Case Study on Vulnerability Increase for a Reinforced Concrete Frame Structure

Seismic vulnerability for a structure represents the susceptibility to be affected by an event with a given intensity. The vulnerability of a structure can be influenced by the design methods or by different problems that may appear during the execution process.

This paper shows a case study for the vulnerability increase of a reinforced concrete frame structure in 2 different situations:

a) modification produced due to code changes, meaning P100-2006 respectively P100-2013;

b) modifications produced the structure taking into account the errors which have occurred during the execution process;

For both cases, capacity curves were plotted considering the nonlinear analysis, also called pushover. The numerical simulation was performed in SAP2000 software. These curves were compared with the response spectrum corresponding to the site conditions in order to obtain the performance point. For accurate results, fragility curves were plotted for both considered situations, according to previous research of the authors.

The paper emphasizes the importance of each stage during the execution of a structure. More over the differences in the vulnerability index show the importance on the overall behavior of the structure. Solution to increase strength and safety for the structure are also given at the end of the paper