Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS...................................................................................................................................1

LEST OF FIGURES:........................................................................................................................................2

LEST OF TABLES:..........................................................................................................................................2

ABSTRACT:..................................................................................................................................................3

1. INTRODUCTION:......................................................................................................................................4

2. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:....................................................................................................................5

2.1 THE TEN LARGEST EARTHQUAKES SINCE 1900:...............................................................................................7

3. EARTHQUAKE MECHANISM:....................................................................................................................8

4. EFFECTS OF EARTHQUAKE ON BUILDINGS:..............................................................................................9

4.1 DIRECT SHAKING HAZARDS AND HUMAN-MADE STRUCTURES:..........................................................................9

4.2 GEOLOGIC EFFECTS ON SHAKING:................................................................................................................9
4.3 PREPARING STRUCTURES FOR SHAKING:......................................................................................................10
4.4 ESTIMATING HAZARDS:...........................................................................................................................10
4.5 VIOLENT GROUND MOTION DURING EARTHQUAKES:.....................................................................................11

5. EARTHQUAKE RESISTING TECHNIQUES:.................................................................................................12

5.1 STRENGTHENING STRUCTURES:.................................................................................................................12

5.2 DESIGN PHILOSOPHY:.............................................................................................................................13
5.3 CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS:....................................................................................................................14
5.3.1 MASONRY:................................................................................................................................................14
5.3.2 CONCRETE:...............................................................................................................................................15
5.3.3 STEEL:......................................................................................................................................................15
5.4 DESIGN APPROACHES:............................................................................................................................16
5.4.1 CONVENTIONAL APPROACH..........................................................................................................................16
5.4.2 BASIC APPROACH.......................................................................................................................................16
5.5 TECHNIQUES USED FOR EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE:.......................................................................................17
5.5.1 ISOLATED BASE TECHNIQUE:.........................................................................................................................17
5.5.2 LEAD-RUBBER BEARINGS..............................................................................................................................18
5.5.3 SPHERICAL SLIDING BASE ISOLATION..............................................................................................................20
5.6 ENERGY DISSIPATION DEVICES:.................................................................................................................20
5.6.1 COMMONLY USED SEISMIC DAMPERS:...........................................................................................................21
5.6.2 HOW IT WORKS?.......................................................................................................................................21
5.6.3 NEW BREED OF ENERGY DISSIPATION DEVICES................................................................................................22
5.7 ACTIVE CONTROL DEVICES FOR EARTHQUAKE RESISTANCE:.............................................................................23
5.7.1 ACTIVE CONTROL SYSTEM............................................................................................................................24
6. CONCLUSION:........................................................................................................................................25

REFERENCES:.............................................................................................................................................26

BOOKS:.....................................................................................................................................................26
WEBSITES:.................................................................................................................................................26
ELECTRONIC ENCYCLOPEDIAS:.........................................................................................................................26

Lest of Figures:
Figure 1: Haiti Quake............................................................................................................................................................4
Figure 2: Satellite Photo for a Tsunami................................................................................................................................6
Figure 3: Quake Mechanism,...............................................................................................................................................8
Figure 4: Quake effect on different geologic components,..................................................................................................9
Figure 5: Effect of earth shaking on structures..................................................................................................................10
Figure 6: Deference between ductile and brittle structures...............................................................................................14
Figure 7: Base Isolation techniques....................................................................................................................................17
Figure 8: Spherical Sliding Base Isolation...........................................................................................................................20
Figure 9: Seismic Dampers.................................................................................................................................................20
Figure 10: Fluid damper.....................................................................................................................................................21
Figure 11: People standing in swaying train or bus try to maintain balance by unintentionally bracing their legs or by
relaying on the mussels of their spine and stomach. By providing a similar function to a building it can dampen
immensely the vibrations when confronted with an earthquake. This is the concept of Dynamic Intelligent Building
(DIB)....................................................................................................................................................................................23

Lest of Tables:
Table 1: The Largest 10 Quakes from 1900,------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
Table 2: Categories of buildings for strengthening purposes, source: IAEE Manual----------------------------------------------13

2
 Abstract:
This report is about discussing design aspects for

earthquake resistant structures. But before it starts this, it

introduce some information about quakes itself such as

definitions, quake mechanism, and effect of quake on

buildings in order to know how to deal and design for the

quake force and have a good background before starting the

design process.

