Flaws in construction practices of masonry buildings in kashmir with reference to earthquakes

International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976 –

6480(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6499(Online), Volume 6, Issue 1, January (2015), pp. 67-72 © IAEME

67

FLAWS IN CONSTRUCTION PRACTICES OF MASONRY

BUILDINGS IN KASHMIR WITH REFERENCE TO

EARTHQUAKES (A CASE STUDY)

Mohd Hanief Dar 1, Zahid Ahmad Chat

2, Suhail Shafi

3

1M Tech, Department of Civil Engineering, NIT, Srinagar, India

2M Tech, Department of Civil Engineering, NIT, Srinagar, India

3B Tech, Department of Civil Engineering, NIT, Srinagar, India

ABSTRACT

Most of the construction in Kashmir Valley is still done in brick masonry, our research is

intended to check out the earthquake resistance of ongoing masonry building construction (mostly

important buildings like school) and to point out flaws in design and construction that result in

poor seismic performance of such structures and to suggest adequate measures to curb this practice.

Key Words: Earthquake Hazard, Masonry Buildings, Ignorance of Earthquake Hazards in Kashmir,

Ill Workmanship, Suggestive Measures.

1. INTRODUCTION

The valley of Kashmir lies in the seismic zone V as per IS 1893 (part 1): 2002 annex E. As

such it is the hot spot for occurrence of earthquakes not only mild ones but also very severe ones.

However the people here are sleeping in a deep slumber and they keep on constructing buildings

which are no more than death traps considering their Earthquake susceptibility. Leaving alone proper

earthquake design of buildings, even the earthquake resistant guidelines or tips are not even followed

properly here. It is same for both private residential buildings with lesser Importance factor and

government constructed public buildings (like Hospitals, schools and colleges) with high value of

Importance factor.

Most of the loss of life in past earthquakes has occurred due to the collapse of

buildings, constructed in traditional materials like stone, brick, adobe and wood, which were not

initially engineered to be earthquake resistant. In view of the continued use of such buildings in most

countries of the world, it is essential to introduce earthquake resistance features in their construction.

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International Journal of Advanced Research in Engineering and Technology (IJARET), ISSN 0976

6480(Print), ISSN 0976 – 6499(Online), Volume 6, Issue 1, January (2015), pp.

The main objective of this research is to deal with the basic

appropriate earthquake resistance

the important points, and to present

strengthening elements. Masonry building is defined as buildings which are spontaneously and

informally constructed in the traditional manner

architects and engineers in their design.

Reinforced masonry, reinforced

types of structural systems, and

although some of the principles stated herein will

2. STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE OF MASONRY BUILDINGS DURING

EARTHQUAKES

The creation of tensile and shearing stresses in

of different types of damages. The typical damage and modes of failure are described below:

2.1 Non-Structural Damage Non-structural damage excludes damage to the building structure. Such

frequently even under moderate intensities of

� Cracking and overturning of masonry parapets, roof chimneys, large cantilever cornices and

balconies.

� Falling of plaster from walls and ceiling particularly where it was loose.

� Cracking and overturning of partition walls, infill wal

frames. (Though not usually accounted for in calculations, this type of damage reduces the

lateral strength of a building.)

� Cracking and falling of ceilings.

Figure 1 Cracking in bearing walls due to bending and shear

1: Earthquake motion, 2: Horizontal cracks in gables

to bending of walls


6499(Online), Volume 6, Issue 1, January (2015), pp. 67-72

68

this research is to deal with the basic concepts

resistance of masonry buildings; to include suitable illustrations to

present such data which could be used to proportion the critical


informally constructed in the traditional manner with bricks orstones with intervention by qualified

engineers in their design.

reinforced concrete or steel frame buildings, tall buildings using various

and major industrial buildings, etc., are excluded from

stated herein will equally apply to these constructions.

RUCTURAL PERFORMANCE OF MASONRY BUILDINGS DURING

The creation of tensile and shearing stresses in walls of masonry buildings is the prime


ural damage excludes damage to the building structure. Such

frequently even under moderate intensities of earthquakes as follows:

Cracking and overturning of masonry parapets, roof chimneys, large cantilever cornices and

Falling of plaster from walls and ceiling particularly where it was loose.

Cracking and overturning of partition walls, infill walls and cladding walls from the inside of


lateral strength of a building.)

Cracking and falling of ceilings.

Cracking in bearing walls due to bending and shear

2: Horizontal cracks in gables, 3: Diagonal cracks due to shear


2 © IAEME

concepts involved in achieving

suitable illustrations to explain

be used to proportion the critical


intervention by qualified

buildings using various

excluded from consideration

to these constructions.

