City-scale simulation of wooden house collapse prediction using the ASI-Gauss Code

Abstract

A large number of wooden houses collapsed in the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami and the 2016 Kumamoto Earthquake. The large amount of debris from the collapsed houses not only blocked the roads and hindered the immediate evacuation, but also caused delays in the recovery and reconstruction due to the time and cost required to remove the debris. For example, there is a high risk of earthquakes and tsunamis of the same or greater magnitude in the Tokai and Tonankai regions, and it is important to assess in advance the total amount and spread of debris that could be generated in the event of a major earthquake, and to prepare a recovery plan for post-disaster emergencies. The ASI-Gauss Code, which is a finite element method of beam elements that can analyze the progressive collapse of a framework structure, is used to predict the damage and collapse of houses caused by earthquakes. Here, in order to demonstrate the validity of the proposed technique, we attempted to reproduce the damage in the Furukawa area of Osaki city during the 2011 off the Pacific coast of Tohoku Earthquake and compared the results with damaged reports.