CSI Software Used for Earthquake Resistant Housing in Developing Countries.

How technology can impact the lives of ordinary people in rural areas of underdeveloped countries can be extraordinary. Application of software donated by CSI is having that kind of an impact ~ enhancing seismic safety in developing countries such as Indonesia.

A house is meant for safe human habitation, a structure with a special purpose for people to have shelter from the elements and a sense of protection and comfort. But living in a dwelling that could be potentially dangerous due to its location in an earthquake zone is an unsettling proposition.

  
   
  Every year earthquakes occur in various areas of Indonesia. Teddy Boen, a prominent Indonesian Structural Engineer and the Director of the World Seismic Safety Initiative, has spent over 30 years working on the subject of low-income housing projects termed as “non-engineered” construction in developing countries. Mr. Boen has tried to introduce “the engineering of non-engineered buildings” and has carefully studied the performance of such structures in past earthquakes to help develop guidelines for the earthquake resistant design of under privileged people’s housing.

Mr. Boen has used CSI software, SAP 2000 and ETABS in his research and analysis to correlate his field observations with the results from the simulations produced by the 3D mathematical models of the software. Results of his work were published in his paper entitled “Earthquake Resistant Design of Non-Engineered Buildings in Indonesia”.

  
   
  Approximately 70 percent of buildings inventory in Indonesia consists of urban and rural non-engineered buildings. These buildings are built according to tradition, their types suiting the culture and materials available in that area. Many of these structures are masonry buildings and were built with poor workmanship and poor quality of materials. Unfortunately, all catastrophes in developing countries such as Indonesia are mostly due to the collapse of such type of non-engineered buildings during an earthquake.

The study of earthquake damage as well as field inspection provides new lessons to be learned for engineers in designing structures that will withstand earthquakes. The availability of software such as SAP2000 makes it practical for engineers to perform static and dynamic analysis of structures quickly and efficiently. These buildings can be re-engineered by verification using the powerful technology available in SAP2000 and ETABS.

By observing the damage of structures in a real earthquake and then being able to simulate such damage using modern numerical methods along with powerful computer technology and graphics allows engineers to identify weaknesses in the structural behavior using a mathematical model during the design phase. These weaknesses can then be addressed before the structure is built. Now that is a story about technology for a safer world!