Building seismic response and visualization using 3D urban polygonal modeling

• A 3D urban polygonal model is used for urban seismic simulation.
• A 3D-GIS data generation method for IES-based urban seismic simulation is proposed.
• The proposed data generation method is proven suitable for large-scale urban areas.
• A high-fidelity urban seismic scenario with building responses is visualized.

The widely accessible 3D urban polygonal model is adopted herein to solve the two major challenges in urban seismic simulation: (1) building data acquisition and (2) high-fidelity visualization. A building identification method and a floor plan generation method are proposed in this study. These methods facilitate the automatic generation of 3D-GIS data of buildings, using the widely available 3D urban polygonal model and 2D-GIS data, to achieve the integrated earthquake simulation (IES)-based urban seismic simulation. In addition, a high-fidelity urban earthquake disaster scenario is generated based on the 3D urban polygonal model, the seismic simulation results from IES, and the proposed remeshing and displacement interpolation techniques, which is significantly more realistic than the existing 2.5D visualization method. The outcome of this research will provide a technical reference for improving emergency preparedness and mitigating possible earthquake-induced losses for high seismic regions and cities.