TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

TITLE
TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE
BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET,
BAHAN TOWNSHIP, YANGON,
MYANMAR
Prepare for:
Mdecins Sans Frontires (MSF), Myanmar

TWO STOREY RCC BUILDING SEISMIC

ASSESSMENT REPORT

NOVEMBER 29, 2016

Myanmar Earthquake Committee

Page | 0

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

This document is prepared by

MYANAMR EARTHQUAKE COMMITTEE
MYANMAR
ENGINEERING
SOCIETY
BUILDING,
HLAING
UNIVERSITIES CAMPUS, HLAING TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

REPORT TITLE

SEISMIC ASSESSMENT OF TWO STOREY RCC BUILDING

PROJECT NO

MEC160701

CLIENT

MSF

REVISION NO

DATE

November 29, 2016

Prepared By:

Approved By:

Saw Pyae Aung

Assistant Engineer
Myanmar Earthquake Committee

Saw Htwe Zaw

Secretary
Myanmar Earthquake Committee

Page | 1

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Contents
Summary........................................................................................................................ 3
Introduction................................................................................................................... 4
Performance Objective .............................................................................................. 5
Seismicity of The Area.................................................................................................. 6
Foundation .................................................................................................................... 7
Material Property.......................................................................................................... 8
Load Path ...................................................................................................................... 8
Redundancy Check .................................................................................................... 8
Column Axial Stress Check ......................................................................................... 8
Connection Check .................................................................................................... 10
Seismic Hazard Assessment ...................................................................................... 10
Recommendations .................................................................................................... 11

Page | 2

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Summary
This report presents the findings of the seismic assessment of two storey
reinforced concrete building at No. 38C, Pyihtaungsu Street, Bahan Township,
Yangon, Myanmar.
The purpose of the assessment was to investigate the seismic performance of
the building. The assessment has done in July 2016.
The building has been assessed based on received structural documents and
facts gathered from the site inspection. It was not a benchmark building and
has not designed with seismic resistant design. Therefore, the inherent seismic
resisting capacity of the structural components of the building were checked
and presented in the report.
The report does address mainly to seismic safety structural issue only and does
not address other such as security, fire safety and assess for disabled.

Page | 3

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Introduction
Myanmar Earthquake Committee has been engaged by Mdecins Sans
Frontires-Myanmar to provide a seismic assessment of two storey building
situated at 38C, Pyihtaungsu Street, Bahan Township, Yangon.
Following set of structural drawings were received from MSF.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Foundation Plan
Floor Beam Plan
Roof Beam Plan
Section
Foundation Column and
Beam Detail
6. Doors and Windows Detail
7. Stair and Retaining Wall
Detail Schedule of
Reinforcement
Following works have been
carried out at the site.
1. None Destructive Test
2. Visual Inspection
3. Hazard Review
It is two story reinforced
concrete building used for
residential purpose. According
to structural drawings received,
it was built around 2002.
The building type is C1 Concrete
Moment Frame. It is ordinary
moment resisting frame with
brick masonry infilled and has
not designed for seismic
resistant. Although the building
has not designed for seismic, it
has some extent of capacity to resist seismic force with respect of the
strength of the building and seismic demand of the location.

Page | 4

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Performance Objective
The assessment is done
according to Tier 1 and Tier 2
analysis of ASCE 41-13 Seismic
Evaluation and Retrofitting of
Existing Buildings
Performance objectives can be
defined according to the
Seismic Hazard Level as follow.
-

Immediate
Occupancy
(IO)
Level
for
Minor
Frequent Seismic event.
Life Safety (LS) Level for
Moderate Rare Seismic
event
(BSE-1E,
20%
exceedance
over
50
years)
Collapse Prevention (CP) Level for Severe Very Rare Seismic event (BSE2E, 5% exceedance over 50 years)

As a residential house, the function of the building can be defined residential

and shall be performed for life safety performance target. Therefore, the
present evaluation process will target on Life Safety structural performance
for BSE-1E moderate seismic event. The structural performance and damages
of the unreinforced masonry building can be expected as follow.
-

Primary and Secondary

structural elements: Major
cracking. Noticeable inplane offsets of masonry
and minor out-of-plane
offsets
Drift:
Transient
drift
sufficient
to
cause
nonstructural
damage.
Noticeable
permanent
drift.

