SpringerLink
Log in

Comparative study on the seismic performance of a typical low-rise building in Nepal using different seismic codes

  • Research
  • Published:
Asian Journal of Civil Engineering Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The recently enacted Nepal National Building Code of 2020 necessitates an examination and contrast of the seismic performance of the most prevalent architectural typologies based on various building codes. However, previous research has primarily focused on comparing seismic building design codes with hypothetical building and various assumptions regarding seismic parameters. To address this gap, this study aims to investigate the performance of a reinforced concrete frame type building approved by the municipality for construction. The analysis was conducted using ETABS according to the linear equivalent lateral force method. The study building was analysed to compare the base shear, story displacement, and story drift in accordance with Nepal National Building Code, Indian Code, and American Society of Civil Engineers guidelines. The analysis results indicated that NBC 105:2020 showed a higher value of base shear compared to the other codes. Incorporating the impact of cracked sections, NBC 105:2020, IS 1893:2016, and ASCE 7–16 guidelines demonstrated a significant effect on displacement and period. In comparison to NBC 105:1994 and IS 1893:2002, the periods increased by approximately 35% for these codes. The investigation revealed that the revised NBC 105:2020 displayed higher values for all response parameters analysed. Based on the design outcomes, the IS codes exhibited the highest percentage of longitudinal rebar, while NBC 105:1994 depicted the lowest. Furthermore, the study emphasizes the adherence to building code regulations during construction. The findings of this study aim to equip designers with comprehensive knowledge regarding seismic provisions and standards to facilitate informed decision-making in their design endeavours.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price includes VAT (Germany)

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aksoylu, C., Mobark, A., Arslan, M. H., & Erkan, İH. (2020A). A comparative study on ASCE 7-16, TBEC-2018, and TEC-2007 for reinforced concrete buildings. Revista De La Construcción: J Const, 19(2), 282–305. https://doi.org/10.7764/rdlc.19.2.282-305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • American Society of Civil Engineers. (2017). Minimum design loads and associated criteria for buildings and other structures. . https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784412916

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • K Bhattarai 2020 Evaluation of Nonlinear Seismic Responses of Low- To Mid-Rise RC Frame Buildings with Masonry Infill Walls by Using a Modified Response Spectrum Analysis (MRSA) Method [Master’s Thesis] Asian Institute of Technology (AIT)

  • Bhusal, B., & Paudel, S. (2021). Comparative study of existing and revised codal provisions adopted in Nepal for analysis and design of Reinforced concrete structure. International Journal of Advanced Engineering and Management, 6(1), 16–24.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brzev, S., Jain, S. K., & Rai, D. C. (2019). Ductile Design and Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures Subjected to Seismic Forces – Code of Practice (IS 13920:2016) Proposed Modifications and Commentary. IITGN.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bureau of Indian Standards, 2000 IS 456:2000 – Code of Practice for Plain and Reinforced Concrete. Bureau of Indian Standards.

  • Bureau of Indian Standards 2002 Indian Standard Code (IS 1893). Part I: Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures: General provisions and buildings.

  • Bureau of Indian Standards 2016 Indian Standard Code (IS 1893). Part I: Criteria for earthquake resistant design of structures: General provisions and buildings.

  • Chaulagain, H., Rodrigues, H., Jara, J., Spacone, E., & Varum, H. (2013). Seismic response of current RC buildings in Nepal: a comparative analysis of different design/construction. Engineering Structures, 49, 284–294. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.ENGSTRUCT.2012.10.036

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chaulagain, H., Rodrigues, H., Spacone, E., & Varum, H. (2015). Seismic response of current RC buildings in Kathmandu valley. Structural Engineering and Mechanics, 53(4), 791–818. https://doi.org/10.12989/SEM.2015.53.4.791

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chopra, A. K. (2005). Earthquake Dynamics of Structures: a Primer. Berkely: Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, M. of U. D. (DUDBC), G. of N. (GoN). (2019). Nepal National Building Code (NBC 105) commentary: Seismic design of buildings in Nepal.

  • Government of Nepal, D. R. R. and M. P. (n.d.). Risk profile of Nepal. Retrieved September 2, 2023, from http://drrportal.gov.np/risk-profile-of-nepal

  • Dixit, A. M., Yatabe, R., Dahal, R. K., & Bhandary, N. P. (2013). Initiatives for earthquake disaster risk management in the Kathmandu Valley. Natural Hazards, 69(1), 631–654. https://doi.org/10.1007/S11069-013-0732-9/METRICS

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ellingwood, B., & Ellingwood, B. R. (1980). Development of a probability based load criterion for American National Standard A58: Building code requirements for minimum design loads in buildings and other structures (Vol. 577). Department of Commerce: National Bureau of Standards.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). (2009). FEMA P-751: Chapter 7 - Seismic Design Considerations. https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/20130726-1513-20490-4961/fema_p_751_chapter_7.pdf

  • L Fort 1975 Himalayas: The collided range. Present knowledge of the continental arc Himalayas: The collided range Present knowledge of the continental arc

  • Department of Urban Development and Building Construction (DUDBC), G. of N. (GoN) 2020 Nepal National Building Code (NBC 105): Seismic design of buildings in Nepal.

