Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd.

NOIDA

Concepts Of Earthquake Resistant Design

Email: drabhaygupta62@gmail.com Phones: 9871844932

Earthquake Problem
Earthquakes primarily take place at locations where there are mountains.
Earthquakes can and have been occurring at other locations too, particularly where
there are not necessarily any major mountain ranges; the 1993 earthquake in Deccan
plateau of Marathwada in central India is a recent example of this from our country.
In India epicentres of earthquakes are concentrated along the Himalayan mountains,
from Kashmir to Arunachal Pradesh. This region extends southwards into the
Nicobar islands. Gujarat and parts of Maharashtra are also very prone to
earthquakes. All other regions in India have smaller and fewer earthquakes. From
seismicity viewpoint India has been divided into four seismic zones. In India,
virtually over 60% of the area is under the threat of moderate to strong earthquake
shaking.
To prepare facing earthquakes
We must know two basic characteristics of earthquakes, namely
Magnitude and Intensity
Magnitude is a measure of the amount of energy released by the earth during the
earthquake. It is represented on a numerical scale of Richter Magnitude using the
natural logarithm of maximum displacement experienced by the ground. An
earthquake of Richter magnitude around 5.0 releases as much energy as that
discharged by the Hiroshima nuclear bomb. As the magnitude goes up by 1.0 on the
Richter scale, the energy release increases by about 30 times.
On the other hand, the consequence of the above energy released by the earth is the
damage and destruction to natural and man-made facilities. Understandably, the
damage will vary depending on the proximity of the facility to the region where the
slip has taken place along the earthquake fault. The extent of this damage is
measured on another scale called the Modified Mercalli Intensity scale.
This scale is a qualitative one and represented on a Roman scale I to XII.
Based on the occurrence of earthquakes in the past in and around India, the country
is divided into four seismic zones, namely zones II, III, IV and V, where Zone II is
the least severe and V is the most severe. Based on this zoning, about 60% of India's
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

land area is under moderate seismic threat or more, i.e., under seismic zone III or
above.
In fact, the 1993 Killari earthquake in whichover 10,000 persons died, occurred in an
area that was considered to be non-seismic, i.e., in seismic zone I. After this, the
seismic zone map has been revised to have only four seismic zones, with zone I
merged to zone II. Even now, amongst our four mega-cities, Delhi is in seismic zone
IV, while Bombay, Calcutta and Madras are in seismic zone III. Despite this level of
seismic hazard, little is being done, particularly in these cities, to make the
development akin to earthquake shaking. The quality of both design engineering
and construction is way behind the expected seismic standards.
Earthquake-Proof versus Earthquake Resistant Constructions
The common man concept of an earthquake-proof house is only heuristic. If one
attempts to make a house that will not incur any damage during a large earthquake,
it is very likely that another pyramid will be built, though not of the Egyptian scale.
Yes, it is very uneconomical to build houses, or any structure for that matter, that
don't incur any damage during strong earthquake shaking. Therefore, some amount
of damage is permitted in structures, the extent being decided based on the
performance demand on the damaged structures. Hence, engineering effort is to
balance the cost of the structure with the controlled-damage in it during an
earthquake. The very engineers who are already well conversant with making
structures for nonearthquake conditions, can design such structures, termed as
earthquake-resistant structures, with a little additional education.
Design of structures for earthquakes is different from that for any other natural
phenomenon, like wind and wave. An earthquake imposes displacement on the
structure, while winds and waves apply force on it. The displacement imposed at the
base of the structure during an earthquake causes inertia forces to be generated in it,
which are responsible for damage in the structure. As a consequence of this, the
mass of the structure being designed assumes importance; the more the mass, the
higher is the inertia force. After a whole gamut of earthquake experiences collected
during the 20th century from across the world, today the earthquake engineering
community believes that there are four virtues of an earthquake-resistant structure.
These are:
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

(a) Sufficient strength - capacity to resist earthquake forces

(b) Adequate stiffness - capacity to not deform too much
(c) Large ductility - capacity to stay stable even after a damaging earthquake
(d) Good configuration - features of building size, shape and structural system that
are not detrimental to favourable seismic behaviour.