RUCTURAL PERFORMANCE OF MASONRY BUILDINGS DURING

buildings is the prime cause


ural damage excludes damage to the building structure. Such damageoccurs

Cracking and overturning of masonry parapets, roof chimneys, large cantilever cornices and

Falling of plaster from walls and ceiling particularly where it was loose.

ls and cladding walls from the inside of


Cracking in bearing walls due to bending and shear

3: Diagonal cracks due to shear, 4: Cracks due



2.2 Damage and failure of bearing walls

� Failure due to racking shear is characterized by diagonal

tension. Such failure may be either through the pattern of joints or diagonally through

masonry units. These cracks usually initiate at the corner of openings and sometimes at the

centre of a wall segment. This

structure (see Figure 1).

� A wall can fail as a bending m ember loaded

the wall itself in a direction transverse to the plane of the wall.

vertically at the centre, ends

openings, the more prominent is

along the both axes of a building simultaneously, shear and bending effects acts often

together and the two modes

tothe combined action of flexure and shear.

� Unreinforced gable end masonry wall

imposes additional force to cause their failure. Horizontal bending tension cracks develop in

the gables.

� The deep beam between two openings one above the other is a weak point of the wall under

lateral in plane forces. Cracking in this zone occurs before diagonal cracking of piers unless

the piers are quite narrow (see Figure

distribution of shear among all piers, either a rigid slab or RC band must ex

Figure 1 Cracking of spandrel wall between openings

C: cracks, F: earthquake motion, SW: spandrel wall

2.3 Causes of damage in masonry buildings

The following are the main weaknesses in unreinforced masonry

reasons for the extensive seismic damage



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Damage and failure of bearing walls

Failure due to racking shear is characterized by diagonal cracks mainly due to diagonal



centre of a wall segment. This kind of failure can cause partial or complete collap

A wall can fail as a bending m ember loaded by seismic inertia forces on the mass

the wall itself in a direction transverse to the plane of the wall.

ends or corners of the walls. The longer the

prominent is the damage (see figure 1). Since earthquake effects occurs

of a building simultaneously, shear and bending effects acts often

two modes of failures are often combined. Failure in

tothe combined action of flexure and shear.

Unreinforced gable end masonry walls are very unstable and the pushing action of purloins


The deep beam between two openings one above the other is a weak point of the wall under

l in plane forces. Cracking in this zone occurs before diagonal cracking of piers unless

rs are quite narrow (see Figure 2). In order to prevent it and to enable the full

distribution of shear among all piers, either a rigid slab or RC band must ex

Cracking of spandrel wall between openings

C: cracks, F: earthquake motion, SW: spandrel wall

Causes of damage in masonry buildings The following are the main weaknesses in unreinforced masonry construction and other

reasons for the extensive seismic damage of such buildings


2 © IAEME

cracks mainly due to diagonal



kind of failure can cause partial or complete collapse of the

by seismic inertia forces on the mass of

Tension cracks occur

longer the wall and longer the

1). Since earthquake effects occurs

of a building simultaneously, shear and bending effects acts often

Failure in the piers occurs due

s are very unstable and the pushing action of purloins


The deep beam between two openings one above the other is a weak point of the wall under

l in plane forces. Cracking in this zone occurs before diagonal cracking of piers unless

In order to prevent it and to enable the full

distribution of shear among all piers, either a rigid slab or RC band must exist between them.

construction and other



� Heavy and stiff buildings, attracting large seismic inertia forces.

� Very low tensile strength, particularly with poor mortars.

� Low shear strength, particularly with poor mort

� Brittle behaviour in tension as well as compression.

� Weak connections between walls.

� Stress concentration at corners of windows and doors.

� Overall asymmetry in plan and elevation of building.

� Asymmetry due to imbalance in the sizes and positions of op

3. CASE STUDY OF “NEW BUILDING OF GOVT. SCHOOL AT HABBAQ”

This building is located near the main Chowk of Habbaq area of Srinagar city in Kashmir

India. It is at a distance of 12km from the main city Srinagar.

Figure 2 Front view of the Govt. School at HABBAQ

The salient features of this building are

� It is a middle school class room building.

� It is a 2 storey school building with 8 class rooms, hence it is an important building.

� It is being constructed by R&B KASHMIR.

3.1 Checking ofbuilding according to CODAL

This building is checked for various earthquake resistant techniques and then the data is

correlated with the Indian standards. The data is



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Heavy and stiff buildings, attracting large seismic inertia forces.

Very low tensile strength, particularly with poor mortars.

Low shear strength, particularly with poor mortars.

in tension as well as compression.

Weak connections between walls.

Stress concentration at corners of windows and doors.

Overall asymmetry in plan and elevation of building.

Asymmetry due to imbalance in the sizes and positions of openings in the walls.

