Earthquake loads on buildings based on EBCS provisions

How Earthquakes Affect Buildings

In March 2011, a magnitude-9.0 quake rocked Japan, triggering a tsunami that killed an
estimated 29,000 people and damaged nuclear reactors.

Earthquakes don't kill people; buildings do. This is a gross over simplification, of course,
because tsunamis also take many lives, but not all earthquakes generate tsunamis. They do
however cause buildings, bridges and other structures to experience sudden lateral
accelerations.

Earthquake Ground Motion

The dynamic response of the building to earthquake ground motion is the most
important cause of earthquake-induced damage to buildings. Failure of the
ground and soil beneath buildings is also a major cause of damage. However,
contrary to popular belief, buildings are rarely, if ever, damaged because of
fault displacement beneath a building.

Fig 1
To briefly review the basics of earthquake generation:
 Most earthquakes result from rapid movement along the plane of faults
within the earth's crust. (see figure 1)
 This sudden movement of the fault releases a great deal of energy,
which then travels through the earth in the form of seismic waves.
 The seismic waves travel for great distances before finally losing most
of their energy. Figure 2 illustrates some of the basic features common
not only to seismic waves but to all forms of wave motion.
 At some time after their generation, these seismic waves will reach the
earth's surface, and set it in motion, which we not surprisingly refer to as
earthquake ground motion.

When this earthquake ground motion occurs beneath a building and when it is
strong enough, it sets the building in motion, starting with the building's
foundation, and transfers the motion throughout the rest of the building in a
very complex way. These motions in turn induce forces which can produce
damage.

See these forces in action and experiment with Make-a-Quake Simulator,

Discovery.com's interactive animation of a building under different earthquake
conditions.
Complexity of Earthquake Ground Motion
Real earthquake ground motion at a particular building site is vastly more
complicated than the simple wave form illustrated in Figure 2. Here it's useful
to compare the surface of the ground under an earthquake to the surface of a
small body of water, like a pond. You can set the surface of a pond in motion--
by throwing stones into it.

The first few stones create a series of circular waves, which soon begin to collide
with one another. After a while, the collisions, which we term interference
patterns, begin to predominate over the pattern of circular waves. Soon, the
entire surface of the water is covered by ripples, and you can no longer make
out the original wave forms. During an earthquake, the ground vibrates in a
similarly complex manner, as waves of different frequencies and amplitude
interact with one another.

The complexity of earthquake ground motion is due to three factors:

 The seismic waves generated at the time of earthquake fault movement
were not all of a uniform character.
 As these waves pass through the earth on their way from the fault to the
building site, they are modified by the soil and rock media through which
they pass.
 Once the seismic waves reach the building site they undergo further
modifications that are dependent upon the characteristics of the ground
and soil beneath the building. We refer to these three factors as source
effects, path effects, and local site effects.

Ground Motion and Building Frequencies.

The characteristics of earthquake ground motions which have the greatest
importance for buildings are the duration, amplitude (of displacement, velocity
and acceleration) and frequency of the ground motion. Frequency is defined as
the number of complete cycles of vibration made by the wave per second.
Here, we can consider a complete vibration to be the same as the distance
between one crest of the wave and the next, in other words one full wavelength.
(See Figure 2 above.) Frequency is often measured in units called Hertz. Thus,
if two full waves pass in one second, the frequency is 2 hertz (abbreviated as 2
Hz).

Surface ground motion at the building site is actually a complex superposition

of different vibration frequencies. We should also mention that at any given
site, some frequencies usually predominate. The distribution of frequencies in
a ground motion is referred to as its frequency content.

The response of the building to ground motion is as complex as the ground

motion itself, yet typically quite different. It also begins to vibrate in a complex
manner, and because it is now a vibratory system, it also possesses a frequency
content. However, the building's vibrations tend to center around one particular
frequency that is known as its natural or fundamental frequency. Generally, the
shorter a building is the higher its natural frequency, and the taller the building
is, the lower its natural frequency.
Building Frequency and Period
Another way to understand this is to think of the building's response in terms
of another important quantity, the building's natural period. The building period
is simply the inverse of the frequency: Whereas the frequency is the number of
times per second that the building will vibrate back and forth, the period is the
time it takes for the building to make one complete vibration. The relationship
between frequency f and period T is thus very simple math:

Building Heights & Natural Frequency

Building Height Typical Natural Period

2 story .2 seconds

5 story .5 seconds

10 story 1.0 second

 20 story 2.0 second

30 story 3.0 second

50 story 5.0 seconds

Resonant Frequencies
When the frequency contents of the ground motion are centered on the
building's natural frequency, we say that the building and the ground motion
are in resonance with one another. Resonance tends to increase or amplify the
building's response. Because of this, buildings suffer the greatest damage from
ground motion at a frequency close or equal to their own natural frequency.

