, retaining walls, concrete and masonry dams constructed in materials like brickwork, stone masonry and concrete. As underground blasting operations have become almost a must for excavation purposes, this standard lays down criteria for safety of such structures from cracking and also specifies the effective accelerations for their design in certain cases.

IS 4991:1968 Criteria for Blast Resistant Design of Structures for Explosions above Ground
This standard covers the criteria for design of structures for blast effects of explosions above ground excluding blast effects of nuclear explosions.

IS 4967:1968 Recommendations for Seismic Instrumentation for River Valley Projects

This standard covers recommendations for instrumentation for investigation of seismicity, study of micro tremors and predominant period of a dam site and permanent installation of instruments in the dam and appurtenant structures and in surrounding areas.

These standards endeavour to provide a guideline in designing and repairing of buildings under seismic forces.

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THE AFFECT OF THE EARTHQUAKE ON THE REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS:

In recent times, reinforced concrete buildings have become common in India, particularly in towns and cities. Reinforced concrete consists of two primary materials, namely concrete with reinforcing steel bars. Concrete is made of sand, crushed stone and cement, all mixed with predetermined amount of water. Concrete can be moulded into any desired shape, and steel bars can be bent into many shapes. Thus, structures of complex shapes are possible with RC. A typical RC building is made of horizontal members (beams and slabs) and vertical members (columns and walls), and supported by foundations that rest on ground. The system comprising of RC columns and connecting beams is called a RC frame. The RC frame participates in resisting the earthquake forces. Earthquake shaking generates inertia forces in the building, which are proportional to the building mass. Since most of the building mass is present at floor levels, earthquake induced inertia forces primarily develop at the floor levels. These forces travel downwards through slab and beams to columns and walls, and then to the foundations from where they are dispersed to the ground. As inertia forces accumulate downwards from the top of the building, the columns and walls at lower stories experience higher earthquake induced forces (Following figure) and are therefore designed to be stronger than those in stories above.

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ROLES OF FLOOR SLABS AND MASONRY WALLS:

Floor slabs are horizontal plate like elements, which facilitate functional use of buildings. Usually, beams and slabs at one storey level are cast together. In residential multi storey buildings, thickness of slabs is only about 110-150mm. When beams bend in the vertical direction during earthquakes, these thin slabs bend along with them (Following figure a). And, when beams move with columns in the horizontal direction, the slab usually forces the beams to move together with it. In most buildings, the geometric distortion of the slab in negligible in the horizontal plane; this behaviour is known as the rigid diaphragm action (following figure b). Structural engineers must consider this during design.

How to Make Stone Masonry Buildings Earthquake Resistant?

Stone has been used in building construction in India since ancient times since it is durable and locally available. There are huge numbers of stone buildings in the country, ranging from rural houses to royal palaces and temples. In a typical rural stone house, there is thick stone masonry walls (thickness ranges from 600 to 1200 mm) built using rounded stones from riverbeds bound with mud mortar. These walls are constructed with stones placed in a random manner, and hence do not have the usual layers (or courses) seen in brick walls. These uncoursed walls have two exterior vertical layers (called Wythes) of large stones, filled in between
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with loose stone rubble and mud mortar. A typical uncoursed random (UCR) stone masonry wall is illustrated in Figure 1. In many cases, these walls support heavy roofs (for example, timber roof with thick mud overlay).13

Laypersons may consider such stone masonry buildings robust due to the large wall thickness and robust appearance of stone construction. But, these buildings are one of the most deficient building systems from earthquake-resistance point of view. The main deficiencies include excessive wall thickness, absence of any connection between the two wythes of the wall, and use of round stones (instead of shaped ones). Such dwellings have shown very poor performance during past earthquakes in India and other countries (e.g., Greece, Iran, Turkey, former Yugoslavia). In the 1993 Killari (Maharashtra) earthquake alone, over 8,000 people died, most of them buried under the rubble of traditional stone masonry dwellings. L ikewise, a majority of the over 13,800 deaths during 2001 Bhuj (Gujarat) earthquake is attributed to the collapse of this type of construction. The main patterns of earthquake damage include: (a) bulging/separation of walls in the horizontal direction into two distinct wythes (Figure 2a), (b) separation of walls at corners and T-junctions (Figure 2b)14, (c) separation of poorly constructed roof from walls, and eventual collapse of roof, and (d) disintegration of walls and eventual collapse of the whole dwelling.

Brzev,S., Greene,M. and Sinha,R. (2001), Rubble stone masonry walls with timber walls and timber roof, World Housing Encyclopedia ( www.world-housing.net), India/Report 18, published by EERI and IAEE. 14 IAEE, (1986), Guidelines for Earthquake Resistant Non-Engineered Construction, The ACC Limited, Thane, 2001 (See www.niceee.org).

