Project aims and objectives

Disasters refers to the occurrences that are not expected and have a great impact on humanity. In responding to this disasters, there have been great efforts that have been put in place to mitigate the overwhelming effects of these disasters. The results of this efforts that have been put in place are very motivating in the developed countries while very miserable and unfortunate in the developing countries. Usually the earthquakes are considered  as the greatest  hazard  on earth which have claimed  a lot of  human lives and properties since time memorial. (Duggal, 2015, p. 520).

Mitigating the disturbing damages normally caused by the earthquakes is one of the key requirements in various parts of the world. Because the occurrence of the earthquakes is unpredictable, the only choice that is available is to design and build houses and other structures which are earthquake resistant. A lot of efforts have been put in place regarding to the design and construction of earthquake resistant buildings. With this implementation the number of lives lost due to earthquakes has greatly reduced. By putting up earthquake resistant buildings  it is possible to mitigate the effects caused by the earthquakes (Booth, 2016, p. 62).

Very significant advancements have been achieved in the last 10years in the design and building of structures that are resistant to earthquakes. This is as a result  of the experimental  and analytical  research  which have conducted in different parts of the globe as well as the lessons  gained  by various parties  involved in  inspecting the damages caused  by the recent  earthquakes. (Khan, 2016, p. 394).

Even with the great success that has been achieved in this field, very significant gaps still remain in our understanding of the idea of seismic character of the reinforced concrete buildings and many areas exist which specialists, both the practitioners and the researchers like to disagree.

The main aim of this research will be carrying out a research the construction of earthquake resistant buildings. With that various specific objectives were set to aid in assisting the main aim of the research such as;

1. Carrying out a literature review regarding to the construction of earthquake resistant buildings
2. Understanding the entire concept of the earthquakes
3. Finding out the effects of earthquakes on the reinforced concrete buildings
4. Analysing the various practices and technology for low cost earthquake resistance construction

The findings of this research will be of great importance in assisting the various parties who are involved in coming up with ways through which it can be possible to design and construct earthquake resistant structures. The amount of damage and number of people who usually perish due to earthquakes will greatly reduce with the establishment of earthquakes resistant buildings

Earthquakes refers to the shaking of the earth’s surface, resulting from the sudden release of energy in the Earth’s lithosphere which creates seismic waves. This energy can be produced by the sudden dislocation of the segments of the crust, by volcanic eruption or even by a manmade explosion (PANKAJ AGRAWAL, 2016).

It is impossible to design and construct a structure which is 100% earthquake resistant, only that its resistance to the earthquake can be improved. Special treatment is required to be given to the structures depending on the region in which the particular site is located. The earthquakes that have occurred in the recent past have raised various issues and have focused us to thick about the manner in which we can construct houses and other structures that are earthquakes resistant (Structures, 2015, p. 31).

Measuring earthquakes

During the earthquakes both the masonry and the reinforced concrete buildings collapse due to the intense shaking of the earth’s surface (AGRAWAL, 2014, p. 429).

The figure below illustrates the damage behavior of the reinforced concrete due to the shaking of the earth’s surface.

The illustration above shows the behavior of the reinforced concrete structures when an earthquake occurs. The tension and the compression in the members ‘reverses due to the earthquake loads, and usually the structure fails to resist and collapses.

The earthquakes are normally measure din a process referred to as seismology. Waves usually travels in the surface of the earth during the occurrence of the earthquake and they carry with them the earthquake loads o the surface of the of the earth and then the waves transfer the load from the surface of the earth to the structure which in turn destroys it. Seismic waves are the waves which normally transfers the load from the structure of the earth to the structure and destroys it. Seismology is the study of the seismic waves. (Plevris, 2014, p. 42).

The reinforced concrete buildings have been widely accepted in the various parts of the world in the recent past. The reinforced concrete structures are usually made of the vertical members i.e. the walls and the columns and the horizontal structural members which are usually beams and slabs and in most cases are supported by foundations which transfers the load to the ground. The structural system which is made up of the columns and beams is referred to as a reinforced  concrete frame (Chorro, 2015, p. 439).

The reinforced concrete frame plays a very essential role in resisting the earthquake waves. The shaking as a result of the earthquake waves creates inertial forces in the building.

Usually there are two types of the structural framing which have the ability to withstand seismic loads together with gravity. The framed construction may comprise the following.

The light framing members which have a diagonal bracing such as infill walls or wood frames for resisting the lateral loads (García, 2010, p. 339).

Substantial rigid jointed columns and the beams that are capable of resisting the lateral loads by themselves. Comparing the bearing walls and the framed construction. The framed construction can be used for the construction of a greater number of the storey. The ductility and strength can be much better controlled in the framed construction. Normally  the strength  of the frame d construction  is not influenced  by the  number and size of the  openings (Anagnostopoulo, 2012, p. 66).

The following main requirements of structural safety of the building can be achieved by:

A free standing wall must be designed to be safe as a vertical cantilever. This requirement   will be very complex to be achieved in unreinforced masonry Zone. Thus all the portions inside the building must be held on the sides as well as Parapets must be reinforced and held to the main structural frames or slabs.

The horizontal reinforcement in the walls is needed for transferring their own out-of-plane inertial loads horizontally to the shear walls.

Structural framing

The walls must be effectively tied to avoid separation at the vertical joints due to the ground shaking (Bertero, 2018, p. 110) 

The shear walls must be present along both axes of the building

Floor or roof elements must be tied together and have ability to exhibit diaphragm action

A shear wall must be capable of resisting all the horizontal forces because of its own mass and those masses that are transmitted to it.

All the trusses of the structure must be anchored to the supporting walls and have an arrangement for the transferring   their inertial forces to the end walls.

