Abstract:
Reinforced concrete (RC) buildings resting on sloping ground are more vulnerable to damage under seismic excitation than buildings on flat ground due to the presence of short columns. Due to high stiffness, short columns attract more earthquake force than the long columns, resulting in more damage. The present study aims to review recommendations mentioned in the available literature to minimize the short column effect on RC buildings, investigate the performance of a building resting the sloping ground, and study the effect of spacing of column lateral ties in minimizing damage of short columns. For this purpose, a three-storey RC building is modeled considering flat ground and sloping ground using ETABS software. The behavior of both the models under seismic excitation is studied using nonlinear time history analysis. Acceleration time history of past earthquakes El Centro (1940) is applied to the RC frame and the response of both the structures are compared. The structural response under seismic loading is investigated in terms of number of plastic hinges formed, top-storey displacement, and inter-storey drift.
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