EARTHQUAKE RESISTANT DESIGN

OF BUILDINGS (CVEN90017)
Assignment 2

GROUP 5
Chris Daramola 677441
Yan Zou 1161251

CONTENTS
1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................1
2. Task I..........................................................................................................................................................................2
3. Task 2........................................................................................................................................................................10
4. Conclusion................................................................................................................................................................12
Appendix.......................................................................................................................................................................14
1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this assignment is to demonstrate the authors’ knowledge of the use of Excel
spreadsheet to develop moment-curvature relationship of a reinforced concrete section subjected
to axial load. This is done by investigating a 30 m high multi-storey reinforced concrete building. To
demonstrate, the assignment is focused on the deformation behviour of the reinforcement concrete
walls which provide lateral support to the building. For simplicity, the building is considered as a
symmetrical structural configuration and the walls are uniform cross-section along the building
height. The walls used is an I section shown in Figure 1 below. Table 1 summarizes the parameter
of the wall for the dimensions and arrangements of the rebars.

RC I Section
12 4500

4000
10
3500

8 3000

2500
Depth, mm

6
2000

4 1500

1000
2
500

0 0
0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000

Length, mm

Figure 1. RC I section wall

Table 1. Parameters of walls

Parameters
Breadth, B (mm) 4000
Depth, D (mm) 4000
Thickness, t (mm) 250
Bar diameter, db (mm) 20
Cover, c (mm) 70
Design bar spacing, s (mm) 200
Number of bars, y-direction, N(D) 19
Numbers of bars, x-direction, N(B) 19
Actual bar spacing, s(D) (mm) 214
Actual bar spacing, s(B) (mm) 193

1
2. TASK I
In task I, it is required to develop a moment-curvature relationship of the reinforced concrete I section
wall by using the fibre-element analysis. To complete the moment-curvature plot, the steps listed below
were followed. The secant flexural rigidity (EIcr) and the curvature at yield along the maximum moment
of resistance are determined from the plotted moment-curvature diagram. In addition, the wall is
modelled using RESPONSE 2000 and the results obtained are compared with the results calculated by
EXCEL spreadsheets.
Step 1:
The first step is to characterise the strength property of the design concrete and steel. The design
parameters of concrete and steel for the wall are summarized in Table 2 according to the Australian
Standard AS3600.
Table 2. Concrete and steel parameters

Concrete Steel
Concrete Grade N32 Steel yield strength, fy 550
(MPa)
Modules of Elasticity, 30.1 Young’s Modules, Es 200
Ec (GPa) (GPa)
Characteristic 32 Steel ultimate strength, 660
strength, f’c (MPa) fsu (MPa)
Mean, fcm (MPa) 39.28 Yield strain, εsy 0.0028
Mean insitu, fcmi 35.352 Plateau strain, εsp 0.0028
(MPa)
Mean εco 0.002 Ultimate strain, εsu 0.095
Esec (GPa) 17.86

The design parameters shown above will help with characterising the stress-strain curve for concrete and
steel respectively. Additionally, the equation of stress-strain in terms of elastic and plastic regions for
concrete and steel are developed in accordance with AS3600 are as follow:
For the concrete stress,
εc
n×
ε co
σ c =f cmi , ε c ≤ ε co [1]

( )
n
εc
n−1+
ε co

εc
n×
ε co
σ c =f cmi , ε c ≤ ε co [2]

( )
nk
ε
n−1+ c
ε co

Where,

2
 0.75
4.11 × f cmi
ε co= , f cmi=0.9 f cm
Ec
f cmi Ec f cmi
E sec = ,n= , k=0.67+ ≥ 1.0
ε co E c −E sec 62
For steel stress,
σ s=E s × ε s , ε s ≤ ε sy

( )
2
ε su−ε y
σ s=f su−( f su −f sy ) , ε s > ε sy [3 ]
ε su−ε sp

Where,
Es
ε y =ε sy = , ε =0.095
f y su
The stress-strain curve for concrete and steel are shown in Figure 2 and Figure 3.

