By: EBLJ,RCE,RMP,ME1

 A code is a set of rules adopted by an organization empowered to

enforce the code.
 The Uniform Building Code (UBC) is dedicated to the development
of better building construction and greater safety to the public. The
UBC, the most widely adopted model building code in the US,
contains the most extensive seismic provisions fro structures of any
codes.
 Many of the seismic provisions of the UBC have been influenced by
the Recommended Lateral Force Requirements and commentary
published by the Seismology Committee of the Structural Engineers
Association of California, SEAOC.
 The UBC-97 edition incorporates both the SEAOC Seismology
Committee’s recommendations for seismic design and the NEHRP-
recommended seismic regulations for new buildings. The UBC has
been acknowledged as the prominent code publication for
earthquake design provisions over the last few decades.
 The new seismic provisions of the 1997 code exemplify a number of
notable lessons learned from earthquakes and recent advances in
other seismic resource documents, including the NEHRP. The new
provisions demonstrate a considerable migration from previously
elected approaches in seismic deisng.
 The Provisions are as follows:
 While little effort is expended in trying to design buildings
that will be totally elastic (i.e., experience no damage)
during an earthquake, it is implicit in seismic codes that
catastrophic collapse must be avoided.
 Based on the UBC-97, the purpose of the earthquake design
provisions is primarily to safeguard against major
structural failures and loss of life; these provisions are not
intended to limit damage or maintain function.
 The following three
design standards
constitute the implied
UBC seismic survivability
(or life-safety) design
criteria. It is notable,
however, that these
criteria are not actually
specified in the UBC.
 The UBC-97 provisions
will not prevent structural
and non-structural
damage from direct earth
faulting, slides, or soil
liquefaction.
 The code provides “reasonable” but not complete assurance of the
protection of life. Furthermore, the code does nothing to prevent
construction on land that is subject to earth slides or liquefaction.
 It is important to note that the UBC-97 seismic provisions are
intended as minimum requirements. The level of protection can be
increased by increasing the design lateral force, energy absorbing
capacity, redundancy, and construction quality assurance.
 It is important to note that seismic design is both a science and an art
that, unfortunately, must be verified in the field. Thus, the history of
seismic codes has been to require design features or methods and
then evaluate the effectiveness of those features in practice.
 Finally, the seismic code used is not the only factor affecting the
performance of a structure during an earthquake.
 The base shear, V, is the total design seismic force imposed by an
earthquake on the structure at its base.
 The base shear is the sum of all the inertial story shears.
 The UBC-97 calculates the base shear from the total structure weight
and then apportions the base shear to the stories in accordance with
dynamic theory.
 The design seismic forces can be determined based on the UBC-97
static lateral force procedure and/or the dynamic lateral force
procedure.
 The seismic zone factor, Z, accounts for the amount of
seismic risk present in a building’s seismic zone based on
the anticipated maximum ground acceleration at the site.
 For the United States, the UBC-97 provisions contain six
different seismic zones, with zone 0 representing the least
risk and zone 4 encompassing areas with a chance of
severe shaking.
 The values of the seismic zone factor are developed
considering historical records and geological data and
seismological information.
 UBC-97 Table 16-I gives the seismic zone factors for each of the
seismic zones.