3
1. Introduction:

An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release

of energy in the Earth's crust that creates

seismic waves. Earthquakes is a natural

phenomenon from underground movement

along a fault plane. The shaking and

vibration at the surface of the earth resulting

from underground movement.

It is a series of vibrations induced in

the earth's crust by the abrupt rupture and

rebound of rocks in which elastic strain has

been slowly accumulating. It is also

something that is severely disruptive. Figure 1: Haiti Quake

Earthquakes are measured using

observations from seismometers, At the Earth's surface, earthquakes manifest themselves by

shaking and sometimes displacement of the ground. When a large earthquake epicenter is located

offshore, the seabed may be displaced sufficiently to cause a tsunami. Earthquakes can also trigger

landslides, and occasionally volcanic activity.

4
2. Historical Background:

From the lifetime of the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras in the 5th century BCE to the 14th

century CE, earthquakes were usually attributed to "air (vapors) in the cavities of the Earth. Thales

of Miletus, who lived from 625-547 (BCE) was the only documented person who believed that

earthquakes were caused by tension between the earth and water. Other theories existed, including

the Greek philosopher Anaxamines' (585-526 BCE) beliefs that short incline episodes of dryness

and wetness caused seismic activity. The Greek philosopher Democritus (460-371BCE) blamed

water in general for earthquakes. Pliny the Elder called earthquakes "underground thunderstorms."

One of the most devastating earthquakes in

recorded history occurred on 23 January 1556 in

the Shaanxi province, China, killing more than

830,000 people. Most of the population in the area

at the time lived in yaodongs, artificial caves in

loess cliffs, many of which collapsed during the

catastrophe with great loss of life. The 1976

Tangshan earthquake, with death toll estimated to

be between 240,000 to 655,000, is believed to be

the largest earthquake of the 20th century by death

toll.

The largest earthquake that has been measured on a seismograph reached 9.5 magnitudes;

occurring on 22 May 1960.Its epicenter was near Cañete, Chile. The energy released was

approximately twice that of the next most powerful earthquake, the Good Friday Earthquake, which

was centered in Prince William Sound,

5
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake).

Alaska. The ten largest recorded

earthquakes have all been mega thrust

earthquakes; however, of these ten, only

the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake is

Figure 2: Satellite Photo for a Tsunami
simultaneously one of the deadliest

earthquakes in history.

Earthquakes that caused the greatest loss of life, while powerful, were deadly because of

their proximity to either heavily populated areas or the ocean, where earthquakes often create

tsunamis that can devastate communities thousands of kilometers away. Regions most at risk for

great loss of life include those where earthquakes are relatively rare but powerful, and poor regions

with lax, unenforced, or nonexistent seismic building codes.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake).

6
2.1 The ten largest earthquakes since 1900:

S.N Location Date Magnitude

9.5
1 Chile May 22, 1960

9.2
2 Prince William Sound, Alaska March 28, 1964

9.1
3 Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands March 9, 1957

9.0
4 Japan March 11, 2011

5 Kamchatka Nov. 4, 1952 9.0

Off western coast of Sumatra,
6 Dec. 26, 2004 9.0
Indonesia
7 Off the coast of Ecuador Jan. 31, 1906 8.8
8 Offshore Maule, Chile Feb. 27, 2010 8.8
9 Rat Islands, Aleutian Islands Feb. 4, 1965 8.7
10 Northern Sumatra, Indonesia March 28, 2005 8.7
Table 1: The Largest 10 Quakes from 1900,
source: National Earthquake Information Center, U.S. Geological Survey.

7
3. Earthquake Mechanism:

Earthquake is caused by a huge earth crust segments called tectonic plates. The edges of the

plates are called plate boundaries. The plate boundaries are made of many faults.

Earthquake occurs by movement of

the plates either side by side, or hitting

each other. This kind of movement cause a

pressure increasing and traveling as energy

to the earth surface. The different plate

boundaries are stuck to each other along

the fault. When energy reaches the fault it

is being stored up. As the energy become

Figure 3: Quake Mechanism,
source:
higher than the frictional force in the fault, http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/spl/hi/world/04/earthquake/img/e
arthquake.gif
which keeps the plates stick together, the

faults will unstick releasing the stored energy. Released energy will spread out forming seismic

waves. Seismic waves move through the earth reaching the earth surface and causing earth surface

shaking.