LS
CP
IO

Page | 5

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Seismicity of The Area

The capacity of the building has
been assessed by the following
methods in accordance with
ASCE 41-13 Seismic Evaluation
and Retrofit of Existing Buildings".
The building was built around
2002 when seismic resistance
design provisions was just started
to introduced in Myanmar.
However, it was not compulsory
for all buildings except it was
above 8 story high. Moreover,
according to the received
structural drawings, it is quite
sure that the building was not
designed for seismic resistant
requirements.
Therefore, it was not a
benchmark building and
structural review according to
the Structural and Non-structural
Checklists is required.
In Myanmar, with establishment
of the Committee for Quality
Control of High-rise Building
Projects (CQHP), seismic
resistance design has started to adopt in 2002 for nine story and above
endorsing UBC97 as based code with additional adjustments on parameter
for localization and applying local seismic zoning map.
According to Zoning Map, Yangon is regarded as Zone 2B, moderate seismic
zone. Acceleration for Zone 2B is 0.2g and with 25% reduction assumption for
existing building, the design acceleration becomesSoil Type = SD
Acceleration for Seismic Zone 2B is
0.2g. In order to reduce to BSE-1E level
demand for existing building, the
values are further reduced 25%.
Ss = 0.2g x 0.75 = 0.15g
Page | 6

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

SDS = 2/3 Fa Ss
Fa = 1.6 for Soil Type Sc
SDS = 2/3 x 1.6 x 0.15 = 0.16, <0.33g, Low Seismicity

Foundation
According to geological map of Yangon, the supporting ground of the
building is quite strong. The supporting underground formation is Arzanigon
sandrock which is part of Irrawady formation of Pliocene age.
Therefore, even the foundation
of the building is isolated pad
footing, since the bearing of the
soil is quite strong, the
performance seems to be good.
As a withness, there is no
foundation failure or settlement
seen during the on-site
investigation.
A rough check on its foundation
performance is checked as
follow.
Foundation under review = F1
According to the structural drawing,
footing size of F1 = 5x5
Estimated load tributary area = 8x16
Estimated total load on floor = 250 psf
Total load on foundation with 25% for
roof and 25% for ground floor = 250 x
(1+0.25+0.25) x 8 x 16 = 48 kip
Estimated pressure on foundation = 48
/5/5 = 1.92 ksf or 0.86 ton/sft
The estimated pressure is significantly less than the bearing capacity of lateric
soil of such area. Therefore, foundation is good enough for such area.
There is no foundation problem and the bearing capacity checking is also
complied with the assumed strength of the underlying ground.

Page | 7

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Material Property
According to ASCE, default compressive strength of
structural concrete is 3 ksi. Based on on-site NDT
measurements, the strength of the members can be
seen as follow.
Columns = 3.6 ksi with minimum strength as low as 1.6
ksi
Beams = 6.3 ksi with minimum strength at 4.9 ksi.

Columns
Aveage 25.2 Mpa 3.6 ksi
Maximum 44.0 Mpa 6.4 ksi
Minimum 11.0 Mpa 1.6 ksi
Beams
Aveage 43.7 Mpa 6.3 ksi
Maximum 54.0 Mpa 7.8 ksi
Minimum 34.0 Mpa 4.9 ksi

Therefore, beams strength are much stronger than

columns. Moreover, the size of the columns are only 9x9 which is minimal
possible size for reinforced concrete column. Therefore, it does not comply
with strong column weak beam requirement. The weak column points were
spotted in ground floor at 3 places. The NDT rebound test for in-situ concrete
compressive strength are presented in the appendix A.

Load Path
The building has a simple vertical load path as a two story building although
there were shifting of brick walls on first floor. The roofing is made of metal
sheet which is light weight and good for seismic resistant.

Redundancy Check
The number of lines of moment frames in X
direction is 4 and Y direction is 3 which are
greater than 2. Therefore, the building is
complied with redundancy requirement.

Column Axial Stress Check

According to Tier 1 requirement, the axial
stress caused by unfactored gravity loads in
columns subjected to overturning forces
because of seismic demands is less than 0.2
fc. Alternatively, the axial stress caused by
overturning forces alone shall be less than
0.3 fc.
Estimated total load on floor = 250 psf

Page | 8

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Estimated column load at the Ground Floor Level with 25% for roof = 250 x (1+0.25) x 8 x 16 =
40 kip
Estimated stress of typical ground floor column = 40/9/9 = 0.49 ksi
The capacity = 0.49/1.6 = 0.31 for minimum strength 1.6 ksi
The capacity = 0.49/3.6 = 0.14 for average strength 3.6 ksi
Therefore, the average strength columns are enough for the requirement of
0.2 fc. However, the lowest strength columns shall be reviewed further and
strengthen if necessary.
V = C Sa W
For RC 2 story building, C shall be taken as 1.2
Sa = SDS = 0.16
Therefore, Sa = SDS = 0.16

Space
b d
garage
12 16
portico
14 12
main
40 48
deduct 1 -18 6
deduct 2
-6 8
total area

area
192
168
1920
-108
-48
2124

Total building plinth area = 2124 sft

Total Weight of first floor = 0.250 ksf
Total Weight of roof level = 0.0625 ksf
Total Weight of ground floor = 0.0625 ksf
Total Weight at plinth = 0.375 ksf
Total Weight = 0.375 x 2124 = 796.5 kip
V = 1.2 x 0.16 x 796.5 = 152.9 kip
Based on the structural drawings, there is 28 columns at the
ground floor level. Therefore, Story drift for moment frames
can be calculated as follow.
Shear Stress Vc = 152.9 / 28 = 5.4 kip
Dr = (kb + kc)/kb/kc x h/12/E x Vc
Dr = (364.5 + 45.6)/364.5/45.5 x 12/12/2280 x 5.4 = 0.07%

Item
b
d
I
L
K
f'c
E

Beam Column
9
9
18
9
4374
547
12
12
364.5
45.6
1.6 ksi
2280 kip/in3

The calculated drift is much less than the provision. Therefore, drift is complied
with the requirement.
Shear stress of columns can also be calculated as follow.
Shear Stress Vc = 152.9 / 28 = 5.4 kip

Page | 9

unit
sft
sft
sft
sft
sft
sft

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

No of frame at the direction of loading nf = 3

for Y direction
Ac = 28 x 9 x 9 = 2268 in2
vj = 1/M x nc/(nc-nf) x Vj/Ac where M is 2 for
life safety performance.
vj = 1/2 x 28/(28-3) x 152.9/2268 = 37.75 psi
vj allow = 2 x sqrt (1600) = 80 psi
Therefore, shear stress check is also

Connection Check
According to the drawing received, all
concrete columns are doweled into
the foundation with a minimum of four
bars. Therefore, the building meets the
requirement for connection and anchorage.

Seismic Hazard Assessment

Additional to seismic performance check
of the building, the seismic hazard
assessment is also carried out as per FEMA154 Rapid Visual Screening of Buildings for
Potential Seismic Hazards.
As the basic building type is C1, the basic
core is 4.4. With plan irregularity and soil
type SD, the additional modification factors
are -0.8 and -1.4. Therefore, the final score
becomes 4.4-0.8-1.4 = 2.2.
There is a falling hazard due to two steel
water tanks above the roof. The
anchorages of those two steel water tanks
are not strong enough. Therefore, there are
risk of falling and the risk is high as there is a bed room under those water
tanks.
In addition to falling hazards, there are electric shock risk as the wire
connection of the water pump at the base of those two steel water tanks are
not covered properly. Since the wire is exposed to weather, proper cover is
recommended.
Page | 10

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Recommendations
In general, although the building
has not designed for seismic
resistance, the risk of seismicity is
less as the mass of the building is
less, the seismicity of the
location is low and the soil
condition of the site is good.
Therefore, it can be concluded
that the building is seismically
not a critical building. In order to
be a seismically safe space,
following few ratifications are
recommended.
1. The columns of the ground floor which shows weak NDT results shall be
strengthened. The deficient columns are C7, C17 and C21. The applied
actual loads will be smaller than the typical stress value. Therefore, the
actual load shall be verified for each column and check for its
capacity individually.
2. The two steel water tanks above the roof has to be anchored securely
to the supporting slab.
3. Wiring works and electrical connections of the water pump beneath
the two steel water tanks have to be replaced with safer system.

