Common irregularities and its effects on reinforced concrete building response

Abstract

In most of the countries, the irregular building construction is popular for fulfilling both aesthetic and functional requirements. However, the evidence of past earthquakes in Nepal and the globe demonstrated the higher level of seismic vulnerability of the buildings due to irregularities. Considering this fact, the present study highlighted the common irregularities and its effect on reinforced concrete building response. The effect of structural irregularities was studied through numerical analysis. The geometrical, mass and stiffness irregularities were created by removing bays in different floor levels and removing the columns at different sections respectively. In this study, the numerical models were created in finite element program SAP2000. The structural performance was studied using both non-linear static pushover and dynamic time history analysis. The results indicate that the level of irregularities significantly influenced the behavior of structures.

Keywords

• rc buildings
• pushover analysis
• structural irregularities
• time history analysis