A simplified estimation of excavation-induced ground movements for adjacent building damage potential assessment

Abstract

Adjacent building damages induced by excavations is crucial for excavations in urban areas. Excavation induced damage involved complex soil-structure interactions and complicated ground movements which should be evaluated at the depth of foundation of adjacent buildings. Empirical or semi-empirical methods for evaluation of ground movements induced by excavations have not been well-established because the observed ground movements are very limited. The objective of this study is to establish a simplified assessment for building damage potential based on subsurface ground movements caused by excavations. A series of parametric study by numerical analyses with an advanced soil model was carried out. A set of simplified equations for predicting the profiles for both subsurface ground settlements and lateral ground movements were proposed. Three assessment models with or without considering structural stiffness and subsurface ground movements were employed in estimating the damage potential index (DPI) for two case histories. The models were proved to yield a more reasonable assessment result for building DPI based on the proposed simplified expression of subsurface ground movements.