Lessons Learned from Wenchuan Earthquake: Building Materials

It has always been concerned about seismic motion and building materials near faults, but it still remains as an uncertain problem due to insufficiency of case study and information. The paper presents the main cases of seismic disaster by field investigations of M8.0 Wenchuan earthquake, on the relationship among earthquake faults, ground motion and earthquake disasters near fault zone, i.e. the forms of structural damage are very complex in the fault areas, with main forms of shear failure and damage of tension and compression. The brittle materials such as reinforced concrete and masonry materials are prone to partial brittle fracture, and main forms are composed of up and down shake and surface ruptures. The brittle materials are prone to tension and compression damage. By using qualified materials, following building codes, the constructions in urban areas showed good seismic performance. Survey results showed that the framework and the structure of the steel and wood that use the flexible materials with flexible structures possess good seismic performance.