Earthquake behavior of reinforced concrete framed buildings on hill

slopes
by

Ajay Kumar Sreerama, Pradeep Kumar Ramancharla

in

nternational Symposium on New Technologies for Urban Safety of Mega Cities in Asia
(USMCA 2013)

Report No: IIIT/TR/2013/-1

Centre for Earthquake Engineering

International Institute of Information Technology
Hyderabad - 500 032, INDIA
October 2013
 Earthquake behavior of reinforced concrete
framed buildings on hill slopes

Ajay K SREERAMA1 and Pradeep K RAMANCHARLA2

1
Ph.D Student, Civil Engineering, IIIT Hyderabad,
Gachibowli, Hyderabad-500032, India
[email protected]
2
Professor of Civil Engineering, Earthquake Engineering Research Centre, IIIT
Hyderabad, Gachibowli, Hyderabad-500032, India
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Recent earthquakes, 18 Sep 2011, Sikkim earthquake, M6.9 and 1 May 2013 Doda
earthquake, M5.8 produced two major effects, namely on buildings and on hill
slopes. The maximum intensity of ground shaking experienced during these
earthquakes was only about VI or less on the MSK scale. Considering the low
intensity of ground shaking in the affected areas, the damage attributed was
disproportionately higher. It is mainly due to high amplification in local site areas.
In this regard, a research is carried out to understand the performance of
buildings on hill slopes.

In this paper, the study of the behavior of a G+3 building on varying slope angles
i.e., 15°, 30°, 45° and 60° is studied and compared with the same on the flat
ground. Building is designed as per IS 456 and later subjected to earthquake
loads. It was observed that as the slope angle is increasing, building is becoming
stiffer. Two types of analyses were conducted viz., lateral load analysis and
incremental dynamic analysis. It was observed from the initial results that the
columns on the higher side of the slope i.e., short columns were subjected to more
shear force then longer columns on the lower side. Finite element method is used
to study the static behavior where as Applied Element Method (AEM) is used to
perform incremental dynamic analysis.

Keywords: hill-slopes, incremental dynamic analysis

1. INTRODUCTION

North and northeastern parts of India have large scales of hilly terrain, which are
categorized under seismic zone IV and V. In this region the construction of
multistory RC framed buildings on hill slopes has a popular and pressing demand,
due to its economic growth and rapid urbanization. This growth in construction
activity is adding to tremendous increase in population density. While
construction, it must be noted that Hill buildings are different from those in plains
i.e., they are very irregular and unsymmetrical in horizontal and vertical planes,
and torsionally coupled. Since there is scarcity of plain ground in hilly areas, it
obligates the construction of buildings on slopes.
0ctober 2013, Hanoi, Vietnam

Recent earthquakes i.e., 18 Sep 2011, Sikkim earthquake (M6.9) and 1 May 2013
Doda earthquake(M5.8) produced two major effects, namely on buildings and on
hill slopes. To perform well in an earthquake, a building should possess four main
attributes i.e. simple and regular configuration, adequate lateral strength, stiffness
and ductility (as per clause 7.1 of IS 1893-2002).

1.1. SEISMIC BEHAVIOUR OF BUILDINGS ON SLOPES IN INDIA

Shillong Plateau earthquake (M8.0) of 1897 and the Kangra earthquake (M7.8) of
1905, were the major of several devastating earthquakes to occur in northern India.
An estimated of more than 375,000 population were killed in epicentral region,
and over 100,000 buildings were destroyed by the earthquake. Similarly in recent
earthquakes like Bihar-Nepal (1980), Uttarkashi (1991), Sikkim (2011), and Doda
(2013) affected many buildings on hill slopes.

India having a great arc of mountains consisting of the Himalayas defines the
northern Indian subcontinent. These were formed by the ongoing tectonic
collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates where housing densities of
approximately 62159.2 per Sq Km are around as per 2011 Indian census. Hence
there is a need to study on the seismic safety and design of these structures on
slopes.

