Proceedings on International Conference on Disaster Risk Management,

Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 12-14, 2019

A COMPARATIVE STUDY ON SEISMIC LOAD ANALYSIS BY BNBC-1993

AND BNBC-2017

Md. Mohiuddin Ahmed1, Subrata Roy2, Maqsuda Haque3

ABSTRACT
Significant changes have been introduced in BNBC 2017 with regard to analysis for seismic loads. To identify
the changes in design and analysis of various structures a comparative study is necessary between existing
code and the previous one. This study aims at the comparison of provisions of earthquake analysis only given
in BNBC 1993 and BNBC 2017. It is found that seismic base shear of the building calculated by BNBC 2017
varies significantly from seismic base shear calculated by BNBC 1993. Finally, structural analysis and design
of a typical eight-story hospital building situated in Sylhet (most severe zone) city are conducted to
demonstrate the changes regarding seismic load in BNBC 2017 with respect to BNBC 1993. The basic
differences in seismic base shear and maximum lateral displacement with the same number of stories using
two codes are presented. The comparison in inter-story drift is also made using two codes. The analysis is
made to compare the maximum reinforcement requirement for corner column and interior column design to
provide a guideline to the engineer for the most economic design. Design of reinforced concrete buildings for
seismic load in BNBC-2017 is relatively economic than BNBC-1993 the since the amount of reinforcement
required is less in BNBC-2017.
Keywords: BNBC-1993, BNBC-2017, inter-story drift, maximum lateral displacement, seismic base shear,
overturning moment.

Introduction
Earthquake is a disastrous event that needs to be addressed in a more coordinated way. Although Bangladesh
is extremely vulnerable to seismic activity, the nature and the level of this activity is yet to be defined. In
Bangladesh, complete earthquake monitoring facilities are not available. The dynamic effects earthquake
loads are usually analyzed as an equivalent static load in most small and moderate-sized buildings. A
comparative study has been made to see the basic difference between BNBC (Bangladesh National Building
Code) 1993 and BNBC 2017 regarding earthquake load only. The developed countries in North America,
Europe, India regularly update their codes. Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC-2017) has significant
changes comparing to BNBC-1993.
A detailed comparison between BNBC 1993 and BNBC 2017 is presented in tabular form for the seismic
load analysis only. The effects of gravity load in combination with lateral loads are out of the scope of this
study. For earthquake load analysis equivalent static method is implemented. The case study on a typical
hospital building is performed for Sylhet city only. The results may vary for other cities of Bangladesh.
However, a detailed comparison of lateral loads along with the impact on design analysis for low to medium
rise buildings for Bangladesh is required. In this work, corresponding parameters of Earthquake loads found
using the BNBC 1993 and BNBC 2017 codes are compared. A typical hospital building situated in Sylhet is
selected for the case study to identify the changes in analysis and design with BNBC 2017 as compared to
BNBC 1993. The analyses are conducted for base shear, maximum lateral displacement. For earthquake load
base shear, maximum lateral displacement and inter-story drift are higher in BNBC 2017 than BNBC 1993.

Design of reinforced concrete buildings for lateral load in BNBC-2017 is relatively economic than BNBC-
1993 as the amount of reinforcement requirement is less in BNBC-2017. The main objectives of this study
are: Determination of the base shear, base moment, story shear and inter-story drift according to BNBC 1993
and BNBC 2017. Comparison of base shear, story shear, base moment and inter-story drifts by preparing an
identical model to understand the comparison between the two codes. Analysis and design of a corner column

1
Lecturer, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Information Technology & Sciences, Dhaka-1212,
Bangladesh.
2
Lecturer, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Information Technology & Sciences, Dhaka-1212,
Bangladesh.
3
Lecturer, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Information Technology & Sciences, Dhaka-1212,
Bangladesh.
Email of Corresponding Author – mohiahmed22@gmail.com
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 Proceedings on International Conference on Disaster Risk Management,
Dhaka, Bangladesh, January 12-14, 2019

and an interior column for both BNBC 1993 and BNBC 2017. Comparing the column axial forces, column
dimensions and reinforcement requirement.

