International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395 -0056

Volume: 04 Issue: 02 | Feb -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Literature review on Seismic Pounding of Adjacent Buildings

Vidhya P Namboothiri1
1MTech IInd year student, Dept. of Civil Engineering, SreeBuddha College of Engineering, Kerala, India

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Abstract - Structures are built close to each other in various be catastrophic and more dangerous than the effect of
cities and urban areas where cost of land is high and earthquake on a single building.
availability of land is difficult. Due to this closeness, the
structures may collide with each other when subjected to any 1.1 Causes of Pounding
vibration or earthquake. This collision of buildings or its
different parts during the vibration is called pounding which The various causes of pounding are as follows:-
result in architectural and structural damages or collapse of  Adjacent buildings with the same heights and the
the entire structure. The difference in structural properties, same door levels
floor height and floor level with insufficient gap between the  Adjacent buildings with same floor levels but
buildings also effects in structural pounding. Here, a discussion different heights
of previous works and studies regarding the structural  Adjacent structures with different total height and
pounding, its causes and the mitigation measures is given. floor levels
 Structures are situated in a row
Key Words: Structural pounding, Building collision,  Adjacent units of the same buildings which are
Adjacent buildings, Seismic separation distance, Pounding connected by one or more bridges or through
analysis expansion joints.
 Structures having different dynamic characteristics,
1.INTRODUCTION which are separated by a distance small enough so
that pounding can occur.
The Seismic Pounding can be defined as the collision of  Pounding occurres at the unsupported part (e.g.,
adjacent buildings during the earthquakes. The principle mid-height) of column or wall.
 Construction according to the earlier code that was
reason for the pounding effect is the insufficient gap in
vague on separation distance.
between the adjacent buildings. It is one of the main causes  Possible settlement and rocking of the structures
of severe building damages in earthquake. The non- located on soft soils.
structural damage involves pounding or movement across  Buildings having irregular lateral load resisting
separation joints between adjacent structures. Seismic systems in plan rotate during an earthquake
pounding between two adjacent buildings occur during an
earthquake when adjacent buildings of different dynamic
characteristics vibrate out of phase at-rest separation is
insufficient. A separation joint is the distance between two
different building structures – often two wings of the same
facility that allows the structures to move independently of
one another.
Fig-1: Pounding of Adjacent Buildings
Also, Poundings may occur because of structural
irregularities. For example eccentricity between mass
rigidity centers cause torsion in the structure. Pounding is
very complex phenomenon. It could lead to infill wall
damage, plastic deformation, column shear failure, local
crushing and possible collapse of the structure. Adjacent
structures with different floor levels are more vulnerable
when subjected to seismic pounding due to additional shear
forces on the columns causing more damage and instability
to the building. The patterns of the damage vary from minor
Fig-2 : a) Similar seismic behaviour b) Different
and architectural damages to major structural damages to seismic behavior
even total loss of the building function and its stability. In
other words, pounding phenomena in adjacent buildings can

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 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395 -0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 02 | Feb -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

