Developing Simplified Procedures for the Estimation of Expected Annual Loss of RC Frame Buildings

Abstract eng:
The Expected Annual Loss (EAL) represents the amount one could expect to pay every year to repair earthquake damage, considering different sources of uncertainties. EAL can be a very sound and effective seismic performance indicator for a building. For that reason, it has been proposed as a global evaluation parameter of the seismic quality or resilience of existing buildings. Current methods for the estimation of EAL rely on rigorous, but very complex, probabilistic approaches. For that reason, estimation of EAL is still prerogative of a few experts. In this paper, a simplified, practice-oriented, approach for the estimation of EAL is developed. This is achieved by introducing approximate linear relationships between monetary losses and corresponding intensity measures, calibrated based on a number of limit states, using simple methods of analysis. This way, EAL can be predicted by a closed form expression, which can be easily implemented in future seismic codes and guidelines. In this paper, the proposed approach is specialized for older RC frame buildings, designed for gravity loads only. The validity of the proposed approach is demonstrated by comparing EAL estimates with accurate results obtained following the FEMA P-58 methodology, for a number of real and archetype case study buildings.

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