Stress-strain curve of concrete

40.000

35.000

30.000
Stress σ (MPa)

25.000

20.000

15.000

10.000

5.000

0.000
0.0000 0.0050 0.0100 0.0150 0.0200 0.0250

Strain ε

Figure 2. Stress-strain curve of concrete

3
 Stress-strain curve of steel
700

600

500
Stress σ (MPa)

400

300

200

100

0
0.0000 0.0020 0.0040 0.0060 0.0080 0.0100 0.0120 0.0140 0.0160 0.0180

Strain ε

Figure 3. Stress-strain curve of steel

Step 2:
The next step is to apply the fibre-element analysis, and it needs to divide the concrete cross-section of
the wall into large number of segments for a good accuracy. Therefore, the cross-section of the wall is
divided into 32 slices with a thickness of 125mm for each slice. However, it is necessary to specify a
reference strain value and a reference Y value based on the assumed neutral axis (N.A) position which is
at the middle of the cross-section at first. The result of N.A is verified by the force equilibrium discussed
in further step.
Table 3. Reference values

Reference strain 0.0025

Reference Y value (mm) 4000
Assumed neutral axis yN.A. (mm) 2000

To determine the strain value of concrete for each slice, the rule of similar triangle is applied shown as
follow:
Reference strain
ε c= × ( slide depth− yN . A . ) [4 ]
Reference Y value− yN . A .
Where, slide depth is the height of each slide to the bottom of the cross-section; yN.A. is measured from
the top of the cross-section.
The results of concrete strain for a reference strain of 0.0025 are tabulated as shown in Appendix A.
In terms of the stress of concrete for each slice, the resulting value of stress for each strain shown in
Appendix A can be found on the stress-strain plot which is completed in Step 1. Using the same equation
expression, the results of stress for each concrete stress can be determined in Appendix A for the
reference values in Table 3 presented above.

4
Thus, the force subjected to the corresponding stress can be determined by the equation as follow:
F cc =σ c × A slice [5 ]

However, it is assumed that the concrete is only subjected to compression force, which there is no
contribution to the tensile strength by the concrete. Thus, the forces of concrete in tension are equivalent
to zero.
For the consideration of steel rebars, the strain and stress for each rebars are taken into account
individually. In terms of the strain for each steel rebar, the rule of similar triangle is applied with the same
equation 5 where the strain results should relate to the position of steel rebars. Therefore, the stress of
steel rebars can be determined regarding the characteristics of stress-stain plot of the design steel. As the
area of steel rebars is uniform, the force can be derived by following equations, the positive and negative
values of stresses represent the compression and tension forces respectively. The results of steel rebars for
reference values in Table 3 is attached in Appendix B.
F sc =σ sc × Asc [6]

F st =σ st × A st [7]

Step 3:
It should be noticed that the fibre-element analysis in Step 2 is based on the assumed value of neutral
axis, which results in an unbalanced force equilibrium with the consideration of axial force (N) subjected
to the walls. The relationship of balanced force equilibrium can be expressed in equation as follow:
F cc + F sc −F st −N =0 [8 ]
For the determination of axial load, with the reference of ALR range of 0.1 to 0.2, it is concluded to
choose a higher limit for a heavily loaded wall, where ALR is:
N
ALR= '
= [ 0.1 , 0.2 ]
f Ag
c

Where f c should be using the mean compressive strength of concrete f cmi

'

Thus, the axial load is round up to 20,000kN in this situation.

In EXCEL spreadsheet, the SOLVER function can be utilized which achieves a result of 3714 mm for the
neutral axis.
Step 4:
Determine the bending moment at the middle of the cross-section,
In this step, the bending moment at the middle of the cross-section can be calculated with the correct
result of neutral axis. With the principle formula of bending moment shown in equation # as follow:
M =F × d [9]
Where d is the perpendicular distance from the middle of the cross-section to the line of action of force by
concrete slices and steel rebars.

5
With the forces calculated in Step 2 for the reference strain of 0.0025, the total bending moment at the
middle of the cross-section can be expressed via equation 10:

M t =∑ Fc d i + F s d j [10 ]
In addition, the curvature with this value of bending moment, which is dependent on the location of
neutral axis, can be derived with equation:
1 ε ε
κ= = = [11]
R r Reference Y value− yN . A .
Table 4 presents the results of Step 3 and Step 4 with the above reference values.
Table 4. Results of step3 and 4

Axial load, N (kN) 20000

Reference strain 0.0025
Reference Y value 4000
Actual neutral axis, yN.A. (mm) 3714
Total bending moment, Mt (kNm) 76781
Curvature, κ (m-1) 0.0087

Step 5:
Previous steps from step 1 to step 4, which describes the detailed process to calculate the bending
moment and curvature for one reference strain of 0.0025. Thus, to produce one complete moment
curvature plot, it is required to iterate these four steps with different reference strains summarized in
Table 5.
Table 5. Moment and curvature with different reference strains

Reference strain Bending Moment Curvatur

e
0.001 67032 0.0010
0.0015 73669 0.0031
0.002 75543 0.0060
0.0025 76781 0.0087
0.003 77444 0.0109
0.0035(the ultimate) 77812 0.0128
0.004 77915 0.0142
0.005(loss of shear failure) 64731 0.0033

Thus, the moment curvature plot can be determined shown in Figure 4.

