Design for Earthquake Safety

G G Schierle, PhD, FAIA

Session SA04
Date
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Time
8:15 - 9:45 am
AIA 2006 National Convention and Design Exposition

This program is registered with the AIA/CES for continuing

professional education. As such, it does not include content that
may be deemed or construed to be an approval or endorsement by
the AIA of any material of construction or any method or manner of
handling, using, distributing, or dealing in any material or product.
Questions related to specific materials, methods, and services may
be addressed at the conclusion of this presentation.
Portions of this document reproduce sections from the 2003
International Building Code, International Code Council, Falls
Church, Virginia. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.
USGS data and figures, courtesy US Geological Survey.
This seminar is not a substitute for engineering design.

Seminar Outline
Earthquake background
Plate Tectonics
Largest quakes since 1900
Seismic Waves & Epicenter
Richter Scale
Earthquake failures
Earthquake cause and effect
SD graph introduction
Design Response Spectra
Analysis steps
CS graph for light wood / wood panels
SDS graph for low-rise
SD1 graph for high-rise
Vertical force and shear distribution
Example: Two-story wood residence

Horizontal diaphragms
Flexible diaphragm
Rigid diaphragm
Critical seismic design issues
Hill site design
Stability issues
Eccentricity
Hazard configurations
Critical wood-frame items
Moment frames
Eccentric bracing
Visco-elastic bracing
Base isolators
Earthquake fatalities 197099
Effect of mass (dead load)
Bibliography & seismic web site

Plate Tectonics

USA
Turns ~ 1/year

USGS map

USGS map

#
1
2
3
4
5

Eleven largest
Location
Date
Chile
1960
Alaska
1964
Aleutian Islands
1957
Kamchatka
1952
Sumatra (Tsunami) 2004

earthquakes since 1900

M
# Location
Date
9.5
6 Ecuador Coast
1906
9.2
7 Aleutian Islands
1965
9.1
8 India-China
1950
9.0
9 Kamchatka
1923
9.0
10 Indonesia
1938
11 Kuril Islands
1963
11

49 73

10

USGS data & map

M
8.8
8.7
8.6
8.5
8.5
8.5

Seismic waves - USGS figures

Body waves travel through earth interior

P waves (Primary waves)
travel at very high speed (26,000 mph)
S waves (Secondary waves)
shake perpendicular to wave direction
Surface waves travel near the earth surface
Love waves
shake perpendicular to wave direction
Rayleigh waves
shake in elliptical motion
Epicenter Location
The time difference waves of different speed arrive
at seismic stations defines the earthquake distance
Distances from 3 stations define the Epicenter

Period
Time of wave cycle. Resonant building &
earthquake periods may cause collapse.
Richter scale
Developed 1935 by Charles Richter.
Earthquake magnitude as logarithm of
wave amplitude recorded by seismograph;
adjusted for distance to epicenter.
Each whole number increase represents
a tenfold increase in force and amplitude
and 31 times more energy.

USGS figures

Northridge Earthquake Failure

Cosmetic damage

Collapsed second story and side wall

Soft-story collapse

Collapsed exit stair

Collapsed soft-story
Use moment frames to resist collapse

Hazard configurations: wings split at intersections

Seismic joints prevent splitting

H
L
T
U

Slender shear wall failure

Use 1:3.5 aspect ratio

Brick veneer failure

Avoid brick veneer
on tall wood walls

Prefab parking garage

Collapse
Use moment joints

CMU wall failure

Use ductile design

Flawed construction quality

Provide quality control

Parking garage
Prefab tree elements
split at intersections
Design strong joints

Second story collapse

Brittle failure
Use ductile design

Un-reinforced masonry
Corner pounding failures
Use corner joints

Brick veneer failure

Attach veneer firmly

Diagonal shear cracks

Avoid narrow shear walls

Veneer failure
Avoid stiff veneer on ductile steel frame

Earthquake cause / effect

Causes:
Fault slippage (plate movement)
Volcanic eruptions
1

Fault rupture / wave propagation

H = Hypocenter (earthquake focus)
E = Epicenter (above hypocenter)
Vertical motion at epicenter
Lateral motion at distance

