Characteristics and Mechanics of Earthquake Damage of Brick-Wood Building

Abstract

Brick-wood building is one kind of widespread rural houses in villages and town of China, which has potential hazards to people lives and properties during strong earthquake, so that it is necessary to investigate its earthquake damage behaviors. Based on a great many of earthquake damage examples from historical earthquakes, characteristics and mechanics of earthquake damage of brick-wood building were analyzed and summarized. Earthquake damage modes for brick-wood building are mostly horizontal shearing damage, which tends to occur at positions with weak strength in horizontal direction or weak connections between different structures such as walls between doors and windows, intersections between lengthwise and cross walls, bottom of gable, and connections of beam with sommer beams, et al. Brick-wood building generally has better anti-seismic behaviors in earthquake intensity of VII, while worse behaviors in earthquake intensities of VIII, IX and X. Even though, if reasonable anti-seismic techniques and reinforced measures are applied to brick-wood house, it will have better anti-seismic behaviors.