The main objective of this paper is to understand the terms consecutive modes in same direction. They concluded that
related to structural pounding, causes of pounding, the displacement for near source is much greater than the
importance of providing enough separation distance and the far source ground motion.
points to be checked before constructing adjacent buildings.
Figure 1 shows the pounding of adjacent buildings and figure
Mahdi Heydari and Mahdi Mousavi (2015) [3]; studied on
2 shows the similar seismic behavior and Different seismic
seismic effects of near-field and far-field earthquakes on
behavior of adjacent buildings.
relative displacement of seven-storey concrete building with
shear wall. The characterization of near-field earthquakes
2. RELATED WORKS and their descriptions were used to define the differences
between near-field and far-field earthquakes in regard to
To study the concepts of seismic pounding of adjacent radically distinctive responses of structures. In this study,
structures we have studied many papers. As we know, the the incremental dynamic analysis of a seven-storey building
seismic pounding results in serious structural and with concrete structure for few near-field and far-field
architectural damages to the adjacent buildings which leads earthquakes was done and the associated diagrams of
to huge damage and high risk of life. It is important to relative structural displacement were compared. At the end,
conduct studies to find out measures to mitigate structural the comparison of these plots were used to denote the
pounding. Some previous papers regarding this topic which differences in the structural behaviours of these two types of
can give good research based knowledge on this matter, its earthquakes. The comparison of relative displacement for
causes and measures to mitigate the effect is discussed here. near-field and far-field stations of an identical earthquake
showed a difference of 35.6 percent.
A. Joshi, Pushpa Kumari and etal (2012) [1]; studied on near-
field and far-field simulation of accelerograms of Sikkim Mariella Diaferio and Dora Foti (2015) [4]; studied on
earthquake of september 18, 2011 using modified semi- nonlinear dynamic behavior of a fixed base reinforced
empirical approach. Various strong motion properties like concrete 2D frame subjected to near-field earthquakes. The
directivity effect and dependence of peak ground R.C. frame considered has six levels and two equal span
acceleration with respect to surface projection of source which has been designed as per the instructions provided in
model have been studied in detail in the present work. Eurocode 2 exclusively under gravity loads, as lots of the
Sikkim earthquake of magnitude 6.9 (Mw) that occurred on existing buildings. The nonlinearity of the frame has been
September 18, 2011 has been recorded at various near-field assumed with a diffuse plasticity and a fiber modeling has
and far-field strong motion stations. The modified semi- been considered for the structural elements. The results
empirical technique was used to confirm the location and concluded that the nodal areas proceed from yield until
parameters of rupture responsible for this earthquake. failure due to the amplification produced by the earthquake.
Strong motion record obtained from the iterative modelling Failure is observed only in the columns while no section of
of the rupture plane has been compared with available the beams reaches the failure.
strong motion records from near as well as far-field stations
in terms of root mean square error between observed and M. Davoodi and M. Sadjadi (2015) [5]; studied on near-field
simulated records. Final model confirms southward and far-field strong ground motion effects on soil-structure
propagating rupture. Simulations at three near-field and SDOF system. A total 71 records were selected in which
twelve far-field stations have been made using final model. near-field ground motions have been classified into two
Comparison of simulated and observed record has been categories: first, records with a strong velocity pulse, (i.e.
made in terms of peak ground acceleration and response forward-directivity); second, records with a residual ground
spectra at 5 % damping. displacement (i.e. fling-step). Findings from the study reveal
that pulse-type near-field records generally produce greater
Chetan J Chitte and etal (2014) [2]; studied about the seismic seismic responses than far-field motions especially at high
pounding between the adjacent building structures structure-to-soil stiffness ratios. Moreover, the importance
subjected to near field and far field earthquakes. Two models of considering SSI effects in design of structures is
of G+5 storeyed building, one with live load 1.5KN/m2, other investigated through an example. Finally, parametric study
with 2 KN/m2 and a model of G+8 storeyed building with live between Peak Ground Velocity to Peak Ground Acceleration
ratio (PGV/PGA) of pulse-like ground motions and maximum
load 1.5 KN/m2 were modelled. All other properties were
relative displacement indicate that with increase in
almost kept the same. Time history analysis of building structure-to-soil stiffness ratios, earthquakes with higher
structures were done to examine the exact nonlinear PGV/PGA ratio produce greater responses.
behaviour of the building structures using SAP2000.
Newmark’s direct integration method was adopted and the Mohammed Jameel and et.al (2013) [6]; studied on the
mass and stiffness proportional coefficients were calculated seismic induced pounding between neighbouring multi-
according to the frequency of the structure in two storey structures by non-linear FEM analysis. The results

© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1771
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395 -0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 02 | Feb -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

were obtained in the form of storey shear, pounding force, history of elcentro earthquake data. It is concluded that all
storey drift, point displacement and acceleration. They the prevention methods that are used in this study proved to
concluded that the acceleration at pounding level be effective to prevent pounding between adjacent buildings
and a safe separation distance should be provided according
significantly increases during collision of building. The
to FEMA-273.
generated extra pounding force may cause severe damage to
structural members of structures. Pounding produces shear Seyed Morteza Zinati Yazdi and Mohammad Taghi Kazemi
at various story levels, which are greater than those obtained (2016) [12]; studied on damages in RC frames under near field
from no pounding case. Building with more height suffers earthquakes using a damage index. The Erduran damage
greater damage than shorter building when pounding index, an efficient way to calculate damage, was employed to
occurs. Increasing gap distance tends to reduce story shear analyse two 4 and 8 story RC moment frame buildings. The
buildings with moderate and high ductility were designed by
in consistent manner.
the strength criteria. Seven pairs of near field and far field
earthquakes were scaled and used for dynamic nonlinear
M Phani Kumar and J D Chaitanya Kumar (2015) [7] studied time history analysis. We observe from the results that most
on seismic pounding of the adjacent buildings with different of the components of the structures under near field
heights. The study is based on seismic pounding effect earthquakes sustained severe damages and in some cases
between adjacent buildings by linear and nonlinear dynamic even component failure. Components of the structures under
analysis using ETABS (Non Linear) computer program. A near field earthquakes suffered from 30% more of damage,
detailed parametric study is carried out to investigate the on average, than that under far field earthquakes.
effect of various parameters on the structural pounding by
S. Yaghmaei-Sabegh and N. Jalali-Milani (2012) [14]; studied
Response Spectrum (Linear Dynamic) Analysis for medium
about the pounding force response spectra for adjacent
soil at zone V and Time History (Non-Linear Dynamic)
elastic structures subjected to near field and far field ground
Analysis for Bhuj earthquake recorded excitation on
motions, Both the adjacent buildings were modelled simply
different models with varying separation distances.
as a SDOF systems and pounding effect has been simulated
Pounding forces can be calculated using commercial
by applying the nonlinear viscoelastic model. In the analysis,
software packages like ETABS where nonlinear gap elements
the effect of different parameters, such as mass, damping
between the adjacent building floors are used to calculate
ratio has been studied. The effects of gap distance on
pounding forces.It is concluded that it is necessary to carry
maximum pounding force due to near and far-field
out non-linear dynamic analysis to know the actual response
earthquake ground motions were investigated. They
of the structure.
concluded that the considered parameters have a significant
influence on the value of maximum pounding force. Results
Pankita L. Patel and Prof. Umang Parekh (2016) [8] studied
on the performance of intez tank under near fault and far have shown that, the huge energy of an earthquake in some
field earthquake motion. Seismic effect of different shape cases leads to an increase in the value of pounding force
and types of elevated water tank due to near field and far during increasing gap distance.
field earthquake were studied. Intez types of elevated water
tanks with different staging height 12m, 16m, 20m and Tavakoli H.R and etal (2011) [15] studied on the response of
different capacity were selected. Intez tanks of two different RC structures subjected to near-fault and far-fault
staging profiles such as shaft and frame and simulated to earthquake motions considering soil-structure interaction.
near fault and far field ground motion were modelled using The effects of soil-structure interaction were evaluated for a
Staad Pro. software. Here time history analysis records from 3-story building, a 7-story building and a 15-story building.
past earthquake ground motion records were used. Seismic The ordinary moment resisting frame system was
responses including base shear were observed under considered for all example buildings as lateral force-resisting
different earthquake time history records. system. For all buildings time-history analysis were
performed under 3 example earthquake motions. For all
Ravindranatha, Tauseef M Honnyal and etal(2014) [11] analysis both near-field and far-field earthquake were
studied on the seismic pounding between adjacent buildings. considered. The main evaluated parameters were period of
Prevention techniques of pounding between adjacent structure, base shear, global displacement and story drifts.
buildings due to earthquakes are studied. Constructing new Results based on linear time-history analysis had shown that
RC walls, cross bracing system and combined RC wall & considering the soil-structure interaction increases period of
bracing, with proper placement are proposed as possible structure and story drifts and also had noticeable and
prevention techniques for pounding between adjacent significant effects on global displacement and base shear.
buildings. An adjacent building combination of G+8 and G+5
storeys with 80mm expansion joint was analysed using time