2
3

Lateral slip fault

Thrust fault

Effect on buildings:
4
5

Overturning
Base shear

6
7

Bending (first mode)

Bending (higher mode)

Seismic Design
using

SD-Graphs
by G G Schierle
adapted from IBC-03
Equivalent Lateral Force Analysis
for Allowable Stress Design (ASD)
(ASD = LRFD / 1.4)
Light framing with wood panels

Other low-rise structures

High-rise structures
S D1 graph 1 sec. design spectral accelerations

SDS graph 0.2 sec. design spectral accelerations

Cs factors for light fram ing with wood panels (R=6, I=1)

3.0

0.50
0.45

3.5

2.5

3.0

2.0

2.5

0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25

1.5

0.20

1.0

0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
A
B
C
D
E

2.0

1.5

E
0.5
0.0

1.0
0.5
0.0

0.25

0.5

0.75

1.25

1.5

0.25

0.5

0.75

1.25

1.5

0.02
0.02

0.03
0.04

0.05
0.06

0.06
0.08

0.08
0.10

0.10
0.12

0.13
0.16

0.19
0.24

0.25
0.32

0.32
0.40

0.38
0.48

0.10

0.19

0.29

0.38

0.48

0.57

0.76

1.14

1.52

1.90

2.28

0.05
0.06

0.07
0.07

0.08
0.09

0.10
0.10

0.12
0.12

0.16
0.16

0.24
0.24

0.32
0.32

0.40
0.40

0.48
0.48

0.12
0.14

0.24
0.29

0.36
0.39

0.48
0.48

0.60
0.60

0.71
0.71

0.95
0.95

1.43
1.43

1.90
1.90

2.38
2.38

2.86
2.86

0.02
0.03

0.19

0.33

0.43

0.52

0.60

0.71

0.95

1.43

1.90

2.38

2.86

C
D

0.05

0.07

0.07

0.07

0.09

0.11

0.14

0.21

0.29

0.36

0.43

0.30

0.40

0.43

0.43

0.54

0.64

0.86

1.29

1.71

2.14

2.57

Cs for site class A-E for 0.2 sec mapped spectral accelerations Ss (top line)

D
E

SDS for site class A-E for 0.2 sec. mapped spectral accelerations SS (top line)

A
0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

1.5

2.5

0.04
0.05

0.08
0.10

0.11
0.14

0.15
0.19

0.19
0.24

0.38
0.48

0.57
0.71

0.76
0.95

0.95
1.19

1.14
1.43

0.08

0.15

0.21

0.27

0.31

0.62

0.93

1.24

1.55

1.86

0.11
0.17

0.19
0.30

0.26
0.40

0.30
0.46

0.36
0.57

0.71
1.14

1.07
1.71

1.43
2.28

1.79
2.86

2.14
3.43

SD1 for site class A-E for 1 sec. mapped spectral accelerations S1 (top line)

Seismic force = mass x acceleration / R

Mass = building dead weight; R = reduction factor
Acceleration = Spectral Acceleration
(i.e. mass on a rod of equal period as structure)
Acceleration spectra (Seed, 1976)
define interaction of structures with 4 soil types
(basis of Equivalent Lateral Force Analysis)
IBC Design Response Spectrum
T < TS governs low-rise structures of short periods
T > TS governs tall structures of long periods
T

structure period, T ~ 1/10 sec per story

Base shear V

V = CS W

(lateral force at base of building)

CS= seismic coefficient (see graphs)

W = Dead load
(+ 25% storage live load )
Cs varies with spectral acceleration SS & S1 and type of structure
(defined on the following pages)
For example, in seismic areas:
Cs ~ 3 % for tall steel frame structures
Cs ~ 15 % for low-rise wood structures
Cs ~ 30 % for masonry wall structures
W=wA
(w = DL {psf}, A = floor area)
w varies with type of construction for example:
w ~ 15 to 25 psf for wood structures
w ~ 70 to 100 psf for steel structures
w ~ 150 to 200 psf for concrete structures

