DESIGN AMPLIFICATION FACTOR FOR OPEN GROUND STOREY RC STRUCTURE WITH INFILL OPENINGS IN UPPER STOREYS

Abstract

Reinforced concrete structures with open ground storey have shown very poor earthquake performance during past events. Despite of considering the design recommendations provided in the various international codes of practices for structural elements of open ground storey, the damage in the building has not reduced significantly. Literature shows damage to structural members in the soft storey depends on their relative stiffness with respect to adjacent storeys and eventually affects the deformation characteristics. Hence the problem of soft storey cannot be addressed independently without considering the relative effects of adjacent storeys. In this paper, the seismic response of open ground storey structure with openings in the upper storeys is studied and amplification factor for designing and strengthening of open ground storey members is determined. Static Nonlinear pushover analysis is used to carry out the study. The main parameters investigated are stiffness, strength, inter-storey drift and fundamental period. It is found that the presence of wall opening in upper storey will decrease its stiffness and strength significantly compared to full infill, which directly leads to reduction in the deformation and decrease in amplification factors for design and strengthening of ground storey members.