1.1 ABSTRACT Buildings in the old walled city of Ahmedabad are placed in dense street formation a... more 1.1 ABSTRACT Buildings in the old walled city of Ahmedabad are placed in dense street formation and have a specific manner of construction using brick and wood. Structural systems could be studied for earthquake resistance. These structures have survived several natural calamities that have extensively damaged many buildings in the new city. If indigenous techniques of building are not studied vital information about how to build here would be lost. Idealized models of systemic behaviour (e.g. the Indian standards code) only partly explain the traditional construction of Ahmedabad. These models are based on scientific observations of contemporary materials and systems but fail in correctly assessing the vernacular. New models with alternative theoretical interpretations and 3D simulation techniques for analysis, may clarify the role of different materials and their construction systems within a structure. The quest of this study is to find out whether these traditional structural systems provide a greater degree of resistance to earthquakes. 1.2 INTRODUCTION: Vernacular Architecture in walled city of Ahmedabad is an example of a typical construction, which is non-engineered construction and has evolved over a period of time in response to cultural, physical and environmental conditions. Any non-engineered construction by definition is one, which occurs without any technical assistance. This construction is generally a result of traditions improved over a period of time. Often this kind of construction fails to respond to the natural calamities like earthquake, because of higher return periods of such calamities. In past earthquakes, it is a known experience of people in many parts of the world that vernacular structures have often shown better seismic resistance against the modern construction. Effort in this paper is to analyze and discuss the seismic resistance of Ahmedabad pole houses, which have survived in past earthquakes so far. Modern buildings are designed for seismic resistance using the building design codes. The codes are based on the seismic zone of region, the seismic force is considered as a mainly lateral load, and structure is assumed elastic. For non-engineered construction it is very difficult to model and analyze the structure as per the available codes, as these structures use materials and methods of construction that are difficult to analyze for behaviour, as properties of material used are not known. Furthermore, their behaviour may not be elastic because the nature of construction is composite. Earlier codes were silent about the effect of configuration on the behavior of structures in earthquake, but recent codes have recognized the importance of configuration of structures under lateral loads. The paper presents the study of the configuration of the Ahmedabad pole house and its comparison with codal provisions.
1.1 ABSTRACT Buildings in the old walled city of Ahmedabad are placed in dense street formation a... more 1.1 ABSTRACT Buildings in the old walled city of Ahmedabad are placed in dense street formation and have a specific manner of construction using brick and wood. Structural systems could be studied for earthquake resistance. These structures have survived several natural calamities that have extensively damaged many buildings in the new city. If indigenous techniques of building are not studied vital information about how to build here would be lost. Idealized models of systemic behaviour (e.g. the Indian standards code) only partly explain the traditional construction of Ahmedabad. These models are based on scientific observations of contemporary materials and systems but fail in correctly assessing the vernacular. New models with alternative theoretical interpretations and 3D simulation techniques for analysis, may clarify the role of different materials and their construction systems within a structure. The quest of this study is to find out whether these traditional structural systems provide a greater degree of resistance to earthquakes. 1.2 INTRODUCTION: Vernacular Architecture in walled city of Ahmedabad is an example of a typical construction, which is non-engineered construction and has evolved over a period of time in response to cultural, physical and environmental conditions. Any non-engineered construction by definition is one, which occurs without any technical assistance. This construction is generally a result of traditions improved over a period of time. Often this kind of construction fails to respond to the natural calamities like earthquake, because of higher return periods of such calamities. In past earthquakes, it is a known experience of people in many parts of the world that vernacular structures have often shown better seismic resistance against the modern construction. Effort in this paper is to analyze and discuss the seismic resistance of Ahmedabad pole houses, which have survived in past earthquakes so far. Modern buildings are designed for seismic resistance using the building design codes. The codes are based on the seismic zone of region, the seismic force is considered as a mainly lateral load, and structure is assumed elastic. For non-engineered construction it is very difficult to model and analyze the structure as per the available codes, as these structures use materials and methods of construction that are difficult to analyze for behaviour, as properties of material used are not known. Furthermore, their behaviour may not be elastic because the nature of construction is composite. Earlier codes were silent about the effect of configuration on the behavior of structures in earthquake, but recent codes have recognized the importance of configuration of structures under lateral loads. The paper presents the study of the configuration of the Ahmedabad pole house and its comparison with codal provisions.
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Papers by Vinod S Shah