Seismic Vulnerability of Structures (ePub)

This book is focused on the seismic vulnerability assessment
methods, applied to existing buildings, describing several
behaviors and new approaches for assessment on a large scale (urban
area).

It is clear that the majority of urban centers are composed of old
buildings, designed according to concepts and rules that are
inadequate to the seismic context. How to assess the vulnerability
of existing buildings is an essential step to improve the
management of seismic risk and its prevention policy. After some
key reminders, this book describes seismic vulnerability methods
applied to a large number of structures (buildings and bridges) in
moderate (France, Switzerland) and strong seismic prone regions
(Italy, Greece).

Contents

1. Seismic Vulnerability of Existing Buildings: Observational
and Mechanical Approaches for Application in Urban Areas, Sergio
Lagomarsino and Serena Cattari.

2. Mechanical Methods: Fragility Curves and Pushover Analysis,
Caterina Negulescu and Pierre Gehl.

3. Seismic Vulnerability and Loss Assessment for Buildings in
Greece, Andreas J. Kappos.

4. Experimental Method: Contribution of Ambient Vibration
Recordings to the Vulnerability Assessment, Clotaire Michel and
Philippe Guéguen.

5. Numerical Model: Simplified Strategies for Vulnerability Seismic
Assessment of Existing Structures, Cédric Desprez, Panagiotis
Kotronis and Stéphane Grange.

6. Approach Based on the Risk Used in Switzerland, Pierino
Lestuzzi.

7. Preliminary Evaluation of the Seismic Vulnerability of Existing
Bridges, Denis Davi.

About the Authors

Philippe Guéguen is a Senior IFSTTAR Researcher at ISTerre,
Joseph Fourier University Grenoble 1, France