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Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures

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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Civil Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2020) | Viewed by 48438

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Marco Vona

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Guest Editor

School of Engineering, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Interests: civil engineering; earthquake engineering; seismic design and analysis of structural and nonstructural components; vulnerability evaluation and retrofitting; seismic risk analysis; mitigation strategies; resilience and sustainability; experimental laboratory research and activities
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The recent medium- and strong-intensity earthquakes have caused high economic losses and have highlighted the key role of the high vulnerability of the existing buildings (private or public, and strategic), structures, and infrastructures. Often, they have been designed without anti-seismic criteria or with old seismic criteria, and they have been responsible for a significant amount of seismic losses. Consequently, as a result of the high number of buildings, structures, and infrastructures requiring retrofitting interventions, mitigation strategies based on accurate approaches must be defined. In fact, despite recent research advances, significant improvements are still needed. Tools that can be directly applied must be developed and promoted.

In order to mitigate the seismic risk and reduce the direct and indirect losses, public administrations, private, insurance companies, banks, owners, and professionals, despite operating at different territorial scales, with different objectives and tools, should be perform a synergic work based on the rational criteria and tools. The effectiveness and reliability of the assessment, and the resulting seismic risk mitigation strategies should be based on tools and models that can simulate seismic effects, in terms of direct and indirect losses. To evaluate and mitigate the seismic risk for existing buildings, structures, and infrastructures, as well as different territorial scales (until to the analysis on single buildings), different kinds of models and different losses can be considered.

This Special Issue calls for high-quality unpublished research works related to different and advanced approaches for seismic risk mitigation. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Innovative, simple, fast, readily available, and economically sustainable retrofitting strategies and optimized rules;
Definition of rational criteria for risk-mitigation policies;
Allocation of the resources based on novel approaches and methods;
Seismic vulnerability evaluation and retrofit of buildings, structures, and infrastructures;
Structural control, monitoring, and assessment of structural damage;
Seismic hazard analysis;
Case studies.

Dr. Marco Vona
Guest Editor

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Keywords

Vulnerability evaluation and retrofitting
Seismic risk analysis and mitigation strategies
Monitoring and structural damage evaluation
Resilience and sustainability
Seismic hazard analysis

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 2447 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An ANN-Based Approach for Prediction of Sufficient Seismic Gap between Adjacent Buildings Prone to Earthquake-Induced Pounding

by Seyed Mohammad Khatami, Hosein Naderpour, Seyed Mohammad Nazem Razavi, Rui Carneiro Barros, Barbara Sołtysik and Robert Jankowski

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(10), 3591; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10103591 - 22 May 2020

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2324

Abstract

Earthquake-induced structural pounding may cause major damages to structures, and therefore it should be prevented. This study is focused on using an artificial neural network (ANN) method to determine the sufficient seismic gap in order to avoid collisions between two adjacent buildings during seismic excitations. Six lumped mass models of structures with a different number of stories (from one to six) have been considered in the study. The earthquake characteristics and the parameters of buildings have been defined as inputs in the ANN analysis. The required seismic gap preventing pounding has been firstly determined for specified structural arrangements and earthquake records. In order to validate the method for other structural parameters, the study has been further extended for buildings with different values of height, mass, and stiffness of each story. Finally, the parametric analysis has been conducted for various earthquakes scaled to different values of the peak ground acceleration (PGA). The results of the verification and validation analyses indicate that the determined seismic gaps are large enough to prevent structural collisions, and they are just appropriate for all different structural arrangements, seismic excitations, and structural parameters. The results of the parametric analysis show that the increase in the PGA of earthquake records leads to a substantial, nearly uniform, increase in the required seismic gap between structures. The above conclusions clearly indicate that the ANN method can be successfully used to determine the minimal distance between two adjacent buildings preventing their collisions during different seismic excitations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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17 pages, 3897 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Support Vector Regression for the Relationships between Ground Motion Parameters and Macroseismic Intensity in the Sichuan–Yunnan Region

by Dongwang Tao, Qiang Ma, Shuilong Li, Zhinan Xie, Dexin Lin and Shanyou Li

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(9), 3086; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10093086 - 28 Apr 2020

