Roles of non-structural walls in Chi-Chi Earthquake

Abstract

Presented are some close observations of failure modes of building structures after the Chi-Chi Earthquake, which occurred on September 21, 1999, and some numerical analysis of building structures that proves the conclusions of these close observations. According to the observations and analysis results, one can conclude that non-structural walls play a major role in the damage and collapse of building structures in strong earthquakes. Therefore, some suggestions are made for the structural design industry and academic research in order to improve the earthquake resistance of existing and future building structures.