Comparative benefit-cost analysis for a resilient industrial power plant building with isolation system and energy dissipating devices

Abstract

While the use of innovative seismic control strategies has become widespread in industrial plants, assessment of benefits derived from these measures in a quantifiable form can significantly contribute to a more rational risk-informed decision-making of essential infrastructures. In this paper, a benefit–cost analysis is used to examine three retrofit design schemes of an actual thermal power plant building equipped with different seismic control systems, i.e. buckling-restrained brace (BRB), the hybrid shape memory alloy-buckling restrained brace (SMA-BRB), and the partial mass isolation of heavy industrial equipment. The original design scheme having concentrically braced frames as lateral resisting systems is considered as a benchmark model for comparison purposes. For each mitigation alternative, the benefits against seismic effects were quantified in terms of repair cost and recovery time. The results showed that the retrofit system using SMA-BRB leads to the best performance achieving average reduction in residual drift, peak story drift, resilience index, repair time, and average annual loss by 71%, 27%, 48%, 83%, and 89% compared to the original system, respectively. The proposed benefit–cost analysis framework for industrial power plant buildings can be considered as a practical approach of supporting decision-making for non-technical stakeholders and motivating practicing engineers.

Keywords

• benefit-cost analysis
• industrial power plant
• seismic resilience
• seismic retrofit
• loss estimation