AN INTRODUCTION TO STRUCTURAL CONCEPTS

IN SEISMIC UPGRADE DESIGN : FEMA ATC approach

A:  How Buildings Resist Earthquakes

Earthquake forces can act in all directions. Unlike gravity loads that are transferred in
a downward direction, earthquake loads start at the supporting soil and are transmitted
to the building. The horizontal and vertical earthquake forces travel in different load
paths and may result
in tension, shear compression, bending or torsion forces. Buildings experience
horizontal distortion when subjected to earthquake motion. When these distortions get
large, the damage can be catastrophic. Therefore, most buildings are designed with
lateral-force-resisting systems (or seismic systems), to resist the effects of earthquake
forces. In many cases seismic systems make a building stiffer against horizontal
forces, and thus minimize the amount of relative lateral movement and consequently
the damage. Seismic systems are usually designed to resist only forces that result from
horizontal ground motion, as distinct from vertical ground motion.

The combined action of seismic systems along the width and length of a building can
typically resist earthquake motion from any direction. Seismic systems differ from
building to building because the type of system is controlled to some extent by the
basic layout and structural elements of the building. Basically, seismic systems consist
of axial-, shear- and bending-resistant elements.

In wood-frame, stud-wall buildings, plywood siding is typically used to prevent

excessive lateral deflection in the plane of the wall. Without the extra strength
provided by the plywood, walls would distort excessively or “rack,” resulting in
broken windows and stuck doors. In older wood frame houses, this resistance to
lateral loads is provided by either wood or steel diagonal bracing.

The earthquake-resisting systems in modern steel buildings take many forms. In

moment-resisting steel frames, the connections between the beams and the columns
are designed to resist the rotation of the column relative to the beam. Thus, the beam
and the column work together and resist lateral movement and lateral displacement by
bending. Steel frames sometimes include diagonal bracing configurations, such as
single diagonal braces, cross-bracing and “K-bracing.” In braced frames, horizontal
loads are resisted through tension and compression forces in the braces with resulting
changed forces in the beams and columns. Steel buildings are sometimes constructed
with moment-resistant frames in one direction and braced frames in the other.

In concrete structures, shear walls are sometimes used to provide lateral resistance in
the plane of the wall, in addition to moment-resisting frames. Ideally, these shear
walls are continuous reinforced-concrete walls extending from the foundation to the
roof of the building. They can be exterior walls or interior walls. They are
interconnected with the rest of the concrete frame, and thus resist the horizontal
motion of one floor relative to another. Shear walls can also be constructed of
reinforced masonry, using bricks or concrete blocks.

How a building performs in an earthquake depends upon a few key building

characteristics described below:

B: Structural Building Elements

The structural elements of a building that comprise the 'skeleton' supporting the rest of
the building, includes the foundation, load-bearing walls, beams, columns, floor
system and roof system, as well as the connections between these elements. To carry
its own weight ("dead load"), live loads, and wind and earthquake forces the building
elements and connections are subjected to tension, compression, shear, bending,
and torsion. Buildings are primarily designed to resist vertical forces from gravity.
The roof and floor systems carry these vertical forces to the supporting beams. The
beams carry the forces to the columns and bearing walls, which then carry the forces
down to the foundation and the supporting soil. This process of carrying forces from
the roof down to the soil is known as a load path. The failure of any building element
or connection along the load path can lead to building damage or collapse.

C: Building Materials and Systems Performance Characteristics

 Ductility. Under normal conditions, a building experiences elastic

deformations, deforming as force is applied and returning to its original shape
when removed. However, extreme earthquake forces may generate inelastic
deformations in which the element does not return to its original shape after the
force is removed. Ductility is the property of certain elements that have
inelastic deformation before failing. Building elements constructed with ductile
materials have a "reserve capacity" to resist earthquake overloads. Therefore,
buildings constructed of ductile elements, such as steel and adequately
reinforced concrete, tend to withstand earthquakes much better than those
constructed of brittle materials such as unreinforced masonry.
 Strength and Stiffness. Strength is the property of an element to resist force.
Stiffness is the property of an element to resist displacement. When two
elements of different stiffnesses are forced to deflect the same amount, the
stiffer element will carry more of the total force because it takes more force to
deflect it. When stiff concrete and masonry elements are combined with more
 flexible steel or wood elements, the concrete and masonry take more of the
total force.
 Bracing/Seismic Resistant Components. Four basic components provide
seismic resistance against lateral forces (Figure 3):

 Braced frames consist of beams, columns, and stiff diagonal braces that

perform like shear walls, but use less material.
 Moment resistant frames (generally of steel or reinforced concrete)
consist of beams connected to one or more columns to carry multi-
dimensional earthquake forces.
 Horizontal Diaphragms are floor and roof deck systems that carry
forces across the building to shear walls, braced frames, and/or columns.
 Shear walls are large structural walls placed in a building to carry forces
from the roof and floor systems to the supporting foundation, and into
the soils.
 Cross walls are interior walls and partitions that are not necessarily
continuous to the foundations, but which are attached securely to two
floor diaphragms (the top side of a floor diaphragm to the underside of
the floor above) and that are stiff and strong enough to resist the
independent movement of the two connected diaphragms.

