Kobe Earthquake damage to high-rise Ashiyahama apartment buildings: Brittle tensile failures of box section columns

Brittle fractures occurred in columns of steel high-rise apartment buildings during the 1995 Kobe Earthquake. Possible causes of these unusual damages are discussed based on an analysis of responses of a sample structure to recorded ground motions and on existing data for material properties. Several reasons, such as material deterioration due to welding, should have been combined to shift transition temperatures toward higher temperatures. Above all, a high strain rate sustained by the columns is found to be one significant influencing factor.