UDY OF “NEW BUILDING OF GOVT. SCHOOL AT HABBAQ”


India. It is at a distance of 12km from the main city Srinagar.

Front view of the Govt. School at HABBAQ

he salient features of this building are

It is a middle school class room building.

It is a 2 storey school building with 8 class rooms, hence it is an important building.

constructed by R&B KASHMIR.

Checking ofbuilding according to CODAL (IS 1893:2002 and IS 13828:1993

building is checked for various earthquake resistant techniques and then the data is

correlated with the Indian standards. The data is provided in the tabular form in table 1.


2 © IAEME

enings in the walls.

UDY OF “NEW BUILDING OF GOVT. SCHOOL AT HABBAQ”


It is a 2 storey school building with 8 class rooms, hence it is an important building.

IS 1893:2002 and IS 13828:1993) provisions.

building is checked for various earthquake resistant techniques and then the data is

provided in the tabular form in table 1.



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Table 1 Correlation between provided and required earthquake resistant techniques for Masonry

buildings

Serial

No.

Data of Building under

Assessment

Requirement as per

Code

Whether

Complying? (Yes/No)

1. Number of storeys, S =2 Equal to or less than 4 Yes

2.

Wall building unit: BURNED

BRICK CONSTRUCTION

(Compressive strength = 35

kg/cm2)

Compressive Strength

= 35 kg/cm2

Yes

3.

Thickness of load bearing walls,

External wall =350mm

Internal wall =250mm

BB = 230 mm

CCB = 200 mm

Yes

4. Mortar used =1:6 C:S = 1:6 or richer Yes

5. Longest wall in room, L = 5.8m BB = 8 m

CCB = 7 m

Yes

6. Height of wall, floor to ceiling,

h = 3.66 m

BB = 3.45 m

CCB = 3 m

No

7. Door, Window openings

Overall (b1 + b2+b3 )/l = 0.6

0.42 No

8.

Seismic Bands :

� at plinth = provided

� at lintel level = provided

� at window sill level = not

provided

� at ceiling = not provided

� at gable ends = not provided

� at ridge top = not provided

Required

Required

Required

Required

Required

Required

No

No

No

No

No

No

9.

Vertical Bars :

� at external corners =

provided

� at external T-junctions =

provided

� at internal corners = provided

� at internal T-junctions = not

provided

� at jambs of door = not

provided

� at jambs of windows = not

provided

Required in all

Masonry buildings

Required in all

Masonry buildings

Required in all

Masonry buildings

Required in all

Masonry buildings

Required in all

Masonry buildings

Required in all

Masonry buildings

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

4. CONCLUSION

Masonry buildings are more vulnerable to earthquakes than RCC and Steel framed buildings

but constructing them according to the standard guidelines specified in codes (IS 1893:2002 and IS

13828:1993) can prove to be very effective in saving precious lives. The devastating effect of 2005

earthquake in Kashmir valley was due to ignorance of earthquake hazards, but still the government

and people are ignoring it. We found that in this study that the codal guidelines were not impelled

and even though if any of them were adopted their execution was not right.



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The need of the hour is to get little serious about the Earthquake Resistant design and

construction in Kashmir valley which is vulnerable to devastating earthquakes. It can be done only

by the combined effort of the government authorities & common people.

Our team suggests the following measures to be adopted to curb this practice

� Codal guidelines must be strictly followed.

� Some courses that will provide substantial knowledge to practicing engineers about earthquake

engineering should be given to them.

� Before giving away any construction tenders, the concerned departments should check-out the

capability of contractors to perform the job.

� Masons and Carpenters should be given technical knowledge about the construction of

earthquake resistant masonry buildings.

REFERENCES

1 Introduction to international disaster management by Damon P. Coppola.

2 Indian Standard Code of practices IS 1893:2002.

3 Indian Standard Code of Practices IS 13828:1993.

4 K. Jagan Mohan and R. Pradeep Kumar, “Earthquakes and Dams In India: an Overview”

International Journal of Civil Engineering & Technology (IJCIET), Volume 4, Issue 6, 2013, pp.

101 - 115, ISSN Print: 0976 – 6308, ISSN Online: 0976 – 6316.

5 Evinur Cahya, Toshitaka Yamao and Akira Kasai, “Seismic Response Behavior Using Static

Pushover Analysis and Dynamic Analysis of Half-Through Steel Arch Bridge Under Strong

Earthquakes” International Journal of Civil Engineering & Technology (IJCIET), Volume 5,

Issue 1, 2014, pp. 73 - 88, ISSN Print: 0976 – 6308, ISSN Online: 0976 – 6316.

Flaws in construction practices of masonry buildings in kashmir with reference to earthquakes

Technology

important buildings

public buildings

collapse of buildings

earthquake susceptibility

brick masonry

reinforced masonry

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private residential