For all the past earthquake, the reinforced concrete frame structures which have columns and beams of various heights within one storey, suffered more damage in the shorter columns as compared  to the teller  column  in the same storey (Dowrick, 2016) .Two examples  of the buildings  with short columns in  the building  on a sloping ground and a building  with  a mezzanine floor can  be as shown in the figure below.

The poor behavior of short column is because of the earthquake, tall column and a short column of same cross section move horizontally by the same amount which can be seen from the given figure.

Nevertheless, the short column is stiffer as compared to the taller and it attracts larger earthquakes forces. The stiffness of a column indicates the resistance to the deformation, the larger is the stiffness, a larger force is thus required to deform it.

There are economical and more conventional simple construction practices which can be incorporated in the construction of earthquake resistant buildings which can reduce cost of construction and make it safer to live in. Some of the practices and technology include:

• Rice straw buildings
• Wooden and Bamboo house

Usually the research methodology is characterised as a thoughtful methodology which gives assurance to the analyst or the researcher to collect relevant information or data to embrace the examination relating to this topic of research by applying the various research approaches. The main goal of the proposed research is to study and analysis the construction of earthquake resistant buildings. Various specific objectives were set to aid in achieving the main aim of the study. Because of that, it is very significant to have a deep understanding of the construction of the resistant buildings.

It was very essential to understand the main features of the topic of research. Thus qualitative research approach together with the literature review will be applied for this research. This research methodology is very appropriate to conduct this study because the literature survey offers information which is very detailed regarding to the construction of the earthquake resistant buildings.

This research approach gives a summary of the previous researches that have been conducted by other scholars regarding to the construction of the earthquake resistant buildings and due to that it gives a brief description of the regarding to the construction of the earthquake resistant buildings.

Some of the techniques that were applied during the research include;

Various secondary sources such books, journal and other publications that contains information relevant to the topic of research were reviewed. By reviewing the secondary sources, it is much easier to achieve the aims of the study as it gives the summary regarding to the construction of earthquake resistant buildings.

Requirements for structural safety

Different mathematical models will be applied during the study. The mathematical models that will be used must relating to the construction of the earthquake resistant buildings.

Merits of mathematical models

Some of the benefits of using the mathematical models in research include;

• They are very easy and fast to create
• They have the ability to simply a very complex situation
• They can aid in improving the understanding of the real life variables
• With the mathematical models it is possible to make predictions
• They can greatly aid in controlling such as in the aircraft control.
• For one to carry out simulation he/she requires a deeper understanding of the subject

The Gantt chart below show the range which is required for all the activities to be carried out. The advancement of the venture is divided into four diverse breakthrough which will assist in finishing errand  and in addition give an essential  contribution  from the direct sources. For all the assignments which are arranged in this task has been allocated sufficient time.

This research just covers the proposed study yet as shown by the change of the arrangement many stages may be incorporated extending as indicated by the given reasons for every activity.

Conclusion

In conclusion, very significant advancements have been achieved in the last 10years in the design and building of structures that are resistant to earthquakes. This is as a result of the experimental and analytical research which have conducted in different parts of the globe as well as the lessons gained by various parties involved in inspecting the damages caused by the recent earthquakes.

Mitigating the disturbing damages normally caused by the earthquakes is one of the key requirements in various parts of the world. Because the occurrence of the earthquakes is unpredictable, the only choice that is available is to design and build houses and other structures which are earthquake resistant. A lot of efforts have been put in place regarding to the design and construction of earthquake resistant buildings. With this implementation the number of lives lost due to earthquakes has greatly reduced. By putting up earthquake resistant buildings it is possible to mitigate the effects caused by the earthquakes

References

AGRAWAL, P., 2014. Earthquake Resistant Design Of Structures. 4th ed. London: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Anagnostopoulo, S. A., 2012. Computer analysis and design of earthquake resistant structures: a handbook. 3rd ed. Texas: Computational Mechanics Publications.

Bertero, V. V., 2018. Earthquake-resistant Reinforced Concrete Building Construction: Organization and final recommendations. 4th ed. London: University of California, University Extension.

Booth, E. D., 2016. Earthquake Design Practice for Buildings. 2nd ed. Chicago: Edmund D. Booth.

Chorro, I., 2015. Earthquake Resistant Engineering Structures XI. 4th ed. Chicago: WIT Press.

Dowrick, D. J., 2016. Earthquake resistant design: for engineers and architects. 1st ed. Auckland: Wiley.

Duggal, S. K., 2015. Earthquake Resistant Design of Structure. 2nd ed. London: OUP India,.

Fujino, Y., 2015. Stock Management for Sustainable Urban Regeneration. 3rd ed. London: Springer Science & Business Media.

García, B., 2010. Earthquake architecture: new construction techniques for earthquake disaster prevention. 3rd ed. Sydney: LOFT and HBI.

Khan, M. A., 2016. Earthquake-Resistant Structures: Design, Build, and Retrofit. 4th ed. London: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Manohar, S., 2014. Seismic Design of RC Buildings: Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. Chicago: Springer.

PANKAJ AGRAWAL, 2016. EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT DESIGN OF STRUCTURES. 5th ed. London: PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..

Plevris, V., 2014. Structural Seismic Design Optimization and Earthquake Engineering: Formulations and Applications: Formulations and Applications. 4th ed. London: IGI Global.

Sharma, N., 2011. R.C.C Design & Drawing. 4th ed. Berlin: S. K. Kataria & Son.

Structures, D. o. S.-R. S., 2015. Ductility of Seismic-Resistant Steel Structures. 1st ed. Chicago: CRC Press.