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 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395 -0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 02 | Feb -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

Vahid Sharif, Farhad Behnamfar (2012) [16]; studied on the [4] Mariella Diaferio and Dora Foti (2015). “On the response
effects of near-field earthquakes on the behaviour of moment of RC buildings to near-field ground motions”, Recent
resisting frames. In this paper, in addition to a brief review on
Advances in Applied and Theoretical Mechanics, Pg:114-119.
the special characteristics of near-field earthquakes, using
actual records of these ground motions and pulse-like inputs
simulating near-filed records, the effects of this type of [5] M. Davoodi and M. Sadjadi (2015), “Assessment of near-
earthquakes on the distribution of the maximum shear force field and far-field strong ground motion effects on soil-
and flexural moment demands are evaluated. Results show structure SDOF system”, International Journal of Civil
that the response is very sensitive to the ratio of natural Engineering, Vol: 13.
period of structure to the governing period of ground shaking
pulse, such that, in some cases it leads to increasing force
demand ratios of structure and even transmitting its centroid [6] Mohammed Jameel, A.B.M. Saiful Islam and etal (2013).
to upper stories. “Non-linear FEM Analysis of seismic induced pounding
between neighbouring Multi-storey Structures”, Latin
3. DISCUSSION American Journal of Solids and Structures, Vol: 10, Pg: 921–
939.
One of the important problem in avoiding the construction of
adjacent buildings in urban areas is the high land cost and [7] M Phani Kumar and J D Chaitanya Kumar (2015). Seismic
less availability of enough land. Due to these reasons Pounding Of The Adjacent Buildings With Different Heights”
different buildings constructed for different purposes with International Journal of Engineering Research and Science &
different structural properties may not have enough gap in Technology, Vol. 4, No. 4, Pg: 350-361.
between them to avoid pounding effect. So it is important to
do research and find those methods to avoid or reduce the
[8] Pankita L. Patel and Umang Parekh (2016). “Performance
risk of pounding. Already several researches have been
conducted by many researchers on this topic and there are of Intez Tank Under Near Fault And Far Field Earthquake
many things yet to be studied and analyzed out to have more Motion”, International Research Journal of Engineering and
effective methods for mitigating the same. Technology, Vol: 03 Issue: 05, Pg: 115-119.

4. CONCLUSION [9] P. D. Pawar and Dr. P. B. Murnal (2014). “Effect of Seismic

Pounding on Adjacent Blocks of Unsymmetrical Buildings
This paper gives effective information about the topic Considering Soil-Structure Interaction”, International Journal
seismic pounding and also have given a survey of some of Emerging Technology and Advanced Engineering, Vol: 4,
papers related to the topic along with the important data Issue 7, Pg: 391-395.
considered and obtained for and from the study. This paper
will be helpful enough to find useful journals to study about [10] Ravi Keerthi, Dr. H R Prabhakara and C M Ravi Kumar
the topic and to conduct continued researches on the topic. (2015). “Seismic Pounding Effect between Adjacent
Buildings” International Journal for Scientific Research &
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© 2017, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 5.181 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1773
 International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395 -0056
Volume: 04 Issue: 02 | Feb -2017 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072

[14] S Yaghmaei-Sabegh and N Jalali-Milani

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BIOGRAPHIES

Vidhya P Namboothiri received her

B.E[Civil] from NGCE, Manjalumoodu
affliated to Anna University, Chennai in
2014. Currently pursuing her MTech in
Computer Aided Structural Engineering
at SBCE, Elavumthitta affliated to APJ
Abdul Kalam Technological University,
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.

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