Effect of Adding Shear Wall & Bracings for Prevention of Seismic Pounding

Abstract

Collision between adjacent structures due to insufficient gap was witnessed in almost every major earthquake since 1960’s. The adjacent buildings collide and collapse during moderate to strong ground vibration caused by earthquakes. Separation distance of many buildings is inadequate to accommodate their relative motion, so buildings vibrate out of phase and collapse. Among the possible structural damage the seismic induced pounding has been commonly observed phenomenon. Major seismic events during the past decade such as those that have occurred in Loma prieta (1989 earthquake), Nepal (April 25, 2015), Central Western India (2001) have continued to demonstrate the destructive power of earthquakes, with destruction of engineered buildings, bridges, industrial and port facilities as well as giving rise to great economic losses. In the work presented here Time History & Response Spectrum of two R.C. buildings was carried out. The gap provided between the models was 0.3 meters. It was found that the two buildings were pounding on each other. By the use of symmetrical shear wall & steel bracings in these building models, seismic pounding was effectively prevented.