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3334

Abstract

In this paper, a nonlinear regression method called a support vector regression (SVR) is presented to establish the relationship between engineering ground motion parameters and macroseismic intensity (MSI). Sixteen ground motion parameters, including peak ground acceleration (PGA), peak ground velocity (PGV), Arias intensity, Housner intensity, acceleration spectrum intensity, velocity spectrum intensity, and others, are considered as candidates for feature selection to generate optimal SVR models. The datasets with both useable strong ground motion records and corresponding investigated MSIs in the Sichuan–Yunnan region, China, are all collected, and these 125 pairs of datasets are used for selecting features and comparing regression results. Nine ground motion parameters are selected as the most relevant features: PGA is the first fundamental one and PGV is the fifth relevant feature. Based on performance measures on the testing dataset, the best SVR model is given when the number of features is one all the way up to nine. According to predicted accuracy, SVR models with Gaussian kernel give much better MSI prediction than linear kernel SVR models and linear regression models. In particular, the Gaussian kernel SVR of PGA gives much higher MSI prediction accuracy than the linear regression model of PGV and PGA. The proposed SVR models are valid for MSI values from VI to IX, and they can be used for rapid mapping damage potential and reporting seismic intensity for this high-seismic-activity region. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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12 pages, 1912 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Evaluating Collapse Fragility Curves for Existing Buildings Retrofitted Using Seismic Isolation

by Amedeo Flora, Giuseppe Perrone and Donatello Cardone

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(8), 2844; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10082844 - 20 Apr 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1950

Abstract

Few studies have investigated so far the collapse capacity of buildings with base-isolation. In such studies, preliminary considerations have been drawn based on a number of assumptions regarding: (i) the methodology used for assessing the collapse capacity, (ii) the collapse conditions and failure modes assumed for both superstructure and isolation system, and (iii) the numerical modeling assumptions. The main results pointed out that the collapse conditions of base-isolated buildings may occur for intensity levels slightly higher than those associated with the design earthquake. In this paper, further developments are made through the use of enhanced models for the description of the behavior of a rubber-based isolation system and the assumption of more rational collapse conditions. Collapse fragility functions, in terms of mean and dispersion values, are proposed for two archetypes representative of existing buildings retrofitted using the seismic isolation technique. The collapse margin ratio (median collapse capacity S_a,C, namely the spectral acceleration associated to a probability of exceedance equal to 50%, divided by the design spectral acceleration at the collapse prevention limit state) has been evaluated for each examined case-study. Values ranging from 1.10 to 1.45 were found. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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26 pages, 7668 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Seismic Behavior of a Novel Blind Bolted Flush End-Plate Connection to Strengthened Concrete-Filled Steel Tube Columns

by Yihuan Wang, Zhan Wang, Jianrong Pan and Peng Wang

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(7), 2517; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10072517 - 06 Apr 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3309

Abstract

Modified blind bolts (Hollo-Bolt) and a locally strengthened steel tube column in the panel zone were created to overcome the moment-resisting problem for the bolted connections between concrete-filled hollow section columns and open section beams and to enhance the performance of connections. The cyclic loading was conducted on a total of six modified anchored blind bolted flush end-plate connections to concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) columns. The key parameters investigated were the tube wall thickness, end-plate thickness, blind bolt anchorage method, and beam section. The failure mode, hysteretic behavior, strength, stiffness, ductility, and energy dissipation capacity of the connections were analyzed and evaluated with all details. The results indicated that connections with modified anchored blind bolts and locally strengthened steel tubes could avoid the premature failure of CFST column and exhibit an improved behavior with a favorable strength, stiffness, and stiffness degradation. The test observations reveal two representative failure modes, and the tube wall thickness and blind bolt anchorage method have a significant effect on the resultant failure mode. Moreover, the use of thin endplate and weak beam can effectively enhance the hysteretic behavior of joints, ductility, and energy dissipation capacity; and the change in anchoring method has little effect on the stiffness. Finite element (FE) analysis models were established for the aforementioned connections. The numerical models were validated against the experimental results and exhibited good agreement. Finally, based on the component method, an initial stiffness calculation method was established for the connections. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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16 pages, 8995 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Seismic Retrofitting of Traditional Masonry with Pultruded FRP Profiles

