ISSN (Print) : 0974-6846

Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 9(44), DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2016/v9i44/105254, November 2016 ISSN (Online) : 0974-5645

Optimization of Member Size and Materials for

Multistoried RCC Buildings using ETABS
Geeta Mehta1*, Bidhan Sharma1 and Anuj Kumar2
1
Lovely Professional University, Phagwara - 144411, Punjab, India; Geeta.18262@lpu.co.in, Anujjha29@gmail.com
2
Gulzar Group of Colleges, Ludhiana - 141003, Punjab, India; Bidhans06@gmail.com

Abstract
Optimization of structural cost can be achieved by optimizing the size of structural components as the cost of the material
required in structural system for a multi-storeyed building makes 40-50 % of the overall cost of a typical RCC structure.
Material required for construction varies with change in size of members. In the present study optimizing the size of
structural components using ETABS has been achieved. The analysis and design has been done for G+9, G+11, G+13 and
G+15 RCC structure for seismic zone V. The loading and all other relevant considerations are made for office building. For
the analysis and design of a RCC structure, there are much software available in the market such as STAAD-Pro, ETABS, SAP,
ANSYS etc. Among all the available software, ETABS has many advantages over its counterparts such as accurate analysis
result, optimized design output, better user interface and availability of more number of Indian and International codes.
Based on the output obtained from the detailed analysis, the optimized size of structural components for G+9, G+11, G+13
and G+15 RCC structure for seismic zone V are obtained. After getting the optimized size of structural components the cost
of materials has been calculated and quantity wise cost of various structures has been given. It can help to forecast the
project cost of RCC structures for various storeys to be designed in zone V with optimized size of structural components.

Keywords: ETABS, optimization, RCC, Cost model, Quantity model

1. Introduction ture is based on the loading condition, load combination

The current development trend of India shows that
majority of the construction works involves the use of
Reinforced Cement Concrete. For the small scale con-
struction people not yet consult the design engineers.
The construction on due consult of professionals can
make the structure safer and more economic1. We cannot
ignore the fact that various independently working pro-
fessionals are involved in the construction field such as
architects, design engineers, cost engineers and quantity
surveyors2. Each of them has their own approach, custom
and they follow their unique thumb rules. This sometimes
leads in misinterpretation of data hence there are lots of
challenges to be dealt in this area.
The material requirements for structural components
make approximately 70% of the overall cost of a typical
RCC structure3. The size of the components for a struc-
and the design approach as well as the materials used.
Optimization is the process of making or using something
as effectively as possible. For a particular building, opti-
mization may be done in various ways, optimization of
space and utility by proper planning for its effective uses,
optimization of material using the most efficient section,
optimization of construction time by the best choice of
construction technique, etc. Optimization should not
just be a cost function; instead a structure should be
optimized functionally too, for its proper utility4. For a
structural engineer or a structural designer the most
important job is to make the most efficient structure, with
minimum construction and material cost and maximum
utility. The cost optimization not only reduces the overall
costs in comparison to the classical design approach, it
also offers a detailed insight into the structure of all rel-
evant material, construction and utility costs.

*Author for correspondence

 Optimization of Member Size and Materials for Multistoried RCC Buildings using ETABS

The development of FEM based analysis and design worked out. The building geometry has been created as
software has facilitated the structural engineers and per specifications mentioned in Table 1 in ETABS.
designers to develop various structural optimization
techniques. Due to such developments optimization of Table 1. Building data
structure has become a widespread reality. However even Building Data
in case of optimal structural design, there exist some Grid Size 6 m X 5.5 m
limitations that hinder their application in the engineer-
Floor 4.0 m in base storey
ing practice. Realistic structural design optimization Height: 3.6 m for rest of the storey
should consider real structural properties, multiple load
Structural Beams, Colum, Slab and Secondary beams.
cases, and constraints representing all ultimate and ser-
System
viceability limit state design rules5. For better design and
No. Of 10, 12, 14, 16
efficiency of high rise buildings with respect to different
Storey
perspectives such as structural, services, functional per-
Seismic Zone Zone Design peak Seismic
formance, durability, etc., new and innovative structural Zones Factor ground intensity
plan geometry/configurations have been adopted such as (Z) accelerations (MSK 64)
Y shaped, star shaped, tubular, etc6. In the best case the scale
design following the provisions of Indian Standard Codes Zone 0.36 0.18g IX
with advance references of international codes are the one V
best reliable. Wind Wind speed Vb= 47 m/s
The detailed structural analysis and design of build- Load Terrain category 2
ing gives more accurate quantity requirement of the RCC Structure class B
multistoried building7. Based on the output obtained
Coefficients k1= 1, k3= 1, k2=
from the detailed analysis, the quantity and cost mod- 1.2
els are prepared. The cost variation with the same plan
with different number of storeys has been determined
2.1 Quantity Model
and compared. The variation of number of storeys are
G+9, G+11, G+13 and G+15 i.e., 10 storey, 12 storey, 14 The quantities of concrete, reinforcement steel and shut-
story and 16 storey. The seismic zones considered is zone tering material, for slabs, beams and supporting columns
V. Hence the design and analysis of 4 buildings has been for a particular floor area are expressed as equivalent
done using ETABS, and quantity and cost models have volume of concrete, weight of reinforcement steel and
been prepared for the same. equivalent shuttering area per square meter of the floor
The loading parameters for an office building with area respectively for individual components as well as
infill brick masonry are considered. Along with the basic their combined value. This is called quantity model.
load, seismic and wind load is also be taken into account Quantity models are also an insight into the efficient and
while analysis of the structure. An additional load of economic structural design of the building.
1KN/m2 is applied throughout the floor for the light
weight partition which is common in an office building. 2.2 Cost Model
An external wall of full brick thickness and partition wall Costs are used in construction field from the very con-
of half brick thickness with 15 mm plaster on both sides ceptual planning stages, through design and construction
is considered. and during the operation (useful life) of the facility.
During the preliminary planning stages of the project, the
2. Quantity and Cost Model degree of accuracy of costing is usually limited8. The esti-
mates made at this stage are usually conceptual in nature
In the present work the quantity and cost model for the and are based on past trends and the historical knowledge
structural system of the superstructure of four RCC build- of similar projects. A cost model thus helps to establish
ing with number of storeys 10, 12, 14 1nd 16 has been future forecast in prediction of the project cost.

2 Vol 9 (44) | November 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Geeta Mehta, Bidhan Sharma and Anuj Kumar

The representation of the quantity model in terms of
cost is called the cost model. The cost model is the tool
used to organize and distribute estimated costs into func-
tional areas that can be easily defined and quantified.
Categorizing cost into identifiable functional areas will
aid the contractors as well as the investors to understand
the cost flow in various sections of the construction. With
this concept, a one page visual analysis of the cost for a
total system or project is possible
the plan. Optimized member sizes, that has been found
after repetitive analysis and design of building in E-TABS
has be tabulated below for each zone. The member sec-
tion chosen are the minimum sections that pass through
the deflection and storey drift as per IS 1893 (Part-I)
2002. Materials grade used for column for each storey has
also been mentioned precisely. Concrete grade used for
all the beams and slabs is M 25 and Fe 415 grade of steel
has been used for steel reinforcement throughout. The
dimensions of secondary beams and slabs has been kept
similar for almost all the buildings as these are designed
take the axial loading only (no bending) and loading con-
ditions are same throughout. The sizes of the main beams,
shows almost no variations between the zones, except for
10 storey building. The structural modelling, analysis and
design is done using Etabs software. Initially, the model
grid spacing and storey heights are defined. Modelling
grid and defining frame sections has been shown in
Figure 1 and Figure 2 respectively.

Table 2. Loads considered for the RCC structure

Figure 1. Modelling consideration. Load Type Load

Distributed loads Light weight partition 1 kN/m2

or area loads
Live Load on floor 4 kN/m2

Live Load on terrace 1.5 kN/m2

Line loads or Parapet [Parapet height 5 kN/m

frame loads of 0.9m]
Full brick wall 14 kN/m

Half brick wall 8 kN/m

Table 3. Load combinations

Load Combinations
As per IS 1893(Part 1): 2002, for Limit State Design
1.5* (DL + LL)
Figure 2. Defining frame sections and slab. 1.2* (DL + LL ± EL)
1.5* (DL ± EL)
0.9* DL ± 1.5* EL
2.3 Details of the Building under 1.5* (DL ± WL)
Consideration 1.2* (DL + LL ± WL)
Detail of the building studied in present work has been
given in Table 1. Detail of the load and load combinations 3. Design and Analysis
considered are given in Table 2 and Table 3. Floor area
provided for different storey buildings has been shown in A 3-dimensional earthquake analysis was carried out for
Table 4 calculated corresponding to the specifications of the representative office buildings with number of storeys

