Structural Response of Concrete Buildings to Seismic and Wind Loads in Bangladesh Using ETABS and BNBC 2020

Mohammad Abdul Aziz (Department of Civil Engineering, Port City International University (PCIU), Chattogram, 4209, Bangladesh)
Sajedur Rahman (School of Civil Engineering and Construction, College of Engineering and Information Technology, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia)
Avishek Ghosh (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD 57007, USA)
Mohammad Hasan Mahmud Mazumdar (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia)
Akramul Haque (Institute of Water and Environment, Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (DUET), Gazipur 1707, Bangladesh)
Fahmida Khanam Ovi (Department of Civil Engineering, Southern University Bangladesh (SUB), Chattogram 4210, Bangladesh)

Disaster in Civil Engineering and Architecture
Vol. 3 No. 1: April 2026

Rapid urbanization in Bangladesh has led to an increasing demand for multi-storey buildings, necessitating robust structural design to resist lateral loads from both earthquakes and wind. This study analyzes the seismic and wind load performance of G+8 reinforced concrete (RC) building located in four different seismic zones of Bangladesh, using ETABS 2017 in compliance with the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC) 2020. The structure was evaluated under both seismic (EQX, EQY) and wind (WX, WY) loads. The structural analysis revealed that wind loads (WX and WY) consistently govern the lateral design for this structure, as evidenced by storey shear (peaking at 45 Kip at the base in Zone 4 and storey displacement (WX peaking at 8 in) and drift (WX peaking at 0.09 in) being substantially higher than seismic demands. Although base shear linearly increased almost threefold from Zone 1 (33.28 Kip) to Zone 4 (99.84 Kip) due to rising seismic zone coefficients, the wind forces dominate the serviceability checks. Maximum storey displacement and drift were concentrated in Zones 3 and 4, with the latter exhibiting the highest drift (0.065 in WX) and extreme torsional irregularity, peaking at 7.82 in WX. The analysis confirms that both seismic and wind effects significantly influence building performance, with seismic forces dominating in higher zones and wind-induced displacements being critical in specific directions. This underscores the importance of region-specific design considerations to ensure structural safety and serviceability in Bangladesh’s diverse seismic landscape.