by Francesca Sciarretta

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(7), 2489; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10072489 - 04 Apr 2020

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2851

Abstract

This paper presents a study on the potentiality of seismic retrofitting solutions with pultruded Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) profiles. This material can be used in connected frames providing lightweight, corrosion-free and reversible retrofitting of masonry buildings with the moderate requirements of surface preservation. In a hypothetical case study, an experimental program was designed; monotonic shear tests on a half-size physical model of the sample wall were performed to assess the structural performance before and after retrofitting with a basic frame of pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) C-shaped profiles, connected to the masonry by steel threaded bar connections. During the tests, the drift, the diagonal displacements in the masonry and the micro-strain in the profiles were measured. The retrofitted system has proven very effective in delaying crack appearance, increasing the maximum load (+85% to +93%) and ultimate displacement (up to +303%). The failure mode switches from rocking to a combination of diagonal cracking and bed joint sliding. The gauge recordings show a very limited mechanical exploitation of the GFRP material, despite the noticeable effectiveness of the retrofit. The application seems thus promising and worth a deeper research focus. Finally, a finite element modelling approach has been developed and validated, and it will be useful to envisage the effects of the proposed solution in future research. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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14 pages, 496 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improved Rapid Visual Earthquake Hazard Safety Evaluation of Existing Buildings Using a Type-2 Fuzzy Logic Model

by Ehsan Harirchian and Tom Lahmer

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(7), 2375; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10072375 - 31 Mar 2020

Cited by 30 | Viewed by 4362

Abstract

Rapid Visual Screening (RVS) is a procedure that estimates structural scores for buildings and prioritizes their retrofit and upgrade requirements. Despite the speed and simplicity of RVS, many of the collected parameters are non-commensurable and include subjectivity due to visual observations. This might cause uncertainties in the evaluation, which emphasizes the use of a fuzzy-based method. This study aims to propose a novel RVS methodology based on the interval type-2 fuzzy logic system (IT2FLS) to set the priority of vulnerable building to undergo detailed assessment while covering uncertainties and minimizing their effects during evaluation. The proposed method estimates the vulnerability of a building, in terms of Damage Index, considering the number of stories, age of building, plan irregularity, vertical irregularity, building quality, and peak ground velocity, as inputs with a single output variable. Applicability of the proposed method has been investigated using a post-earthquake damage database of reinforced concrete buildings from the Bingöl and Düzce earthquakes in Turkey. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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16 pages, 7184 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fragility Curves of the Urban Road Network Based on the Debris Distributions of Interfering Buildings

by Angelo Anelli, Federico Mori and Marco Vona

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(4), 1289; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10041289 - 14 Feb 2020

Cited by 23 | Viewed by 3777

Abstract

Fragility curves are essential tools to quantitatively assess the physical vulnerability of structures and infrastructures at risk for a given seismic hazard. They describe the probability of exceeding a given performance level under earthquake excitation, and are usually defined by a lognormal probability distribution function. Although debris from damaged buildings adjacent to road edges is the main cause of urban mobility disruption, studies on the fragility curves development for infrastructures subject to seismic actions focus on geotechnical effects, and do not analyze this type of road blockage. The article proposes an analytical procedure to construct fragility curves for urban road networks. It is based on the construction of debris graphs and the use of an appropriate fitting technique. For a given seismic intensity measure level, the developed fragility curves express the probability that the road is open or closed to the transit of emergency vehicles after debris fall. Therefore, the performance level is defined in terms of the width of the road pavement that remains free after the debris fall, or the width of the debris heap on the road pavement. Finally, the proposed framework is tested with real data of the main street in Amatrice, and the results are presented and discussed. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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12 pages, 2806 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Non-Poissonian Earthquake Occurrence Probability through Empirical Survival Functions

