Research
The problem:
The main problem in a lot of countries is the issue of earthquakes. Many places experience earthquakes almost daily, such as Japan, which has a large population and is very developed. This is why earthquake architecture is so important, as we need buildings that will stay intact especially for places that have big cities and a large community.
What’s Already Been Done?
A lot of research and construction has been put into earthquake architecture in order to find the best shapes and structures to keep buildings standing. Many techniques are used in large industrial sized buildings such as large foundation pillars, diagonal poles/panes, and other ways for buildings to sway without breaking.
Things we found:
- strong, flexible foundation base as it provides support for your entire building and makes it so when the earthquake hits, only the base moves around while your structure remains steady
- reinforce the building’s structure with diagonal cross braces as it counteracts pressure and pushes force, while also supporting tension and compression
- reduce building sway by making sure at least 10% of the total weight of the building is resting on the foundation. if there’s not enough weight on the foundation the building will easily tilt and topple over
- Base isolation is when we put a building on top of a large separate base in order to isolate the movement from the entire building. When movement hits, the base support moves a lot, but the building only moves slightly
- A tuned mass damper is a huge ball that is placed on the top of buildings (inside) in order to balance buildings when they shake. When a tower with a damper sways one way, the ball will swing the other way, balancing the building.
- Triangles are the go-to shape for earthquake-resistant buildings. Their shape provides more resistance to twisting motions, reducing the swaying of a building during a quake.make a flexible foundation: this makes it so when an earthquake hits only the base moves while the structure remains steady