TECHNICAL GUIDE

1.0 EARTHQUAKES

An earthquake is a phenomenon in which elastic waves caused by a fault in the

earth's crust travel through the ground to cause the earth's surface to vibrate.
Vibrations caused by the breakage in the crust may be divided into two types of
waves. One is compressional waves (P-waves or primary waves) that travel through
rock masses from the hypocenter and oscillate in the direction of propagation of the
wave energy. The other is transverse waves (S-waves or secondary waves) that
vibrate in a direction perpendicular to the direction of propagation of the wave
energy.
Because of this difference in the nature of waves, P-waves travel faster than S-waves.
However, it has been alleged that earthquake disasters are caused by S-waves, not P-
waves, since S-waves' amplitude is generally larger than that of P-waves.
Figure 1 shows an example of seismic waveforms. The initial waveforms with small
amplitudes for the first couple of minutes are P-waves. The remaining section after
the point at which the amplitude dramatically becomes larger shows S-waves.

2.0 PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION OF SEISMOMETERS

The modern seismometer is a measuring instrument to observe vibrations of the

Earth, that is, earthquakes, in a scientific way. A seismometer has an internal
pendulum weight, which serves as an imaginary steady point. The seismometer
measures relative displacement between the imaginary steady point and the ground
level. Besides relative displacement, absolute times at which earthquakes are
observed will be recorded too. The seismometer should be tough enough to survive
any big earthquakes in order to record their waveforms and store data.
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Figure 1. Waveform of 1995 Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake

Figure 2. P-and S-wave models

2.1 Classification by structure

A seismometer contains an earthquake sensor. There are two types of earthquake

sensors: seismic and non-seismic system types. The non-seismic system type is
usually found in sensors intended to detect only earthquakes exceeding a certain
level of intensity (control-type seismometers).
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

A seismic system sensor generally consists of a seismic mass that moves in a single
direction, a spring, and a damper. It is necessary to have a steady point as a reference
for correct measurement of vibration. Thus, seismometers use the seismic system so
that they can use its mass element, a seismic mass, as an imaginary steady point to
measure earthquake motions. Most seismometers have three seismic systems
corresponding to the three components of X, Y, and Z installed perpendicular to
each other.
These pendulums behave according to a certain rule that can be mathematically
analyzed. If detailed information about the characteristics of the seismic systems is
known in advance, the characteristic record can be used to identify the true
earthquake motion in the place where the seismometer is installed.

Figure 3 shows a seismometer model based on the seismic system. When a seismic
mass and a spring are used in combination, they will resonate with a natural
frequency. The frequency is called the "resonance frequency" of the system. The
damper serves as a suppressor of the resonance.

Figure 3.Seismic system model

2.2 Classification by characteristics

The distance over which a seismic mass swings is proportional to the displacement
amplitude of an earthquake motion if the frequency is more than the natural
frequency, or proportional to the acceleration amplitude if less than the natural
frequency. According to this rule, seismometers can be classified as follows:

Displacement seismometers
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Seismometers with low natural frequency.

Measure frequencies over their own characteristic frequency.

Acceleration seismometers
Seismometers with high natural frequency. Measure frequencies less than their own
characteristic frequency.

Velocity seismometers
Seismometers equipped with a seismic mass with great damping force. Cover a
narrow frequency range around their own natural frequency.