Seismic Design Parameters SS & S1 (CD)

MCE:
Maximum
Considered
Earthquake

MCE values
0.2 second SS

MCE values
1 second S1

for low-rise

for high-rise

Seismic Design Parameters (USGS website)

http://eqdesign.cr.usgs.gov/html/lookup-2002-interp-D6.html

Enter latitude in the left box in decimal degrees (range: 24.6 to 50.0)
Enter negative longitude in the right box (range: -125.0 to -65.0)
OUTPUT
LOCATION 37.7795 Lat. -122.4195 Long.
Interpolated Probabilistic Ground Motion values, in %g, at the site are:
10%PE in 50 yr.
2%PE in 50 yr.
PGA
49.94
76.34
0.2 sec SA 115.35
182.76 Ss = 1.83 (for low-rise)
1.0 sec SA 53.08
92.41 S1 = 0.92 (for high-rise)

Cs factors for light fram ing with wood panels (R=6, I=1)
R = R-factor (1.5-8)
(IBC table 1617.6.2)
I = Importance factor (IBC table 1604.5)
I = 1.5 (essential facilities - hospitals, police & fire stations)
I = 1.25 (large occupancy)
I = 1 (all other facilities)

0.50
0.45
0.40
0.35
0.30
0.25
0.20
0.15
0.10
0.05
0.00
A
B
C
D
E

A
0.25

0.5

0.75

1.25

1.5

0.02
0.02
0.02
0.03

0.03
0.04
0.05
0.06

0.05
0.06
0.07
0.07

0.06
0.08
0.08
0.09

0.08
0.10
0.10
0.10

0.10
0.12
0.12
0.12

0.13
0.16
0.16
0.16

0.19
0.24
0.24
0.24

0.25
0.32
0.32
0.32

0.32
0.40
0.40
0.40

0.38
0.48
0.48
0.48

0.05

0.07

0.07

0.07

0.09

0.11

0.14

0.21

0.29

0.36

0.43

Cs for site class A-E for 0.2 sec mapped spectral accelerations Ss (top line)

Site class A-E defined by geologist (default site class D)

SS from USGS
hard rock
rock
dense soil CS
stiff soil
soft soil

Low-rise (general)
CS = I SDS / R

IBC table 1617.6.2 R-factor excerpts

Light framed walls with wood panels
Ordinary plain concrete shear wall

R
6
1.5

SDS graph 0.2 sec. design spectral accelerations

R = R-factor (1.5-8) (IBC table 1617.6.2)

I = Importance factor (IBC table 1604.5)
I = 1.5 (essential facilities - hospitals, police & fire stations)
I = 1.25 (large occupancy)
I = 1 (all other facilities)

3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
A
B
C
D
E

0.25

0.5

0.75

1.25

1.5

0.10

0.19

0.29

0.38

0.48

0.57

0.76

1.14

1.52

1.90

2.28

0.12
0.14

0.24
0.29

0.36
0.39

0.48
0.48

0.60
0.60

0.71
0.71

0.95
0.95

1.43
1.43

1.90
1.90

2.38
2.38

2.86
2.86

0.19
0.30

0.33
0.40

0.43
0.43

0.52
0.43

0.60
0.54

0.71
0.64

0.95
0.86

1.43
1.29

1.90
1.71

2.38
2.14

2.86
2.57

SS from USGS
hard rock
rock
dense soil SDS
stiff soil
soft soil

High-rise
(T > TS)
CS = I SD1 / (TR) (TS = SDS/SD1)

IBC table 1617.6.2 R-factor excerpts

Ordinary composite braced frames
Special steel moment frames

R
3
8

S D1 graph 1 sec. design spectral accelerations

Avoid high-rise
on soft soil
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
A
B
C
D
E

