Design of Buildings for

Earthquake resistance
SEISMIC DESIGN STRATEGIES AND DEVICES
Important Properties of Seismic
Safe Building
• Strength- property of a material to resist and bear applied
forces within a safe limit
• Stiffness- degree of resistance to deflection or drift.
• Ductility- property of material to bend, flex or move.
• Building configuration: defines a building’s size and shape, and
structural and non-structural elements.
Strategies for seismic safe
buildings
• Diaphragms: Floors and roofs can be used as rigid
horizontal planes, or diaphragms, to transfer lateral
forces to vertical resisting elements such as walls or
frames.
• Shear Walls: Strategically located stiffened walls are
shear walls and are capable of transferring lateral
forces from floors and roofs to the foundation.
• Braced Frames: Vertical frames that transfer lateral
loads from floors and roofs to foundations. Like shear
walls, Braced Frames are designed to take lateral
loads but are used where shear walls are impractical.
• Moment-Resistant Frames: Column/beam joints in
moment-resistant frames are designed to take both
shear and bending thereby eliminating the space
limitations of solid shear walls or braced frames. The
column/beam joints are carefully designed to be stiff
yet to allow some deformation for energy dissipation
taking advantage of the ductility of steel.
• Base Isolation: This seismic
design strategy involves
separating the building
from the foundation and
acts to absorb shock. As
the ground moves, the
building moves at a slower
pace because the isolators
dissipate a large part of
the shock. The building
must be designed to act as
a unit, or "rigid box", of
appropriate height (to
avoid overturning) and
have flexible utility
connections to
accommodate movement
at its base.
An example of a base isolator
Tuned Mass Damper(TMD)
• A tuned mass damper (TMD), also known as a harmonic
absorber or seismic damper, is a device mounted in structures
to reduce the amplitude of mechanical vibrations. Their
application can prevent discomfort, damage, or outright
structural failure. They are frequently used in power
transmission, automobiles, and buildings.
• Energy-
Dissipating
Devices: Making
the building
structure more
resistive will
increase shaking
which may
damage the
contents or the
function of the
building.
Energy-
Dissipating
Devices are
used to
minimize
shaking.
Horizontal Design seismic
coefficient
• The horizontal seismic coefficient Ah takes into account the
location of the structure by means of a zone factor Z,
• the importance of the structure by means of a factor I
• and the ductility by means of a factor R
• . It also considers the flexibility of the structure foundation
system by means of an acceleration ratio Sa/g , which is a
function of the natural time period T. This last ratio is given in
the form of a graph known as the response spectrum. The
horizontal seismic coefficient Ah is given by
Horizontal design seismic coefficient
Base Shear
Base Shear
Base shear is an estimate of the maximum expected lateral force that will
occur due to seismic ground motion at the base of a structure.
Calculations of base shear (V) depend on:

• soil conditions at the site

• proximity to potential sources of seismic activity (such as geological

faults)

• probability of significant seismic ground motion

• the level of ductility and overstrength associated with various structural

configurations and the total weight of the structure

• the fundamental (natural) period of vibration of the structure when

subjected to dynamic loading