Assessing seismic gap in adjacent RC buildings post Gorkha earthquake in Nepal

The purpose of this research is to safeguard neighbouring reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in developing settings from seismic pounding, which can cause damage to such closely spaced buildings. The results of this study help to mitigate the pounding impact that occurs during earthquakes between nearby structures with varying floor numbers and provide valuable insights for constructing closely separated buildings in rapidly growing urban environments. Floor-to-floor pounding is the subject of this research, and the easiest and most efficient way to mitigate the damage caused by this pounding effect is to allow adequate space between the buildings. The study’s objective is to determine the minimum seismic gap between adjacent RC buildings with floors at the same level using three distinct analysis techniques: Response Spectrum Analysis (RSA), Non-Linear Modal Time-History Analysis (NLMTHA), and Direct Integration Time-History Analysis (DITHA) and finally recommend a safe seismic gap value from those three methods of analysis. The effect of the number of bays and storeys on the seismic gap value is also covered in this study. In order to provide suitable gap values, the research models 18 buildings with varying floor numbers and varying bay numbers in X and Y directions in SAP 2000 v 20 and a total of 153 building combinations were generated from those 18 models.