The Effect of Different Soil Classes on Earthquake Demands of Reinforced Concrete Structures: Case Study for Sakarya

In this study, it is aimed to investigate the effect of different soil classes on the behavior of the structure under earthquake loads. An evaluation was made for five-storey and eight-story reinforced concrete (RC) frame structures considering the three different soil classes (ZC, ZD, ZE) defined in the Turkish Building Earthquake Code 2018 (TBEC 2018) and the current earthquake hazard of Sakarya. In the structural system of the RC frame, the cross-section geometry and reinforcement details of the columns and beams were designed by considering the design criteria in TBEC 2018. While determining the dynamic behavior of the structure, the effective bending rigidity defined for column and beam elements in TBEC 2018 was used. For the RC frame structural model, the base shear force, story displacements and story drifts were investigated comparatively by using the mode superposition method in the SAP2000 finite element analysis program. When the results are compared, it is seen that as the soil stiffness decreases, the force and displacement demands on the structure increase.