Ductility In Structures

By Civilax - February 7, 2017

Haveyoueverparticipatedinamarathon?Orhaveyoueverpracticedforone?Theonlywayyoucanfinishamarathonishighstaminaandaconstantcomfortablepace.Ifyourun

toofast,theenergyinyourbodywilldrainoutquicklyandyouwillgettiredwithinfirst10%oftherun.Butifyoumaintainyourowncomfortablespeed,whereyouheartbeatisnot

toohighthenyoucouldfinishthemarathonwithoutevengettingtootired.Thekeyisglycogenstoredinthebody.Onanaverageapersoncanstoreupto2000caloriesofenergy

thatisreadilyavailableandthenoncethisglycogenisconsumedbodystartsburningfatstogetenergywhichleadstofatigue.Thekeyinmarathonistoconsumethisglycogen

efficientlyandsoyouhavetorunatacomfortablepace.

Similartothisconcept,instructuralengineering,abuildinghastoperformunderlargeforceswithoutbreakingitselftopieces.Aswediscussedaboutdifferentsourcesofenergy

dissipation,weunderstoodhowinelasticenergydissipationplaysanimportantroleinresistingearthquakes.(Thetermearthquakeresistantstructuresshouldbeusedinplaceof

earthquakeproof).

Inelasticityinmaterialsgeneratelargestrainsandlargestrainscorrespondstolargerdeformations.Nowhowdoesamateriallookunderlargestrains?Takeaplasticbagandpullit

ashardasyoucan.Afteracertainmagnitudeofforce,thebagwillstretchfreelyevenifyoudon'tincreasetheload.Thusyouknowthatthematerialisalreadyyieldedandithas

reachedintoitsplasticstate.Onceyoureleasetheforce,bagisnotgoingbacktoitsoriginalshapebutinsteaditwillmaintainitscurrentdeformedshape.Thisiscalledpermanent

deformationofthematerial.Similartothatifyoutakeamildsteelrodandpullitunderauniversaltestingmachine,youwillseethatthesteelrocknecksdownafteracertainforce,

thisisalsoatypeofpermanentdeformation.Nowbeforereadinganyfurther,ifyouhavenotthenpleasedorefertoourblogDuctilityvsElasticityandthencontinuereadingthis

article.

NowaswediscussedinthepreviousblogofEarthquakevsEnergyDissipationwetalkedabouthowelasticdeformationsofmaterialresultinverylowenergydissipationwhilethe

inelasticzoneofthestressstraincurvehelpsinmuchmoredissipationofenergy.Inelasticityresultsinveryhighstrainsandsoitisimportantthatthememberisductile,why?

Becauseductilityistheabilityofthematerialtogounderlargestrainsmeansamaterialthatismoreductilecangointoinelasticzonesandcandissipatealotofenergy.Thismeans

thataglassorplainconcretecanshattereasilyinanearthquakewhenloadedwhilesteelcanstretchitselfandkeepyousafe.

Nowhowtomakesurethatweareachievingsufficientductilityforthestructure?Howdowemakesurethatthestructurehasenoughreservesthatitwillnotcollapse?Sohereis

theanswer,theductilityofthestructureishiddeninsideitsdetailing.Awelldetailedstructurewillleadtoabetterperformanceunderearthquakesascomparedtoapoorlydetailed

one.Structuresaregenerallymadeof2primarymaterialsconcreteandsteel.Nowweallknowthatsteelisaveryductilematerial,butconcrete?Ohman,concreteisterriblein

termsofductility,ithashardlyanytensioncapacityanditgetscrushedincompression.Sowhattodo?
Wemakeconcretestructuresductilebyaddingsufficientsteelintoconcretemembers,wemakesteelstructuresmoreductilebymakingconnectionstrongerthanthememberitself.

Wemakeastructuremoreductilebymakingcolumnsstrongerthanbeamssothatcolumnsremainelasticincaseofearthquakes.Soitisnotjustoneregionwhereyoufocuson

ductiledetailing,butinfactitispresentinawelldesignedandlaidoutstructures.Letuspickonepointatatime.

1.Shearcapacityofbeams

Letusgobacktothestructuralmechanicsclass.Wealwayslearnthowsheardemandisproportionaltothepuremomentdemandactinginthebeam.Ifmomentdemandismore,

thenitdirectlyimpliedhighsheardemands.Incaseofmomentframebeamsorcouplingbeams(WhatisCouplingbeam?)inshearwalls,wemakesurethattheshearstrengthof

beamisgreaterthanthemomentcapacityofthemember.Howcanwedothat?Well,youputinreinforcementinthebeamwhichgivesyouthepositiveandnegativemoment

capacitiesofthebeam.Incaseoflateralforceresistingmembers,generallythepositiveandnegativemomentcapacityofthebeamisthesame.Whyisthat?Becauseearthquake

shakesthebuildingbackandforthandatonepointifend1ofthebeamisexperiencingpositivemomentsthenattheotherinstantitwillexperiencenegativemomentswhen

earthquakechangesitsdirectionofshaking.Refertothevideooftestperformedinalaboratory.

