EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT

STRUCTURE DETAILING

ANUSHA. R
SNEHA AUTE

Types of construction
The

types of construction usually adopted in

buildings are as follows :
Framed construction , and
Box type construction.

Framed construction :
This type of construction is suitable for multistoried and
industrial buildings .
It consists of frames with flexible joints and bracing
members .
Such buildings shall be adequately strengthened
against lateral forces by shear walls and bracing
systems in plan, elevation and sections such that
earthquake forces shall be resisted by them in any
direction .

Moment resistant frames with shear walls

The frames may be of reinforced concrete or with
steel with semi rigid joints.
The walls maybe of reinforced concrete or brick
work.
The frame and wall combination shall be designed
to carry the total lateral force due to earthquake
acting on the building.
The shear walls shall be preferably distributed
evenly over the whole building.
The shear walls should extend from the foundation
either to top of the building or to a lesser height as
required.
In design, the interaction between frame and the
shear walls should be considered properly to
satisfy compatibility and equilibrium conditions.

Box type construction:

This

type of construction consists of

prefabricated or in situ masonry.
Concrete or reinforced concrete wall along both
the axes of the building.
The wall support vertical loads and also act as
shear walls for horizontal loads acting in any
direction.
All traditional masonry construction falls under
this category , attention shall be paid to the
connections between wall panels so that
transfer of shear between them is ensured.

Staircase

The interconnection of the stairs with adjacent floors

should be appropriately treated by providing sliding joints
at the stairs to eliminate their bracing effect on the floors.
Large stair halls shall preferably be separated from the
rest of building by means of separation from the rest of
building by means of separation of crumple sections.

Location of staircase
The staircase in structure may be vulnerable if
not detailed properly. When attached rigidly
to the floors, the flights of the staircases act
like braces and cause damage.
There are three types of stair construction:
Separated staircase.
Built-in staircase.
Staircase with sliding joints.

Separated staircase.

One end of the staircase rests on wall and

the other end is carried by column and
beams which have no connection with the
floors.
The opening at the vertical joints between
the floor ant the staircase may be covered
with some appropriate material which could
crumple or fracture during an earthquake
without causing structural damage.
The supporting members, columns walls, are
isolated from the surroundings floors by
means of separation or crumple section.

Built in staircase

When

the stairs are built monolithically with

floors, they can be protected against damage
by providing rigid walls at the stair opening.
An arrangement, in which the staircase is
enclosed by two walls, is shown in fig.
In such cases, the joints, as mentioned in
respect of separated staircases, will not be
necessary.
The two walls mentioned above, enclosing the
staircase, shall extend through the entire
height of the stairs and to the building
foundations.

Staircases with sliding joints

In

the case it is not possible to provide rigid

walls around stair openings for built in
staircases, the staircases shall have sliding joints
so that they will not act as diagonal bracing.

Earthquake resistance feature

Staircase

must be completely separated and

built on a separate reinforced concrete
structure. An adequate gap should be provided
between the staircases tower and the masonry
building.

FOUNDATIONS
*

If the expected settlement

or lateral movement for a
proposed structure is too large,
then different foundation support
or soil stabilization options must
be evaluated.
*
One alternative method
is soil improvement method.
Instead of soil improvement ,
the foundation can be
designed to resist the
anticipated soil movement
caused by the Earthquake.
For ex- Mat or Raft
foundations or posttensioned slabs may enable
the building to remain intact

* Another option is a Deep foundation system that

transfers the structural loads to adequate bearing material
in order to bypass a compressible or liquefiable soil layer.

* A third option is to
construct a floating
foundation, which is a
special type of Deep
foundation in which the
weight of the structure is
balanced by the removal
of soil and construction
of an underground
basement.
A floating foundation could help reduce the
amount of rocking settlement caused by the
Earthquake.

The typical factors that govern the selection of a particular type of foundation are:

Based on an analysis of the factors listed below,

Selection of
Foundation Type a specific type of foundation (i.e., Shallow v/s
Deep) would be recommended by the geo
technical engineer.

Adequate Depth The foundation must have an adequate depth

to prevent frost damage. For such foundations

as bridge piers, the depth of the foundation
must be sufficient to prevent undermining by
scour.

Bearing
Capacity Failure
Settlement

The foundation must be safe against the

bearing capacity failure. The foundation must
not settle to such an extent that it damages the
structure.

Quality

The foundation must be of adequate quality

that it is not subjected to deterioration, such as
from sulfate attack.

