Seismic Design of Building Structures

By Prof. Vishwajit Anand | IIT(BHU) Varanasi

Learners enrolled: 1128 | Exam registration: 242

ABOUT THE COURSE:

The course aims to provide students with a comprehensive understanding of seismic response of structures and thereby equip them with scientific rationale behind seismic design of structures. The course will emphasize on calculation and distribution of design seismic forces, and ductile detailing of various building structures to resist the design seismic forces. Through a holistic coverage of ductile detailing related to reinforced concrete, steel and masonry buildings imparted to students and design practitioners, the course sets the stage for seismic resilient building construction in the country

INTENDED AUDIENCE: UG and PG students interested in seismic design of reinforced concrete, steel and masonry structures; Practitioners from structural design industry

PREREQUISITES: Structural Dynamics, Design of Reinforced Concrete Structures, Design of Steel Structures

INDUSTRY SUPPORT: Larsen & Toubro, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, TATA Projects Limited, Gammon India, Arup, WSP, Ducon Consultants, SPA Consultants, VMS Consultants, and many more

Summary

Course Status :	Ongoing
Course Type :	Elective
Language for course content :	English
Duration :	12 weeks
Category :	Civil Engineering Structural Design
Credit Points :	3
Level :	Undergraduate/Postgraduate
Start Date :	19 Jan 2026
End Date :	10 Apr 2026
Enrollment Ends :	02 Feb 2026
Exam Registration Ends :	20 Feb 2026
Exam Date :	24 Apr 2026 IST
NCrF Level	4.5 — 8.0

Note: This exam date is subject to change based on seat availability. You can check final exam date on your hall ticket.

Page Visits

Course layout

Week 1: Earthquakes: Occurrences, Measurements, Learnings from Past Events, Requirements of Good Seismic Design

Week 2: Design Seismic Load Calculation: Equivalent Linear Static and Response Spectrum Methods, Vertical and Member-wise Distribution of Design Seismic Loads (with worked out examples)

Week 3: Design Seismic Load Calculation: Response History Method, Numerical Method for Seismic Analysis, Torsionally Irregular Buildings

Week 4: Seismic Design Philosophies: Force-Based, Displacement-Based, Capacity-Based, Energy Based Design; Desired Failure Modes, Seismic Energy Dissipation, Hierarchy of Collapse

Week 5: Seismic Design of Reinforced Concrete Building Structures: Moment Resisting Frames and Braced Frames

Week 6: Ductile Detailing of Beams, Columns, Foundations, and Beam-Column Joints; Design and Ductile Detailing of Shear Walls (with worked out examples)

Week 7: Seismic Design of Steel Building Structures: Moment Resisting Frames, Concentrically and Eccentrically Braced Frames

Week 8: Ductile Detailing of Beams, Columns, Beam-Column Joints (Panel Zones), Braces and Link Elements (with worked out examples)

Week 9: Seismic Design of Masonry Building Structures: Unreinforced and Reinforced Masonry

Week 10: Ductile Detailing of Masonry Building Structures; Confined Masonry Construction and Ductile Detailing (with worked out examples)

Week 11: Seismic Protection of Non-Structural Components of Buildings

Week 12: Condition Assessment and Seismic Retrofitting of Existing Buildings; Methods for Compliance to Modern Codal Provisions; Seismic Protection of Buildings using Base Isolation, Tuned Mass Dampers and Metamaterials

Books and references

• Pankaj Agrawal and Manish Shrikhande, Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures, PHI

• Farzad Naeim, The Seismic Design Handbook

• Lindeburg and McMullin, Seismic Design of Building Structures: A Professional’s Introduction to Earthquake Forces and Design Details

• Anil K Chopra, Dynamics of Structures: Theory and Applications to Earthquake Engineering

• IS 1893-1: Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures- Part 1: General Provisions, 2025

• IS 1893-5: Criteria for Earthquake Resistant Design of Structures- Part 5: Buildings, 2025

• IS 456: Plain and Reinforced Concrete- Code of Practice, 2000

• IS 13920: Ductile Design and Detailing of Reinforced Concrete Structures Subjected to Seismic Forces, 2016

• IS 800: General Construction in Steel- Code of 3 Practice, 2007

• IS 18168: Earthquake Resistant Design and Detailing of Steel Buildings, 2023

• IS 1905: Code of Practice for Structural Use of Unreinforced Masonry, 1987

• IS 17848: Confined Masonry for Earthquake Resistant Code of Practice, 2022

• IS 13935: Seismic Evaluation, Repair and Strengthening of Masonry Buildings- Guidelines, 2009

• Any other reference (books / articles / standards) mentioned during lecture and/or in the reading material

Instructor bio

Prof. Vishwajit Anand

IIT(BHU) Varanasi

Dr. Vishwajit Anand is an Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering at IIT (BHU) Varanasi. He pursued B.Tech in Civil Engineering at IIT Guwahati in 2014, and obtained Ph.D from IIT Madras in 2021. He briefly worked at NIT Andhra Pradesh before joining IIT (BHU) Varanasi in March 2022.

Dr. Anand has experience teaching structural mechanics, building materials, drawing and detailing of steel structures and earthquake resistant design, at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. His primary research interests include earthquake engineering, and novel sustainable materials. In addition to a number of articles in peer-reviewed journals and renowned conferences, he has published a book on concrete technology with All India Council for Technical Education. He is a recipient of Young Professional Award from Indian Concrete Institute- Varanasi Chapter.

He has been a reviewer at various renowned journals and conferences. He has served as a consultant with various public and private organizations, and has been engaged in a number of seismic audit projects. He is as an active member of various professional bodies including Earthquake Engineering Research Institute Oakland, The Institution of Structural Engineers London, Indian Concrete Institute, Institution of Engineers (India) and Indian Society of Earthquake Technology. He has also been instrumental towards establishing Varanasi Chapter of ISET, through which a number of earthquake learning and awareness programs are being developed.

Course certificate

The course is free to enroll and learn from. But if you want a certificate, you have to register and write the proctored exam conducted by us in person at any of the designated exam centres.

The exam is optional for a fee of Rs 1000/- (Rupees one thousand only).

Date and Time of Exams: April 24, 2026 Morning session 9am to 12 noon; Afternoon Session 2pm to 5pm.

Registration url: Announcements will be made when the registration form is open for registrations.

The online registration form has to be filled and the certification exam fee needs to be paid. More details will be made available when the exam registration form is published. If there are any changes, it will be mentioned then.

Please check the form for more details on the cities where the exams will be held, the conditions you agree to when you fill the form etc.

CRITERIA TO GET A CERTIFICATE

Average assignment score = 25% of average of best 8 assignments out of the total 12 assignments given in the course.
Exam score = 75% of the proctored certification exam score out of 100

Final score = Average assignment score + Exam score

Please note that assignments encompass all types (including quizzes, programming tasks, and essay submissions) available in the specific week.

YOU WILL BE ELIGIBLE FOR A CERTIFICATE ONLY IF AVERAGE ASSIGNMENT SCORE >=10/25 AND EXAM SCORE >= 30/75. If one of the 2 criteria is not met, you will not get the certificate even if the Final score >= 40/100.

Certificate will have your name, photograph and the score in the final exam with the breakup.It will have the logos of NPTEL and IIT BHU Varanasi. It will be e-verifiable at nptel.ac.in/noc.

Only the e-certificate will be made available. Hard copies will not be dispatched.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our online courses and certification. Happy learning.

- NPTEL team

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