0.1

0.2

0.3

0.4

0.5

1.5

2.5

0.04
0.05
0.08
0.11

0.08
0.10
0.15
0.19

0.11
0.14
0.21
0.26

0.15
0.19
0.27
0.30

0.19
0.24
0.31
0.36

0.38
0.48
0.62
0.71

0.57
0.71
0.93
1.07

0.76
0.95
1.24
1.43

0.95
1.19
1.55
1.79

1.14
1.43
1.86
2.14

0.17

0.30

0.40

0.46

0.57

1.14

1.71

2.28

2.86

3.43

S1 from USGS
hard rock
rock
dense soil SD1
stiff soil
soft soil

Force per level x

FX = CvxV
CVX = w xhkx /

Example:
F3 = 3k
V3 = 3 k
F2 = 2k
V2 = 3+2 = 5 k
F1 = 1k V1 = 3+2+1 = 6 k
Vertical force & shear distribution
Seismic forces increase with height
due to increased acceleration
1 Linear force increase for low-rise
2 Non-linear force increase for high-rise
3 Three-story example

i=1

w ihki

Shear per level x

VX =

Fi

i= x

where
V = base shear
h = height of level
w = DL per level
k = 1 for T < 0.5 sec
k = 2 for T 2.5 sec
interpolate @ 0.5-2.5

10
10

50

20

40
IBC table 2306.4.1 excerpts
Allowable shear for wood panels with
Douglas-Fir-Large or Southern Pine (Structural I sheathing)
Nail spacing at panel edge (in)
Panel
Nail
Nail
thickness penetration size

2*

Allowable shear (lbs / foot)

5/16 in

1 1/4 in

6d

200

300

390

510

3/8 in

1 3/8 in

8d

230

360

460

610

7/16 in

1 3/8 in

8d

255

395

505

670

1 3/8 in

8d

280

430

550

730

1 1/2 in

10d

340

510

665

870

15/32 in

* Requires 3 x framing and staggered nailing

Example: Two-story wood residence

DL= 24 psf (floor+walls), 13.5 psf (roof+walls) CS = 0.16
Dead load (DL)
Roof DL = W = 13.5 psf x 40 x 50 / 1000 # W = 27 k
Floor DL = W = 24 psf x 40 x 50 / 1000 #
W = 48 k
Base shear
V = W CS = (27+48) 0.16
V = 12 k
Vertical distribution
(0.53 = 540 / 1,020)
Fx= V wx hx / (wi hi)
(0.47 = 480 / 1,020)
Level: wx hx = wxhx
V
Fx
VX
Roof: 27 k x 20 = 540 k 0.53 x 12 k = 6.4 k 6.4 k
Floor: 48 k x 10 = 480 k 0.47 x 12 k = 5.6 k 12.0 k
V = 12.0 k
wihI = 1,020 k
Shear wall: use 5/16 plywood, 6d @ 4, q = 300 plf
L = 12,000 # / 300 plf
L = 40
Use each way
2 - 20 walls

Horizontal Diaphragms
transfer lateral load to shear walls and
other elements two ways
1 Flexible diaphragm (wood - disputed)
transfers in proportion to tributary area
Shear wall reactions:
R = w (tributary area supported by wall)
w = uniform load (psf)
2 Rigid diaphragm (concrete & steel)
transfers in proportion to wall stiffness.
Reactions for walls of equal material:
R1 = WL13 / L3
(L3 = L13+L23+L33)
R2 = WL23 / L3
R3 = WL33 / L3
where
L = Length of walls
W = Total load

CRITICAL SEISMIC DESIGN ISSUES

Hillside design

To avoid expensive
earthquake repair ..