by Paolo Harabaglia

Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(3), 838; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10030838 - 24 Jan 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2412

Abstract

Earthquake engineering normally describes earthquake activity as a Poissonian process. This approximation is simple, but not entirely satisfactory. In this paper, a method for evaluating the non-Poissonian occurrence probability of seismic events, through empirical survival probability functions, is proposed. This method takes into account the previous history of the system. It seems robust enough to be applied to scant datasets, such as the Italian historical earthquake catalog, comprising 64 events with M ≥ 6.00 since 1600. The requirements to apply this method are (1) an acceptable knowledge of the event rate, and (2) the timing of the last two events with magnitude above the required threshold. I also show that it is necessary to consider all the events available, which means that de-clustering is not acceptable. Whenever applied, the method yields a time-varying probability of occurrence in the area of interest. Real cases in Italy show that large events obviously tend to occur in periods of higher probability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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24 pages, 11489 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Integrated Computational Approach for Seismic Risk Assessment of Individual Buildings

by João M. C. Estêvão

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(23), 5088; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9235088 - 25 Nov 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5111

Abstract

The simultaneous assessment of a great number of buildings subjected to different ground motions is a very challenging task. For this reason, a new computational integrated approach for seismic assessment of individual buildings is presented, which consists of several independent computer objects, each having its own user interface, yet being totally interconnectable like in a puzzle. The hazard module allows considering a code-based response spectrum or a predicted response spectrum for a given earthquake scenario, which is computed throughout the resolution of an optimization problem. The vulnerability of each building is assessed based on structural capacity curves. Damage is evaluated using an innovative proposal, which is to use what was called a performance curve associated with a capacity curve. This curve reproduces the percentage of a given response spectrum corresponding to a performance point for each displacement value of a capacity curve. Therefore, it becomes possible to do a very fast association of any limit state to a percentage of a seismic action. This approach was implemented in the PERSISTAH software, and the result outputs can be exported, instantaneously, to the Google Earth software throughout the creation of a kml file, or to MS Excel. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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17 pages, 3421 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fragility Assessment of a Container Crane under Seismic Excitation Considering Uplift and Derailment Behavior

by Quang Huy Tran, Jungwon Huh, Nhu Son Doan, Van Ha Mac and Jin-Hee Ahn

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(21), 4660; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9214660 - 01 Nov 2019

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5814

Abstract

While the container crane is an important part of daily port operations, it has received little attention in comparison with other infrastructures such as buildings and bridges. Crane collapses owing to earthquakes affect the operation of the port and indirectly impact the economy. This study proposes fragility analyses for various damage levels of a container crane, thus enabling the port owner and partners to better understand the seismic vulnerability presented by container cranes. A large number of nonlinear time-history analyses were applied for a three-dimensional (3D) finite element model to quantify the vulnerability of a Korean case-study container crane considering the uplift and derailment behavior. The uncertainty of the demand and capacity of the crane structures were also considered through random variables, i.e., the elastic modulus of members, ground motion profile, and intensity. The results analyzed in the case of the Korean container crane indicated the probability of exceeding the first uplift with or without derailment before the crane reached the structure’s limit states. This implies that under low seismic excitation, the crane may be derailed without any structural damage. However, when the crane reaches the minor damage state, this condition is always coupled with a certain probability of uplift with or without derailment. Furthermore, this study proposes fragility curves developed for different structural periods to enable port stakeholders to assess the risk of their container crane. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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23 pages, 8472 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Spatial Perspective in Post-Earthquake Evaluation to Improve Mitigation Strategies: Geostatistical Analysis of the Seismic Damage Applied to a Real Case Study

by Salvador García-Ayllón, Antonio Tomás and José Luis Ródenas

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(15), 3182; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9153182 - 05 Aug 2019

