REGULAR AND IRREGULAR

BUILDING CONFIGURATION

By:
Jivani Dipak
General building characteristics:

• Building size
• Building proportion
• Building symmetry
• Plan density
• Symmetry
• Corners
• Perimeter resistance
• Redundancy
THE OPTIMUM SESMIC CONFIGURATION:-

• Low height-to base ratio

• Equal floor heights
• Symmetrical plan shape
• Identical resistance on both axes
• Uniform section and elevations
• Maximum torsional resistance
• Short spans
• Direct load paths,no cantilevers
• Redundancy

Deviations in above point results in “ irregularities “.

Types of irregularity
 Torsion Irregularity
• Definition
This occurs when the plan location of the center of
gravity of the building does not align with the centre of
resistance of the bracing structure .
As per IS –1893(part 1)-2002,when floor diaphragms
are rigid in their own plan in relation to the vertical
structural elements that resist the lateral forces.
Torsional irregularity to be considered to exist when the
maximum storey drift, computed with design eccentricity,
at one end of the structures transverse to an axis is more
than 1.2 times the average of the storey drifts at the two
ends of the structure.
 Failure Example.

EI Faro apartments,
Vina del Mar,
Chile,
• 1985
Unbalanced location of perimeter walls, particulary on third, forth and fifth
floors, leading to severe to torsional forces and near collapse.
 Reentrant Corners
• Definition :
The reentrant or inside corner is the common
characteristic of overall building configurations that, in
plan, assume the shape of an L,T,H,+ or combination of
these shapes.

• Seismic Effects:
- Produce variations of rigidity.
- Torsion.
• Solution:
- To separate the building structurally in to
simple shapes
- To tie the building together strongly at lines of
stress concentration
- locate resistance element to reduce torsion
Stress concentration L shape building
 Failure Example

Damage concentrated at the intersection of two wings of an L-shaped

school, Anchorage, Alaska ,1964
 Diaphragm Discontinuity

• Definition :
Irregularity due to wide variation in strength and stiffeness in building
element that provide seismic resistance.

• Causes.
- Large openings for skylights
- enclosed atrium spaces
- changes in levels
- existence of a zig-zag building edge
 Nonparallel systems
• Definition :
The vertical load resisting elements are not parallel or symmetric
about the major orthogonal axes of the lateral force resisting system.

• Effect:
– High probability of torsion effect.
– Narrower portions of the building will tend to be more flexible than
the wider ones
Failure Example

Distortion in wedge-
shaped building,
Mexico City, 1985
• Solution:
– In general, opaque walls should be designed as
frames clad in lightweight materials, to reduce the
stiffness discrepancy between these walls and the
rest of the structure.
 Out of plane offsets.
• Definition :
Discontinuities in a lateral force resistance
path,such as out-of-plane offsets of vertical element.
 Soft story
• Stiffness Irregularity-soft story:
A soft story is one in which the lateral stiffness is
less than 70 percent of that in the story above or less
than 80 percent of the average lateral stiffness of the
three stories above.

• Stiffness Irregularity-Extreme soft story:

A extreme soft storey is one in which the lateral
stiffness is less than 60 percent of that in the story above
or less than 70 percent of the average stiffness of the
three story above.
Types of soft story
 Mass Irregularity
• Definition :
As per IS-1893(part 1)-2002, mass irregularity shall
be considered to exist where the seismic weight of any
story is more than 200 percent of that of its adjacent
story. Irregularity need not be considered in case of
roofs.
• Common conditions.
– Heavy roof construction
– Heavy equipment on the roof of a light weight framed
building.
 Vertical Geometric Irregularity

• Definition :
As per IS-1893(part 1)-2002, Vertical geometric
irregularity shall be considered to exist where the
horizontal dimension of the lateral force resisting system
in any storey is more than 150 percent of that in its
adjacent story.

• A common example of this is the vertical setback of

upper levels
Vertical setback
 In-Plane Discontinuity

• A in plane offset of the lateral force

resisting elements greater than the length
of those element.
 Discontinuity in Capacity-Weak story

• Definition :
As per IS-1893(part 1)-2002, a weak story is one in
which the story lateral strength is less than 80 percent of
that in the story above. The story lateral strength is the
total strength of all seismic force resisting elements
sharing the storey shear in the considered direction.