13

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Earthquake resistant features:

Low strength stone masonry buildings are weak against earthquakes, and should be avoided in high seismic zones. The Indian Standard IS: 138281993 states that inclusion of special earthquake-resistant design and construction features may raise the earthquake resistance of these buildings and reduce the loss of life. However, in spite of the seismic features these buildings may not become totally free from heavy damage and even collapse in case of a major earthquake. The contribution of the each of these features is difficult to quantify, but qualitatively these features have been observed to improve the performance of stone masonry dwellings during past earthquakes. These features include: (a) Ensure proper wall construction: The wall thickness should not exceed 450mm. Round stone boulders should not be used in the construction! Instead, the stones should be shaped using chisels and hammers. Use of mud mortar should be avoided in higher seismic zones. Instead, cementsand mortar should be 1:6 (or richer) and lime-sand mortar 1:3 (or richer) should be used. (b) Ensure proper bond in masonry courses: The masonry walls should be built in construction lifts not exceeding 600mm. Through-stones (each extending over full thickness of wall) or a pair of overlapping bond-stones (each extending over at least ths thickness of wall) must be used at
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every 600mm along the height and at a maximum spacing of 1.2m along the length (Figure 3).

(c) Provide horizontal reinforcing elements: The stone masonry dwellings must have horizontal bands (See IITK-BMTPC Earthquake Tip 14 for plinth, lintel, roof and gable bands). These bands can be constructed out of wood or reinforced concrete, and chosen based on economy. It is important to provide at least one band (either lintel band or roof band) in stone masonry construction (Figure 4).15

Publications of Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council,New Delhi ( www.bmtpc.org): (a) Retrofitting of Stone Houses in Marathwada Area of Maharashtra (b) Guidelines For Improving Earthquake Resistance of Housing (c) Manual for Repair and Reconstruction of H ouses Damaged in Earthquake in October 1991 in the Garhwal Region of UP

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(d) Control on overall dimensions and heights: The unsupported length of walls between cross-walls should be limited to 5m; for longer walls, cross supports raised from the ground level called buttresses should be provided at spacing not more than 4m. The height of each storey should not exceed 3.0m. In general, stone masonry buildings should not be taller than 2 storeys when built in cement mortar, and 1 storey when built in lime or mud mortar. The wall should have a thickness of at least one-sixth its height. Although, this type of stone masonry construction practice is deficient with regards to earthquake resistance, its extensive use is likely to continue due to tradition and low cost. But, to protect human lives and property in future earthquakes, it is necessary to follow proper stone masonry construction as described above (especially features (a) and (b) in seismic zones III and higher). Also, the use of seismic bands is highly recommended (as described in feature (c) above.

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HOW TO REDUCE EARTHQUAKE EFFECTS ON BUILDINGS:

Why Earthquake Effects are to be reduced?

Conventional seismic design attempts to make buildings that do not collapse under strong earthquake shaking, but may sustain damage to non-structural elements (like glass facades) and to some structural members in the building. This may render the building non-functional after the earthquake, which may be problematic in some structures, like hospitals, which need to remain functional in the aftermath of the earthquake. Special techniques are required to design buildings such that they remain practically undamaged even in a severe earthquake. Buildings with such improved seismic performance usually cost more than normal buildings do. However, this cost is justified through improved earthquake performance. Two basic technologies are used to protect buildings from damaging earthquake effects. These are Base Isolation Devices and Seismic Dampers. The idea behind base isolation is to detach (isolate) the building from the ground in such a way that earthquake motions are not transmitted up through the building, or at least greatly reduced. Seismic dampers are special devices introduced in the building to absorb the energy provided by the ground motion to the building (much like the way shock absorbers in motor vehicles absorb the impacts due to undulations of the road).

Base Isolation (Discussed earlier)

After development of passive devices such as base isolation and TMD. The next logical step is to control the action of these devices in an optimal manner by an external energy source the resulting system is known as active control device system. Active control has been very widely used in aerospace structures. In recent years significant progress has been made on the analytical side of active control for civil engineering structures. Also a few models explains as shown that there is great promise in the technology and that one may expect to see in the
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foreseeable future several dynamic Dynamic Intelligent Buildings the term itself seems to have been joined by the Kajima Corporation in Japan. In one of their pamphlet the concept of Active control had been explained in every simple manner and it is worth quoting here.

or bus try to maintain balance by unintentionally bracing their legs or by relaying on the mussels of their spine and stomach. By providing a similar function to a building it can dampen immensely the vibrations when confronted with an earthquake. This is the concept of Dynamic Intelligent Building (DIB).