Buildings are affected by this shaking causing its oscillation. Oscillation magnitude depends

on how tall is the building. If the building is tall the oscillation will be very large, and the other way

for short buildings.

8
4. Effects of earthquake on buildings:

4.1 Direct Shaking Hazards and Human-Made Structures:

The deaths of earthquakes depend mainly on the collapse of the structures, historically in

southern Italy in 1909 more than 100,000 people killed in the earth quake that happened because of

badly prepared structures but in San Francisco, although the quake was large enough to kill but

view people died only 700 because building construction practices were different type

(predominantly wood) Building practices can make all the difference in earthquakes, even a

moderate rupture beneath a city with structures unprepared for shaking can produce tens of

thousands of casualties.

4.2 Geologic Effects on Shaking:

Earthquake intensity is the basic factor

that affects the amplitude and duration of

shaking produced by an earthquake

(earthquake size, distance from fault, site and

regional geology, etc.). The shaking caused by

seismic waves can cause damage buildings or

Figure 4: Quake effect on different geologic components,
cause buildings to collapse. The level of source:
http://eqseis.geosc.psu.edu/~cammon/HTML/Classes/IntroQ
uakes/Notes/earthquake_effects.html
damage done to a structure depends on the

amplitude and the duration of shaking.

9
4.3 Preparing Structures for Shaking:

Buildings can respond to the accelerations that caused by ground shakes by transmitted it

through the structure's foundation. The inertia of the building (it wants to stay at rest) can cause

shearing of the structure which can concentrate stresses on the weak walls or joints in the structure

resulting in failure or perhaps total collapse. Taller buildings tend to shake longer than short

buildings which can increase the danger to collapse. Fortunately many tall buildings are constructed

to withstand strong winds and some precautions have been taken to reduce their tendency to shake

and they can make resistant to earthquake vibrations. (see fig. 5)

4.4 Estimating Hazards:

To prepare the structures to

resist shaking, factors like cost,
social and politicalmust be
considered which can affect the
design, appearance and the
function of the structure.
Standards to prepare structures
are constructed by the Buildings
Figure 5: Effect of earth shaking on structures
Codes which regulate the design
and construction of the buildings. Most of our building codes are designed to protect
first the building occupants, and second the building integrity. Building codes are
usually drafted to meet the demands of the expected shaking in a given region that are
summarized by seismologists and earthquake engineers in hazards maps, Hazard
maps are constructed by examining.

 The earthquake history of the region to estimate the probability of an

earthquake.

10
  The expected shaking intensity produced by the earthquake (often
expressed as peak acceleration).
 The frequency of the shaking, the distance from the fault.

4.5 Violent Ground Motion during Earthquakes:

The seismic waves travel for great distances before finally losing most of their energy. At

some time after their generation, these seismic waves will reach the earth’s surface, and set it in

motion, which we surprisingly refer to as earthquake ground motion. When this earthquake ground

motion occurs beneath a building and when it is strong enough, it sets the building in motion,

starting with the buildings foundation, and transfers the motion throughout the rest of building in a

very complex way. These motions in turn induce forces which can produce damage.

11
5. Earthquake Resisting Techniques:

5.1 Strengthening Structures:

As mentioned above that the largest number of deaths is due to structural failure during the

earthquake. So it is important to prepare buildings to sustain and stay after the effect of the

earthquake shaking.

In order sustain structures during a quake there are two proposals to achieve this

requirement:

1. Construct a structure which act as a one single stiff unit, that moves with the
ground, or
2. Construct a strong and flexible structure which distort but does not collapse
and absorbs some of the shaking energy.

However, both of these proposals are very expensive and difficult to achieve, so engineers cannot

construct every single building to withstand totally after the impact of the quake.

