Effects of pounding on the behavior of reinforced concrete frame structures in seismic zone 2B

Abstract

Pounding between adjacent buildings is a common phenomenon which can be observed during moderate to high ground shakings that can result in structural damage and even loss of life. As this phenomenon is related to the life safety, therefore, it is imperative to consider it in the modelling stage of structural analysis and design. The current study is intended to evaluate, numerically, the effect of pounding phenomenon in RC frame structures. Three dimensional models of two hypothetical buildings are analyzed by subjecting to three ground acceleration histories that are scaled and matched with BCP-SP07 design spectrum. The analysis results such as inter storey drift, maximum displacement, pounding forces and its effects on bending moment, axial forces, shear and torsional forces in structural members are compared. The results show that pounding forces decrease with increase in gap size and are dominant in top five stories with maximum force at the top floor level. Pounding increase displacement up to 2 times and acceleration up to 240 times as compared to without pounding case. Pounding increase the axial forces up to 250 times and bending moment up to 2 time in the beams parallel to colliding forces. Similarly, the shear forces and torsional moments are almost doubled as a result of pounding. Finally, a 20 storey building consists of four blocks separated by 3-inch expansion joints is modelled combinedly in Etabs and analyzed to see the effect of pounding. Based on the results it is concluded that pounding must be considered at modelling stage of the design to account for the forces induced in the structural members.