Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete

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A REPORT SUMMARY




Presented to
Prof. Ariston Trinidad




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In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for CE162
Design of Concrete Structures II






GRACE T. SUPERALES


AUGUST 2014


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 Earthquake 1
1.3 Earthquake Engineering 2
Chapter 2
2.1 Seismic Design 4
2.2 Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures 5
2.3 Structural Response 6
2.4 ACI Provisions for Earthquake- Resistant Structures 7
2.5 ACI Provisions for Special Moment Frames 7
2.6 ACI Provisions for Special Structural Walls,
Coupling Beams, Diaphragms, and Trusses 7


CHAPTER 1

1.1 Introduction
Earthquakes, also called temblors, can be so tremendously destructive, its hard to
imagine they occur by the thousands every day around the world, usually in the form of small
tremors. Earthquakes are among the most deadly natural hazards. There are around 100
earthquakes each year of a size that could cause serious damage.
Collapsing buildings claim by far the majority of lives, but the destruction is often
compounded by mud slides, fires, floods, or tsunamis. Smaller temblors that usually occur in the
days following a large earthquake can complicate rescue efforts and cause further death and
destruction.
Loss of life can be avoided through emergency planning, education, and the construction
of buildings that sway rather than break under the stress of an earthquake.

1.2 Earthquake
Some 80 percent of all the planet's earthquakes occur along the rim of the Pacific Ocean,
called the "Ring of Fire" because of the preponderance of volcanic activity there as well. Most
earthquakes occur at fault zones, where tectonic platesgiant rock slabs that make up the Earth's
upper layercollide or slide against each other. These impacts are usually gradual and
unnoticeable on the surface; however, immense stress can build up between plates. When this
stress is released quickly, it sends massive vibrations, called seismic waves, often hundreds of


miles through the rock and up to the surface. Other quakes can occur far from faults zones when
plates are stretched or squeezed. Scientists assign a magnitude rating to earthquakes based on the
strength and duration of their seismic waves. A quake measuring 3 to 5 is considered minor or
light; 5 to 7 is moderate to strong; 7 to 8 is major; and 8 or more is great.

1.3 Earthquake Engineering
Earthquake engineering is the scientific field concerned with protecting society, the
natural and the man-made environment from earthquakes by limiting the seismic risk to socio-
economically acceptable levels. Traditionally, it has been narrowly defined as the study of the
behavior of structures and geo-structures subject to seismic loading, this considered as a subset
of both structural and geotechnical engineering. However, the tremendous costs experienced in
recent earthquakes have led to an expansion of its scope to encompass disciplines from the wider
field of civil engineering and from the social sciences, especially sociology, political science,
economics and finance.
The main objectives of earthquake engineering are:
Foresee the potential consequences of strong earthquakes on urban areas and civil
infrastructure.
Design, construct and maintain structures to perform at earthquake exposure up to the
expectations and in compliance with building codes.

Earthquake or seismic performance defines a structure's ability to sustain its main
functions, such as its safety and serviceability, at and after a particular earthquake exposure. A


structure is normally considered safe if it does not endanger the lives and well-being of those in
or around it by partially or completely collapsing. A structure may be considered serviceable if it
is able to fulfill its operational functions for which it was designed.
Basic concepts of the earthquake engineering, implemented in the major building codes,
assume that a building should survive a rare, very severe earthquake by sustaining significant
damage but without globally collapsing. On the other hand, it should remain operational for more
frequent, but less severe seismic events.
Engineers need to know the quantified level of the actual or anticipated seismic
performance associated with the direct damage to an individual building subject to a specified
ground shaking. Such an assessment may be performed either experimentally or analytically.
Seismic performance assessment or seismic structural analysis is a powerful tool of earthquake
engineering which utilizes detailed modelling of the structure together with methods of structural
analysis to gain a better understanding of seismic performance of building and non-building
structures. The technique as a formal concept is a relatively recent development.