Characteristic curves of displacement, acceleration and velocity seismometers

 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

2.3 Classification of earthquake (vibration) sensors

The following shows a classification of seismometers by seismic mass structure and
signal conversion. Though an overwhelming number of vibration sensors are of
piezo-electric type, seismometers mainly use electrodynamic sensors consisting of a
coil and a magnet, or servo acceleration sensors.
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Inter-relationship of Architects & Structural Engineers

Structural Engineering and Architecture are so closely interlinked and inter-

dependent that a harmony between the two professions is essential for healthy
progress and development of both. Yet! In India, somehow, considerable acrimony
has developed between the practice of the two professions. It is therefore all the
more necessary to restore mutual recognition, understanding and cooperation for
the overall progress of the nation particularly in view of the potential danger of
earthquakes which may follow the Gujarat earthquake in 2001.
As you know, the responsibility of providing adequate strength to a building to
withstand earthquake forces falls essentially on the shoulders of the Structural
Engineer. However, the questions that arise in the mind of an architect are:

Why is it necessary for me to acquire knowledge about earthquake

engineering?
Why cant the Structural Engineer translate any odd concept of mine into
reality and make it earthquake resistant?
Why should the earthquake requirements impose so many restrictions on my
creativity?

In trying to answer these self assumed, but likely, questions, my presentations cover
the following:

Earthquakes are treacherous and unpredictable and therefore, the Earthquake

induced forces in buildings are complex in nature because when the ground
on which a building is standing shakes, the superstructure remains stationary
but the foundation oscillates. This causes building to vibrate thereby inducing
heavy stresses & strains;
The pattern of ground motion varies widely. Its magnitude and intensity
depend on varying soil properties starting from the focus of the earthquake
deep inside the earth to the epicenter on the crust, and then to the location of
the building;
The aim of earthquake engineering is to ensure that the necessary strength
and resilience is imparted to the building to withstand these stresses and
strains;
A building must have the capacity to withstand these complex forces in elastic
as well as inelastic range so as to retain its integrity;
To design a building to have this capacity requires fairly involved analysis
and design effort after taking into consideration the complex response of
structures and the problems of accurate modeling ;
If the building is simple, symmetrical, without any mass discontinuity and
follows the desirable norms of earthquake resistant buildings, the level of this
involved effort is reasonable and the additional cost of the structure is also
within reasonable limits;
If the building is irregular, complicated and flaunts all the desirable norms,
the level of this involved effort is very high, and the additional cost of the
structure is also very high;
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

For the design of a building in regions of high intensity earthquakes, whether

the building is regular or irregular, an architect must associate with a
structural engineer who is conversant with earthquake resistant design
principles;
The interaction between the architect and the structural engineer must start at
the concept stage;
The architect must try to incorporate requirements of the structural engineer
in his planning of the building and its aesthetics;
The engineer must give as much liberty as possible to the architect to give
expression to his creativity, without compromising structural integrity of the
building;
In order to achieve this, knowledge of earthquake engineering is as essential
for an Architect as for an Engineer;
Guidelines for Planning earthquake resistant buildings can be, broadly, that
the building

a) be simple,
b) be symmetrical,
c) be neither too elongated in plan nor too slender in elevation,
d) has continuous and uniform distribution of strength,
e) has horizontal members which form hinges before the vertical members,
f) has its stiffness related to sub-soil properties, and
g) re-entrant angles in plan are avoided.

Both Architect and Engineer must understand the philosophy of earthquake

resistant design of structures. This philosophy, adopted by various Codes, can
be summarized in the following words :
If a building is designed properly and constructed properly on the
basis of the Code, it should not suffer any damage under a mild
earthquake, should suffer minor damages to only non-structural
elements & finishes, etc, which can be easily repaired, under an
earthquake of medium to high intensity, and should suffer damage of
structural elements without collapse under very severe earthquake.

If it is required to design a building so that nothing happens to it under any

earthquake which can possibly occur in that region perhaps once in 100
years then the building will be prohibitively costly.

I do hope my architect friends in general, and the coming generation in particular,

will appreciate and derive some benefits from these presentations.
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Conceptual Design to Resist Earthquakes

1 Configuration

Buildings are designed by architects and engineers. In reality, in most cases,

buildings principally for human occupancy are designed conceptually by architects.
That is to say that architects are the ones principally responsible for the
configuration of buildings for human occupancy.

Configuration has to do with the shape and size of the building. Inevitably shape
and size to a large extent determines (or greatly influences) the type, shape,
arrangement, size, location and most other aspects of the structural concept. Also,
the architectural configuration determines the location and nature of non-structural
elements of the building.

