Comparative Study on Reinforced Concrete Buildings in Different Seismic Zones of Bangladesh Based on Different Soil Types

Abstract

Bangladesh is situated in an earthquake-prone zone where devastating earthquake occurs frequently. This is especially alarming for different kinds of infrastructures, i.e., building structures. It is necessary to find out the proper economical designs of such buildings that can withstand an earthquake. The objective of the study is to analyze the performance of 8 (G+7) storied reinforced building structures in different seismic zones of Bangladesh for two different soil types (SC & SD) as per Bangladesh national building Code (BNBC), 2020 by using the software ETABS (finite element method). Additionally, storey drift, storey displacement, torsion irregularity, mass irregularity and soft storey have been checked for all cases. Comparisons have been made amongst all cases with respect to aforementioned parameters along with storey shear. The results show that the building model has passed the inspection in lower seismic zones for a certain dimension of beam, column, and slab. But failure occurs in higher seismic zones. Results also vary for different soil types. Findings show that the building model passes more for SC soil type than SD soil type in maximum seismic zones. Shear walls have been introduced to those cases where the infrastructure was unable to resist the earthquake. Comparisons have been made between the models with shear wall and without shear wall. Results show that introduction of shear wall decreases storey displacement, drift and shear in most cases. Findings also show that when the shear walls are introduced, it increases the cost of concrete in higher seismic zones as the volume of concrete is higher in those zones than in the lower seismic zones. The information provided in the following research paper will be productive for further study on constructions in different seismic zones in Bangladesh.