Srijana Gurung Shrestha

PhD research (2019 - present )

Title: Seismic demand estimation of reinforced concrete wall buildings

Student: Srijana Gurung Shrestha

Senior Supervisor: Prof. Rajesh Dhakal

Co-Supervisor(s): Dr. Farhad Dashti and Dr. Reagan Chandramohan

This study aims to develop a simple approach to relate seismic demand profile of RC wall buildings with structural as well as ground motion characteristics quantified by spectral acceleration and significant duration. Based on the statistical analysis of the results of hundreds of non-linear dynamic analysis intended to conduct in this study, it is envisioned to develop a general simplified approach applicable to generate seismic demand profile of RC wall buildings without conducting any sophisticated analysis.

The objectives of the research are: i) to understand the seismic response of reinforced concrete (RC) wall buildings with different structural characteristics: time period, wall shear-span ratio, boundary zone reinforcement ratio, etc, ii) to investigate the sensitivity of the seismic response of reinforced concrete wall buildings to ground motion duration and response spectral shape, and iii) to develop an approximate equation to predict the maximum inter-story drift and peak floor acceleration of reinforced concrete wall buildings. Given the number analyses to be conducted in this project, a macroscopic modelling approach will be used to represent the nonlinear response of structural walls. The SFI-MVLEM model developed by Kolozvari et al. (2015) will be used for this purpose. Unlike previous macro models developed based on MVLEM configuration (e.g. the model investigated in my master research, Figure 1), SFI-MVLEM model incorporates the effects of shear-flexure interaction in the model. This model is available in OpenSees and will be used along with line elements for representation of wall-frame systems.