The extended definition of configuration therefore encompasses:

architectural shape and size;

type, size and location of structural elements;

type, size and location of non-structural elements.

In the words of Geoffrey Wood:

Earthquake-resistant design is really a problem for architects.

The architect determines the conceptual design of the building and in so doing
largely determines the type and effectiveness of the earthquake-resisting systems
which can be used by the structural engineer. Because of this, it is of paramount
importance that the architect have a better-than-usual knowledge of the basic
principles of the conceptual design of earthquake resisting systems. Alternatively,
the architect should involve the structural engineer in the initial discussions and
development of the building concept.

The Tri-services Manual of the USA Army, Navy and Air Force states:
A great deal of a buildings inherent resistance to lateral forces is determined by its basic
plan layout. . . .
Engineers are learning that a building's shape, symmetry and its general layout developed
in the conceptual stage are more important, or make for greater differences, than the accurate
determination of the code-prescribed forces. . . .
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Structural engineer William Holmes, writing in 1976, states:

It has long been acknowledged that the configuration, and the simplicity and directness of
the seismic resistance system of a structure, is just as important, if not more important, than
the actual lateral design forces.
Henry Degenkolb (the late engineer well known to many Caribbean engineers) is
emphatic in stressing the importance of configuration, but also recognizes that
seismic design is but one of many influences on the shape of the building:

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 he can. Conversely, if we start off with a good
configuration and a reasonable framing scheme, even a poor engineer can't harm its ultimate
performance too much. This last statement is only slightly exaggerated. Much of the
problem would be solved if all structures were of regular shape, but economics of lot sizes and
arrangements, various planning requirements for efficient use of space, and aesthetically
pleasing proportions, require the structural engineer to provide for safe constructions of
various shapes.
The nature of the problem has been well stated by the Nicaraguan architect Jos
Francisco Tern, who studied the effects of the Managua (Nicaragua) earthquake of
1972:

The question arises as to whether the building should be designed to meet the functional,
social, and aesthetic needs and then be implemented for structural safety or if in seismic areas
like Managua, the special problems of stability and overall integrity should condition the
design process by which the elements of form such as mass, symmetry, modulation, etc, are
decided.
If we agree that such is the case, how can architects, engineers, owners, and the whole
community develop a common design attitude for a phenomenon that occurs critically at
considerable time intervals during which many of the design parameters actually change?
Besides, in contrast with the automobile, the ship, and the air plane that are designed
primarily to be in motion during their functioning periods, buildings are designed to be static
but may be subjected to short dangerous periods of violent motions.... The more simple,
continuous, symmetrical, straightforward, and repetitive the solutions, the greater will also
be the degree of reliability of the motionless structures in which we live and work when they
become attacked by seismic motions.
Those quotations above warrant discussion among the various disciplines involved
in the design and building processes. Terns solutions are for buildings to be
"simple, continuous, symmetrical, straightforward, and repetitive. This advice is
given not as an absolute, but as a qualitative factor that influences the reliability of
the structure. Tern asks for understanding and knowledge among the disciplines,
not the imposition of mandatory constraints.
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

The importance of configuration is well recognised in modern standards which

penalise unfavourable configurations through the application of higher factors to the
earthquake loads or through demands for more sophisticated analyses. The
definitions in standards documents of unfavourable configurations are somewhat
subjective.

2 Structural Systems

The main vertical resisting systems for earthquakes are:

shear walls;

braced frames;

moment resisting (or rigid) frames.

The main horizontal resisting system for earthquakes is the floor acting as a
diaphragm.

2.1 Diaphragms

The diaphragm transfers and distributes the horizontal forces of the earthquake to
the various vertical elements or systems in accordance with their relative stiffness
and dependent on their positions relative to the centre of rigidity of the building or
portion thereof. This latter determinant has to do with torsional effects.
Penetrations are commonplace in floor slabs. The designer must understand the
action of the diaphragm to appreciate the effects of such penetrations.

