International Journal of Innovations in Engineering Sciences and Technology: Civil , vol. 1, issue.1, pp.

1-5
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ISSN: xxxx-xxxx

Article

DUCTILITY REQUIREMENTS OF EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT

REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDINGS
Ninad P.Pawar*1, Prof. R.S. Rajguru *2, Prof.P.R.Mehetre*3
Department of C.S.E, SND College Of Engineering &RC,Yeola
Department of C.S.E, SND College Of Engineering &RC,Yeola
3*
Department of C.S.E, M.E Student, SND College Of Engineering &RC,Yeola

1*
2*

Email: enggrajguru@rediffmail.com, Praveen.mehetre@gmail.com, ninadpawar369@gmail.com

Abstract
Earthquakes are unpredictable and unpreventable major natural disasters. The earthquake not only
causes a loss of life and property but also shake the moral of the people.. During an earthquake, ground
motion occurs in a random fashion both horizontally and vertically in all the direction radiating from
the epicenter. The ground motion causes the structures to vibrate and induce internal forces on them.
Hence, structure in such an earthquake prone zones (As per IS 1893-2002 Part-I) need to be suitably
designed and detailed for ductility to ensure stability, strength and serviceability with acceptable level
of safety under seismic effects. The ductility of a structure is infact one of the most important factors
affecting its seismic performance. If ductile members areused to form a structure, the structure can
undergo large deformations before failure. This is beneficial to the users of thestructures, as in case of
overloading, if the structure is to collapse, it will undergo large deformations before failure and thus
provides warning to the occupants. This gives a notice to the occupants and provides sufficient time for
taking preventivemeasures. This will reduce loss of life. Hence in this technical paper more emphasis is
given on the essential provisions of the ductility requirements of Reinforced Concrete Buildings as per
IS 13920: 1993.

Keywords:
Curvetureductility, Ductility, Earthuake Resistant building, Seismic zone.

1. Introduction
Earthquakes are tremors, which are produced by the passage of the vibratory waves through
the source of disturbance inside the earth. On 26th Jan 2001 earthquake at Bhuj (Gujarat state) of
magnitude M 6.9 on the Richters scale had killed thousands of people in one instant without any prior
warning. After analysis it is found that the main reason for sudden collapse of buildings due to nonductile behaviors during an earthquake. Most of constructions in the country do not comply with our

Received 31 March 2015; revised 11 April 2015; accepted 13 April 2015

*Corresponding author. Tel.:+91-9665913166;
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N. Pawar et al.
seismic codes. As a result, the earthquake risk to our built environment has been increasing
exponentially. In the reinforced concrete
buildings, the reinforcement plays the part of arteries in the body of the building. The performance of
the structure depends on placement of reinforcement particularly at joints and at severe stress areas.
For satisfactory performance in an earthquake, a structure must have strength as well as ductility. In
severe earthquakes some of the resisting elements may be loaded beyond their capacities. If such
elements are brittle, they will fail without adequate warning throwing their share of the load on the
remaining elements, which may result in collapse of the structure. But if they are ductile they can
continue to participate in resisting the earthquake forces nearly up to their ultimate strength before
yielding. As a properly detailed reinforced concrete structure responds to strong ground motion, its
effective stiffness decreases and its capacity to dissipate energy increases; thus it is necessary to
provide strength as well as ductility for all structural members.
1.1. Seizmic Zones Of India:
India is one of the earthquake prone countries in the world. As per revised IS: 1893-(Part1)2002, India is divided into four seismic zones as shown in map) Namely Zone II, III, IV and V. The
magnitude of earthquake increases with the increase in zone number. Zone I is merged into Zone II.

1.2. Structural Failure Due To Non Ductile Nature And Their Causes:
Cases of failure of structures in bhuj earthquake in gujrat state (26-01-2001)

Figure 1. Failure Of structures

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4-block, 10 storey building

Heavy weight at top

Swimming Pool at the top

100 t additional weight on terrace

1 to 1.5 m. projections at top floor

Open parking floor at ground

Columns aligned along N-S

direction

Tremor was in E-W direction

N. Pawar et al.

APARTMENT, AHMEDABAD PHOTO

Poor confinement of reinforcement at

ends

Column of week as compared to beam

Failure of column due to incorrect detailing

of lateral ties

Failure of columns due to formation

of plastic hinges at the ends of columns

1.3. Ductility In Brief: -

Figure 2: Failure Of Column

Ductile detailing is the key to enhance the structural stability for earthquake resistance. Structure's
response is dependent on ductility. It means it should be able to resist these induced
vibrations/oscillations without any damage or appreciable cracking and should not lead to collapse. It is
achieved through confinement, encircling the concrete by reinforcements and providing a sort of
jacketing around concrete core either through links or stirrups.
1.3.1. Ductility In Brief: Ductility can be defined as the capacity of a structure or its members to undergo large inelastic
deformations beyond the initial yield deformation without loosing much of its load carrying capacity or
without rupture before failure. Ductility in concrete is defined by the appropriate percentage of steel
reinforcement present in it. Mild steel is an example of ductile material that can be bent and twisted
without rupture. A ductile material is one that can undergo large strain while resisting loads. In case of
reinforced concrete building, the term ductility implies the ability to sustain significant inelastic
deformation prior to collapse.
A convenient measure of ductility is a ratio of the curvature at the ultimate strength of the section ( u)
to that of the curvature at the first yield of tension steel in the section (y)
u
Curvature Ductility, =

---y

For RCC structure curvature ductility ratio of at least 5 is considered to be

adequate. By

enhancing the ductility in the structure, the induced seismic forces can be reduced considerably and a
more stable structure is obtained or alternatively the probability of the collapse of the structure is
reduced.

