Influence of earthquake damage and repair interventions on expected annual losses of reinforced concrete wall buildings

Abstract

Recent devastating earthquakes have shown that existing reinforced concrete (RC) buildings that rely on shear walls may exhibit damage and cracking. The majority of seismic actions are borne by shear walls; hence, the quantification of their residual post-earthquake capacity is critical. Moreover, the repair interventions that are typically implemented in practice may be insufficient to fully restore the original capacity of the undamaged system, particularly in terms of stiffness. This makes it difficult for stakeholders to decide on implementing either building repair or demolition and reconstruction. This article proposes a novel methodology to aid practitioners in quantifying the effect of earthquake damage and repair on the seismic performance of buildings with shear walls within a loss-assessment framework. A refined procedure relying on a validated nonlinear finite element numerical model capable of reproducing the shear response of RC walls is proposed along with an analytical approach. Parametric analyses of an RC case-study building are conducted, and the results are discussed and compared in terms of expected annual losses in the undamaged, damaged, and repaired configurations.