Finite Element Analysis Of Tsunami Effect On Buildings

Tsunami is one of the most serious natural disasters in coastal areas. Rising orfalling movement of seabed causes abrupt vertical displacement of bulk water abovethe seabed. Then tsunami waves are generated and propagate in all directions. Anenormous amount of water which contains enormous energy moves to inland, and itcauses serious impact to coastal buildings in low-lying areas with surge submerging orimpacts. Tsunami leads to massive casualties and property losses.Numerical simulation is an important method of wave research. The simulationof tsunami impingement acting on the structure model can provide basis for disasterprevention and reduction. It has a great significance to ensure the security of thebuilding and reduce casualties. A three-dimensional numerical flume is set up withFLOW-3D software to simulate tsunami impingement acting on buildings. The mainresearch content of this article is as follows:(1) Three-dimensional numerical flumes are set up with FLOW-3D software tosimulate tsunami impingement acting on a building. Ideal solitary wave is adopted tosimulate tsunami wave. The influence of openings on buildings under tsunami waveforces is studied.(2) Three-dimensional numerical flumes are set up to simulate tsunamiimpingement acting on a building. The tsunami horizontal forces on the structureunder different tsunami wave heights are extracted and static analysis of thereinforced concrete frame structure is carried out with the finite element analysissoftware to analyze the response, deformation and damage of the frame structureunder the impact of tsunami wave forces.It is shown that the maximum velocity of the leading wave is in proportion to thewave height after the runup of tsunami. The hydrodynamic pressure on the upstreampanels of the models is trapezoid distributed in inundated condition. The overalltsunami wave forces on the models decrease proportionally along with the reductionof the upstream panel areas. The model with small opening is the most dangerous case.The horizontal forces increase with the tsunami wave height increasing innon-submerged condition and the horizontal forces are in direct proportion to thesquare of the wave heights.