Dynamic Performance of RC Structure Crossing Ground Fissure

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on the dynamic performance of an RC frame structure crossing a ground fissure. Shake table tests were conducted with a 1/15-scale model of an RC frame structure crossing a ground fissure and the same structure on unfissured ground under earthquake excitations. Both surface and bedrock waves were taken into account in the study. Dynamic characteristics and seismic responses of the structure were recorded. Using LS-Dyna software, numerical analyses were conducted to investigate the influence of ground fissure on the structure considering the soil-structure-interaction (SSI). Good agreement was observed between the simulation and the test results. The results showed that the presence of a ground fissure changed the propagation characteristics of seismic waves for the common site, formatting the nonuniform excitation for the structure crossing the ground fissure. Moreover, structural members on the hanging wall suffered more serious damage than those on the footwall, because the dynamic amplification effect of the hanging wall was greater than that of the footwall. It was also found that the uneven settlement caused by the ground fissure moderately increased the seismic response of the structure. Furthermore, the settlement had a limited influence on the structural response, but the synthesis of the settlement and the earthquake had a more evident influence on it.