The provisions of this chapter are intended as minimum standards for structural seismic resistance, and are established primarily to reduce the risk of life loss or injury. Compliance with the provisions in this chapter will not necessarily prevent loss of life or injury or prevent earthquake damage to the rehabilitated buildings.
The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all buildings having concrete floors or roofs supported by reinforced concrete walls or by concrete frames and columns. This chapter shall not apply to buildings with roof diaphragms that are defined as flexible diaphragms by the building code, and shall not apply to concrete frame buildings with masonry infilled walls.
Buildings that were designed and constructed in accordance with the seismic provisions of the 1993 BOCA National Building Code, the 1994 Standard Building Code, the 1976 Uniform Building Code, the 2000 International Building Code or later editions of these codes shall be deemed to comply with these provisions, unless the seismicity of the region has increased since the design of the building.
For Tier 3 analyses, expected material properties shall be used in lieu of nominal properties in the calculation of strength, stiffness and deformabiltity of building components.
The procedure for testing and determination of material properties shall be from Section 6.2 of ASCE 41-06.
Structural observation, in accordance with Section 1709 of the International Building Code shall be required for all structures in which seismic retrofit is being performed in accordance with this chapter. Structural observation shall include visual observation of work for conformance with the approved construction documents and confirmation of existing conditions assumed during design.
Structural testing and inspection for new construction materials shall be in accordance with the building code, except as modified by this chapter.
The registered design professional shall prepare a report summarizing the analysis conducted in compliance with this section. As a minimum, the report shall include the following items:
- Building description.
- Site inspection summary.
- Summary of reviewed record documents.
- Earthquake design data used for the evaluation of the building.
- Completed checklists.
- Quick-check analysis calculations.
- Summary of deficiencies.
A Tier 2 analysis includes an analysis using the following linear methods: Static or equivalent lateral force procedures. A linear dynamic analysis may be used to determine the distribution of the base shear over the height of the structure. The analysis, as a minimum, shall address all potential deficiencies identified in Tier 1, using procedures specified in this section.
If a Tier 2 analysis identifies a nonconforming condition, such condition shall be modified to conform to the acceptance criteria. Alternatively, the design professional may choose to perform a Tier 3 analysis to verify the adequacy of the structure.
A Tier 2 analysis procedure may be used if:
- There is no in-plane offset in the lateral-force-resisting system.
- There is no out-of-plane offset in the lateral-force-resisting system.
- There is no torsional irregularity present in any story. A torsional irregularity may be deemed to exist in a story when the maximum story drift, computed including accidental torsion, at one end of the structure transverse to an axis is more than 1.2 times the average of the story drifts at the two ends of the structure.
- There is no weak story irregularity at any floor level on any axis of the building. A weak story is one in which the story strength is less than 80 percent of that in the story above. The story strength is the total strength of all seismic-resisting elements sharing the story shear for the direction under consideration.
Exception: Static or equivalent lateral force procedures shall not be used if:
- The building is more than 100 feet (30 480 mm) in height.
- The building has a vertical mass or stiffness irregularity (soft story). Mass irregularity shall be considered to exist where the effective mass of any story is more than 150 percent of the effective mass of any adjacent story. A soft story is one in which the lateral stiffness is less than 70 percent of that in the story above or less than 80 percent of the average stiffness of the three stories above.
- The building has a vertical geometric irregularity. Vertical geometric irregularity shall be considered to exist where the horizontal dimension of the lateral-force-resisting system in any story is more than 130 percent of that in an adjacent story.
- The building has a nonorthogonal lateral-force- resisting system.
The three-dimensional mathematical model of the physical structure shall represent the spatial distribution of mass and stiffness of the structure to an extent that is adequate for the calculation of the significant features of its distribution of lateral forces. All concrete and masonry elements shall be included in the model of the physical structure.
Cast-in-place reinforced concrete floors with span-to-depth ratios less than three-to-one may be assumed to be rigid diaphragms. Other floors, including floors constructed of precast elements with or without a reinforced concrete topping, shall be analyzed in conformance with the building code to determine if they must be considered semi-rigid diaphragms. The effective in-plane stiffness of the diaphragm, including effects of cracking and discontinuity between precast elements, shall be considered. Parking structures that have ramps rather than a single floor level shall be modeled as having mass appropriately distributed on each ramp. The lateral stiffness of the ramp may be calculated as having properties based on the uncracked cross section of the slab exclusive of beams and girders.
For load and resistance factor design (strength design), structures and all portions thereof shall resist the most critical effects from the combinations of factored loads prescribed in the building code.
where:
Wg = Total gravity loads on the beam.