2.2 Shear Walls and Braced Frames

These systems act as vertical cantilevers. Their lateral load-carrying function is to

transfer the horizontal diaphragm loads to the foundations.

Braced frames act similarly to shear walls. The most common material for braced-
frame construction is steel in the form of rolled sections or tubes. Where diagonal
bracing is used, the braces in compression are sometimes ignored because of
buckling. Where the bracing is in one direction only (within the plane of the braced
frame) the diagonal member must be proportioned to prevent buckling when in
compression.
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

2.3 Moment Frames

Moment-resisting frames counteract the horizontal forces of earthquakes through the

bending strengths of the beams and columns connected rigidly at their junctions
with one another. Of course, this bending is accompanied by shear forces. From an
architectural standpoint, moment resisting frames have positive and negative
implications:

They allow greater flexibility than shear walls and braced frames in the
functional planning of the building positive.

They exhibit greater deflexions than shear walls and braced frames so that the
detailing of non-structural elements becomes more problematic - negative.

2.4 Non-structural Components

It is commonplace for engineers to ignore the structural effect of these elements.

In some cases the non-structural elements provide accidental strength to the
building. They may, however, interfere adversely with the structural behaviour of
the essential load-carrying structure. This could lead to unanticipated overstressing
of essential load-carrying members.

3 Basic Configuration Issues and Structural Response

The size of a building is a factor in earthquake-resistant design. It seems self-evident

that smaller buildings can tolerate greater liberties in configuration and detail.
Having said that, it is a fact that historically the majority of deaths in earthquakes
have been caused by small houses collapsing on their occupants. Thus, complacency
is not warranted when dealing with small-scale buildings.

The height of a building in an earthquake (which exhibits horizontal forces) is

analogous to the length of a cantilever. It is self evident that increasing height
increase the earthquake-resisting problem exponentially, all other things being
equal. Height affects the natural vibrating period of the building. The higher the
building the longer its period. Depending on the nature of the earthquake and the
nature of the founding soils, increasing the period may increase or reduce the
response of the building.

Earthquakes move as waves through the earths crust. If the building has great
horizontal dimensions, the differential arrival of the wave in different parts of the
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

building could pose problems. These could conveniently be alleviated by the

introduction of separation joints.

Limiting the height/width ratio to 3 or 4 keeps the overturning problem within

reasonable bounds. In particular, large overturning moments on narrow footprints
can lead to high compressive forces on outer columns. These can be very difficult to
deal with.

An important characteristic for earthquake-resistant buildings is symmetry. This

characteristic applies to horizontal plan shape as well as to vertical elevation shape.
There are many cases of false symmetry where the centre of mass of the building
does not coincide with the centre of resistance, although the outward appearance of
the building may be symmetrical.

Another favourable characteristic of earthquake-resistant structures is redundancy.

Redundant structures provide multiple load paths so that the premature failure of
one (or a few) elements would not lead to the catastrophic and sudden collapse of
the building.

The most favourable locations of vertical elements for resisting horizontal loads is at
the perimeter of the building. This is so because such locations provide the greatest
lever arm for resisting overturning moments.

The soft storey concept is very dangerous in earthquakes. A soft storey may be
conveniently defined as one where the stiffness is less than 70% of the storey above
it. This commonly occurs in multi-storey offices and hotels due to the desire for
higher ceilings and more open spaces on the ground floor. Several design strategies
are available for dealing with this situation.

A non-structural detailing method for in-fill block walls often produces short
columns. These columns absorb more than their anticipated share of the lateral
loads from earthquakes, leading to shear failure.

Separation joints are used for several reasons in buildings. When this is done the
joint between the adjacent parts of the building must be sufficiently wide to avoid
hammering during an earthquake.
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Another issue to be addressed with separation joints is the flexibility of mechanical

services as they cross the joint.

The commonly-accepted aim of good earthquake-resistant design is to bring about

failure (or yielding) of the beam before failure of the contiguous column takes
place. This characteristic is described as strong column weak beam. The common
hindrance to this desirable feature is the spandrel beam at the perimeter of a
building. This are often quite deep for architectural reasons and can be quite an
embarrassment for the structural design.

