Study on the mechanism of seismic damage of historical burial mounds

Abstract

Burial mounds constructed more than 1300 years ago in Japan have been seriously damaged by earthquakes. The development of prevention measures for seismic damage of burial mounds are required to conserve them for the next generation. In the present study, dynamic centrifuge model tests were conducted to study the mechanism of seismic damage of burial mounds. In a burial mound model after shaking, the displacement of the sidewall of the burial chamber and the collapse of its backfill were observed. As well as the remarkable damage of the chamber, cracks were found in the surface of the mound and the upper corners of the chamber. The model tests were simulated by numerical analyses to investigate the mechanism of the formation of the cracks. The numerically predicted tensile crack areas and crack directions exactly agreed with the experimentally observed ones.