Assessment of seismic performance of structures in 2010 Chile Earthquake through field investigation and case studies

This paper presents an overview of the damage from the 2010 Chile Earthquake observed by a field reconnaissance team from the Mid-America Earthquake Center. Seismic performances of structures in Santiago, Biobío, and Maule regions in Chile are summarized based on field observations and discussions with researchers and city officials. In addition, post-earthquake analyses of a damaged bridge and a building structure are presented. The analyses are carried out with detailed documentation from the field and the acquired design drawings of the structures. For the building structure, the focus of the analysis is to understand the effect of masonry infill walls on the shear force demand of columns. The analysis results confirm that the infill walls of the building may have caused the damage to columns by increasing the shear force demand. For the bridge structure, the effect of seismic bars on the bridge response is investigated. The seismic bars in the bridge reduce the displacement demand of the superstructure by increasing the energy dissipation capacity of elastomeric bearings.