Seismic Vulnerability Of Existing Buildings

This book is a printed edition of the Special Issue Reducing the Seismic Vulnerability of Existing Buildings: Assessment and Retrofit that was published in Buildings

This book is focused on the seismic vulnerability assessment methods, applied to existing buildings, describing several behaviors and new approaches for assessment on a large scale (urban area). It is clear that the majority of urban centers are composed of old buildings, designed according to concepts and rules that are inadequate to the seismic context. How to assess the vulnerability of existing buildings is an essential step to improve the management of seismic risk and its prevention policy. After some key reminders, this book describes seismic vulnerability methods applied to a large number of structures (buildings and bridges) in moderate (France, Switzerland) and strong seismic prone regions (Italy, Greece). Contents 1. Seismic Vulnerability of Existing Buildings: Observational and Mechanical Approaches for Application in Urban Areas, Sergio Lagomarsino and Serena Cattari. 2. Mechanical Methods: Fragility Curves and Pushover Analysis, Caterina Negulescu and Pierre Gehl. 3. Seismic Vulnerability and Loss Assessment for Buildings in Greece, Andreas J. Kappos. 4. Experimental Method: Contribution of Ambient Vibration Recordings to the Vulnerability Assessment, Clotaire Michel and Philippe Guéguen. 5. Numerical Model: Simplified Strategies for Vulnerability Seismic Assessment of Existing Structures, Cédric Desprez, Panagiotis Kotronis and Stéphane Grange. 6. Approach Based on the Risk Used in Switzerland, Pierino Lestuzzi. 7. Preliminary Evaluation of the Seismic Vulnerability of Existing Bridges, Denis Davi. About the Authors Philippe Guéguen is a Senior IFSTTAR Researcher at ISTerre, Joseph Fourier University Grenoble 1, France

Devastating seismic events occurring all over the world keep raising the awareness of the scientific, technical and political communities to the need of identifying assets at risk and developing more effective and cost-efficient seismic risk mitigation strategies. Significant advances in earthquake engineering research have been achieved with the rise of new technologies and techniques with potential use in risk assessment, management and mitigation. Nevertheless, there is still much to be done, particularly with regard to existing buildings, most of them built without anti-seismic provisions. The wide variety of construction and structural systems, associated with the complex behaviour of their materials, greatly limit the application of current codes and building standards to the existing building stock. To tackle this issue, there is a fundamental need for developing multidisciplinary research that can lead to the development of more sophisticated and reliable methods of analysis, as well as to improved seismic retrofitting techniques compliant with buildings conservation principles. This book intends to contribute to the aforementioned goal by stimulating the exchange of ideas and knowledge on the assessment and reduction of the seismic vulnerability of existing buildings. 10 high quality contributions authored by international experts from Italy, Portugal, Morocco, Nepal, Czech Republic and Spain are included herein. All contributions pursue the protection of existing buildings by considering the most updated methods and advanced solutions emerging from different fields of expertise.

Earthquakes represent a major risk to buildings, bridges and other civil infrastructure systems, causing catastrophic loss to modern society. Handbook of seismic risk analysis and management of civil infrastructure systems reviews the state of the art in the seismic risk analysis and management of civil infrastructure systems. Part one reviews research in the quantification of uncertainties in ground motion and seismic hazard assessment. Part twi discusses methodologies in seismic risk analysis and management, whilst parts three and four cover the application of seismic risk assessment to buildings, bridges, pipelines and other civil infrastructure systems. Part five also discusses methods for quantifying dependency between different infrastructure systems. The final part of the book considers ways of assessing financial and other losses from earthquake damage as well as setting insurance rates. Handbook of seismic risk analysis and management of civil infrastructure systems is an invaluable guide for professionals requiring understanding of the impact of earthquakes on buildings and lifelines, and the seismic risk assessment and management of buildings, bridges and transportation. It also provides a comprehensive overview of seismic risk analysis for researchers and engineers within these fields. This important handbook reviews the wealth of recent research in the area of seismic hazard analysis in modern earthquake design code provisions and practices Examines research into the analysis of ground motion and seismic hazard assessment, seismic risk hazard methodologies Addresses the assessment of seismic risks to buildings, bridges, water supply systems and other aspects of civil infrastructure

The present volume contains a total of 23 papers centred on the research area of Seismic Assessment and Rehabilitation of Existing Buildings. This subject also forms the core of Project SfP977231, sponsored by the NATO Science for Peace Office and supported by the Scientific and Technical Research Council of Turkey [ TUBIT AK ]. Most of these papers were presented by the authors at a NATO Science for Peace Workshop held in Izmir on 13 - 14 May, 2003 and reflect a part of their latest work conducted within the general confines of the title of the NATO Project. Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey serves as the hub of Project SfP977231 and coordinates research under the project with universities within Turkey, e. g. Istanbul Technical University and Kocaeli University, and with partner institutions in Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia: A few articles have also been contributed by invited experts, who are all noted researchers in the field. Altogether, the contents of the volume deal with a vast array of problems in Seismic Assessment and Rehabilitation and cover a wide range of possible solutions, techniques and proposals. It is intended to touch upon many of these aspects separately below. Earthquakes constitute possibly the most widely spread and also the most feared of natural hazards. Recent earthquakes within the first six months of 2003, such as the Bingol Earthquake in Turkey and the Algerian earthquake, have caused both loss of life and severe damage to property.

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Civil Engineering Structures at Multiple Scales: From Single Buildings to Large-Scale Assessment provides an integrated, multiscale platform for fundamental and applied studies on the seismic vulnerability assessment of civil engineering structures, including buildings with different materials and building typologies. The book shows how various outputs obtained from different scales and layers of assessment (from building scale to the urban area) can be used to outline and implement effective risk mitigation, response and recovery strategies. In addition, it highlights how significant advances in earthquake engineering research have been achieved with the rise of new technologies and techniques. The wide variety of construction and structural systems associated with the complex behavior of their materials significantly limits the application of current codes and building standards to the existing building stock, hence this book is a welcomed guide on new construction standards and practices. Provides the theoretical backgrounds on the most advanced seismic vulnerability assessment approaches at different scales and for most common building typologies Covers the most common building typologies and the materials they are made from, such as concrete, masonry, steel, timber and raw earth Presents practical guidelines on how the outputs coming from such approaches can be used to outline effective risk mitigation and emergency planning strategies

The Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) handbook can be used by trained personnel to identify, inventory, and screen buildings that are potentially seismically vulnerable. The RVS procedure comprises a method and several forms that help users to quickly identify, inventory, and score buildings according to their risk of collapse if hit by major earthquakes. The RVS handbook describes how to identify the structural type and key weakness characteristics, how to complete the screening forms, and how to manage a successful RVS program.