ABSTRACT
The 2016 Kumamoto earthquake resulted in the collapse of large numbers of residential buildings and also caused severe damage to several school gymnasiums. Similar to previous earthquakes, damages were observed at steel roof bearings on reinforced concrete (RC) supporting structures. However, the buckling/fracture and falling of space truss members also occurred in two gymnasiums in this earthquake, which is a serious concern because of its potential to cause loss of human lives. In this study, detailed post-buckling and dynamic post-fracture numerical analyses are carried out to investigate these collapse mechanisms. A macro-model that includes the precise post-buckling hysteresis and fracture mechanism proposed by the authors is used for the analysis. Load path transfer characteristics caused by the buckling and fracture of the members are discussed and compared with the actual damages.
