Evaluation of Seismic Pounding between two Adjacent Reinforced Concrete Buildings from Albanian Practice

Abstract

Seismic pounding is the colliding action between two adjacent structures that occurs during earthquake vibrations. Due to insuffiecient separation gap between buildings that own different dynamic characteristics, structural damages to both structural and non-structural elements are magnified during the impact of buildings. Since a country like Albania is considered to have moderate-size seismicity, it is important to provide and check the necessary separation distance to avoid the impact between structures. A parametrical approach is followed up in this study to evaluate the sufficient seismic gap in the middle of two existent Reincorced Concrete (RC) structures. Ten pairs of structural models are analyzed in Sap2000 by using the Equivalent Static Force Method (ESFM). The change of structural parameters such as concrete grade, seismic zone factor and storey height are inspected to study the influence they have in the separation gap between the structures. At the end, a comparison with a smilar study is done and conclusions, as well as recomandations for further studies are generalized.