Dynamic characteristics of hill buildings are significantly different from the

buildings resting on flat topography, as these are irregular and unsymmetrical in
both horizontal and vertical directions. The irregular variation of stiffness and
mass in vertical as well as horizontal directions, results in centre of mass and
centre of stiffness of a storey not coinciding with each other and not being on a
vertical line for different floors. When subjected to lateral loads, these buildings
are generally subjected to significant torsional response. Further, due to site
conditions, buildings on hill slope are characterized by unequal column heights
within a story, which results in drastic variation in stiffness of columns of the
same storey. The short, stiff columns on uphill side attract much higher lateral
forces and are prone to damage.

Figure 1: An aerial view of houses located on hill slopes in Sikkim

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2. CASE STUDY AND ANALYSIS

A five different cases of G+3 buildings on varying slope angles i.e., 0°,15°, 30°,
45° and 60° are designed and analyzed as per IS 456 in SAP2000 as shown in
Figure 2 and 3. The properties of the considered building configuration in the
present study are summarized below.

Structural element sizes

Beams : 300 x 300 mm
Columns: 300 x 300 mm
Slab : 120 mm thick

Material properties

Grade of concrete: M25

Grade of Steel reinforcement bars: Fe 415

Loading

Live load : 3 kN/m2

Floor finish load : 1kN/m2
Self-weight of slab : 3kN/m2

4@
3000 mm

Col 1 Col 2 Col 3 Col 4 Col5

4 @ 3000 mm

Figure 2: G+3 RC framed structure (Reference building)

The building has been subjected and analyzed for earthquake load i.e., N90E
component of Northridge ground motion with a PGA of 0.565g and magnitude
M6.7.

Earthquake behavior of reinforced concrete framed buildings on hill slopes

0ctober 2013, Hanoi, Vietnam

Table 1: Buildings considered for study: Details of 5 buildings

Number Bottom column lengths (m)
of bays
Buildi
Description (Both Col Col Col Col Col
ng
direction 1 2 3 4 5
s)

G+3 Regular building

A (0°) 4 3 3 3 3 3

G+3 building on 15°

B slope 4 6.2 5.4 4.6 3.8 3

G+3 building on 30°

C
slope 4 9.92 8.19 6.46 4.73 3

G+3 building on 45°

D slope 4 15 12 9 6 3

G+3 building on 60°

E slope 4 23.8 18.6 13.4 8.2 3

Two types of analyses were conducted viz., lateral load analysis and incremental
dynamic analysis. It was observed from the initial results that the columns on the
higher side of the slope i.e., short columns were subjected to more shear force
then longer columns on the lower side. Finite element method is used to study the
linear and non linear static and dynamic behavior of building on slopes, where as
Applied element method is used for incremental dynamic analysis.

30°
30 °

Figure 3: Model of Building on slope

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3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

From the linear static analysis it is observed that the Shorter Columns is observed
to take more loads since shorter columns are stiffer and hence has more stress
carrying capacity. From Figure 4 column 1 is observed to have base reaction
reduced to zero as slope angle increase because of long column effect.

Col 5
Col 4
Col 3
Col 2
Col 1

Figure 4: Base reaction Vs Slope

3.1. DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF BUILDING

An inertia force is caused due to the oscillation of building during an earthquake,

where it is foremost for us to understand the mode of oscillation i.e., Natural
period and deformed shape. Numerical results are used to study the dynamic
behavior and the factors that influence it.

