A Pushover analysis approach considering structural and loading uncertainties for seismic performance assessment

Abstract

This paper proposes an approach for evaluating the seismic performance of buildings. By considering the uncertainties in material and geometrical properties of the structural elements as well as those related to the seismic loading, this method aims to delimit the performance zone of the structure rather than focusing on a single performance point commonly used in pushover analysis. This zone makes it possible to identify the probable levels of performance of the building linked to uncertainties and to indicate the most severe level of damage. Reasoning by performance points leads to an answer that gives a single state of damage. The performance zone is defined by capacity curves and response spectrum representing the mean values plus and minus standard deviation obtained by Monte Carlo simulations. These simulations consider the stiffnesses of the structural elements, the natural periods, and the damping ratio of the response spectrum as random variables. The application of the procedure to a case of a building made it possible to identify the upper limit of damage corresponding to the most unfavourable scenario of uncertainties, as well as the situation of the response value of the studied structure in the performance zone, indicating a less critical level of damage (minor damage) to the building. The calculation of the performance point revealed a level of damage oscillating between Immediate Occupancy (IO) and Life Safety (LS). Considering the uncertainties in the material and geometric properties of the structural elements as well as those linked to the response spectrum, the probable extreme damage state is between the LS and CP levels (severe damage).