Assessment of Structures with Floating Column on Sloping Ground Against Seismic Load

The rate of construction has seen a tremendous growth in the hill-dominated topographical areas. The structures that are been constructed in the hilly areas are focusing on increasing the space at different storey levels than the usual ones, for the purpose of parking or serve as a community hall for various applications. But, one has to be very specific in designing of those buildings as the placement of the structural members (beams and columns) directly affects the strength and stiffness of the structures. With increasing tourism in the hilly areas, people are constructing the buildings with the concept of floating columns, unaware of its effects in case of seismic environment. In context to Indian topography, these areas fall under the category of highly prone seismic zones. This study will be focusing on the analysis of the structures constructed on the hill slopes with the provision of floating columns at different storey levels against seismic loads. With keeping in mind of increasing trend of constructions, different models are considered with varying sloping angle. The analysis tool used in this analysis is ETABS 20 Ultimate. Different models will be analyzed of same structural dimension with varying slope angles and discussion will be focused on feasibility of providing floating columns in high-rise structures on sloping ground. The seismic considerations are followed as per the Indian standard guidelines of IS 1893 (Part I): 2016.