4 Materials

Desirable features of structural materials for earthquake resistance are:

high ductility;

high strength-to-weight ratio;

homogeneity;

ease in making full-strength connections.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Above information is derived and compiled by author from several sources like
NICEE, faculty members of IIT Kanpur, Ar. M. Raj and internet sources. It is my
moral duty to express sincere thanks to the efforts of all these in being instrumental
in this knowledge dissemination process to make INDIA earthquake free!

------------------------------------------------------------------
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Principles of Earthquake Resistant Design (Summary)

Provide Structure to resist earthquake loads acting in any direction

Reinforced concrete column and beam tie or stirrup anchorages should be

correctly detailed

Provide out of plane strength to masonry infill walls

Separation of partial height infill walls and provision of face load resistance

Ensure proper earthquake load paths in a simple building

Tie building elements together

Improving the configuration problem of variation in perimeter stiffness

Beam-column joints in moment resisting frames

Ensure proper link in the Chain of Ductility

Vertical system to resist earthquake loads: RC structural walls

Vertical system to resist earthquake loads: RC structural frames

Structural system to resist seismic loads: Tension-only bracing

Structural system to resist seismic loads: Tension & Compression bracing

Structural configurations or layouts to avoid the SOFT storey

Construction materials: Reinforced Concrete

Construction materials: Structural Steel

Ensure diaphragm action

Providing face load resistance of masonry walls in existing buildings

Configuring the strengthening of seismically vulnerable buildings

Provide proper foundation to resist earthquake loads

Good practices for aseismic foundation design

Earthquake: Facts Frequency of occurrence

Objectives of EQRD: Damage and intensity of shaking

 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Implications of design objectives: Elastic v/s inelastic response

Level of Eqk protection: damage, essential services, secondary disaster

Nature of Aseismic design problems: Civil Engg Structures Large and Unique (not
like cars or aircrafts) and Expensive

Nature of Aseismic design problems: Dynamic, Cyclic @ equilibrium, Elastic upto

yield, inelastic beyond yield

Nature of Aseismic design problems: Uncertainties in Input motion when, where,

fault, magnitude, nature, travel path, geology effects etc.

Civil Engg Profession: limited time and funds for design and development

Structural response depends on: Input motion and structural properties

Structural properties: Natural period & Stiffness, Damping, Soil-Foundation

interaction, Post yield behaviour

Implications of all these: Non-linear dynamic analysis desirable but it is complex, time
consuming, expensive

Simple Linear Static Analysis: Adequate with due consideration to inelastic behaviour

Loading: Force v/s Displacement controlled behaviour

Force controlled: Gravity Failure if Imposed force > Yield force

Displacement controlled: Earthquake No Failure even if Imposed displacement >

Yield Displ., provided DUCTILITY is imparted to structure

Earthquake force: Inertia force = Mass x Accn., & is generated at Mass, need to be
transferred safely to ground

Ground Vibrations: Random in magnitude and direction, Two horizontal and one
vertical component

Vertical vibrations: not a problem as they are added or subtracted to gravity loads, but
are important for Architectural features

Horizontal Vibrations: cause inertia force, and need strong and adequate Load transfer
path

Elastic v/s inelastic response

Force-deformation response: Ductility

 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Ductility v/s response: Linear elastic and Elasto-plastic

Ductility reduction factor: Short period(Stiff) v/s Long period(flexible) Structures

Over-strength: Contributed by partial safety factors, material properties, non structural

members, ductile detailing, redundancy

Response reduction factor: due to ductility and overstrength

R = Max. Elastic Force / Design force, may be 10-12

Design spectrum

Structural configuration: Simple, regular

Importance of configuration: poor configuration leads to only BAND-AID solutions;

good configuration leads to better performance

Irregular buildings

Soft storey

Week Storey

Short columns

Soils & Foundations: dealt separately

Capacity design concept: Ductile link chain

Hierarchy of failure: Slabs, Beams, Columns, Joints, Foundation, Soils

Shear failure v/s flexural failure

Strong column Weak Beam concept

Base isolation and Energy dissipation methods

To summarise:

1. In case of stron shaking, some damage is acceptable

2. Design seismic force is only a fraction of the max. expected elastic force

3. Horizontal acceleration is more serious concern as compared to vertical

acceleration

4. Structure should have adequate: lateral strength, lateral stiffness, ductility,

and structural confuguration
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

How a Human Being Can Die?