The Mexico City earthquake of September 19, 1985 provides a striking

illustration of this. A majority of the many buildings which collapsed during this
earthquake were around 20 stories tall--i.e., they had a natural period of
around 2.0 seconds. These 20 story buildings were in resonance with the
frequency contents of the 1985 earthquake. Other buildings, of different heights
and with different vibration characteristics, were often found undamaged even
though they were located right next to the damaged 20 story buildings.
Response Spectra
As we've just seen, different buildings can respond in widely differing manners
to the same earthquake ground motion. Conversely, any given building will act
differently during different earthquakes, which gives rise to the need of concisely
representing the building's range of responses to ground motion of different
frequency contents. Such a representation is known as a response spectrum. A
response spectrum is a kind of graph which plots the maximum response values
of acceleration, velocity and displacement against period and frequency.
Response spectra are very important "tools" in earthquake engineering.

As the page How Buildings Respond to Earthquakes describes in more detail,

the amount of acceleration which a building undergoes during an earthquake is
a critical factor in determining how much damage it will suffer. The spectra in
figure 4 provides some indication of how accelerations are related to frequency
characteristics— which shows one way in which response spectra can be useful,
since identifying the resonant frequencies at which a building will undergo peak
accelerations is one very important step in designing the building to resist
earthquakes.
Earthquake effect on the structure
 Earthquake effect on the asphalt and bridge

Analysis of earthquake loads in buildings

Earthquake loads

Earthquake or seismic load on a building depends upon its geographical location,

lateral stiffness and mass, and is reversible. Its effect should be considered along
both axes of a building taken one at a time. A force is defined as the product of
mass and acceleration. During an earthquake, the mass is imparted by the
building whereas the acceleration is imparted by the ground disturbance. In order
to have a minimum force, the mass of the building should be as low as possible.
There can be no control on the ground acceleration being an act of the Nature!
The point of application of this internal force is the center of gravity of the mass
on each floor of the building. Once there is a force, there has to be an equal and
opposite reaction to balance this force. The internal force is resisted by the
building and the resisting force acts at the center of rigidity at each floor of the
building or shear center of the building at each story.

The return period of earthquake in a given region depends up on its seismicity.

Depending upon the probability of occurrence of an earthquake in a given region,
it is desirable to design the building for a specified force (as specified in the
design codes). As per EBCS 8, there are two methods of analysis to determine
earthquake forces acting over buildings:
(a) Static analysis (or Seismic coefficient method): This type of analysis can
be applied to buildings whose response is not significantly affected by
contributions from higher modes of vibration. These requirements are
deemed to be satisfied by buildings which meet the criteria for regularity
in plan and/or elevation as given in EBCS 8, and have fundamental period
of vibration T1 in the two main directions less than 2 sec.
(b) Dynamic analysis (or Response spectrum method): This method of
analysis can be conducted for all types of buildings.
(The static method is generally applicable to buildings up to 40 m in height)

Classification of subsoil conditions (Page 8, Art. 1.3.2 – EBCS 8)

The influence of local ground conditions on the seismic action shall be accounted
for by considering the three subsoil classes.
Subsoil class A: Rock or other geological formation characterized by a shear
wave velocity vs of at least 800m/s, including at most 5 m of weaker material at
the surface.
Stiff deposits of sand, gravel or over consolidated clay, at least several tens of
meters thick, characterized by a gradual increase of the mechanical properties
with depth and by vs values of at least 400 m/s at a depth of 10m.
Subsoil class B: Deep deposits of medium dense sand, gravel or medium stiff
clays with thickness from several tens to many hundreds of meter, characterized
by vs values of at least 200 m/s at a depth of 10m; increasing to at least 350 m/s
at a depth of 50 m.
Subsoil class C: Loose cohesion less soil deposits with or without some soft
cohesive layers, characterized by vs values below 200 m/s in the upper most 20
m.
Deposits with predominant soft-to-medium stiff cohesive soils, characterized by
vs values below 200 m/s in the upper most 20m.

