Rajaram, C., Singhal, S. & Vemuri

Chenna Rajaram from the Department of Civil Engineering, Rajeev Gandhi Memorial College of Engineering and Technology;  Shubham Singhal from the Earthquake Engineering Research Centre, International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad; and Jaya Prakash Vemuri from the Department of Civil Engineering, Mahindra University, co-authored an article, Seismic assessment of mid-rise buildings on hill slopes under near-fault ground motions: a parametric study in a book titled Innovative Infrastructure Solutions published by Springer Nature.

Buildings on hill slopes have sustained extensive damage during the past seismic events, owing to their distinct dynamic characteristics compared to buildings on flat ground. Structural design codes are short of provisions for design parameters for buildings on hill slopes, which leads to inadequate design practices for such buildings. 

This study investigates the seismic behavior of buildings on hill slopes with varying slope angles, i.e., 0°, 10°, 20°, and 30°. A typical building plan was selected, which was modelled as three- and four-storey buildings and analysed in the INSPECT tool. The buildings were subjected to seven near-fault ground motions, and the dynamic response was studied in terms of displacement, damage, time period, and energy ratio. 

The results underlined the importance of considering slope angle in the design of buildings in hilly regions, particularly for four-storey buildings. The findings from the present study indicate an urgent need to formulate seismic design guidelines for buildings on hill slopes, incorporating the influence of lateral displacement, time period, and energy ratio.

Link to the book: https://doi.org/10.1007/s41062-026-02715-w

June 2026