People standing in swaying train

16

The philosophy of the past conventional a seismic structure is to respond passively to an earthquake. In contrast in the DIB which we propose the building it functions actively against earthquakes and attempts to control the vibrations. The sensor distributed inside and outside of the building transmits information to the computer installed in the building which can make analyses and judgment, and as if the buildings possess intelligence

http://articles.architectjaved.com/earthquake_resistant_structures/active-control-devices-for-earthquakeresistance/

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pertaining to the earthquake amends its own structural characteristics minutes by minute.

Active Control System

The basic configuration of an active control system is schematically shown in figure. The system consists of three basic elements: 1. Sensors to measure external excitation and/or structural response. 2. Computer hardware and software to compute control forces on the basis of observed excitation and/or structural response. 3. Actuators to provide the necessary control forces. Thus in active system has to necessarily have an external energy input to drive the actuators. On the other hand passive systems do not required external energy and their efficiency depends on tunings of system to expected excitation and structural behaviour. As a result, the passive systems are effective only for the modes of the vibrations for which these are tuned. Thus the advantage of an active system lies in its much wider range of applicability since the control forces are worked out on the basis of actual excitation and structural behaviour. In the active system when only external excitation is measured system is said to be in open-looped. However when the structural response is used as input, the system is in closed loop control. In certain instances the excitation and response both are used and it is termed as open-closed loop control.

Control Force Devices

Many ways have been proposed to apply control forces to a structure. Some of these have been tested in laboratory on scaled down models. Some of the ideas have been put forward for applications of active forces are briefly described in the following:

Active-tuned Mass Dampers (TMD)

These are in passive mode have been used in a number of structures as mentioned earlier. Hence active TMD is a natural extension. In this system 1% of the total building mass is directly excited by an actuator with no spring and dash pot. The system has been termed as Active Mass Driver (AMD). The experiments indicated that the building vibrations are reduced about 25% by the use of AMD.

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Tendon Control
Various analytical studies have been done using tendons for active control. At low excitations, even with the active control system off, the tendon will act in passive modes by resisting deformations in the structures though resulting tension in the tendon. At higher excitations one may switch over to Active mode where an actuator applies the required tension in tendons.

Other Methods
The liquid sloshing during earthquakes has assumed significance importance in view of over flow of petroleum products from storage tank in post earthquakes. One of the important consideration with sloshing is that is associated with a very low damping. The wave height was controlled through force applied to the side wall by a hydraulic actuator. The active control successfully reduced wave heights to the level of 6% of those without control, for harmonic excitations at sloshing frequency. For earthquake type excitation the wave heights were reduced to 19% level.

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Bibliography
1.Naeim, F., Ed., (2001), The Seismic Design Handbook, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, USA. 2. http://nisee.berkeley.edu/bertero/html/earthquake-resistant_construction.html 3. Arnold., and Reitherman,R., (1982), Building Configuration and Seismic Design, John Wiley, USA. 4. Lagorio,H,J, (1990), EARTHQUAKES An Architects Guide to Non- Structural Seismic Hazard, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., USA. 5 Arnold,C., and Reitherman,R., (1982), Building Configuration and Seismic Design, John Wiley, USA. 6. http://www.hazardmapping.com/ 7. EERI, (1999), Lessons Learnt Over Time Learning from Earthquakes Series: Volume II Innovative Recovery in India
7. Earthquake Research Institute, Oakland (CA), USA; also available at http://www.nicee.org/readings/EERI_Report.htm. 8. Hanson,R.D., and Soong,T.T., (2001), Seismic Design with Supplemental Energy Dissipation Devices, Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Oakland (CA), USA. 9. BMTPC, (1997), Vulnerability Atlas of India, Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, New Delhi. 10. Dasgupta,S., et al, (2000), Seismotectonic Atlas of Indian and itsEnvirons, Geological Survey of India. 11. Bureau of Indian Standards (http://www.bis.org.in/other/quake.htm)

12. Brzev,S., Greene,M. and Sinha,R. (2001), Rubble stone masonry walls with timber walls and timber roof, World Housing Encyclopedia (www.world-housing.net), India/Report 18, published by EERI and IAEE.
13. IAEE, (1986), Guidelines for Earthquake Resistant Non-Engineered Construction, The ACC
Limited, Thane, 2001 (See www.niceee.org). 14. Publications of Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council,New Delhi (www.bmtpc.org): 53 | P a g e

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15. http://articles.architectjaved.com/earthquake_resistant_structures/active-control-

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