Simplified indexes for the seismic vulnerability of ancient masonry buildings

Simplified indexes for the seismic vulnerability of ancient masonry buildings

This paper presents a contribution for the safety assessment of historical masonry buildings under seismic loading. Three different simplified safety indexes (in-plan area ratio, area to weight ratio and base shear ratio) are analyzed, taking into account a large sample of fifty-eight Portuguese churches. The sample of building has been organized according to the seismic zonation, from high to ...

Uncertainty in Seismic Capacity of Masonry Buildings

Seismic assessment of masonry structures is plagued by both inherent randomness and model uncertainty. The former is referred to as aleatory uncertainty, the latter as epistemic uncertainty because it depends on the knowledge level. Pioneering studies on reinforced concrete buildings have revealed a significant influence of modeling parameters on seismic vulnerability. However, confidence in me...

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment Methods for Buildings in Japan

The development of seismic vulnerability evaluation standards for reinforced concrete buildings in Japan is briefly reviewed. Damage statistics are shown to indicate that severe damage was observed in a relatively small percentage of existing buildings even after damaging earthquakes in the world. Therefore, a simple screening procedure is necessary to identify such vulnerable buildings out of ...

Simplified Pbee to Estimate Economic Seismic Risk for Buildings

A seismic risk assessment is often performed on behalf of a buyer of large commercial buildings in seismically active regions. One outcome of the assessment is that a probable maximum loss (PML) is computed. PML is of limited use to real-estate investors as it has no place in a standard financial analysis and reflects too long a planning period for what-if scenarios. We introduce an alternative...

Seismic vulnerability and loss assessment for buildings in Greece