Table 2: Natural time period of Buildings on varied slope angles

0° 15° 30° 45° 60°

T1 0.724 0.881 0.994 1.0604 1.1545
T2 0.236 0.276 0.296 0.312 0.343
T3 0.1413 0.1544 0.159 0.162 0.1691

From table 2, time period of buildings on slopes increase with increase in the
slope angle. Since there is an increase in column length of the building the
stiffness and mass of it is varying which alters the natural time period. We know

Earthquake behavior of reinforced concrete framed buildings on hill slopes

0ctober 2013, Hanoi, Vietnam

that time period of structure is directly proportional to both mass and stiffness as
below

2 1
T ; 
k T m ; T
 m k

Stiffness influencing natural period:

Increasing the length of column because of building position on slope decreases

the stiffness and increases mass of the structure. A study has been carried out on
buildings A, B, C, D and E; where the top three storey of the building has same
mass and stiffness, only the bottom portion of the building varies. It has been
observed that due to the increase of column length the building becomes more
flexible with less stiffness. Figure 5 shows the Stiffness degradation of whole
structure as well as the effective stiffness of bottom storey of the structure with
respect to the increase of slope.

Figure 5: % Stiffness Vs Slope

Mass influencing Natural period:

An increase in mass of a building increass its natural period. Buildings B, C, D

and E are with same paln size, column sizes but with different columns length at
bottom (Figureure 6). The total seismic mass of the reference building A is
1055.12 kN while that in other buildings there is an increase in mass.

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 Figure 6: % Mass Vs Slope

3.2. TIME HISTORY ANALYSIS

The building has been analyzed for Northridge ground motion with a PGA of
0.565g and magnitude M6.7.

Figure 7: Fourier amplitude of Northridge ground motion

Figure 9 shows the evaluation results of the linear time history responses of the
five buildings. Since the natural frequency of structure is resonating with the
predominant frequency from Figure 8 we can observe the response of building on
60° and 30° slope is observed to have maximum displacement when compared to
that of others. When observed the mass participation of the five buildings we can
say the every structure is predominant in its first mode of vibration. It is also
observed from below plot the storey drift of the building on 45° slope is very less
when compared to that of other slope angles.

Earthquake behavior of reinforced concrete framed buildings on hill slopes

0ctober 2013, Hanoi, Vietnam

Figure 8: Maximum time history response of each storey for five cases

Figure 9(a): Northridge ground motion

Figure 9 (b): Time history response of A, B, C, D and E buildings

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3.3. PUSH OVER ANALYSIS

Figure 10: Pushover curves of A, B, C, D and E buildings

After designing and detailing the RC frame structure, a linear static pushover
analysis is carried out for evaluating structurtal response.Figureure 10 shows the
resulting capacity curves for the five cases. Initially they are linear where axial
load is predominant but falls under inelastic range where the flexure and shear
comes into picture. From Figure 10 the area under the pushover curve i.e. the
capacity of building on flat surface is more than that of buildings on slopes.

PLASTIC HINGES MECHANISM

From Figure 11 we can easily observe the formation of hinge mechanism where
as the slope increases the zone near the shoter coulmn is falling under E and D
performance levels, which clearly indictaes the complete collapse of the structure.
Comparision of Figureures b, c,d and e reveals that the pattern of forming hinges
are quite similar. Plastic hinges formation starts with base columns of lower
stories and end beams, then propagates to upper stories and continue with yielding
of intermediate columns.

Earthquake behavior of reinforced concrete framed buildings on hill slopes

0ctober 2013, Hanoi, Vietnam

(a) Building A (b) Building B

(c) Building C (d) Building D

(e) Building E

Figure 11: Hinge mechanism of A, B, C, D and E buildings

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FRAGILITY CURVES

To undertstand the expected damage of the structures of varying time periods,

fragility curves are plotted. Equation used to calculate the damage of the structure
as explained below

Emax = Area under the pushover curve with line dropped parallel to initial stiffness
at the end point.
Ei = Energy dissipated at every displacement (Area under the curve at every
displacement with line dropped parallel to initial stiffness.

