Finite Element Analysis of Seismic Resistance of Masonry Structure in Rural China

Abstract

Buildings with masonry structures in rural areas of China have been the most severely damaged ones in earthquake disasters. This paper has analyzed the failure characteristics of rural masonry buildings in earthquake by summarizing the existing researches of the seismic resistance of masonry structures in rural areas, with its focus on the research of the intensity from VI to X. The constitutive relation model of damage developed by Yang Weizhong is used for the seismic analysis of rural masonry structures in combination with the failure criteria for masonry structures. The finite element software ANSYS is applied for the simulation and the results show that the damage of China's rural masonry structures regularly tends to weaken from the bottom to the top, with the seismic capacity of horizontal walls superior to longitudinal walls. As for vertical walls, due to their weak capacity, damage immediately occurs to them even in medium intensity earthquakes.