Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
Engineering design lessons from Kobe
Bringing old building stock into line with modern standards of earthquake-resistant design is a daunting and expensive task. But the damage caused by the Kobe earthquake shows that doing nothing will be even more costly. It is to be hoped that insights gained by engineers from the Kobe earthquake will be instrumental and effective in reducing future earthquake damage and loss of life in Japan and elsewhere. There is little doubt that an earthquake with similar destructive force could, and probably will, hit Tokyo within the next 20 years. The urgent need to upgrade the older, badly designed building stock is evident in all the main earthquake zones in the world. The 1995 Kobe earthquake was particularly severe because of a combination of three factors. First, it was shallow: the main shock was just 14 km below the surface. Second, the horizontal and vertical ground accelerations were exceptionally strong; these are measured in terms of percentage of the acceleration due to gravity (g), and averaged 5O - 90 % of g horizontally (50 - 150 % greater than conventional design values) and 30 % of g vertically over a widespread area, including virtually the whole of Kobe city. Third, the strong motion propagated northeastwards for 50 km from the epicenter along a known fault line running through soft alluvial deposits, leading directly to the heart of downtown Kobe. The age of buildings that failed cannot alone explain the high damage levels to engineered buildings in the Kobe earthquake. There were also some notable collapses and failures in modern steel and concrete high-rise buildings, and these are prompting a radical and far-reaching rethink of design methodologies for earthquake-resistant structures. There is a widespread view among engineers that owners and developers must demonstrate greater willingness in the future to pay for proper engineering design and construction to ensure a safe structure. The cost of adequate earthquake resistance is very low - only a few percent of the building cost - if it is designed into the structure initially, but very high if the building must be upgraded at a later date. In this context, the expense of upgrading could be regarded as an acceptable price to pay. Engineers have the technology and capability to implement such a program.
Engineering design lessons from Kobe
Bringing old building stock into line with modern standards of earthquake-resistant design is a daunting and expensive task. But the damage caused by the Kobe earthquake shows that doing nothing will be even more costly. It is to be hoped that insights gained by engineers from the Kobe earthquake will be instrumental and effective in reducing future earthquake damage and loss of life in Japan and elsewhere. There is little doubt that an earthquake with similar destructive force could, and probably will, hit Tokyo within the next 20 years. The urgent need to upgrade the older, badly designed building stock is evident in all the main earthquake zones in the world. The 1995 Kobe earthquake was particularly severe because of a combination of three factors. First, it was shallow: the main shock was just 14 km below the surface. Second, the horizontal and vertical ground accelerations were exceptionally strong; these are measured in terms of percentage of the acceleration due to gravity (g), and averaged 5O - 90 % of g horizontally (50 - 150 % greater than conventional design values) and 30 % of g vertically over a widespread area, including virtually the whole of Kobe city. Third, the strong motion propagated northeastwards for 50 km from the epicenter along a known fault line running through soft alluvial deposits, leading directly to the heart of downtown Kobe. The age of buildings that failed cannot alone explain the high damage levels to engineered buildings in the Kobe earthquake. There were also some notable collapses and failures in modern steel and concrete high-rise buildings, and these are prompting a radical and far-reaching rethink of design methodologies for earthquake-resistant structures. There is a widespread view among engineers that owners and developers must demonstrate greater willingness in the future to pay for proper engineering design and construction to ensure a safe structure. The cost of adequate earthquake resistance is very low - only a few percent of the building cost - if it is designed into the structure initially, but very high if the building must be upgraded at a later date. In this context, the expense of upgrading could be regarded as an acceptable price to pay. Engineers have the technology and capability to implement such a program.
Engineering design lessons from Kobe
Lektionen für das Ingenieurwesen aus dem Erdbeben in Kobe
Chandler, A.M. (Autor:in)
Nature ; 387 ; 227-229
1997
3 Seiten, 2 Bilder, 5 Quellen
Aufsatz (Zeitschrift)
Englisch
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