Rapid Evaluation of Non-Ductile Multistory RC Frame Buildings

Abstract eng:
The majority of existing building stock in southern Europe, as well as in other parts of the world, comprises non-ductile multistory reinforced concrete (RC) buildings designed for gravity loads only without any reinforcement detailing. The deficiencies of such structures lead to premature failure or collapse, posing a realistic threat to human life. Thus, assessment of their seismic vulnerability is deemed necessary, by examining in detail their response to various scenarios. Due to the large inventory of this type of buildings such an effort requires huge amounts of work, rendering the whole procedure unrealistic. For this purpose a rapid preliminary assessment methodology was proposed by Thermou and Pantazopoulou [1], Pardalopoulos et al. [2], which aims to single out those buildings that are at a greater risk for catastrophic collapse and in which further detailed assessment with the aid of advanced analytical tools is deemed necessary. The methodology is based on the stiffness index (used to determine the severity of seismic displacement demand) and the base-shear strength index (associated with typical column details representative of the state of practice from the era of the building’s period of construction) criteria. Within the framework of current research, a database of ten representative multistory RC residential buildings that were built in the 1950’s in Northern Greece (in the city of Thessaloniki) was created. This group of buildings was assessed by using the aforementioned rapid preliminary assessment methodology for various scenarios related to increasing peak ground acceleration (PGA) values. The characteristics of this prevalent construction type were recorded after extensive study of the design drawings of real structures of the era and are presented herein. An eight-storey RC building was selected from the database for detailed implementation of the proposed rapid assessment methodology throughout its storeys. The validity of the preliminary assessment methodology was verified by conducting numerous detailed analyses. For this purpose, a three-dimensional finite element model was created and pushover analyses were carried out. The influence of the masonry infills was another parameter of study. The results verified the outcome of the rapid evaluation methodology and complied with the findings of the reconnaissance report.

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