(An article by Dr. Abhay Gupta, for public awareness)

How a human being can die? There are several ways. Some die because of illness or
an ailment or in an accident and few commit suicide. In some cases we call a natural
death. But I have never seen a doctor issuing a natural death certificate! He will give
some reason. Similarly accidents are consequence of mistake of somebody, self or
other. Death due to malfunction of organs is also a corollary of our certain bad
habits. All these are accepted in the society but suicide is not legally permitted.
Why? Because there is a whole world of responsibility behind a human being and he
cant be permitted to shed off his responsibilities like this.

Then why people are permitted to die in their own houses due to Poor Construction,
Economy in Structural Frames (strength compromises), and Carelessness, together
with Ignorance. Laws of building construction are only prescriptive, and not
regulatory. Standards and Specifications are only guidelines and not binding. How
many constructors/house owners are aware of IS-456, 1893, 13920 etc.? These are
merely numbers for most of them. Why houses and structures are not IS marked like
other consumer products?

Obtaining a professional degree is as simple as purchasing vegetables due to

uncontrolled growth of engineering institutions and ineffective monitoring system.
Therefore, a national level unified certification system of Civil & Structural
Engineers as Professional Engineers, based on post-degree up-gradation of
knowledge of codal provisions and good construction practices, be implemented and
imposed through MHA/MHRD. Regular renewal of Professional Engineers license
must be done only after proper evaluation of the engineers.

Education curriculum should be modified to incorporate new and relevant subjects

like Concrete for Durability, Forensic Civil Engineering, Damage Assessment,
Earthquake Resistant Design & Construction (EQRDC), Structural Evaluation and
Strengthening, Professional Ethics etc. Education is one of the two main faces of this
coin. The other is the implementation. Unethical practices and corrupt or quack
engineers should be identified and exposed by professional societies like IE(I), ACCE
etc.
 Er.(Dr.) Abhay Gupta, Skeleton Consultants Pvt. Ltd. NOIDA

Seasoning & professional training of all the Civil Engineering Graduates should be
done in a training institute, before Final Degree is awarded to them, like for ICS at
Mussorie. Since we are more adaptive to visual publicity, awareness should be
created for consequences of poor and faulty constructions through advertisements
on Television, like other public awareness ads. Simple and General provisions of
building construction should be publicized for common man. Cost difference
between a rationally designed and constructed vis--vis an unmonitored & poorly
built structure be published for the benefit of people. It is not more than 15%. And
for that he sacrifices all his hard earned money and life too!

More attention should be paid to new constructions. Let us at least make them Good,
Sound and Long Lasting. For Strengthening and Rehabilitation of important/old
Monumental and Heritage buildings and structures, a national level project should
be launched.

Dear Architects & Engineers, dont construct for YOUR bread and butter but
construct for HIS life. No construction is small for the person building it, be it a
single storied and 3mx3m size, as that one house is the most important for him. You
may change your car after every 2-3 years but generally you will build only one
house in lifetime.

Think! Why then that poor man should die because of Civil Engineers or
Buildings?
Reader is requested to read and circulate this article to masses for public awareness by making more copies.

The Nation at the Cross-Roads...

And yes, you must know this too... earthquakes don't kill people; it is the structures
built by man that kill people. With frequent reminders of moderate earthquakes
staring into our eyes, India is at the crossroads of earthquake preparedness. It has
only two options to choose from - prepare now or pay later. For a country with
relatively fragile economy and with a very dense demographic distribution, the
second option will be a very costly proposition. Even if it means an uphill task, time
is ripe to take the challenge... with open arms.
JAI HIND!!!