Adequate
Strength

The foundation must be designed with sufficient

strength that it does not fracture or break apart

Adverse Soil
Changes

Required
Specifications

Shallow

The foundation must be able to resist long

term adverse soil changes. An example is
expansive soil, which could expand or shrink,
causing movement of the foundation and
damage to the structure.
The foundation must be able to support the
structure during an Earthquake without
excessive settlement or lateral movement .
The foundation may also have to meet special
requirements or specifications required by the
local building department or governing
Foundation
agency.

A shallow foundation is a type of foundation

which transfers building loads to the earth very
near the surface, rather than to a subsurface
layer or a range of depths as does a deep
foundation. Shallow foundations include spread
footing foundations, mat-slab foundations, slabon-grade foundations, pad foundations, rubble
trench foundations and earth bag foundations.

Some of the common types of Shallow

Foundation
Spread
Footing Spread footings are often square in plan view, are
of uniform reinforced concrete thickness, and are
used to support a single load directly in the
center of the footing.

Strip Footing

Strip footings are also known as wall footings are

often used to support load-bearing walls. They
are usually long reinforced concrete members of
uniform width and shallow depth.

Combined
footing

Reinforced concrete combined footings are often

regular or trapezoidal in plan view and carry
more than one column load.

Other types of
footing

Cantilever/Strap footing, Octagonal footing and

Eccentric loaded footing with the resultant
coincident with area so that the soil pressure is
uniform.

Mat
Foundation

If a mat foundation is constructed at or near ground

surface, then it is considered to be a shallow
foundation. Based on economic considerations, mat
foundations are often constructed for following
reasons:
1. Large Individual Footings: A mat foundation is
often constructed when the sum of individual
footing areas exceeds about one-half of total
foundation area.
2. Cavities or Compressible lenses: A mat
foundation can be used when the sub surface
exploration indicates that there will be unequal
settlement caused by small cavities or weak
lenses and create a more uniform settlement
condition.
3. Shallow Settlements: A mat foundation can be
recommended when shallow settlements
predominate and the mat foundation would
minimize differential settlements.
4. Unequal Distribution of Loads: For some
structures , there can be a large difference in
building loads acting on different areas of the
foundation. A mat foundation would tend to

Deep Foundation:
A deep foundation is a
type of foundation which
transfers building loads to
the earth farther down
from the surface than a
shallow foundation does,
to a subsurface layer or a
range of depths.
A pile is a vertical
structural element of a
deep foundation, driven
deep into the ground at
the building site.

Pile Foundation

Foundations relying on driven piles often have

groups of piles connected by a pile cap (a large
concrete block into which the heads of the piles
are embedded) to distribute loads which are
larger than one pile can bear. Pile caps and
isolated piles are typically connected with grade
beams to tie the foundation elements together;
lighter structural elements bear on the grade
beams, while heavier elements bear directly on
the pile cap

Concrete-filled
steel pipe piles

In this case, the steel pipe pile is driven into

place. The pipe pile can be driven with either an
open or a closed end.

Piers

A pier is defined as a deep foundation system,

similar to a cast-in-place pile that consists of a
column like reinforced concrete member. Piers
are often of large diameter and also commonly
referred to as drilled shafts, bored piles or drilled
caissons.

Caissons

Large piers are sometimes referred to as a

caissons. A caisson can also be a watertight
underground structure within which work is

ROOFS AND FLOORS

Flat

roof or floor shall not preferably be made

of terrace of ordinary bricks supported on steel,
timber or reinforced concrete joists, nor they
shall be of a type which in the event of an
earthquake is likely to be loosened and parts of
all of which may fall. If this type of construction
cannot be avoided, the joists should be blocked
at ends and bridged at intervals such that their
spacing is not altered during an earthquake.
For pitched roofs, corrugated iron or asbestos
sheets shall be used in preference to country,
Allahabad or Mangalore tiles or other loose
roofing units. All roofing materials shall be
properly tied to the supporting members. Heavy
roofing materials shall generally be avoided.

Pent roof:

All roof trusses shall be

supported on reinforced concrete or reinforced
brick band . The holding down bolts shall have
adequate length as required for earthquake forces
in accordance with IS 1893 : 1984. Where a
trussed roof adjoins a masonry gable, the ends of
the purlins shall be carried on and secured to a
plate or bearer which shall be adequately bolted
to reinforced concrete or reinforced brick band at
the top of gable end masonry
At tie level all the trusses and the gable end shall
be provided with diagonal braces in plan so as to
transmit the lateral shear due to earthquake force
to the gable walls acting as shear walls at the
ends.

Jack Arches

Jack arched roofs or floors,