To overcome this problem, engineers divided structures in several categories and combine

them in order to have a specified sections to simplify the decision on the which degree of safety the

structure should be. The most three commonly categories are as below:

I. Seismic zones:
a. Zone A: Risk of Widespread Collapse and Destruction (MSK IX or
greater).
b. Zone B: Risk of Collapse and Heavy Damage (MSK VIII likely).
c. Zone C: Risk of Damage (MSK VII likely).
d. Zone D: Risk of Minor Damage (MSK VI maximum).
II. Importance of Building:

12
 a. Important: Hospitals, clinics, communication buildings, fire and police
stations, water supply facilities, cinemas, theatres and meeting halls,
schools, dormitories, cultural treasures such as museums, monuments
and temples, etc.
b. Ordinary: Housings, hostels, offices, warehouses, factories, etc.
III. Bearing capacity of foundation soil:
a. Firm: Those soils which have an allowable bearing capacity of more
than 10 t/m2.
b. Soft: Those soils, which have allowable bearing capacity less than or
equal to 10 t/m2.
c. Weak: Those soils, which are liable to large differential settlement, or
liquefaction during an earthquake.

Table (2) explains how to merge up these categories.

5.2 Design Philosophy:

Since designing a quake proof

structures, which will resist the quake

without getting damaged, is too

expensive and tuff, engineers concentrate

constructing a quake resistant structures,

which resist and minimize the quake

effect without collapse, even if they may

get damaged severely.

Table 2: Categories of buildings for strengthening purposes, source:
IAEE Manual
The mentioned categories

facilitate the design in terms of structure importance and quake zone. For instance engineers will

not design a structure for Category-I (see table 2 ) as strength compared to Category-III for

13
example. So this categorization makes designs reliable and more economic (i.e. there is no need to

spend a lot of money to make a very strong design for buildings lie under Category-IV).

Therefore, earthquake design concerned about ensuring that the damages are of acceptable

variety, and also they occur in right places and in right

amounts. Likewise fuses in electrical circuit, this

terminology saves building from collapse by allowing

some pre-determined parts in the structure to undergo the

acceptable type and level of damage. In other words

damage some parts of the structure in order to serve the

Figure 6: Deference between ductile and brittle whole thing. To achieve this, structures should designed
structures.
with certain amount of ductility to allow swaying during a

quake, to absorb as much as of quake energy with minimum amount of damaging.

(see: http://articles.architectjaved.com/earthquake_resistant_structures/design-philosophy-of-

earthquake-resistant-designs/).

5.3 Construction Materials:

Materials used in construction are abundant but following are the most effective commonly

used in structures:

5.3.1 Masonry:

Masonry is made up of burnt clay bricks and cement or mud mortar. Masonry can carry

loads that cause compression (i.e. pressing together) but can hardly take load that causes tension

(i.e. pulling apart). Masonry is a brittle material, these walls develop cracks once their ability to

carry horizontal load is exceeded. Thus infill walls act like sacrificial fuses in buildings: they

14
develop cracks under severe ground shaking but they share the load of the beams and columns until

cracking.

5.3.2 Concrete:

Concrete is another material that has been popularly used in building construction

particularly over the last four decades. Cement concrete is made of crushed stone pieces (called

aggregate), sand, cement and water mixed in appropriate proportions. Concrete is much stronger

than masonry under compressive loads, but again its behavior in tension is poor. The properties of

concrete critically depend on the amount of water used in making concrete, too much and too little

water both can cause havoc.

5.3.3 Steel:

Steel is used in masonry and concrete buildings as reinforcement bars of diameter ranging

from 6mm to 40mm. reinforcing steel can carry both tensile and compressive loads. Moreover steel

is a ductile material. This important property of ductility enables steel bars to undergo large

elongation before breaking. Concrete is used with steel reinforcement bars. This composite material

is called as reinforced cement concrete. The amount and location of steel in a member should be

such that the failure of the member is by steel reaching its strength in tension before concrete

reaches its strength in compression. This type of failure is ductile failure, and is preferred over a

failure where concrete fails first in compression. Therefore, providing more steel in R.C. buildings

can be harmful even!!

(source: http://articles.architectjaved.com/earthquake_resistant_structures/building-construction-

materials-for-earthquake-resistance/).

