Seismic Pounding Between Adjacent Buildings: A Review

Abstract

The collision between adjacent buildings with an insufficient seismic separation distance has been reported after earthquakes. This collision between adjacent buildings, commonly referred to as earthquake-induced pounding, entails huge damages to the involved buildings. The main cause of damage was interpreted to the developed impact forces between colliding buildings. The intensity of the impact force relies on many factors, therefore, a significant research effort was found to address this issue from different perspectives. This paper presents a summary of the main research conducted in the context of structural pounding namely, field observations, experimental and numerical studies. The main recommendations and results of each category have been highlighted and insights for future research are provided.