Page | 11

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

MYANMAR EARTHQUAKE COMMITTEE

SEISMIC ASSESSMENT OF 2 STORYED RCC BUILDING, PYIHTAUNGSU STREET
Test
Compressive Strength (Rebound Hammer Test)
Level
Ground Floor
Member Type
Column
Date
04-01-16
Rebound Reading
Corrected Reading
Compressive
Sr.
Name
Average
Average Strength Remark
No
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
(MPa)
1 C1
28 26 30 27 26
33
30
30
25 Direction
2 C2
32 24 36 38 36
33
32
36
36 35
33
3 C3
34 30 34 24 32
31
30
32 31
27
4 C4
35 29 32 29 20
29
29
29
29
23
5 C5
22 24 28 28 31
27
24 28 28
27
20
6 C6
34 36 34 34 28
33
34 36 34 34
35
33
7 C7
16 20 21 28 26
22
20 21
21
11
8 C8
36 38 36 36 30
35
36 38 36 36
37
37
9 C9
26 26 26 28 22
26
26 26 26 28
27
20
10 C10 16 14 18 16 16
16
16
16 16 16
11 C11 26 22 20 24 26
24
22
24
23
14
12 C12 28 30 30 14 32
27
28
28
22
13 C13 28 26 22 22 20
24
22 22
22
13
14 C14 22 22 28 30 24
25
24 24
15
15 C15 34 34 22 34 32
31
34 34
34 32 34
32
17 C17 19 16 22 22 26
21
19
22 22
21
11
18 C18 28 24 32 32 30
29
28
32 32 30 31
27
19 C19 21 22 24 23 24
23
21 22 24 23 24 23
14
20 C20 22 25 28 26 24
25
25
26 24 25
17
21 C21 20 19 18 22 22
20
20 19
22 22 21
11
23 C23 28 28 20 28 24
26
28 28
28 24 27
20
24 C24 32 24 24 26 24
26
24 24 26 24 25
17
25 C25 16 24 16 14 28
20
`26 C26 21 21 24 24 22
22
21 21 24 24 22 22
13
27 C27 29 26 30 36 30
30
29
30
30 30
25
28 C28 38 38 42 40 28
37
38 38
40
39
41

Page | 12

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

MYANMAR EARTHQUAKE COMMITTEE

SEISMIC ASSESSMENT OF 2 STORYED RCC BUILDING, PYIHTAUNGSU STREET
Test
Compressive Strength (Rebound Hammer Test)
Level
First Floor
Member Type
Column
Date
04-01-16
Rebound Reading
Corrected Reading
Compressive
Sr.
Name
Average
Average Strength Remark
No
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
(MPa)
1 C2
32 40 40 38 37
37
40 40 38 37 39
41 Direction
2 C3
28 29 32 30 28
29
28 29 32 30 28 29
23
3 C4
35 29 35 30 32
32
35 29 35 30 32 32
28
4 C5
42 40 42 42 38
41
42 40 42 42 38 41
44
5 C6
30 32 31 30 31
31
30 32 31 30 31 31
27
6 C7
39 35 37 39 40
38
39 35 37 39 40 38
39
7 C8
30 30 28 36 32
31
30 30
32 31
27
8 C10 38 38 42 35 38
38
38 38 42 35 38 38
39
9 C11 26 24 32 26 27
27
26
26 27 26
18
10 C12 30 32 32 27 31
30
30 32 32
31 31
27
11 C15 37 36 36 34 30
35
37 36 36 34
36
35
12 C18 30 31 33 31 32
31
30 31 33 31 32 31
27
13 C19 43 42 36 40 40
40
43 42
40 40 41
44
14 C21 26 28 32 28 27
28
26 28
28 27 27
20
15 C22 37 28 32 34 35
33
32 34 35 34
32
16 C23 29 25 30 28 27
28
29
30 28 27 29
23
17 C24 24 26 26 24 26
25
24 26 26 24 26 25
17
18 C25 32 29 29 31 35
31
32 29 29 31
30
25
19 C26 28 32 29 31 35
31
28 32 29 31
30
25

Page | 13

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

MYANMAR EARTHQUAKE COMMITTEE

SEISMIC ASSESSMENT OF 2 STORYED RCC BUILDING, PYIHTAUNGSU STREET
Test
Compressive Strength (Rebound Hammer Test)
Level
First Floor
Member Type
Beam
Date
04-01-16
Rebound Reading
Corrected Reading
Compressive
Sr.
Name
Average
Average Strength Direction
No
1 2 3 4 5
1 2 3 4 5
(MPa)
1 B1
32 31 34 32 30
32
32 31 34 32 30 32
34
2 B2
42 39 42 43 39
41
42 39 42 43 39 41
50
3 B3
41 43 40 40 40
41
41 43 40 40 40 41
50
4 B4
44 43 41 44 42
43
44 43 41 44 42 43
54
5 RB-1
40 39 40 40 42
40
40 39 40 40 42 40
42
5 LB-1
40 35 37 35 32
36
35 37 35
36
35
5 SLAB
40 35 37 35 32
36
35 37 35
36
41
B = First Floor Beam
RB = Roof Beam
LB = Landing Beam

Deficient
Columns

Page | 14

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Page | 15

TWO STOREY REINFORCED CONCRETE BUILDING AT PYIHTAUNG SU STREET, BAHAN

TOWNSHIP, YANGON, MYANMAR

Page | 16