6
 Moment-Curvature diagram
90000
75543 76781 77444 77812 77915
80000 73669
67032
70000
M o m e n t (K N m ) 60000
50000
40000
30000
20000
10000
0 EIcr
0
0.0000 0.0020 0.0040 0.0060 0.0080 0.0100 0.0120 0.0140 0.0160

Curvature (rad/m)

Figure 4: Moment-curvature curve

M y 76781
Thus, the secant flexural rigidity (EIcr) can be found as = =8825 MN , which is the gradient
ø y 0.0087
of the line between the first yield point and the original point. Moreover, it can be noted that the curvature
of the cross-section at yield along with the maximum moment of resistance, which can be concluded by
intercepting the EIcr line with the ultimate maximum bending moment shown in Figure 4 above. The
force-displacement diagram obtained is shown in Figure 5 below.

7
 Force-displacement curve
4000

3500

3000

2500
Force (KN)

2000 Ke,y

1500

1000

500

0
0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Displacement (mm)

Figure 5: Force-displacement curve

Modelling by Response 2000

To check the accuracies of the values obtained using EXCEL, the section is also modelled using
RESPONSE 2000. The moment-curvature diagram obtained from the software is shown in Figure 5 and
is used to compare the results presented in Figure 4 above. Details of the section and other values
obtained in given in Appendix B.

8
 Figure 6: RESPONSE 2000 Moment-curvature diagram

Discussion of results
The results obtained from Excel and Response 2000 are compared in Table 6 below. As it can be seen, the
results follow the same trend, but the values are different. The excel results are larger than that obtained
from RESPONSE 2000. The values of ultimate moment are very close with just 2.5% difference.
However, the result of first yield moment differ by about 12%.
A possible reason for the lower values obtained from RESPONSE 2000 is that the software is more
accurate and rely less on approximation compared to Excel. This could also be the treason for the much
larger difference in the yield moment as RESPONSE 2000 can better detect the first yield value.

Table 6: Comparison of results from Excel and Response 2000

Value Excel Response2000

My (KNm) 73669 65117

MN (KNm) 77915 75905

Øy (rad/m) 0.0031 0.001

Ø’y (rad/m) 0.0142 0.009

9
 Moment-Curvature diagram
80000

70000

60000

50000
Moment (KNm)

40000 Excel
Response2000

30000

20000

10000

0
0.0000 0.0010 0.0020 0.0030 0.0040 0.0050 0.0060 0.0070 0.0080 0.0090 0.0100

Curvature (rad/m)

Figure 7: comparison of moment-curvature diagram from Excel and RESPONSE 2000

3. TASK 2
In task, the first objective is to estimate the stiffness of the structural wall, the effective displacement at
yield and at ultimate conditions, and the ductility value, which are summarized in Table 7 below. The
second objective is to assess the structural walls under design earthquake in accordance with AS1170.4
(2007) based on a hazard factor (Z) of 0.08g and a return period of 2500 years on Class D site.
Table 7. Results of Task 2

Effective stiffness, Ke (kN/m) 6694.077

Effective displacement at yield (mm) 554.26
Effective displacement at ultimate (mm) 812.57
Ductility value 1.47

Step 1:

10
The first step is to determine the displacement at the first yield point based on the moment curvature for
this cross-section. As the height of the building ( H n) is 30m, the effective height of building ( H e ) in
accordance with the force distribution, which can be expressed as follow:
H e =0.7 H n [12]

Thus, the effective displacement at yield can be derived from the equation:

( )
2
φ h h
∆ y ,i= y i 1− i [ 13]
2 3H
Where it should be noticed that there are different expressions of the displacement at yield, the selected
expression is determined as the most suitable one for this cross-section of the walls.
Step 2:
The second step is to determine the effective displacement at the ultimate condition, it is essential to
determine the plastic length. However, in the consideration at ultimate situation, the phenomenon of yield
penetration should be taken into account. Thus, the displacement equation is:

∆ p ,i=θ P × plastic length=θ p hi−

( ( Lp
2 ))
−L sp [14 ]

Where,

θ p =( ϕ u−ϕ y ) L p , LP =K p he + 0.1l w + Lsp , K p=0.2 ( f su

f sy )
−1 , Lsp =0.022 ( f sy ) ϕ bl

Where h e is the effective height of the building; l w is the length of the wall; Lsp is the yield penetration;
ϕ bl is the diameter of the rebars.

It has been mentioned that the low-cycle fatigue of the longitudinal reinforcement should be included,
which can have the influence on the maximum value of the curvature. It has been concluded that the
maximum curvature relates to the length of the wall for the rectangular section walls that expressed as:
0.6 ε su
ϕ ls =ϕu = [15]
5 lw / 6
Due to the lack of information of I section wall, the same equation is applied for this investigation for I
section walls. Thus, the expression of the effective displacement at ultimate condition is:

( (
∆ p=( ϕls −ϕ y ) L p he −
Lp
2
−Lsp [ 16 ] ))
Step 3:
To calculate the force, the principle formula of bending moment can be applied as equation 9. Thus, the
forces for first yield point, spalling point, ultimate point, and failure point can be derived by:

11
 Mt
F=
He
And it should be noticed that the failure point is formed when there is 20% loss of lateral resistance.
Therefore, a plot of force versus displacement can be determined which represent the capacity curve of
the structure shown in Figure 5
Step 4:
For the derivation of the effective stiffness, which can be expressed via equation as follow:
F
K eff = [17]
δ eff

Where the F and δ eff relates to the effective bending moment and effective displacement respectively at
the first yield point shown in Figure 5.

Figure 8. Stiffness of structure

Capacity and Action Assessment

In order to assess the structure whether it can withstand the specific seismic action, the capacity curve of
the structure should be plotted against with action curve. According to the AS1170.4, the action curve can
be described by Acceleration Displacement Response Spectrum (ADRS). It can be noticed that the
displacement at yield is over 500mm which obtains enough strength for this seismic action, however, it
also illustrates that the wall is pretty brittle as not suitable design for wall section. As shown in Figure 9,
there is one performance point for this structure under this specific seismic action, it can hence conclude
that the wall section meets the requirement for earthquake design.

12
 Acceleration Displacement Response Spectrum
0.6

0.5

0.4

0.3
RSA(g)

0.2

0.1

0
0 20 40 60 80 100 120
RSD (mm)

Figure 9. ADRS plot of seismic action

4. CONCLUSION
The section analyzed, performed averagely under static load, with initial crack occurring at a strain of
0.003. The section was able to deform further to a strain of 0.014 before final yield, although with just 5%
additional moment capacity. A comparison of the result obtained using Excel and RESPONSE 2000
shows that the Excel formula is a very useful tool in performing initial analysis of a section as the results
are relatively similar.
In conclusion, it can be found that the I section is not a good design choice for wall designs, the walls
with load should performance enough ductility in terms of safety under the seismic action. For this
design, it can be concluded that the wall failure is dominated by the reinforcements which make walls
extremely brittle that could be the disaster when earthquake occurring.

13
APPENDIX

Appendix A: Concrete and steel strain diagrams

Reinforcement Concrete
i x y Bar ε(y) y Area εy
area
1 3937.5 500000 0.0024
2
2 2055 284 314 - 2 3812.5 500000 0.0022
0.0021 7
4
3 2055 499 314 - 3 3687.5 31250 0.0021
0.0018 1
8
4 2055 713 314 - 4 3562.5 31250 0.0019
0.0016 5
1
5 2055 928 314 - 5 3437.5 31250 0.0018
0.0013 0
4
6 2055 1142 314 - 6 3312.5 31250 0.0016
0.0010 4
7
7 2055 1357 314 - 7 3187.5 31250 0.0014
0.0008 8
0
8 2055 1571 314 - 8 3062.5 31250 0.0013
0.0005 3
4
9 2055 1786 314 - 9 2937.5 31250 0.0011
0.0002 7
7
10 2055 2000 314 0.0000 10 2812.5 31250 0.0010
0 2
11 2055 2214 314 0.0002 11 2687.5 31250 0.0008
7 6
12 2055 2429 314 0.0005 12 2562.5 31250 0.0007
4 0
13 2055 2643 314 0.0008 13 2437.5 31250 0.0005
0 5
14 2055 2858 314 0.0010 14 2312.5 31250 0.0003
7 9
15 2055 3072 314 0.0013 15 2187.5 31250 0.0002
4 3

14
16 2055 3287 314 0.0016 16 2062.5 31250 0.0000
1 8
17 2055 3501 314 0.0018 17 1937.5 31250 -
8 0.0000
8
18 2055 3716 314 0.0021 18 1812.5 31250 -
4 0.0002
3
19 1687.5 31250 -
0.0003
9
20 1562.5 31250 -
0.0005
5
21 1437.5 31250 -
0.0007
0
2 1945 284 314 - 22 1312.5 31250 -
0.0021 0.0008
4 6
3 1945 499 314 - 23 1187.5 31250 -
0.0018 0.0010
8 2
4 1945 713 314 - 24 1062.5 31250 -
0.0016 0.0011
1 7
5 1945 928 314 - 25 937.5 31250 -
0.0013 0.0013
4 3
6 1945 1142 314 - 26 812.5 31250 -
0.0010 0.0014
7 8
7 1945 1357 314 - 27 687.5 31250 -
0.0008 0.0016
0 4
8 1945 1571 314 - 28 562.5 31250 -
0.0005 0.0018
4 0
9 1945 1786 314 - 29 437.5 31250 -
0.0002 0.0019
7 5
10 1945 2000 314 0.0000 30 312.5 31250 -
0 0.0021
1
11 1945 2214 314 0.0002 31 187.5 500000 -
7 0.0022
7

15
12 1945 2429 314 0.0005 32 62.5 500000 -
4 0.0024
2
13 1945 2643 314 0.0008
0
14 1945 2858 314 0.0010
7
15 1945 3072 314 0.0013
4
16 1945 3287 314 0.0016
1
17 1945 3501 314 0.0018
8
18 1945 3716 314 0.0021
4

1 3807 70 314 -
0.0024
1
2 3614 70 314 -
0.0024
1
3 3421 70 314 -
0.0024
1
4 3228 70 314 -
0.0024
1
5 3035 70 314 -
0.0024
1
6 2842 70 314 -
0.0024
1
7 2649 70 314 -
0.0024
1
8 2456 70 314 -
0.0024
1
9 2263 70 314 -
0.0024
1
10 2070 70 314 -
0.0024
1

16
11 1877 70 314 -
0.0024
1
12 1684 70 314 -
0.0024
1
13 1491 70 314 -
0.0024
1
14 1298 70 314 -
0.0024
1
15 1105 70 314 -
0.0024
1
16 912 70 314 -
0.0024
1
17 719 70 314 -
0.0024
1
18 526 70 314 -
0.0024
1
19 333 70 314 -
0.0024
1

1 3807 180 314 -

0.0022
8
2 3614 180 314 -
0.0022
8
3 3421 180 314 -
0.0022
8
4 3228 180 314 -
0.0022
8
5 3035 180 314 -
0.0022
8
6 2842 180 314 -
0.0022
8
7 2649 180 314 -

17
 0.0022
8
8 2456 180 314 -
0.0022
8
9 2263 180 314 -
0.0022
8
10 2070 180 314 -
0.0022
8
11 1877 180 314 -
0.0022
8
12 1684 180 314 -
0.0022
8
13 1491 180 314 -
0.0022
8
14 1298 180 314 -
0.0022
8
15 1105 180 314 -
0.0022
8
16 912 180 314 -
0.0022
8
17 719 180 314 -
0.0022
8
18 526 180 314 -
0.0022
8
19 333 180 314 -
0.0022
8

1 3807 3930 314 0.0024

1
2 3614 3930 314 0.0024
6
3 3421 3930 314 0.0024
6
4 3228 3930 314 0.0024
6

18
5 3035 3930 314 0.0024
6
6 2842 3930 314 0.0024
6
7 2649 3930 314 0.0024
6
8 2456 3930 314 0.0024
6
9 2263 3930 314 0.0024
6
10 2070 3930 314 0.0024
6
11 1877 3930 314 0.0024
6
12 1684 3930 314 0.0024
6
13 1491 3930 314 0.0024
6
14 1298 3930 314 0.0024
6
15 1105 3930 314 0.0024
6
16 912 3930 314 0.0024
6
17 719 3930 314 0.0024
6
18 526 3930 314 0.0024
6
19 333 3930 314 0.0024
6

1 3807 3820 314 0.0023

9
2 3614 3820 314 0.0023
9
3 3421 3820 314 0.0023
9
4 3228 3820 314 0.0023
9
5 3035 3820 314 0.0023
9
6 2842 3820 314 0.0023
9
7 2649 3820 314 0.0023
9
8 2456 3820 314 0.0023
9

19
9 2263 3820 314 0.0023
9
10 2070 3820 314 0.0023
9
11 1877 3820 314 0.0023
9
12 1684 3820 314 0.0023
9
13 1491 3820 314 0.0023
9
14 1298 3820 314 0.0023
9
15 1105 3820 314 0.0023
9
16 912 3820 314 0.0023
9
17 719 3820 314 0.0023
9
18 526 3820 314 0.0023
9
19 333 3820 314 0.0023
9

20
21
22
Appendix B: RESPONSE 2000 model

23
24
25