Vertical Irregularities on Reinforced Concrete Frame Buildings

Abstract

Many Multi-storey buildings require open taller first storey for parking of vehicles, retail stores, bank branches, restaurant owing to lack of horizontal space and high cost. Due to this, the first storey has lesser strength and stiffness as compared to upper storeys which are stiffened by presence of walls (either masonry or RC). Such buildings are often called soft storey buildings. Buildings with soft first storey, the upper storeys being stiff, undergo smaller inter-storey drifts. However, the inter-storey drift in the soft first storey is large. This paper highlights the effect of presence of soft storeys in the building by study of an example building with different models and incorporating various retrofitting techniques to reduce the effect of soft storeys. Introduction of shear wall represents a structurally efficient solution to stiffen the RC frame