Vol 9 (44) | November 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology 3
 Optimization of Member Size and Materials for Multistoried RCC Buildings using ETABS

varying as ten, twelve, fourteen and sixteen storeys and
considering them situated in seismic zone V mentioned in
table 1. The buildings being simple and of regular config-
urations, equivalent static load approach was adopted for
the determination of the seismic forces. The entire analy-
sis, design and detailing has been done as per the codal
provisions of Bureau of Indian Standards 9-12. Besides sat-
isfying the detailing for ductility in high seismic zones,
durability requirements and easiness of construction
were also taken care in the design and detailing .
4. Quantity Modelling
Quantity modelling comprises the quantity of concrete in
cumecs, steel in Kg and shuttering in square meter per
square meter of the floor area for individual structural
component. Quantity models are also an insight into the
efficient and economic structural design of the building.
The detail of size of structural components has been given
in Table 5. Component wise all the material quantities
calculated has been given in Table 6.

Table 4. Floor area for buildings 5. Cost Modelling

Building Zone V
The representation of the quantity model in terms of
Area per Floor Total Floor Area
cost is called the cost model. After the analysis done
(Sqm) (Sqm)
on E-TABS for zone V for G+9, G+11, G+13 and G+15
10 Storeyed Building 523.26 5232.6 percentage of cost incurred by various components like
12 Storeyed Building 523.26 6279.12 shuttering, steel and concrete (all the grades) are shown
14 Storeyed Building 523.26 7359.07 in pie chart in Figure 3, Figure 4, Figure 5, Figure 6. The
overall cost of each building in seismic zone V has also
16 Storeyed Building 525.648 8410.368
been shown in Table 7.
Table 5. Sizes of structural components buildings in zone V
BUILDING STOREY BUILDING HEIGHT NO. OF STOREY COLUMN SIZES MAIN BEAM SIZES COLUMNS
Meters mmxmm mmxmm
10 36.4 Up to 4 Storey 600 x 600 600 x 300 M 35
from 5 to 7 storey 500 x 500 M 30
from 8 to 10 storey 400 x400 M 25
12 43.6 Up to 4 Storey 600 x 600 600 x 350 M 35
from 5 to 8 storey 500 x 500 M 30
from 9 to 12 storey 450 x 450 M 25
14 50.8 Up to 5 storey 650 x 650 600 x 350 M 35
from 6 to 9 storey 500 x 500 M 30
from 10 to 14 450 x 450 M 25
storey
16 58 Up to 5 storey 650 x 650 600 X 400 M 35
from 6 to 10 storey 600 x 600 M 30
from 11 to 16 500 x 500 M 25
storey

Table 6. Component wise structural quantity calculated

Building Zone Concrete quantity(cumecs) Steel Quantity(Kg) Shuttering Quantity
    Column Beam Slab Total Column Beam Slab Total Column Beam Slab Total
10 storey V 0.129 0.265 0.295 0.689 33.484 26.613 29.473 89.57 0.258 1.872 2.456 4.586
12 storey V 0.136 0.308 0.29 0.734 39.283 30.715 28.963 98.961 0.272 2 2.414 4.686
14 storey V 0.146 0.306 0.29 0.742 44.101 24.226 29.093 97.42 0.292 1.991 2.413 4.696
16 storey V 0.172 0.344 0.281 0.797 45.075 29.795 27.998 102.868 0.343 2.053 2.344 4.74

4 Vol 9 (44) | November 2016 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Geeta Mehta, Bidhan Sharma and Anuj Kumar

Table 7. Cost of component per square floor area for

zone V
Building Cost of Cost of Cost of Total Cost
Storey Shuttering Steel Concrete
Rs Rs Rs RS
10 2812181 11264540 5836157 19912878
12 2479044 13774105 6071571 22324720
14 2981565 15696167 6589129 25266861
16 3347666 18872275 9364289 31584230
Figure 6. Quantity wise cost distribution of 16 storey RCC
structure.

6. Conclusions and Discussion of

Results
The cost of structure is dominated by the cost of struc-
tural steel. In an ordinary RCC framed structure the cost
of structural steel is approximately 70% of the total cost
Figure 3. Quantity wise cost distribution of 10 storey RCC of structure. But after repeated trials for optimization of
structure. structural elements the cost of structural steel was reduced
by 10%. Hence overall reduction in RCC structure can
be achieved by designing the structure using ETABS for
design purpose. The work can be extended for variation
in zone factors and use of different types of materials for
construction.

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