Seismic Performance Evaluation and Mitigation Strategies for Reinforced Concrete Buildings with Floating Columns: A Critical State of-the-Art Review

Author

Tejaskumar Ramnikbhai Tank, Dr. Prashant K. Bhuva, Dr. Chirag R. Odedrc, Dr. Kalpesh Kapadiya

Abstract

 Modern urban buildings frequently eliminate ground-floor or intermediate columns to accommodate open stilt parking, grand entrance lobbies, and pillar-free commercial halls. These terminated members, known as floating columns, rest on horizontal flexural transfer girders instead of continuing directly down to the foundation. While floating columns carry routine gravity loads adequately, they break the natural vertical load path and create severe stiffness discontinuities. During strong earthquake shaking, this disruption triggers shear force singularities, large inter-storey drift spikes, and dangerous soft-storey collapse mechanisms. This review synthesizes findings from twenty peer-reviewed studies and recent pushover research on a ten-storey reinforced concrete building conducted at Dr. Subhash University. We examine how column positions—specifically corner, exterior edge, and central interior bays—alter dynamic lateral drift, torsional coupling, and plastic hinge progressions. Standard equivalent static calculations fail to capture these localized force concentrations, making nonlinear static pushover and dynamic response spectrum procedures essential. Integrating continuous reinforced concrete shear walls reduces roof displacements by up to 85% and drift ratios by 70%, while structural steel X-bracing achieves 68% drift reduction with minimal weight penalty. Persistent research voids, including near-fault velocity pulses and the scarcity of physical shake-table validation, are highlighted alongside five actionable design rules aligned with Indian Standard codes IS 1893:2016 and IS 13920:2016.

Keywords

Capacity Spectrum Method, Floating Columns, IS 13920:2016, IS 1893:2016, Nonlinear Pushover Analysis, RC Shear Walls, Soft-Storey Collapse, Steel X-Bracing, Transfer Girders, Vertical Irregularity.

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References

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