Conversion from Roof Displacement to Spectral Acceleration:

Sdi: Spectral Displacement

∆roof: Roof displacement obtained from pushover curve
PF1: Participation factors for the first natural mode of the structure
Ø1, roof: Roof level amplitude of the first mode

T: Time Period of the structure

g: Acceleration due to gravity

Figure 12: Fragility Curves

Earthquake behavior of reinforced concrete framed buildings on hill slopes

0ctober 2013, Hanoi, Vietnam

From Figure 12 we can observe that for a given ‘g’ value the expected damage is
more in 15° and 30° slope buildings than building on falt surface. Whereas the
damage of structure on 45° and 60° slope are less than 15° and 45° because of
increase in column dimensions, but relatively the damage level is more in 60° than
compared to that of 45° slope building.

3.4. INCREMENTAL DYNAMIC ANALYSIS

To understand and to estimate the structural performance thoroughly under

seismic loads a method so called as Incremental dynamic analysis is performed on
to the structures. It involves subjecting a structure to one or more ground motions
scaled to multiples levels of intensity. The main advantage of IDA is that it
addresses both demand and capacity of structure. In the present study Applied
element method (AEM) is used to perform IDA.
Applied element method is a discrete method in which the elements are connected
by pair of normal and shear springs which are distributed around the element
edges. These springs represents the stresses and deformations of the studied
element. The elements motion is rigid body motion and the internal deformations
are taken by springs only. The general stiffness matrix components corresponding
to each degree of freedom are determined by assuming unit displacement and the
forces are at the centroid of each element. The element stiffness matrix size is 6x6.

Figure 13(a): IDA response of the Building on flat surface with spring failure
pattern

In present study Northridge ground motion is scaled to 4 levels i.e. up to 1g and

applied incrementally on to the structures. From Figure 13 we can observe the
response of the structure increases as the ‘g’ value is amplified. At the end of each
ground motion the damage of structure and the spring’s failure pattern can be
observed at the top and bottom of the plot. For building on 45° and 60° slope the
structure is unstable.

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 Figure 13(b): IDA response of the Building on 15° slope with spring failure
pattern

Figure 13(c): IDA response of the Building on 30° slope with spring failure
pattern

4. CONCLUSIONS

The study clearly helps us to understand the significant difference between the
seismic behaviors of building on slopes to building on flat surface. In summary,
the natural period of building depends on the distribution of mass and stiffness
along the building. As the slope angle increases, it is observed that the short
column resist almost all the storey shear since other columns are flexible and tend
to oscillate. A hinge mechanism is formed near the shorter column zone and is
damaged earlier as the slope angle increases. From the fragility curve we can

Earthquake behavior of reinforced concrete framed buildings on hill slopes

0ctober 2013, Hanoi, Vietnam

easily observe the damage of the structure is more when it is on steep angle.
Major challenge which has to be focused further is considering together plan
irregularity (i.e. Torsional effect) and vertical irregularity. It would be desirable to
study more cases before reaching some definite conclusions about the behavior of
reinforced concrete framed buildings on slopes.

REFERENCES

1. A.R.Vijaya Narayanan, Rupen Goswami and C.V.R. Murty., 15WCEE

2012 Performance of RC Buildings along Hill Slopes of Himalayas during
2011 Sikkim Earthquake.
2. Pandey A.D, Prabhat Kumar, Sharad Sharma., International Journal of
Civil and Structural Engineering Volume 2, No 2, 2011 Seismic soil-
structure interaction of buildings on hill slopes.
3. B.G. Birajdar, S.S. Nalawade., 13WCEE 2004 Seismic analysis of
buildings resting on sloping ground.
4. ATC 40, Seismic evaluation and Retrofit of Concrete Buildings, Volume 1.
5. Nicholas A, Roger B., Current science, Vol.79, No.1, 2000., A Note on the
Kangra Ms=7.8 Earthquake of 4 April 1905.
6. Dimitrios Vamvatsikos, C.Allin Cornell., Incremental Dynamic Analysis,
Earthquake Engineering & Structural Dynamics 2002
7. Tagel-Din Hatem, Kimiro Meguro., Applied Element Method for
simulation of Nonlinear materials: Theory and application for RC
structures, Structural Eng./Earthquake Eng., JSCE, Vol 17,No.2,2000

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