Numerical simulation of ground motions and damage of bridge in near field of the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake fault

Abstract

This paper investigates the consequences of so called fling-step characteristics of near-field ground motions, which is originated by the permanent ground deformations due to a fault, on the damage of bridge caused by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake (M_JMA7.3). To simulate ground motions including permanent displacements, the stiffness matrix method is used and the fibre element method is adopted to compute the 3D nonlinear responses of a bridge. It is found from the study that recorded ground motions and the bridge damages can be finely simulated.