Imagedescribingdifferentialmovementofcouplingbeams

Nowthetwoendsofthebeamhavemomentcapacitiesandweknowthatiftheforcedemandisgreaterthanthecapacitiesofthebeam,thentheywillgointononlinearstateor

plasticstateandstartrotating.Thisisonlypossibleifsufficientshearcapacityofthebeamisgenerated.IfthepositiveandnegativecapacityofthebeammomentissayMpr,then

thesheardemandinthebeam(Vpr)willbeequaltoVpr=2Mpr/L.Thiswillgiveusthemaximumpossiblesheardemandinthebeam.Ifwehaveshearstirrupsprovidedinthebeam

tomatchthisdemand,thethebeamwillnotfailinshearwhichmeansweeliminatedtheshearfailureofthebeam.Theonlythingbeamhastodoisresistthemomentsandifthe

forcesaregreaterthanthecapacitythentheywillstartrotateanddissipatemoreandmoreinelasticenergyandperformbetterinearthquakes.Whenyouplottheloopsofrotationvs

forcedemand,itwilllooksomethinglikethis:

2.Makingcolumnsstrongerthanbeamsandprovidingtightconfinement

Whatisaframedstructure?Weconsiderbeamsandcolumnsfixityofdifferenttypes.Butwemakesurethatthesystemdoesnotbecomeamechanismandloosesitsstability.We

makesurethattherenosignificantplastichingeformationsorelsestructurewillloseitsstabilityandonapushovercurvethestructurewilllestwithnegligiblestiffnessandstability.

Wedesigntheframestobehavelikethis:
Sothatitresiststhemomentsandshearforcesactinginthebuilding.Nowearthquakealsodemandsductility,sowewantthebeamstogointononlinearzoneandrotatebackand

forthsothatitcandissipatesignificantamountenergyanditshouldlooksomethinglikethis:

Sowewantaductilebeamswaymechanism.Intheaboveimageitisshowninfigure(b).Nowletustalkaboutaconceptfirst.Taketwoscales,onemadeofwoodandothermade

ofplastic.Trybendingboththescalesandseewhichoneiseasiertobend?Ofcoursethethinplasticone.Afterthat,putboththescalesontopofoneanotherandtrybendingthem

together.Feelthis,doyouevenfeelthepresenceofplasticscalewhilebending?Ofcoursenot,becauseitissomuchmoreflexibleandweakerthanthewoodenscale.Similarly,if

wewanttomakesurethatwegetductileswaymechanism,wehavetomakesurethatcolumnisnotonlystrongerthanbeamintermsofmomentofinertia,butalsothejointofthe

beamandcolumnisstrongerthanbeamitself.Thiswillgivemorestabilitytothestructure.

Anonductilecolumnswaymechanismcreatesmomenthingesinthecolumnandbecausethecolumnisalsoloadedwithgravityaxialloads,itreducestheductilityandsoftensthe

buildingevenfurther.Thisalsocreatespermanentdeformationsinthebuildingjustlikeitispresentinthepicture.Alsoyoucanseethatnonofthebeamshaveformedplastic

hinges.Insteadallthecolumnshavetheseplastichingesatthetopandbottomofthestructure.Nowthissignificantlyreducesthecapacityofthebuildingandifyouplotapushover

curveofsuchstructureitwouldlooksomethinglikeimage(d)inthepictureabove.Thereisnoductilityinthesystemwhichisreallybadforearthquakeresistance.

Thinkaboutearthquakeasaconstantflowofwaterintoyourmouth.Ifyouarenotabletodrinkthewateratthesameraterasitisenteringintoyourmouth,thenyouwill

spillitandalsowillcreateamess.Earthquakeactsasthesameway.Itconstantlypumpsenergyintothesystemandifthesystemisnotabletodissipatetheenergythen

itcollapses.

Weknowthatduringlateralforcesandbecauseofinterstorydriftscolumnsexperiencemaximummomentsatthetopandbottomofthestory.Nowwecannotlapthebarsintothe

jointasthosearethelocationsofmaximumstresses.Sothebestpossiblelocationisaround5ftfromstoryheight.Thisway,whenthefloorbelowisconstructedtheworkerscan

easilystandonthefloorandworkonthecolumnwithoutworryingabouttheformworkandheights.Thustheconstructionprocessisaccelerated.

Thereisonemorereasonofprovidingcloselyspacedtiesintheendzonesofcolumns.Itisbecauseofthesesplicesthestrengthofthesectiongetsslightlyreducedandthe

ductilityisalsoreduced.Sotoincreaseductilityandcolumnconfinementwehavetoprovidesmallerspacingofties.

IncaseofMomentframesreinforcementshouldbesplicedatthemiddleheightofthecolumnasmomentframeisLFRSsystemanditwillexperienceveryhighmoments.Sothe

splicingisparticularlyshiftedtomiddleheightinmomentframes.Nomatterhowhighisthestoryheightitshouldbeinthecenterofthecolumnasitisaregionofzeromoment.

3.Shearwallconfinement

Whenevershearwallexperiencesheavymoments,itsextremeendsgounderheavycompressionaswellastension.Inordertomakesurethatconcreteremainsconfinedandbars

donotbuckle,weprovidecloselyspacedtieswithinacertaindepthofthewall.Asweprovidecloselyspacedties,weeliminatetheriskofreinforcementbucklingaswellaskeeping

theconcreteconfined.Thustheductilityofshearwallisachieved.

Ihopethiswasahealthydiscussionrelatedtoductilityinbuilding.Thiswasagainjustanintroduction.Inordertocompletelyunderstandstructuralbehavior,itisimportantto

understandelasticandinelasticbehaviorofstructures,softeningofastructure,nonlinearanalysis,crackingofconcrete.Makesureyoureadenoughbooksafterreadingthis

introductionsothatyoucanrelatetoourexplanation.

Ournextblogwillbeductilityfactorfordifferentbuildings.Thisfactorisalsoknownasresponsereductionfactorforseismicanalysisofstructures.

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