  • Giri, P., Bhatt, A. D., Gautam, D., & Chaulagain, H. (2019). Comparison between the seismic codes of Nepal, India, Japan, and EU. Asian Journal of Civil Engineering, 20(2), 301–312. https://doi.org/10.1007/S42107-018-0102-8/METRICS

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Government of Nepal 2021 National Report | National Population and and Housing Census 2021 Results. National Report. https://censusnepal.cbs.gov.np/results/downloads/national

  • International Code Council. (2015). International Building Code (IBC). Falls Church, VA: International Code Council.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jain, S. K., & Murty, C. V. R. (2011). Proposed Draft Provisions and Commentary on Ductile Detailing of RC Structures Subjected to Seismic Forces. In IITK/GSDMA, EQ11-v4 & EQ16-v3. Kanpur: IIT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kayal, J. R. (2008). Microearthquake seismology and seismotectonics of South Asia. Microearthquake Seismology and Seismotectonics of South Asia, 1, 503. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8180-4/COVER

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kencanawati, N. N., Agustawijaya, D. S., & Taruna, R. M. (2020). An investigation of building seismic design parameters in Mataram city using Lombok Earthquake 2018 Ground Motion. J Eng Tech Sci, 52(5), 651–664. https://doi.org/10.5614/J.ENG.TECHNOL.SCI.2020.52.5.4

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Khose, V. N., Singh, Y., & Lang, D. (2010). Limitations of Indian seismic design codes for RC buildings. Symposium on Earthquake Engineering, 14, 1416–1423.

    Google Scholar 

  • Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, M. of P. P. and W. (DUDBC), H. M. G. of N. (HMG). (1994). Nepal National Building Code (NBC 105): Seismic design of buildings in Nepal. Department of Urban Development and Building Construction, Ministry of Physical Planning and Works, His Majesty’s Government of Nepal.

  • Mishra, O. P. (2020). Seismic microzonation study of South Asian cities and its implications to urban risk resiliency under climate change scenario. International Journal of Geosciences, 11(4), 197–237. https://doi.org/10.4236/IJG.2020.114012

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mishra, O. P., & Ghatak, M. (2020). SAARC: A Regional Perspective. Geography and You: Scientific Research Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • MoHA 2015 Ministry of Home Affairs (MoHA) Government of Nepal. https://moha.gov.np/en

  • Naeim, F. (2005). Earthquake engineering—from engineering seismology to performance-based engineering. Earthquake Spectra, 21(2), 609–611. https://doi.org/10.1193/1.1896960

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paulay, T., & Priestley, M. J. N. (1992). Seismic Design Of Reinforced Concrete And Masonry Builings. John Wiley.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Puri, U. (2021, September 10). Proposed Vision For National Building Code. The Rising Nepal. https://old.risingnepaldaily.com/featured/proposed-vision-for-national-building-code?fbclid=IwAR2pdq3jsF_4oMlDV_mSmcHAdE9BN8TYIt7441Z9RcMzoiR3EHNr59SPdFE

  • Rupakhety, R., Olafsson, S., & Halldorsson, B. (2017). The 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal and its aftershocks: analysis of strong ground motion. Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering, 15(7), 2587–2616. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10518-017-0084-Z/METRICS

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SAARC 2009 Workshop on Earthquake, Risk Management in South Asia.

  • Shah, A. A., Qadri, T., & Khwaja, S. (2018). Living with earthquake hazards in South and South East Asia. ASEAN Journal of Community Engagement, 2(1), 2. https://doi.org/10.7454/ajce.v2i1.105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Singh, Y., Khose, V. N., & Lang, D. H. (2012). A Comparative Study of Code Provisions for Ductile RC Frame Buildings. 15th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering., 09, 12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sunaryo. (2017). Study of Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) by means of microzonation data: Case Study on Batubesi Dam of Nuha, East Luwu, South Sulawesi. Indonesia. AIP Conference Proceedings, 1908(1), 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5012713/764316

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  • Surana, M., Singh, Y., & Lang, D. H. (2018). Effect of strong-column weak-beam design provision on the seismic fragility of RC frame buildings. International Journal of Advanced Structural Engineering, 10(2), 131–141. https://doi.org/10.1007/S40091-018-0187-Z/TABLES/6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takai, N., Shigefuji, M., Bijukchhen, S., Ichiyanagi, M., & Sasatani, T. (2016). Features of Ground Accelerations in The Kathmandu Valley During The Gorkha Nepal Earthquake 5th IASPEI / IAEE. International Symposium: Effects of Surface Geology on Seismic Motion.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNDP 2010 Recommendations for construction of Earthquake Safer Buildings - Earthquake Risk Reduction and Recovery Preparedness Programme for Nepal. https://sheltercluster.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/public/docs/recommendations_for_safer_construction_rcc_english_errp.pdf

  • Varum, H., Furtado, A., & Melo, J. (2022). Insights on the Seismic Design of Current RC Buildings: Field Lessons, Codes and Research Needs. Springer Proceedings in Earth and Environmental Sciences, ECEES 2022, 311–322. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15104-0_19/

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Dr. Umesh Puri (an international consultant and the Director of CivilPark International Co. Ltd, a global engineering firm) for his valuable contributions in discussions related to the research project.

Funding

This research work received no funding.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Engineering and Technology, Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), Pathumthani, Thailand

    Ashish Sapkota, Binod Sapkota, Jhabindra Poudel & Suyog Giri

Authors
  1. Ashish Sapkota
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Binod Sapkota
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jhabindra Poudel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Suyog Giri
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors worked diligently and have thoroughly reviewed the manuscript before submission.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ashish Sapkota.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors hereby state that they have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sapkota, A., Sapkota, B., Poudel, J. et al. Comparative study on the seismic performance of a typical low-rise building in Nepal using different seismic codes. Asian J Civ Eng (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-024-01053-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-024-01053-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation