Pounding of buildings in series during earthquakes

Abstract

SUMMARYA simplified model of several adjacent buildings in a block is used to study the pounding of such buildings due to strong earthquakes. Considerable structural damage and even some collapses have sometimes been attributed to this effect. Each structure is modelled as a S.D.O.F. system and pounding is simulated using impact elements. A parametric investigation of this problem shows that the end structures experience almost always substantial increases in their response while for 'interior' structures the opposite often happens. This may explain why high percentages of corner buildings have collapsed in some earthquakes.

Pounding force assessment in performance‐based design of bridges

“…These differences may appear important. However, Agnastopoulos [2] reported that, in the case of in series pounding of buildings, displacement response was not very dependent on this value.…”

“…When the element is linear viscoelastic, they follow the Kelvin-Voigt models [2,8]. Their main disadvantage is that they provide a uniform energy dissipation all along the shock, which is not consistent with experimental evidence.…”

“…First attempts to model pounding on buildings can be found in [2], where the goal was to estimate the suitable gap to avoid it. More recently, pounding between deck and abutments or between different deck portions has been studied.…”

“…A(edp)= /G(edp|im)|d^(im)| (2) where EDP is a (scalar) random variable representing the (maximum) value of reaction forces taking place during pounding. Selection of an appropriate IM is the first task when applying the procedures.…”

An Efficient Numerical Approach for the Parametric Investigation of the Effects of Pounding on the 3d Dynamic Response of Buildings During Earthquakes

“…An example of such pounding incident is shown in Figure 1 as has been identified by the EERI/PEER reconnaissance team after the L'Aquila Earthquake, which hit Central Italy on April 2009 [5]. Several numerical studies have been performed in order to investigate the effects of earthquake induced pounding of buildings, with the majority of researchers simulating the problem in two dimensions (2D) [6][7][8]. The results from the various 2D parametric studies have demonstrated the detrimental effects of pounding on the dynamic response of multistory buildings and showed the importance of this problem regarding the safety and functionality of these structures.…”