Overview of Part IV: Seismic Evaluation and Rehabilitation. Seismic Risk Assessment

Abstract

This chapter includes papers that deal with the seismic evaluation and rehabilitation of existing buildings in Romania and neighbouring countries- e.g. Republic of Moldova, using both fundamental and cutting-edge approaches. The seismic assessment and rehabilitation of existing constructions after the 10th of November 1940 and 4th of March 1977 earthquakes in Romania are investigated in a very practical approach, presenting the main concepts, the analysis methods and the strengthening methods used for existing structures. Two examples of such structures, one from Bucharest, the other from Focsani, are thus discussed in the paper entitled ``Seismic Assessment and Rehabilitation of Existing Constructions After the 10th November 1940 and 4th March 1977 Earthquakes in Romania''. The authors conclude that the original method, based on energy concepts to judge the failure criteria for resistance and deformation, by comparing the surface of member's capacity, for a single degree of freedom model of various multi-story constructions, to the surface required by the building response to different types of earthquakes, is still valid today. The failure theories, based on the energetic model from strut-tie models, or taking into consideration the areas in which the theories based on the continuous, homogenous and isotropic body hypothesis cannot be applied, for which specific finite element models apply for the potential cracking areas or probabilistic models with the aid of fragility curves, are all analysis methods of medium or greater complexity which are necessary to be applied for the structures or areas of structures of important constructions and which will be developed more in the future.