 Connections. Strong building connections allow forces and displacements to

be transferred between vertical and horizontal building elements. In addition,
strong connections increase the overall structural building strength and stiffness
by allowing all of the building elements to act together as a unit. Inadequate
connections represent a weak link in the load path of the building and are a
common cause of earthquake building damage and collapse.
 Damping. When a tuning fork strikes a surface, it vibrates back and forth at a
certain rate - this rate is known as its fundamental period. All objects, including
buildings, have their own unique fundamental period of vibration. Ground
shaking from an earthquake will cause vibrations in a building. If the ground
shaking matches the fundamental period of the building, the building will
resonate with the earthquake, causing the building vibrations to greatly
increase.  This can lead to extensive building damage. "Damping" diminishes
this resonance by pulling the energy out of the system as heat - in the way that
a shock absorber in a car dampens a car's vibrations from bumps in the road. 
Damping is imparted to a building by the cracking and inelastic movement of
its structural elements, and it can also be deliberately added by installing shock
 absorber-like devices into the building's structure.  In the first case, "controlled"
damage at the onset of shaking can reduce the likelihood of catastrophic
damage as the shaking intensifies, and in the second case, the damping devices
work like vehicle shock absorbers to reduce the response of the structure to a
level below that at which post-elastic behavior (and thus damage) will occur.
 Weight Distribution. Buildings that are wide at their base and have most of
their weight distributed to their lowest floors generally fare better in
earthquakes than tall, top- heavy buildings which act like an inverted
pendulum. Inverted pendulum buildings usually experience greater
displacements than those shorter and heavier near the base.
 Building Configuration. Square or rectangular buildings with floor plans with
symmetrically place lateral force resisting elements tend to perform better in
earthquakes than buildings composed of irregular shapes or 'those with large
foyers or lobbies that create a soft story condition. Buildings with irregular
shapes cannot distribute lateral forces evenly, resulting in torsional response
that can increase damage at key points in the building.
 Foundation / Soil Characteristics. The underlying geology of the site can also
have a significant effect on the amplitude of the ground motion there. Soft,
loose soils tend to amplify the ground motion and in many cases a resonance
effect can make it last longer. In such circumstances, building damage can be
accentuated. In the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, damage was greater in
the areas where buildings were constructed on loose, natural and manmade fill
and less at the tops of the rocky hills. Even more dramatic was the 1985
Mexico City earthquake. This earthquake occurred 250 miles from the city, but
very soft soils beneath the city amplified the ground shaking enough to cause
weak mid-rise buildings to collapse (see Figure F-5). Resonance (see below) of
the building frequency with the amplified ground shaking frequency played a
significant role. 

Sites with rock close to or at the surface will be less likely to amplify motion, and
with such sites, generally, the farther from the source of an earthquake, the less severe
the motion. The type of motion felt also changes with distance from the earthquake.
Close to the source the motion tends to be violent rapid shaking, whereas farther away
the motion is normally more of a swaying nature. Buildings will respond differently to
the rapid shaking than to the swaying motion..  Buildings can be severely damaged
when the soils that support the building foundations shift, sink, slide, or liquefy.
Optimally, structures should not be located in areas with poor site conditions.  

 Resonance.  Resonance was a major problem in the 1985 Mexico City

earthquake, in which the total collapse of many mid-rise buildings (Figure F-5)
 caused many fatalities. Tall buildings at large distances from the earthquake
source have a small, but finite, probability of being subjected to ground
motions containing frequencies that can cause resonance. Where taller, more
flexible, buildings are susceptible to distant earthquakes (swaying motion)
shorter and stiffer buildings are more susceptible to nearby earthquakes (rapid
shaking).

 Redundancy.  It is very beneficial for a rehabilitated lateral-force-resisting

system to have an appropriate level of redundancy, so that any localized failure
of a few elements of the system will not result in local collapse or instability.
This should be considered when developing rehabilitation designs.