Quantifying Combined Structural

Irregularities for Seismic Design of RC

Buildings

Sabareesan.M
Research Scholar

Department of Civil Engineering

IIT Madras

Introductio
n
Equivalent Static lateral force method is based on a regular
distribution of stiffness and mass in a structure.

Regular buildings perform better in earthquakes than irregular

buildings.
Irregularities create great uncertainties in the ability of the
structure to meet the design objectives.
From past earthquakes in India, it was learned that buildings
with excessive irregularities resulted in devastation to life and
property due to their uncertain behaviour
The need for construction of buildings with irregularities may
arise due to space restrictions (open ground storey buildings),
location (buildings on slopes) and aesthetics etc.
Code provisions are provided to restrict the irregularity in
structures, but there are no guidelines to handle the
irregularities in structural design.

Overview
Irregularities

Vertical

Plan
a) Torsional
b) Re-entrant
corner
c) Diaphragm
discontinuity
d) Out-of plane
offsets
e) Non- parallel
systems

a)
b)
c)
d)

Stiffness
Strength
Mass
Vertical
geometry

Combin
Building with
combined
irregularity
(plan and
vertical )

Combined
Irregularities
Combination of irregularities may cause more unpredictable
performance in buildings when compared with the behaviour of having
a single irregularity.
Vertical Strength-stiffness irregularity
Although separate irregularity limits are defined for stiffness and
strength irregularities
separately, in most practical scenarios, stiffness and strength vary
together. For example
when cross-sectional properties are changed at a storey, the stiffness
and strength at that storey both change.
Irregularities at different locations:
Structure can have a heavier floor at one level, and the storey
supporting that floor may have a taller storey height that produces a
stiffness-strength irregularity.
Combined Vertical-Plan irregularity:
Buildings which are located on hill slopes have torsional irregularity,
vertical irregularity and short column effects.

Different
inter
storey
height

No Infill
materia
l

Absence of infill material at a particular

storey
Vertical strength-stiffness

Excessive floor height a particular

level

irregularities

Heavy floor
level
Short
colum
n
Different
inter
storey
height

Irregularities at multiple locations

Combined Vertical-plan irregulari

Research Plan

1. To Model the structures with multiple irregularities which can represent

the realistic behaviour.
2. To study the behaviour of the building subjected to combined
irregularities from the proposed model and to quantify them.
3. To check for the validity of the irregularity limits by studying the
variation in response of the structure subjected to different degrees of
irregularities.

Thank You