09-10-2014, 02:54 PM
In some reinforced concrete buildings, structural elements such as the shear walls, are designed to resist all the seismic loads, while the main structure is designed to carry only the gravity loads. In past earthquakes, several such buildings suffered partial to complete collapse that was initiated by the failure of the columns designed for the gravity loads only, i.e., the gravity columns. Objective of the present study is to investigate the behaviour of such gravity columns when displaced laterally due to deform action in the shear walls in earthquake condition. The seismic code provisions regarding seismic design of gravity columns and related issues, such as the force reduction factor, the displacement amplification factor, and the drift limits, have been reviewed and discussed. The lateral displacements are imposed on the gravity columns at the floor levels and simple methods are outlined to analyze the column in the elastic and inelastic ranges. A parametric study has been conducted to assess the effect of different variables on the maximum bending moment develop