Enhancing Seismic Resilience of Low-Cost Housing Through Affordable Ductility-Based Reinforcement: A Model-Driven Pushover Analysis

Affordable housing in many developing countries remains vulnerable to seismic events due to the low ductility and energy dissipation of concrete structures due to the lack of proper reinforcement detailing. This study explores the role of low-cost reinforcement, detailing improvements in enhancing the seismic response of these structures. A three-story reinforced concrete frame was constructed using a MATLAB-based nonlinear analysis program, and a pushover analysis was performed to assess the seismic response to increasing lateral loads. Two configurations were considered: (i) conventional detailing and (ii) improved detailing with increased confinement, reduced stirrup spacing, and improved joint detailing. The findings reveal that the enhanced system reached a maximum base shear of 1800 kN, in contrast to 1000 kN for the conventional system (44.44% improvement). The maximum displacement increased from 1.58 to 1.90 m (20.25% enhancement) and the ductility ratio increased from 7.8 to 8.2. Crucially, the energy dissipation capacity improved from approximately 200 to 350 kJ, for a 75% improvement. The results show that low-cost detailing measures can significantly improve structural performance, reduce the risk of collapse, and increase life safety. This study offers an affordable and replicable approach to enhancing the performance of affordable housing in seismic-prone developing countries