Methodology of the Present Study

A typical eight storied hospital building (22.5m X 22.5m) situated in Sylhet city is selected for the comparison
of BNBC 2017 and BNBC 1993. The buildings are assumed to be fixed at the base and the floors act as rigid
diaphragms with a 3-meters height for each story, regular in plan is modeled. Finally, the buildings have been
modeled by using ETABS software nonlinear v 9.7

Analysis Results and Findings from BNBC 1993 and BNBC 2017

Figure 1. Plan of a typical story.

To ease to understand how much story shears are varying for two different codes the shear forces are
represented together as diagrams below:

BNBC 1993 BNBC 2017

186.33 176.68
200 155.9
126.25
150 97.52
Storey Shear (kip)

100 69.91
43.73 126.75
50 0 19.61 108.64 117.69
72.43 90.54
0 36.21 54.32
0 18.11
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Number of Storeys

Figure 2. Storey shears comparison between BNBC 1993 and BNBC 2017.
To understand how much base shears are varying for two different codes the base shears are represented
together as bar charts below:

1000 875.94
Base Shear (kip)

661.31

500

0
BNBC 1993 BNBC 2017

Figure 3. Base shears comparison between BNBC 1993 and BNBC 2017.

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 Proceedings on International Conference on Disaster Risk Management,
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Story displacement and drift analysis

The drift analysis is done for every floor to see the gradual displacement of the floors. To make it easier to
understand how much inter-story drifts and story displacements are varying for both codes some figures are
given below:

Inter Storey drift comparison between BNBC -1993 & 2017

BNBC 1993 BNBC 2017

Inter storey drift (mm)

150
90.12 96.84 91.48 80.08
100 64.65
48.99 46.3
17.52 18.76 17.68 15.51 28.16
50
0 9.55 12.65 9.28 5.9
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Number of storeys

Figure 4. Comparison of inter-story drifts (mm) according to BNBC-1993 and BNBC-2017.

Storey displacement comparison between BNBC -1993 & 2017

Storey Displacement (mm)

160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
BNBC 1993 9.55 27.07 45.83 63.51 79.02 91.67 100.95 106.85
BNBC 2017 13.36 37.94 64.35 89.3 111.14 128.77 141.4 149.08

Figure. 5. Comparison of story displacement (mm) according to BNBC-1993 and BNBC-2017.

A corner and an interior column analysis and design

For analyzing and design purpose a corner column and an interior column have been selected for both BNBC-
1993 and 2017 so that we can make a clear comparison of column dimensions and number of bar requirements
as well as bar diameters. Here are the tables showing differences of findings of columns forces and steel area
(in2).
Table 1. Column forces in kip according to BNBC-1993 and BNBC-2017
BNBC - 1993 BNBC - 2017
Corner column force Interior column force Corner column force Interior column force
(kip) (kip) (kip) (kip)
557.30 1641.70 382.97 1322.52
Table 2. Column dimensions (in x in) according to BNBC-1993 and BNBC-2017
BNBC - 1993 BNBC - 2017
Corner column size (in x Interior column size (in Corner column size (in x Interior column size (in
in) x in) in) x in)
18x18 30x30 15x15 30x24

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 Proceedings on International Conference on Disaster Risk Management,
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Steel area required (in2)

3.24 9.0 2.25 7.2
Table 3. Required bar diameter (mm) for columns according to BNBC-1993 and BNBC-2017
BNBC - 1993 BNBC - 2017
Corner column Interior column Corner column Interior column
8-20mmФ 16-22mmФ 6-20mmФ 12-22mmФ

Column Force Comparison between BNBC-1993 & 2017

Axial column force

2000 1641.7
1500 1322.52
(k)

