Building vulnerability to the 2008 Ilia-Achaia earthquake induced slides

Abstract

The present paper, after providing a brief description of the recently developed analytical tool for assessing vulnerability of RC (reinforced concrete) structures to earthquake triggered earth slides, focuses on the exploration of the reliability and applicability of proposed procedure through its application to a real case study. In particular, the approach is implemented to a representative RC building located near the crest of the Kato Achaia slope where most of the structural damage was concentrated in consequence of the Ilia- Achaia, Greece 2008 (Mw = 6.4) earthquake. Both the structure and slope configuration are realistically reproduced using non-linear constitutive models to estimate the vulnerability of the reference building and to assess the validity of the developed methodological framework and the corresponding fragility relationships. In terms of numerical simulations, the analysis involves two consecutive steps: (a) estimation of the differential permanent deformation at the foundation level derived through a finite difference, non-linear, slope dynamic model and (b) static application of the computed differential displacement at the building 's supports via a fibre-based finite element (static time history) analysis. The proposed probabilistic fragility curves were found to adequately capture the simulated and recorded performance of the representative RC building affected by the slope co-seismic differential displacement. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013.