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N. Pawar et al.

1.3.2 PARAMETERS AFFECTING THE DUCTILITY

1.3.2.1.Ductility decreases with,
1. Increase in characteristics strength of steel. This suggests that mild steel is more desirable.
2. Increase in the tension steel beyond the steel required for balance section.
3. Increase in axial load.
1.3.2.2 Ductility increases with,
1. Decrease in the percentage of tension steel.
2. Ductility increases with increase in the percentage of compression steel
3. Ductility increases with decrease in the tensile strength of steel.
4. Ductility increases with increase in compressive strength of concrete.
5. Ductility increases with the increase in the compressive flange area in the flanged beams.
6. Ductility increases with increase in the transverse (shear) reinforcement.
1.3.2.3.Design For Ductility:
A satisfactory performance of structure can be achieved in an earthquake by planning the
structure layout. To ensure sufficient ductility, the designer should pay attention to appropriate
ductile detailing of reinforcement, bar cut off, spacing and proper detailing of joints.
Following simple design details such can ensure sufficient amount of ductility.
1. Simplicity of symmetry of structure with respect to mass and rigidity.
2. Offsets of columns from floor-to-floor should be avoided.
3. In framed building, it is necessary that horizontal members should yield before vertical
members. It should be designed in such manner that elasticity is confined to beams only and the
columns should remain elastic.
4. The amount of tensile reinforcement should be limited to a certain maximum value.
5. Compressive reinforcement should be enclosed by stirrups to prevent it from buckling.
6. Shear reinforcement should be adequate to ensure that the strength in shear exceeds the
strength in flexure and thus preventing a non-ductile shear failure before the reversible flexural
strength of a member has been developed.
7. Closed stirrups or spirals should be used to confine the concrete at a section of maximum
moment to increase the ductility of members.
8. Splices and bar anchorages must be adequate to prevent bond failures.
9. The reversal of stresses in beams and columns due to reversal of direction of earthquake force
must be taken intoaccount in the design by adequate reinforcement.
10. Beam-Column connections shall preferably be made monolithic.

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N. Pawar et al.
2. Conclusion
In earthquakes, failure of buildings occurs due to non-ductile behavior of its components, so following
members should be designed with appropriate ductile detailing.
1. Ductile detailing for flexural members / beams.
2. Anchorage of beam bars in an external joint.
3. Special confining reinforcement in column.
4. Beam to column connections
The earthquake resistant design of Reinforced Concrete Building and its ductile detailing as per IS
13920: 1993 of all the structural elements and their connections enhance the ductility of the structure
which will enable the structure to absorb energy during earthquake and to sustain large inelastic
deformation without sudden collapse of the structure. Therefore, higher the ductility of the structure;
lesser effect of seismic force.
References
[1] IS 13920:1993 - Indian Standard Ductile Detailing of Reinforced Concrete
Structures subjected to seismic forces - Code of Practice
[2] The Indian Concrete Journal VOL-77, NOV2003, No-11 (Special Issue Earthquake Engineering)
[3] Earthquake Reconnaissance Report (Bhuj, India; 26-01-2001) : National Information Centre of
Earthquake Engineering (NICEE) IIT, Kanpur.
[4] Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures For Earthquake Resistance -By D.S. Joshi, R. L. Nene, M. D.
Mulay, S. Salegaonkar, N. D. Joshi, Published By Indian Society of Structural Engineers, Dadar West,
Mumbai
[5] Imaging the Indian Subcontinent beneath the Himalaya -Schulte-Pelkum, V., A. Sheehan, F. Wu, R.
Bilham, , Nature,435, 1222-1225, 30 June 2005.
[6] AIJ, 1995a] Preliminary Reconnaissance Report of the 1995 Hyogoken-Nanbu Earthquake, English
Edition, Architectural Institute of Japan, Tokyo, 1995.
[7] Dewey, J.W., Intensities and isoseismics, Earthquakes and Volcanoes, Vol. 25, No. 2, 85-93, 1994)
[8] Learning from Earthquakes: Preliminary Observations on the Origin and Effects of the January 26,
2001 Bhuj (Gujarat, India) Earthquake, EERI Special Earthquake Report April 2001, EERI
Newsletter, Vol. 35, no. 4,Earthquake Engineering Research Institute, Oakland, Ca, April 2001

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About the Authors

Pawar Ninad P.
ME Student
Department of Civil Engineering,
SND College of Engineering & Research Centre, Yeola.

Rajguru R S.
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering,
SND College of Engineering & Research Centre, Yeola.

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