MITIGATION OF SEISMIC POUNDING BETWEEN ADJACENT BUILDINGS

Abstract

Adjacent buildings during an earthquake may collide against each other when, owing
to their different dynamic characteristics, the buildings vibrate out of phase and the at-rest separation
distance is inadequate to accommodate their relative motions. Seismic pounding can cause severe
damage to the structures. Such buildings are usually separated by an expansion joint which is
insufficient to accommodate the lateral movements of buildings under earthquakes. While seismic
pounding can be prevented by providing adequate safe code specified separation distances, sometimes
getting of required safe separations is not possible in metropolitan areas because buildings are built
very close to each other due to high land value, limited availability of land space, the need for
centralized facilities under one roof and/or often ignoring the likelihood of seismic pounding between
adjacent buildings during design. If building separations in metropolitan areas found to be deficient to
prevent pounding, then there should be some secure and cost-effective retrofitting methods to mitigate
structural pounding. This research work covers the mitigation techniques of pounding between
adjacent buildings due to earthquakes. Use of shear wall, bracing system and friction dampers are
proposed as possible mitigation techniques