15
5.4 Design Approaches:

5.4.1 Conventional Approach

Design depends upon providing the building with strength, stiffness and inelastic

deformation capacity which are great enough to withstand a given level of earthquake-generated

force. This can be accomplished by selection of an appropriate structural configuration and careful

detailing of structural members, such as beams and columns, and the connections between them.

5.4.2 Basic Approach

Design depends upon underlying more advanced techniques for earthquake resistance is not

to strengthen the building, but to reduce the earthquake generated forces acting upon it. This can be

accomplished by de-coupling the structure from seismic ground motion it is possible to reduce the

earthquake induced forces in it by three ways.

1. Increase natural period of structures by Base Isolation.

2. Increase damping of system by Energy Dissipation Devices.
3. Mitigate earthquake effects completely by using Active Control Devices.

(source: http://articles.architectjaved.com/earthquake_resistant_structures/earthquake-resistant-

structures-by-planning-and-design-approach/)

16
5.5 Techniques Used for Earthquake Resistance:

5.5.1 Isolated Base Technique:

It is easiest to see the principle at work by referring directly to the most widely used of these

advanced techniques, known as base isolation. A base isolated structure is supported by a series of

bearing pads, which are placed between the buildings and building foundation.

The concept of base isolation is explained

through an example building resting on frictionless

rollers. When the ground shakes, the rollers freely roll,

but the building above does not move. Thus, no force is

transferred to the building due to the shaking of the

ground; simply, the building does not experience the

earthquake.

Now, if the same building is rested on the

flexible pads that offer resistance against lateral

movements (fig 1b), then some effect of the ground

shaking will be transferred to the building above. If the

flexible pads are properly chosen, the forces induced by

ground shaking can be a few times smaller than that

experienced by the building built directly on ground,

namely a fixed base building (fig 1c). The flexible pads

are called base-isolators, whereas the structures Figure 7: Base Isolation techniques.

protected by means of these devices are called base-

17
isolated buildings. The main feature of the base isolation technology is that it introduces flexibility

in the structure.

As a result, a robust medium-rise masonry or reinforced concrete building becomes

extremely flexible. The isolators are often designed, to absorb energy and thus add damping to the

system. This helps in further reducing the seismic response of the building. Many of the base

isolators look like large rubber pads, although there are other types that are based on sliding of one

part of the building relative to other. Also, base isolation is not suitable for all buildings. Mostly low

to medium rise buildings rested on hard soil underneath; high-rise buildings or buildings rested on

soft soil are not suitable for base isolation.

5.5.2 Lead-rubber Bearings

Lead-rubber bearings are the frequently-used types of base isolation bearings. A lead rubber

bearing is made from layers of rubber sandwiched together with layers of steel. In the middle of the

solid lead “plug”. On top and bottom, the bearing is fitted with steel plates which are used to attach

the bearing to the building and foundation. The bearing is very stiff and strong in the vertical

direction, but flexible in the horizontal direction.

5.5.2.1 How it Works:

To get a basic idea of how base isolation works, first examine the above diagram. This

shows an earthquake acting on base isolated building and a conventional, fixed-base, building. As a

result of an earthquake, the ground beneath each building begins to move. . Each building responds

with movement which tends towards the right. The buildings displacement in the direction opposite

the ground motion is actually due to inertia. The inertia forces acting on a building are the most

important of all those generated during an earthquake.

18
In addition to displacing towards right, the un-isolated building is also shown to be changing its

shape from a rectangle to a parallelogram. We say that the building is deforming. The primary cause

of earthquake damage to buildings is the deformation which the building undergoes as a result of

the inertial forces upon it.

5.5.2.2 Response of Base Isolated Buildings

The base-isolated building retains its original, rectangular shape. The base isolated building

itself escapes the deformation and damage-which implies that the inertial forces acting on the base

isolated building have been reduced. Experiments and observations of base-isolated buildings in

earthquakes to as little as ¼ of the acceleration of comparable fixed-base buildings.

Acceleration is decreased because the base isolation system lengthens a buildings period of

vibration, the time it takes for a building to rock back and forth and then back again. And in general,

structures with longer periods of vibration tend to reduce acceleration, while those with shorter

periods tend to increase or amplify acceleration.

19
 5.5.3 Spherical Sliding Base Isolation

Spherical sliding isolation systems are

another type of base isolation. The building is

supported by bearing pads that have a curved

surface and low friction. During an earthquake

the building is free to slide on the bearings.

Since the bearings have a curved surface, the Figure 8: Spherical Sliding Base Isolation

building slides both horizontally and vertically.

The forces needed to move the building upwards limits the horizontal or lateral forces which would

otherwise cause building deformations. Also by adjusting the radius of the bearings curved surface,

this property can be used to design bearings that also lengthen the buildings period of vibration.

(source: http://articles.architectjaved.com/earthquake_resistant_structures/seismic-base-isolation-

technique-for-building-earthquake-resistance/)

5.6 Energy Dissipation Devices:

Another approach for controlling seismic damage in

buildings and improving their seismic performance is by installing

Seismic Dampers in place of structural elements, such as diagonal

braces. These dampers act like the hydraulic shock absorbers in cars

– much of the sudden jerks are absorbed in the hydraulic fluids and

only little is transmitted above to the chassis of the car. When

seismic energy is transmitted through them, dampers absorb part of

it, and thus damp the motion of the building.

Figure 9: Seismic Dampers

20
 5.6.1 Commonly used Seismic Dampers:

1. Viscous Dampers (energy is absorbed by silicone-based fluid passing

between piston cylinder arrangement),
2. Friction Dampers (energy is absorbed by surfaces with friction between
them rubbing against each other),
3. Yielding Dampers (energy is absorbed by metallic components that yield).
4. Viscoelastic Dampers (energy is absorbed by utilizing the controlled
shearing of solids).

Thus by equipping a building with additional devices which have high damping capacity, we can

greatly decrease the seismic energy entering the building.

5.6.2 How it Works?

The construction of a fluid damper is shown in (see fig. 8). It consists of a stainless steel

piston with bronze orifice head. It is

filled with silicone oil. The piston

head utilizes specially shaped

passages which alter the flow of the

damper fluid and thus alter the

resistance characteristics of the Figure 10: Fluid damper.

damper. Fluid dampers may be

designed to behave as a pure energy dissipater or a spring or as a combination of the two.

A fluid viscous damper resembles the common shock absorber such as those found in

automobiles. The piston transmits energy entering the system to the fluid in the damper, causing it

to move within the damper. The movement of the fluid within the damper fluid absorbs this kinetic

21
energy by converting it into heat. In automobiles, this means that a shock received at the wheel is

damped before it reaches the passengers compartment. In buildings this can mean that the building

columns protected by dampers will undergo considerably less horizontal movement and damage

during an earthquake.

5.6.3 New Breed of Energy Dissipation Devices

The innovative methods for control of seismic vibrations such as frictional and other types

of damping devices are important integral part of seismic isolation systems as they severe as a

barrier against the penetration of seismic energy into the structure. In this concept, the dampers

suppress the response of the isolated building relative to its base.

The novel friction damper device consists of three steel plates rotating against each other in

opposite directions. The steel plates are separated by two shims of friction pad material producing

friction with steel plates.

When an external force excites a frame structure the girder starts to displace horizontally

due to this force. The damper will follow the motion and the central plate because of the tensile

forces in the bracing elements. When the applied forces are reversed, the plates will rotate in

opposite way. The damper dissipates energy by means of friction between the sliding surfaces.

The latest Friction-ViscoElastic Damper Device (F-VEDD) combines the advantages of

pure frictional and viscoelastic mechanisms of energy dissipation. This new product consists of

friction pads and viscoelastic polymer pads separated by steel plates. A prestressed bolt in

combination with disk springs and hardened washers is used for maintaining the required clamping

force on the interfaces as in original FDD concept.

(Source: http://articles.architectjaved.com/earthquake_resistant_structures/energy-dissipation-

devices-for-earthquake-resistant-building-design/).

22
5.7 Active Control Devices for Earthquake Resistance:

After development of passive devices such as base isolation and TMD. The next logical

steps is to control the action of these devices in an optimal manner by an external energy source the

resulting system is known as active control

device system. Active control has been very

widely used in aerospace structures. In recent

years significant progress has been made on the

analytical side of active control for civil

engineering structures. Also a few models

explains as shown that there is great promise in

the technology and that one may expect to see in

the foreseeable future several dynamic “Dynamic

Figure 11: People standing in swaying train or bus try to
maintain balance by unintentionally bracing their legs or Intelligent Buildings” the term itself seems to
by relaying on the mussels of their spine and stomach. By
providing a similar function to a building it can dampen
immensely the vibrations when confronted with an have been joined by the Kajima Corporation in
earthquake. This is the concept of Dynamic Intelligent
Building (DIB).
Japan. In one of their pamphlet the concept of

Active control had been explained in every

simple manner and it is worth quoting here.

The philosophy of the past conventional a seismic structure is to respond passively to an

earthquake. In contrast in the DIB which we propose the building itself functions actively against

earthquakes and attempts to control the vibrations. The sensor distributed inside and outside of the

building transmits information to the computer installed in the building which can make analyses

and judgment, and as if the buildings possess intelligence pertaining to the earthquake amends its

own structural characteristics minutes by minute.

23
 5.7.1 Active Control System

The basic configuration of an active control system is schematically shown in figure. The

system consists of three basic elements:

1. Sensors to measure external excitation and/or structural response.

2. Computer hardware and software to compute control forces on the basis of
observed excitation and/or structural response.
3. Actuators to provide the necessary control forces.

Thus in active system has to necessarily have an external energy input to drive the actuators. On the

other hand passive systems do not required external energy and their efficiency depends on tunings

of system to expected excitation and structural behavior. As a result, the passive systems are

effective only for the modes of the vibrations for which these are tuned. Thus the advantage of an

active system lies in its much wider range of applicability since the control forces are worked out on

the basis of actual excitation and structural behavior. In the active system when only external

excitation is measured system is said to be in open-looped. However when the structural response is

used as input, the system is in closed loop control. In certain instances the excitation and response

both are used and it is termed as open-closed loop control.

5.7.1.1 Control Force Devices:

Many ways have been proposed to apply control forces to a structure. Some of these have

been tested in laboratory on scaled down models. Some of the ideas have been put forward for

applications of active forces are briefly described in the following:

5.7.1.2 Active-tuned Mass Dampers (TMD):

These are in passive mode have been used in a number of structures as mentioned earlier. Hence

active TMD is a natural extension. In this system 1% of the total building mass is directly excited

24
by an actuator with no spring and dash pot. The system has been termed as Active Mass Driver

(AMD). The experiments indicated that the building vibrations are reduced about 25% by the use of

AMD.

5.7.1.3 Tendon Control

Various analytical studies have been done using tendons for active control. At low

excitations, even with the active control system off, the tendon will act in passive modes by

resisting deformations in the structures though resulting tension in the tendon. At higher excitations

one may switch over to Active mode where an actuator applies the required tension in tendons.

5.7.1.4 Other Methods

The liquid sloshing during earthquakes has assumed significance importance in view of over

flow of petroleum products from storage tank in post earthquakes. One of the important

consideration with sloshing is that is associated with a very low damping. The wave height was

controlled through force applied to the side wall by a hydraulic actuator. The active control

successfully reduced wave heights to the level of 6% of those without control, for harmonic

excitations at sloshing frequency. For earthquake type excitation the wave heights were reduced to

19% level.

(Source: http://articles.architectjaved.com/earthquake_resistant_structures/active-control-devices-

for-earthquake-resistance/).

6. Conclusion:

As a conclusion there are many techniques to reserve buildings during shaking of the quake.

However the engineers job here is to chose which one is more effective and economic at same time.

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This report has discussed and summered most information could be found about earthquake and its

effect on structures. Earthquake engineering and science is very large field in which is very difficult

to be covered in one single report of about 20 pages.

References:
Books:

Dowrick, D. (2009). Earthquake Resistant Design and Risk Reduction. (2nd

ed.). Singapore: Wiley.
Chopra, A. (2001). Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Applications to
Earthquake Engineering. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Villaverde, R. (2009). Fundamental Concepts of Earthquake Engineering. New
Work: CRC Group.

Websites:

 http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0763403.html
 http://articles.architectjaved.com/earthquake_resistant_structures/
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthquake

Electronic Encyclopedias:

Bolt, B. Earthquake. Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA:

Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
earthquake. (2009). Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica 2009
Student and Home Edition.  Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica.

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