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4495

Abstract

The analysis of damage in cities after an earthquake to implement mitigation strategies of seismic risk is a complex job that is usually full of uncertainties. Numerous variables affect the final result of the observable damage in a set of buildings in an urban area. The use of methodologies capable of providing global explanations beyond the traditional unidisciplinary approach of disciplines, such as structural analysis, earthquake engineering, geotechnics, or seismology, can be very useful for improving the behavior of our cities against earthquakes. This article presents geostatistical post-earthquake analysis, an innovative approach in this field of research based on GIS spatial statistical tools to evaluate the importance of the different variables after an earthquake that may have caused damage in a city. This new framework will be applied to analyze, from a geostatistical perspective, the damage levels observed in the city of Lorca (Spain) after the earthquake of 2011; a case study where various studies have proposed different measures to mitigate the impact of future earthquakes as a consequence of focusing on different phenomena as the main variable for the damage produced. A bivariate GIS assessment will allow spatial correlation of the problems detected from a statistical point of view (inadequate design of buildings, age of the real estate stock, inefficient urban planning configurations, geological risk, etc.) and the different levels of damage that the technicians who participated in the post-earthquake phase evaluated in the city. The results obtained will allow one to hierarchize the importance of the different detected phenomena to prepare the city better against future earthquakes and to elaborate an improved seismic mitigation strategy. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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Graphical abstract

22 pages, 19723 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of Hybrid Mold Transformer Based on Dynamic Analyses

by Ngoc Hieu Dinh, Joo-Young Kim, Seung-Jae Lee and Kyoung-Kyu Choi

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(15), 3180; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9153180 - 05 Aug 2019

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 4230

Abstract

In the present study, the seismic vulnerability of a hybrid mold transformer was investigated using a dynamic analytical approach incorporating the experimental results of shaking table tests. The analytical model consisted of linear springs and plastic beam elements, and it has six degrees of freedom simulating the hybrid mold transformer. The dynamic characteristics of the analytical model were determined based on the shaking table tests. The reliability of the analytical model was verified by comparing the test results and analytical results. In order to assess the seismic vulnerability, three critical damage states observed during the shaking table tests were investigated by incorporating the three performance levels specified in ASCE 41-17. Comprehensive dynamic analyses were performed with a set of twenty earthquakes in consideration of the variation of the uncertain parameters (such as the effective stiffness and coil mass) of the mold transformer. Based on the analytical results, fragility curves were established to predict the specified exceedance probability of the mold transformer according to the performance levels. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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13 pages, 4053 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Stability of Reinforced Retaining Wall under Seismic Loads

by Liang Jia, Shikai He, Na Li, Wei Wang and Kai Yao

Appl. Sci. 2019, 9(11), 2175; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app9112175 - 28 May 2019

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3388

Abstract

Based on the horizontal slice method (HSM) and assuming a log spiral slip surface, a method to analyze the stability of a reinforced retaining wall under seismic loads was established in this study by calculating the tensile force of the reinforcement. A parametric study was conducted on the normalized tensile force of the reinforcement, and it was observed that the normalized tensile force tends to increase with acceleration of the seismic load and the height of the backfill. Moreover, it also increases with soil unit weight, while it decreases with increased friction angle of the backfill soil, and the influence of soil cohesion on the normalized tensile force is not significant. The HSM method is proved to be suitable for analyzing the tensile force of reinforcement in retaining walls under seismic loads. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Evaluation and Mitigation of Seismic Risk for Existing Buildings, Structures, and Infrastructures)

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