Seismic Response of Vertical Irregular Structures with Soil Structure Interaction

Abstract

In the past, several major earthquakes have exposed the deficiencies of buildings, which lead to damage or collapse. The buildings with regular geometry and uniformly distributed mass and stiffness in plan and in elevation suffer much less damage compared to irregular configurations. The structural irregularities cause non-uniform load distribution in various members of a building. Regular structures may be defined as having nearly uniform distributions of storey strength, stiffness, weight and geometry over their height. In contrast, setback structures are characterized by abrupt reductions in floor area in the upper stories. Because of the functional and aesthetic architecture, these types of buildings are preferred in modern multi-storeyed building construction. The main advantages of this type of buildings are: they provide good ventilation with adequate sunlight to the lower storey’s; and they also provide for compliance with building byelaw restrictions related to ‘floor area ratio.