Resilient concrete column defying earthquake in surreal digital illustration.

Cracking Concrete Codes: How Engineers Are Reinventing Earthquake-Resistant Buildings

Avery Sinclair in Tech & Innovation September 2025 • 4 min read.

"Discover how multi-component models are revolutionizing reinforced concrete design, ensuring safer structures in seismic zones."

Earthquakes pose a significant threat to urban areas, leading to economic losses, injuries, and fatalities due to collapsing infrastructure. The Philippines, where reinforced concrete (RC) is a prevalent building material, faces considerable risk. Understanding how these structures respond to intense ground shaking is crucial for improving designs and developing effective retrofitting strategies.

Conventional methods for seismic performance assessment, such as the Finite Element Method (FEM), can be complex and time-consuming. In response, researchers have been developing more efficient approaches, including the Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM). This method, which simulates structures as assemblies of rigid elements connected by springs, offers a promising way to analyze dynamic responses and progressive collapse mechanisms.

The rigid body spring-discrete element method (RBS-DEM) has emerged as a powerful tool for studying the behavior of RC buildings subjected to strong earthquakes. This approach, rooted in the plastic hinge concept, models the typical failure mechanisms observed in beams and columns.

Decoding RBS-DEM: A Simpler Way to Model Earthquake Resistance?

Resilient concrete column defying earthquake in surreal digital illustration.

RBS-DEM simplifies structural analysis by representing a structure as rigid bodies connected by springs. These springs mimic the material behavior at critical stress points, particularly where plastic hinges might form during an earthquake. This method contrasts with more complex approaches like FEM, offering a balance between accuracy and computational efficiency.

The governing equations in RBS-DEM are crucial for understanding how these models behave under stress. In a multi-component RBS-DEM, a column is represented by multiple rigid components linked by spring systems that simulate axial, shear, and flexural capacities. When lateral loads and ground motion act on these columns, the springs deform, reflecting the internal forces and moments within the structure.

Axial Springs: Simulate the tensile and compressive forces along the column's axis.
Shear Springs: Account for forces acting perpendicular to the column's axis, reflecting shear stress.
Flexural Springs: Represent the bending behavior of the column, crucial for understanding how it resists overturning moments.

Researchers have used software like Response-2000 to determine the parameters for these springs, and have validated the models against experimental data from the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Structural Performance Database. Numerical examples demonstrate that these one-component models can reasonably simulate initial stiffness, although they may underestimate displacement capacity under large displacements.

The Future of Earthquake-Resistant Design

The use of multi-component rigid body spring-discrete element models presents a significant step forward in designing earthquake-resistant structures. By understanding and applying the governing equations of these models, engineers can better predict the behavior of reinforced concrete columns under stress, leading to safer and more resilient buildings. Further research, including the use of multi-component models and improved hysteresis rules, promises even greater advancements in the field.

About this Article -

This article was crafted using a human-AI hybrid and collaborative approach. AI assisted our team with initial drafting, research insights, identifying key questions, and image generation. Our human editors guided topic selection, defined the angle, structured the content, ensured factual accuracy and relevance, refined the tone, and conducted thorough editing to deliver helpful, high-quality information.See our About page for more information.

This article is based on research published under:

DOI-LINK: 10.1088/1742-6596/744/1/012021, Alternate LINK

Title: Governing Equations Of Multi-Component Rigid Body-Spring Discrete Element Models Of Reinforced Concrete Columns

Subject: General Physics and Astronomy

Journal: Journal of Physics: Conference Series

Publisher: IOP Publishing

Authors: P B Guan, E A Tingatinga, R E Longalong, J Saguid

Published: 2016-09-01

Everything You Need To Know

How does the Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM) simplify earthquake resistance modeling, and what are its limitations?

The Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM) simplifies structural analysis by representing a structure as rigid bodies connected by springs. These springs mimic the material behavior at critical stress points, where plastic hinges might form during an earthquake. This balances accuracy and computational efficiency compared to more complex approaches like the Finite Element Method (FEM). However, setting up the model and determining spring properties require expertise, and the simplification might not capture all complex failure modes present in real structures.

How does a multi-component Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM) model represent the behavior of a reinforced concrete column under stress?

In multi-component Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM), a reinforced concrete column is modeled using multiple rigid components linked by spring systems. These springs simulate the axial, shear, and flexural capacities of the column. When lateral loads and ground motion act on these columns, the springs deform. The Axial Springs simulate tensile and compressive forces, Shear Springs account for forces acting perpendicular to the column's axis, and Flexural Springs represent the bending behavior. These springs collectively reflect the internal forces and moments within the structure as it responds to seismic forces.

Compared to traditional methods like Finite Element Method (FEM), what advantages does the Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM) offer for seismic performance assessment?

Conventional seismic performance assessment methods like the Finite Element Method (FEM) are often complex and time-consuming. The Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM) offers a more efficient approach by simplifying the structure into rigid elements connected by springs. While FEM provides detailed stress distributions, RBS-DEM quickly assesses overall structural behavior and potential failure mechanisms, making it suitable for parametric studies and rapid evaluation of design alternatives. However, FEM can capture more intricate details that RBS-DEM might miss, offering a more comprehensive, although computationally expensive, analysis.

How are the spring parameters determined and validated in Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM) models for earthquake-resistant design?

Researchers use software like Response-2000 to determine the specific parameters for the springs used in Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM) models. These models are then validated against experimental data from databases such as the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) Structural Performance Database. Numerical examples show that one-component models can reasonably simulate initial stiffness. However, they may underestimate displacement capacity under large displacements, indicating a need for further refinement and multi-component modeling to improve accuracy.

What future research directions are needed to enhance the use of multi-component Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM) models in earthquake-resistant design?

While the use of multi-component Rigid Body Spring-Discrete Element Method (RBS-DEM) models is a significant advancement, further research is crucial for refining these models. This includes developing improved hysteresis rules to better capture the cyclic behavior of reinforced concrete under seismic loading and incorporating more sophisticated material models. Additionally, exploring the application of these models to different structural configurations and building typologies will broaden their applicability and enhance the reliability of earthquake-resistant design. Furthermore, advanced calibration techniques and uncertainty quantification methods can improve the robustness of predictions.