Seismic Behavior of Stepback Buildings with Slope Stability: An Empirical–Numerical Study

Many multistoried reinforced concrete farmed buildings are being constructed in hilly areas and on hill slopes, due to urbanization and infrastructure development. These buildings constructed on sloping ground fail when subjected to seismic forces. The building loads are transferred to the hill slope terrain at the foundation level, probably resulting in a hill slope failure. Therefore, the stability of hill slope with building loads needs to be examined. This paper considers the effects of soil structure interaction and presents the results of seismic response analysis of multistoried buildings resting on sloping ground. The prototype buildings are scaled down to model buildings by using appropriate scaling laws, further numerical analysis has been carried out using Finite Element Method based analysis. The factors of safety for sliding failure of a slope in stepback and stepback–setback building configurations have been studied. Storey displacements, resonant frequency, and stability of slopes are evaluated. The results indicate that stepback–setback buildings perform better than stepback buildings.