1000 Corner column force (k)

557.3
382.97
500 Interior column force (k)
0
BNBC 1993 BNBC 2017

Figure 6. Comparison of column forces (kip) according to BNBC-1993 and BNBC-2017

Column reinforcement requirement Comparison between BNBC-

1993 & 2017
10 9
Steel area (in^2)

8 7.2
Steel area, As (in^2)
6 requirement for corner column

4 3.24
2.25 Steel area, As (in^2)
2 requirement for interior
column
0
BNBC 1993 BNBC 2017

Figure 7. Comparison of steel area (in2) requirement for a corner and an interior column according to
BNBC-1993 and BNBC-2017

BNBC 1993 BNBC 2017

Figure 8. Comparison of column area (in2) and bar diameter (mm) for corner columns according to BNBC-
1993 and BNBC-201

Figure 9. Comparison of column area (in2) and bar diameter (mm) for interior columns according to
BNBC-1993 (Left) and BNBC-2017 (Right)
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 Proceedings on International Conference on Disaster Risk Management,
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Conclusion
Base shear is increased in BNBC-2017 than BNBC-1993 due to increase in zone coefficient (z), structural
system factor(R) and self-weight (W). In BNBC-1993 design basis earthquake is not clearly defined. In
BNBC-2017 design basis earthquake is two third of the maximum credible earthquake. In BNBC-1993 load
factor, 1.4(0.75*1.7*1.1) is used with earthquake load which means the earthquake load is increased by 40%
because of the uncertainty of load. However, this factor is quite unnecessary since the maximum credible
earthquake is considered for design. BNBC-2017 gives a wide variety of choices to calculate seismic force
with clear guidelines as compared to BNBC-1993. From Base shear versus no of story graph and story shear
versus no of story graph it is seen that base shear and story shear are much higher for BNBC-2017 than
BNBC-1993. Maximum lateral displacement is also found to be higher for BNBC-2017 than BNBC-1993. In
both code maximum inter drift occurs almost at the mid-height of the building. Design of reinforced concrete
buildings for seismic load in BNBC-2017 is relatively economic than BNBC-1993 as the amount of
reinforcement required is less in BNBC-2017 which is applicable for Sylhet city only.

Recommendations
The following recommendations can be made for future research work
• The case study conducted in this research is for Sylhet city only. However, the seismic zone
coefficient varies for different parts of Bangladesh. A similar study can be performed for other parts
of Bangladesh, especially for seismic active zones.
• In BNBC-1993 load factor, 1.4(0.75*1.7*1.1) is used with earthquake load which means the
earthquake load is increased by 40% because of the uncertainty of load. That’s why the column
forces are more in BNBC 1993 compared to BNBC 2017. However, this factor is quite unnecessary
since the maximum credible earthquake is considered for design in BNBC-2017.
• In this study, only column axial forces were considered during analysis so it is recommended to
consider column moments too for future research work.
• Comparison of seismic load in BNBC 2017 can be made with other codes such as Euro code, Indian
code, IBC, UBC, ACI, Italian code etc.
• Similar study can be performed for other types of buildings such as steel frames, ordinary moment
resisting frames and masonry structures etc, located in different places with different site conditions.
• To find the impact on design only the reinforcement requirement in columns were considered. This
study can be extended on a large scale of analysis including foundations, beams, and slabs etc.

References
BNBC 2017, ―Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC), Bangladesh House Building Research Institute,
Dhaka.
BNBC 1993, ―Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC), Bangladesh House Building Research Institute,
Dhaka.
Manual for Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Building- PWD, Bangladesh.
Eqball, M. S., 2011, ―”A comparison of Proposed BNBC-2012 with Other Building Codes Regarding
Seismic Provisions”, B. Sc. Engr. Thesis, Dept. of Civil Engr. BUET, Dhaka.
Hasan, M. R. and Hoque, M. T., 2007, ―” Comparative Studies of Different Building Codes In Context of
Bangladesh National Building Code.

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