Seismic Action
For structural design, the intensity of earthquake is usually described in terms of
the ground acceleration as a fraction of the acceleration due to gravity, i.e. 0.1g,
0.2g, 0.3g etc. The static analysis procedure provides for the calculation of
the total lateral force, defined as the design base shear which is then
distributed over height of the building.

Basic representation of seismic action (Page 9, Art. 1.4.2 – EBCS 8)

The earthquake motion at a given point of the surface is generally represented by

an elastic ground acceleration spectrum, called “elastic response spectrum”.
Normalized elastic response spectra are shown in annex A – Figure A.1 of EBCS
8.

Design spectrum (Page 10, Art.1.4.2.2 (4) to (7) – EBCS 8)

For linear analysis, the design spectrum Sd(T), normalized by the acceleration of
gravity g, is defined by,
Sd(T) = αβγ
Where α = the ratio of design bedrock acceleration to the acceleration
of gravity g and is given by α = α0I
Where α0 = the bedrock acceleration ratio for the site and depends on
the seismic zone.
Bedrock acceleration ratio α0
Zone 4 3 2 1
α0 0.10 0.07 0.05 0.03
I = Importance factor

Importance categories and importance factors for buildings (Table 2.4 Chapter 2 – EBCS 8)
Importance Importance
Buildings
category factor I
Buildings whose integrity during
earthquakes is of vital importance for
I 1.4
civil protection, e.g. hospitals, fire
stations, power plants etc.
 Buildings whose seismic resistance is
of importance in view of the
II consequences associated with a 1.2
collapse, e.g. schools, assembly halls,
cultural, institutions, etc.
Ordinary buildings, not belonging to
III 1.0
the other categories
Buildings of minor importance for
IV public safety, e.g. agricultural 0.8
buildings, etc

β = design response factor for the site = 1.2 S/T2/3 ≤ 2.5

Where S is the site coefficient for soil characteristics

Site coefficient S
Subsoil class A B C
S 1.0 1.2 1.5
T = Fundamental vibration period
γ = Behavior factor to account for energy dissipation capacity
γ = γ0 kD kR kW ≤ 0.70
γ0 = Basic value of the behavior factor
= 0.2 for frame system and dual system
= 0.3 for core system
= 0.5 for inverted pendulum system
kD = Factor reflecting the ductility class
= 1.00 for DC “H”
= 1.50 for DC “M”
= 2.00 for DC “L”
kR = Factor reflecting the regularity in elevation
= 1.00 for regular structures
= 1.25 for non-regular structures
kW = Factor reflecting the prevailing failure mode in structural systems
= 1.00 for frame and frame equivalent dual systems
= (2.5 – 0.5 α0) for wall and wall equivalent systems
≥ 1 for core systems
Here, α0 = aspect ratio of the walls = (Height of wall / Length of wall)

Base shear force (Page 21, Art.2.3.3.2.2 – EBCS 8)

Seismic base shear force Fb = Sd(T1)W
Where Sd(T1) = the design spectrum
T1 = Fundamental period of vibration in sec = C1 H3/4
H = Height of the building above the base in meter
C1 = 0.085 for steel moment resisting frames
= 0.075 for reinforced concrete moment resisting
frames and eccentrically braced steel frames
= 0.050 for all other buildings
W = Seismic dead load
= Total permanent load plus 25% of the floor variable (live) load for
storage and warehouse occupancies.
= Total permanent load only for other occupancies.

Vertical distribution of base shear along the height of the structure: (Storey shear) (Page 22,
Art.2.3.3.2.3 – EBCS 8)
Portion of the base shear distributed over the height of the structure

Fi = (Fb – Ft) Wi hi
Σ Wj hj

Ft = 0.07 T1 Fb
Example 1: A twenty storey RC framed building has plan dimensions 15 m X 30 m. Height
of the building is 70 m. Estimate its fundamental period of vibration.

