First a look at geology

Seismic Loads
Origins
Sectional view of how we currently understand Earths inner structure

Plate Boundary

Plate Structure of Earths Crust

Overlap Gap

Pangaea
Edge of Continental Shelf

ca. 500,000,000 B.C.

San Andreas Fault From Air

P (Primary) Waves (Mostly Direct, Push-Pull in nature) S (Secondary) Waves (Mostly Reflected, Side-to-side in nature)

Seismometers

Hours

Seismograph

Types of Seismic Waves

P-waves

S-waves

3 Types of Seismic Wave Actions

Rayleigh-waves

Love-waves

http://www.analog.com/library/analogDialogue/archives/35-01/earthquake/index.html

Terraforming: Effects of Earthquakes on the Landscape

1964 Earthquake near Anchorage, Alaska

Sand Boil (note film canister for scale reference)

http://wapi.isu.edu/envgeo/EG5_earthqks/eg_mod5.htm

Liquefaction
Same type buildup of water pressure in soil that causes sand boils creates a weakening of the soil and loss of bearing capacity by dispersing soil particles and turning moist soil into mud

Niigata, Japan, 1964 Kawagishi-Cho Apartment Buildings Collapse

What Produces the Damaging Forces In Structures?

Ground motion below building Results in inertial reaction of building trying to stay still by Newtons 1st law of motion Which leads to lateral displacement behaving as a lateral structural force

What Produces the Damaging Forces In Structures?

Dynamic Forces: Newtons Second Law of Motion: F= MA F=WA/g or F=Wc (F = Seismic loading force) W= Building weight A = Ground acceleration g = Gravitational constant (32.2 ft/s2 or 9.8 m/s2) c = Seismic base shear coefficient Says lateral force is a % of building weight

Other Factors Affecting Seismic Loads on Structures

Magnitude of Ground Acceleration Building Inertia (directly proportional to mass) Natural Vibrational Period of Building Natural Vibrational Period of Soil Nature of Structural Framing System

Other Factors Affecting Seismic Loads on Structures

If building infinitely rigid with steady acceleration, then F=Wc would be true But real buildings are flexible to some extent, the accelerations are anything but steady, and the founding soils are of complex variations.

Code-Prescribed Seismic Load Equation

Allows us to look at the actual dynamic force on the structure as a static load. Based on previous equation, F=Wc, with additional modifiers

Code-Prescribed Seismic Load Equation

V = ZICW RW

Z = Seismic Zone Coefficient (fig. 16-2, table 16-I) I = Importance Factor (table 16-K) C = Coefficient for ground acceleration taking into consideration the interaction between the soil and building vibration period (C=2.75 max) W = Building Weight Rw = Building Frame Coefficient (table 16-N) Old Method based on 1994 Uniform Building Code

1994 UBC Seismic Zone Map

Current (2003) International Building Code Map of Peak Seismic Accelerations