A Critical Review of Current Assessment Procedures

Abstract

The correct evaluation of seismic vulnerability of the existing building stock is a key issue for every earthquake prone Country; the need for reliable decision making tools for the assessment and retrofitting of the existing building stock is widely recognized. Still, the applicability, effectiveness, accuracy of currently codified seismic assessment procedures strongly vary, depending on the features of the assessed structures, and often also on the engineering judgement and knowledge of the applicator. Moreover, time and costs constraints, to which the assessment procedures are necessarily bound, pose further issues as to the details and immediateness of the implementation of such analyses. In the paper, a critical review of the most widespread currently codified seismic assessment procedures is carried out, with reference to the case study of a plan-wise irregular r.c. frame structure which underwent extensive pseudodynamic testing, both in the ¿as-built¿ and in retrofitted configurations, in the framework of the activity of the ELSA Laboratory of the JRC. Some conclusions on the relative performance of such assessment procedures and their possible improvements, with reference, in particular, to the issues posed by torsion, are finally presented.