The fundamental period of vibration T1 = C1 H3/4

C1 = 0.075; H = 70 m

T1 = C1 H3/4 = 0.075 (70) 3/4 = 1.82 sec.

Example 2: A four storeyed building has an elevation shown in figure and is located in Awassa.
Determine the lateral forces and storey shears on an inner frame due to earthquake using the
following data.

Bay width = 6 m center to center

Frame spacing = 5 m center to center

Height of ground floor = 4 m

Height of other floors = 3.5 m

Floor thickness including

Finishes = 15 cm

Outer columns = 25 cm x 30 cm – 2 numbers

Inner columns = 25 cm x 40 cm – 3 numbers

Girder below floor slab = 25 cm x 40 cm

Live load = 3 kN/m2

There is no wall in this frame. Consider that the second floor is utilized fully for storage purposes.
Solution:

Weight at ground floor

At any floor, half of the weight of walls and columns below it and half of that above it are lumped
at this level along with the weight of the floor and girder.

Density of concrete = 25 kN/m3

Weight of floor slab = 0.15 * 5.75*4.75* 5 * 25 = 408.69kN

Weight of Girder = ((0.25 * 0.4 * 24 * 2*25)+(0.25*0.4*5*5*25))= 182.2 kN

Weight of outer columns = 0.25 * 0.3 * {(4 + 3.5)/2}* 25 * 4= 28.2 kN

Weight of inner columns = 0.25 * 0.4 * {(4 + 3.5)/2}* 25 * 6= 56.25 kN

Total = 676.34 kN

Weight at first floor

Weight of floor slab = 0.15 * 5.75*4.75* 5 * 25 = 408.69kN

Weight of Girder = ((0.25 * 0.4 * 24 * 2*25)+(0.25*0.4*5*5*25))= 182.2 kN

Weight of outer columns = 0.25 * 0.3 * 3.5 * 25 * 4= 26.2 kN

Weight of inner columns = 0.25 * 0.4 * 3.5 * 25 * 6= 52.5 kN

Total = 670.89 kN

Weight at second floor

25 % of live load = 0.25 * 3 * 24 * 5 = 90 kN

Weight at second floor = 670.89 + 90 = 770.89 kN

Weight at roof

Weight of roof slab = 0 .15 * 5.75*4.75* 5 * 25 = 408.69kN

Weight of Girder = ((0.25 * 0.4 * 24 * 2*25)+(0.25*0.4*5*5*25))= 182.2 kN

Weight of outer columns = 0.25 * 0.3 * 3.5/2 * 25 * 4= 13.2kN

Weight of inner columns = 0.25 * 0.4 * 3.5/2 * 25 * 6= 26.25 kN

Total = 630.34 kN

Weight of the columns in the foundation

= (2 * 2 * 0.25 * 0.3 * 25) + (2 * 6 * 0.25 * 0.4 * 25) =45 kN

Total weight of the building per frame

W = 676.34 + 670.89 + 770.89 + 630.34 + 45= 2784.84 kN

Base shear: Fb = Sd(T1)W

Sd(T) = αβγ
α = α0I
α0 for zone 4 (Awassa) = 0.1
I from table2.4 = 1.0 (ordinary buildings)
α = 0.1 * 1.0 = 0.1
β = 1.2 S/T2/3

T1 = C1 H3/4

C1 = 0.075 for reinforced concrete moment resisting frames

H = 14.5 m

T1 = 0.075 (14.5) ¾ = 0.56 sec

Considering subsoil class B, Site coefficient S = 1.2

β = 1.2 (1.2)/(0.56)2/3 = 2.12 < 2.5 Hence OK

Take β = 2.12

γ = γ0 kD kR kW ≤ 0.70
γ0 for frame system = 0.2

kD = 1.5 (considering medium ductile)

kR = 1 (considering regular structure)

kW = 1 (for frame structure)

γ = 0.2 * 1.5 * 1 * 1 = 0.3

Sd(T) = αβγ = 0.1 * 2.12 * 0.3 = 0.0636

Base shear = 0.0636 * W = 0.0636 *2784.84 = 177.78 kN

Distribution of base shear to storey

Ft = 0.07 T1 Fb = 0.07 * 0.56 * 177.78 = 6.97 kN
Fi = (Fb – Ft) Wi hi
Σ Wj h j