AmQuake – A powerful software for masonry building analysis

Cervenka Consulting Ltd has developed AmQuake, the useful software for earthquake engineering.

With the use of this program, the engineers will be able to create the design of safe masonry buildings in the seismic regions of Europe. This formation was supported with the introduction of Eurocode 6 and 8 in Europe. These standards become compulsory in the European Union that commences from March 2010, and they employ strong rules for masonry buildings in seismic regions. By applying pushover analysis and the corresponding frame method to examine the seismic safety of masonry buildings in a graphical user-friendly environment.

Demo version is automatically incorporated in the program. The unregistered / unpaid version of the program automatically functions in the demo mode.

The demo mode is restricted to 10 frame elements. This limitation does not include the examples provided in the installation.

The software contains the following features :-

• Brick choice - Choose your masonry unit out of the catalogue of Wienerberger products
• CAD building floor plan is directly imported through DXF
• Seismic assessment is done with pushover analysis
• It adheres to Eurocode 2, 6, and 8
• It is compatible with 11 European versions and translated into 14 languages
• To download the software, click on the following link Www.Cesdb.Com

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Published By

Rajib Dey

www.constructioncost.co

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Basic needs of a Building

The planning and construction of a building is undertaken on the basis of the following conditions :-

Strength and Stability – There should be proper arrangement for building to transmit the probable loads securely to the ground through it full lifecycle. Proper safeguard should be taken for designing various types of structural elements like slabs, beams, walls, columns and footing. All the structural components should be free from buckling, overturning and collapsing.

Dimensional Stability - The structural elements become instable due to extreme deformation that may lead to crack in walls, flooring etc. All the structural elements should have been designed in such a manner so that the allowable values mentioned in the codes should remain within limit.

Resilience to Dampness - Dampness in a building is a vital concern as it may endanger the life of the building. To get rid of dampness, proper precaution should be taken in planning and in the construction of the building.

Resistance to Fire: To maintain fire resistance capacity, the building should abide by the following basic needs mentioned in the codes:

• the structure should not be inflammable easily.
• there should be perfect building orientation to resist the scattering of fire quickly.
• to escape from fire, there should be ways of smooth access to depart from building rapidly.

Heat Insulation- A building should be properly oriented and designed to protect inside area from heat.
Sound Insulation – The planning for building should be done in such a manner to protect from outdoor and indoor noises.
Safeguard from Termite – Proper protection should be taken for buildings against termite.

Stability - Each and every element of the building should be stable enough.
Security against Burglary - This is the basic requirement that the owner of the building look forward to.
Lighting and Ventilation- To maintain a healthful life, there should sufficient natural light and ventilations.

Diffused light and good cross ventilation should be retained within the building.

Comforts and Amenities – Different types of units in the building should be perfectly grouped and incorporated ensuring the comfort and amenities of the user.

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Published By
Rajib Dey
www.constructioncost.co
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Various types of loads acting on building structure

The types of external loads, operating on building and other structures, are categorized as the following :-

1. Static loads belong to the forces which are applied sluggishly and then turns out to be almost constant.

2. One instance is the weight, or dead load associated with a floor or roof system.
3. Dynamic loads fluctuate with time. They comprise of repeated and impact loads.
4. Repeated loads are forces which are used several times. These types of loads can make a difference in the magnitude, and occasionally also in the sense, of the internal forces. A good example is an off-balance motor.

5. Impact loads stand for forces through which energy is occupied in a short timespan by a structure or its components time. An instance is the falling of a heavy weight on a floor slab, or the shock wave emerged out an explosion striking the walls and roof of a building.
6. External forces are also categorized as distributed and concentrated.
7. Uniformly distributed loads belong to a distributed load that contains a constant value like 1kN/m. It’s magnitude stays uniform all through the length. Uniformly distributed load is generally denoted by W and is stated as intensity of udl over the beam, slab etc. The instance of this load is dead weight of a rolled-steel I beam.

8. Concentrated loads belong to forces containing such a small contact area that is omitted corresponding to the whole surface area of the supporting member. As for instance a beam supported on a girder can be taken, for all practical purposes, a concentrated load on the girder.
9. Another common category for external forces which are labeled as axial, eccentric, and torsional.
10. An axial load pertains to a force whose resultant goes over the centroid of a section under consideration and stands upright to the plane of the section.
11. An eccentric load stands for a force that stands upright to the plane of the section under consideration but not going through the centroid of the section, therefore bending the supporting member.

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Published By
Rajib Dey
www.constructioncost.co
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