 In NSCP 2015, Table 208-3 gives the seismic zone factors in

Philippine archipelago which consists of two seismic zones only. Zone
2 covers the provinces of Palawan (except Busuanga), Sulu and Tawi-
Tawi While the rest of the country is under Zone 4.
 The zone factor of 0.4 in zone 4 implies that the maximum
base (unadjusted) effective peak acceleration (EPA) is 0.4g
for the design earthquake.
 A geographical region experiencing an EPA > 0.3 would
classified as zone 4.
 These values are intended to represent the effective peak
ground accelerations that have only a 10% chance of being
exceeded in 50 years.
 For purposes of earthquake-resistant design, each structure
shall be placed in one of the occupancy categories listed in
UBC-97 Table 16-K. This consist of five occupancy
categories with their functions defined.
 Essential Facilities – are emergency facilities that
must remain operational after an earthquake. They
include hospitals with surgery and emergency
treatment facilities, fire and police stations,
emergency preparedness structures, and
government communication centers required for
emergency response.
 Hazardous Facilities – are used to store or support
dangerous toxic or explosive chemicals or
substances.
 Special Occupancy Structures – are designed to house
large numbers of people – for example, places of public
assembly (5000 or more people), schools (300 or more
students), colleges and adult education centers (500 or more
students), nursing homes, daycare centers, nurseries, and
jails.
 Standard Occupancy Structures – All other structures that
house occupancies or have functions not listed in special
occupancy structures. Examples are apartment buildings,
hotels, office buildings, and wholesale or retail structures.
 Miscellaneous Structures – are buildings or parts of
buildings classed as group U occupancies. They include
private garages, carports, sheds, factories, and agricultural
buildings.
 Table 16-K of the UBC-97 (NSCP 2015 Table 208-1) specifies
an importance factor, I, which increases seismic design forces
for critical facilities.
 Seismic importance factors, Iw (for wind design)
and Ip (for non-structural component design).
 For essential and hazardous facilities, the
prescribed design base shear is increase by 25%
compared to other facilities. Increasing design base
shear increases the seismic safety of a structure.
 Soft soil may amplify earthquake ground motion.
 Amplification of vibrations due to unfavorable soil conditions has
been strikingly illustrated in many earthquakes.
 To that effect, the UBC-97 specifies that each site be assigned a soil-
profile type found by a properly substantiated geotechnical
investigation. Subsequently, the UBC-97 provides the site
categorization procedure for the determining soil-profile types.
 In the UBC-97, the profiles are classified into six different soil types
ranging from A (hard rock) to E (Soft soil), and type F, assigned to
those sites that require specific evaluation.
 In the NSCP 2015, read the information given in section 208.4.3 Site
geology and soil characteristics.
 In addition to the seismic zone, site soil profile
classification, and the importance factor for establishing
site seismic hazard characteristics for each site, UBC-97
provisions require the proximity of each site to active
seismic sources (faults) to be known.
 These are three seismic source types that are recognized in
the recent UBC-97. They range fro the most active source
(Type A) to the least active source (Type C).
 Faults are classified by the maximum moment magnitude
potential (M) and slip rate (SR). See UBC-97 Table 16-U.
 In NSCP 2015, Table 208-4 defines the types of seismic sources. The
location and type of seismic sources to be used for design shall be
established based on approved geological data. The most recent
mapping of active faults by the PHIVOLCS.
 In seismic zone 4, each site shall be assigned near-source
factors in accordance with NSCP 2015 Tables 208-5 and
208-6 based on the seismic source type as set forth in
seismic source classification.
 For high-rise structures and essential facilities within 2.0
km of a major fault, a site specific seismic elastic design
response spectrum is recommended to be obtained for the
specific area.
 The UBC-97 has adopted two near-source factors, Na and
Nv, to minimize this impact in seismic zone 4. See UBC-97
Tables 16-S and 16-T.
 These seismic response coefficients account for the
increased severity of the ground motion at a specific site
and are influenced by the seismic zone, proximity of the
site to active seismic sources, and site soil profile
characteristics.
 Ca functions as an acceleration-controlled coefficient for
the short-period portion of the spectrum;
 Cv serves as a velocity-controlled coefficient for the long-
period portion of the spectrum.
 In NSCP 2015, Tables 208-7 and 208-8
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 A public library building with a 6000-person capacity is being
designed for the northern part of California. The building will be in
the vicinity of the San Andreas Fault. The surface projection of this
fault plane is as shown.
 1.What is the value of the
Importance factor?
2.What is the soil-profile type?
3.What are the values of
Near-source factors?
4.What are the values of
Seismic response coefficient?
(d) Because this site is located in
seismic zone 4, in addition to the soil-
profile type (SB), Ca and Cv can be
determine. From the tables to the
right, the seismic response
coefficients are:
Ca=0.40Na= (0.4)(1.08)=0.432
Cv=0.40Nv= (0.4)(1.36)=0.544