Performance-based assessment of response reduction factor of RC-elevated water tank considering soil flexibility: a case study

The seismic design codes/standards of most countries include the nonlinear response of a structure implicitly through a response reduction/modification factor ( R ). It is the factor by which the actual base shear should be reduced to find the design base shear during design basic earthquake considering nonlinear behavior and deformation limits of structures. In the present study, attempts are made to determine the ‘ R ’ factors of four existing RC staging elevated water tanks, which are designed as per draft Indian standards for seismic design of liquid and RC designs and having a ductile detailing considering the effects of soil flexibility. The elevated RC water tanks are analyzed using displacement controlled non-linear static pushover analysis to evaluate the base shear capacity and ductility of tank considering soil flexibility. The ‘ R ’ factor is obtained for four realistic designs of elevated RC water tanks having different capacities at two performance levels. The evaluated values of ‘ R ’ factor are compared with the values suggested in the design code. The results of the study show that the flexibility of supporting soil has considerable effect on response reduction factor, period and overall performance of water tank, indicating that idealization of fixity at base may be seriously mistaken for soft soils. All the studied water tanks were designed with higher safety margin than that of specified in Indian Standards.