CHAPTER 2
2.1 Seismic Design
Seismic design is based on authorized engineering procedures, principles and criteria
meant to design or retrofit structures subject to earthquake exposure. Those criteria are only
consistent with the contemporary state of the knowledge about earthquake engineering
structures. Therefore, a building design which exactly follows seismic code regulations does not
guarantee safety against collapse or serious damage. The price of poor seismic design may be
enormous. Nevertheless, seismic design has always been a trial and error process whether it was
based on physical laws or on empirical knowledge of the structural performance of different
shapes and materials.
To build up complex structural systems, seismic design largely uses the same relatively
small number of basic structural elements as any non-seismic design project. Normally,
according to building codes, structures are designed to "withstand" the largest earthquake of a
certain probability that is likely to occur at their location. This means the loss of life should be
minimized by preventing collapse of the buildings.
Seismic design is carried out by understanding the possible failure modes of a structure
and providing the structure with appropriate strength, stiffness, ductility, and configuration to
ensure those modes cannot occur.
Seismic design requirements depend on the type of the structure, locality of the project
and its authorities which stipulate applicable seismic design codes and criteria. In addition to the
designed structure itself, seismic design requirements may include a ground stabilization
underneath the structure: sometimes, heavily shaken ground breaks up which leads to collapse of


the structure sitting upon it. The following topics should be of primary concerns: liquefaction;
dynamic lateral earth pressures on retaining walls; seismic slope stability; earthquake-induced
settlement.

2.2 Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures
As experienced by structures, earthquakes consists of random horizontal and vertical
movements of the earths surface. As the ground moves, inertia tends to keep structures in place,
resulting in the imposition of displacements and forces that can have catastrophic results. The
purpose of seismic design is to proportion structures so that they can withstand the displacements
and the forces induced by the ground motion. Experience has shown that the horizontal
components are the most destructive. For structural design, the intensity of an earthquake is
usually described in terms of peak ground acceleration as a fraction of the acceleration of
gravity. Although peak acceleration is an important design parameter, the frequency
characteristics and duration of an earthquake are also important; the closer the frequency of the
earthquake motion is to the natural frequency of a structure and the longer the duration of the
earthquake, the greater the potential damage.
Designers of structures that may be subjected to earthquakes, therefore, are faced with a
choice:
1) Providing adequate stiffness and strength to limit the response of structures to the elastic
range or


2) Providing lower-strength structures, with presumably lower initial costs, that have the
ability to withstand large inelastic deformation while maintaining their load-carrying
capability.

2.3 Structural Response
Design for earthquakes differs from design for gravity and wind loads in the relatively
greater sensitivity of earthquake-induced forces to the geometry of the structure. Without careful
design, forces and displacements can be concentrated in portions of a structure that are not
capable of providing adequate strength or ductility. Steps to strengthen a member for one type of
loading may actually increase the forces in the member and change the mode of failure from
ductile to brittle.
a) Structural Considerations
The closer the frequency of the ground motion is to one of the natural frequencies
of a structure, the greater the likelihood of the structure experiencing resonance, resulting
in an increase in both displacement and damage. Therefore, earthquake response depends
strongly on the geometric properties of a structure, especially height.
b) Member Considerations
Members designed for seismic loading must perform in a ductile fashion and
dissipate energy in a manner that does not compromise the strength of the structure. Both
the overall design and the structural details must be considered to meet this goal.



2.4 ACI Provisions for Earthquake-Resistant Structures
Criteria for seismic design are contained in Earthquake-Resistant Structures, Chapter 21
of the ACI Code (Ref. 20.9).
The principal goal of the provisions is to ensure adequate toughness under inelastic
displacement reversals brought on by earthquake loading. The provisions apply to frames, walls,
coupling beams, diaphragms, and trusses in structures assigned to Seismic Design Categories D,
E, and F, and to frames, including two-way slab systems, and precast walls in structures assigned
to Seismic Design Category C.

2.5 ACI Provisions for Special Moment Frames
ACI Code Chapter 21 addresses four member types in frame structures, termed special
moment frames, subject to high seismic risk; flexural members, members subjected to bending
and axial load, joints, and members not proportional to resist earthquake forces.

2.6 ACI Provisions for Special Structural Walls, Coupling Beams, Diaphragms, and
Trusses
ACI Code Chapter 21 includes requirements for stiff structural systems and members that
carry earthquake forces or distribute earthquake forces between portions of structures that carry
earthquake forces. Structural walls, coupling beams, diaphragms, trusses, struts, ties, chords, and
collector elements are in this category. The general requirements for these members are
presented in this section.




References:

Earthquake engineering. (2014, August 13). Retrieved August 17, 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake_engineering
Earthquakes. Retrieved August 17, 2014, from
http://www.bgs.ac.uk/discoveringGeology/hazards/earthquakes/home.html
Earthquake Facts, Earthquake Information, Earthquake Videos, Earthquake Photos -
National Geographic. Retrieved August 17, 2014, from
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/natural-disasters/earthquake-
profile/
Nilson, A., Darwin, D., & Dolan, C. (2010). Seismic Design. In Design of Concrete
Structures (Vol. 14th Ed.). McGraw-Hill.