Seismic Damage Prediction of Masonry Infilled RC Frame Buildings in Bhutan Based on Fuzzy Probability Analysis

Abstract eng:
Geographically, Bhutan is located right on the inter-plate boundary in the Himalaya where the Indo-Australian plate is continuously being subducted under the Eurasian plate. A number of big earthquakes have occurred in Bhutan and the neighboring region causing a huge loss to properties and human lives. There are numerous masonry infilled RC buildings in Bhutan whose performance under the seismic excitation is literally unknown. The need for predicting the realistic damages of these buildings has been dearly felt in the country for quite some time. In this study, three typical masonry infilled RC buildings that represent the general building stocks in the country are considered for the prediction of damages. Unlike in many studies where the damage of buildings are assessed based on the distinct interstorey drift limits, probability and fuzzy set theory are used in this study. The ground motions predicted in Thimphu from the probabilistic Seismic Hazard Analysis are used for the prediction of structural responses. The soil-structure interaction is incorporated using the uncoupled spring support. It is found that the masonry infilled RC buildings in Bhutan could mostly experience repairable to irreparable damage under the 475 return period ground motion and severe damage to even collapse under the 2475 return period ground motion.

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