. adapt buildings to site instead of adapting site to buildings

sustainable design
reduces grading
and retaining walls

Stability issues
1 Narrow multistory shear walls are
vulnerable to overturning
2 Mitigations:
A Join windows for wider shear walls
B Attach shear walls to edge beam
3 Narrow shear wall failure
4 Tuck-under parking collapse
5 Use moment frames to resist collapse
3

Eccentricity issues (avoid)

1

X-direction concentric
Y-direction eccentric

X-direction eccentric
Y-direction eccentric

X-direction concentric
Y-direction concentric

X-direction concentric
Y-direction concentric

X-direction concentric
Y-direction concentric

X-direction concentric
Y-direction concentric

Hazard Configurations
Differential periods split wings

Wings split during Northridge Earthquake

Mitigations:
Joints at low-rise intersections
Reinforce high-rise intersections
(to prevent pounding of adjacent wings)

B
6" MAX

6" MAX

12" MAX

6" MAX

DD

E
E

GYP/FIBER BD.

PLWD.
1.5

3.5

GG

1.0

1.0

Critical woodframe items

A Shear wall anchor bolts
Resist wall slippage
B Hold-down
Resist shear wall overturning
C Shear wall panel max. nail spacing
6 @ panel edge, 12 @ other studs
D Wall-to-wall hold-down
Resist shear wall overturning
E Framing anchor clips
Transfer shear from floor to floor
F Beam support anchor
Resist beam slippage
G Shear wall max. width/height ratio
IBC 1 : 3.5; Los Angeles 1: 2
H Joist blocking
Transfers shear @ panel edges

Moment frames
Provide ductility
Require rigid
beam-column joints
to transfer moments
Steel:
Reduced beam flanges
reduce joint stress

I = inflection points of zero bending stress

Concrete:
Extend rebars through beam & column

Link Beam

Eccentric bracing
Short Link Beam for stiffness
Long Link Beam for ductility
Visco elastic bracing
Stiff at normal load
Ductile at large earthquakes

Base Isolators
Dampen seismic load and reduce drift
Good for low-rise
Not good for high-rise
Base isolators consist of
Rubber sheets and steel plates
Joined by a bolt and lead cylinder
Isolate building from ground

UCLA Kerckhoff Hall base isolators

Courtesy WWCOT Architects

Fatalities of major earthquakes 1970 - 1999 (USGS data)

Seismic design saves lives

Date
May 31, 1970
February 9, 1971
February 4, 1975
February 4, 1976
July 27, 1976
September 19, 1985
December 7, 1988
October 18, 1989
September 2, 1992
September 29, 1993
January 17, 1994
January 16, 1995
July 17, 1998
January 25, 1999
August 17, 1999
September 20, 1999

Time (GMT
20:23
14:00
11:36
09:01
19:42
13:17
07:41
00:04
00:16
22:25
12:30
20:46
08:49
18:19
00:01
17:47

Place
Peru
San Fernando, CA
Haicheng, China
Guatemala
Tangshan, China
Michoacan, Mexico
Spitak, Armenia
Loma Prieta, CA
Nicaragua
Latur-Killari, India
Northridge, CA
Kobe, Japan
New Guinea
Colombia
Izmit, Turkey
Chi-Chi, Taiwan

Latitute
-9.25
34.40
40.72
15.30
39.61
18.44
40.93
37.14
11.77
18.08
34.18
34.57
-2.94
4.45
40.77
23.82

Longitute
-78.84
-118.39
122.73
-89.14
117.89
-102.36
44.11
-121.76
-87.35
76.52
-118.56
135.03
142.58
-75.65
30.00
120.86

Fatalities
66,000
65
10,000
23,000
255,000*
9,500
25,000
63
116
9,748
60
5,502
2,183
1,185
17,118
2,400

M
7.9
6.7
7.0
7.5
7.5
8.0
6.8
6.9
7.7
6.2
6.7
6.9
7.0
6.2
7.6
7.7

Lightweight structures minimizes seismic forces

V = CS W

Saddle shape

Wave shape

Arch shape

Bibliography
Architectural Structures (Schierle, 2005)
http://www.usc.edu/structures
http://www.usc.edu/seismic
IBC (International Code Council, 2003)

Point shape

Seminar Evaluation
Please take a moment to complete
the evaluation form. Thank You.

G G Schierle, PhD, FAIA

AIA 2005 National Convention and Design Exposition