Including Multiple Ground Motion Intensity Measures in the Derivation of Fragility Functions for Earthquake Loss estimation

Abstract

This paper presents a methodology for the appropriate treatment of variability in the process of building vulnerability assessment. Material, geometric and mechanical properties of the assessed building typologies are simulated through a Monte-Carlo sampling procedure in which the statistical distribution of the latter parameters are taken into account. Record selection is performed in accordance with conditional hazard-consistent distributions of a comprehensive set of intensity measures, and matters of sufficiency, efficiency, predictability and scaling robustness are envisaged in the presented framework. Several intensity measures (IMs) are conjugated in the evaluation of building fragility and vulnerability, whereby fragility functions are established as the multivariate distribution of joint probability of being in a sequential set of damage states. Vulnerability Functions consequently determined provide not only a mean Damage Ratio per level of seismic intensity, but rather probabilistic distributions of Damage Ratio that reflect the ground motion variability expected as the interested site; as determined by the hazard-consistent conditional distribution of a set of sufficient intensity measures.

Keywords

• Civil Engineering
• Engineering Structure
• Seismic Monitoring