Collapse of Eight‐Story RC Building during 1985 Chile Earthquake
Publication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 117, Issue 2
Abstract
The behavior of an eight‐story, reinforced concrete apartment building that suffered severe structural damage during the 1985 Chile earthquake is investigated. A series of linear and limit analyses are described in an attempt to identify the cause of the collapse. The results indicate that global response parameters, such as base‐shear strength and mean drift ratio, are insufficient to explain the observed damage. The building had been designed with strength and stiffness characteristics comparable to other buildings that survived the earthquake with light to moderate damage. Investigation of the behavior of individual members leads to the conclusion that the building collapsed after the longitudinal reinforcement fractured in a first‐story wall. This form of brittleness is related to under‐ rather than overreinforcement. The observed failure and data from laboratory tests demonstrate that minimum amounts of longitudinal reinforcement should be established in seismic‐design requirements for structural walls.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
“Building code requirements for reinforced concrete.” (1983). ACI 318‐83, American Concrete Inst., Detroit, Mich.
2.
“Standard test method for obtaining and testing drilled cores and sawed beams of concrete, C42‐87.” (1988). Annual book of ASTM standards, Vol. 4.02, American Society for Testing Materials, Philadelphia, Pa., 26–28.
3.
Bonacci, J. F. (1988). “Experiments to study the seismic drift of reinforced concrete structures,” thesis presented to the Graduate College, University of Illinois, at Urbana, Ill., in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
4.
Bonelli, P. (1986). Actividades de Investigatión 1986: El Sismo del 3 de Marzo del 1985 en Valparaíso y Viña del Mar. Universidad Técnia Federico Santa María, Valparaíso, Chile (in Spanish).
5.
Calcagni, J., and Saragoni, G. R. (1988). “Propositión de un Espectro para la Zona Epicentral del Terremoto de 3 de Marzo de 1985.” Informe Técnico, Sectión Ingeniería Estructural, Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile (in Spanish).
6.
Celebi, M., ed. (1986). “Seismic site‐response experiments following the March 3, 1985 central Chile earthquake (topographical and geological effects).” Open‐File Report, No. 86‐90, U.S. Dept. of the Interior, Geological Survey, Menlo Park, Calif.
7.
De La Llera, J. C., and Riddell, R. (1989). “El Terremoto de 1985 en Chile: Análisis del Edificio El Faro.” DIE No. 89‐1, Departamento de Ingeniería Estructural, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile (in Spanish).
8.
Grimme, K., and Alvarez, L. (1964). “El Suelo de Fundación de Valparaíso y Viña del Mar.” Boletin No. 16, Institute de Investagaciones Geológicas, Santiago, Chile, 1‐25 (in Spanish).
9.
Labbe, A. R. (1988). “Failure investigation of the El Faro building, Viña del Mar, Chile: March 3, 1985,” thesis presented to the Graduate School, University of Texas, at Austin, Tex., in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science.
10.
Paulay, T. (1986). “The design of ductile reinforced concrete structural walls for earthquake resistance.” Earthquake Spectra, Earthquake Engrg. Res. Inst. (EERI), 2(4), 783–824.
11.
Riddell, R., Wood, S. L., and De La Llera, J. C. (1987). “The 1985 Chile earthquake: Structural characteristics and damage statistics for the building inventory in Viña del Mar.” Civil Engineering Studies, Structural Research Series No. 534, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, Ill.
12.
Riveros, H. E. (1987). “Análisis de la Falla del Edificio El Faro,” thesis presented to Universidad Técnia Federico Santa María, at Valparaíso, Chile, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of civil engineer (in Spanish).
13.
Shibata, A., and Sozen, M. A. (1976). “Substitute‐structure method for seismic design in reinforced concrete.” J. Struct. Div., ASCE, 102(1), 1–18.
14.
Shimazaki, K., and Sozen, M. A. (1984). “Seismic drift of reinforced concrete structures.” Tech. Res. Report, Hazama‐Gumi, Ltd., Tokyo, 145‐166 (in Japanese).
15.
Stark, R. (1988). “Evaluation of strength, stiffness and ductility requirements of reinforced concrete structures using data from the Chile (1985) and Michoacan (1985) earthquakes,” thesis presented to the Graduate College, University of Illinois, at Urbana, Ill., in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.
16.
Uniform building code. (1988). International Conference of Building Officials, Whittier, Calif.
17.
Wilson, E. L., Der Kiureghian, A., and Bayo, E. P. (1981). “A replacement for the SRSS method in seismic analysis.” Earthquake Engrg. Struct. Dyn., 9(2), 187–194.
18.
Wilson, E. L., Hollings, J. P., and Dovey, H. H. (1975). “Three dimensional analysis of building systems (extended version).” Report No. EERC 75‐13, Earthquake Engrg. Res. Ctr., Univ. of California, Berkeley, Calif.
19.
Wood, S. L. (1989). “Minimum tensile reinforcement requirements in walls.” Struct. J., ACI, 86(5), 582–591.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1991 ASCE.
History
Published online: Feb 1, 1991
Published in print: Feb 1991
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.