Assessment of structural robustness based on accident chain risk theory: Example of base-isolated buildings

Abstract

Robustness is considered to be an important function of building structures, in addition to satisfying safety, applicability, and durability, and has received increasing attention by designers and scholars in recent years. However, the reason for the initial damage is often ignored in the current structural robustness analysis, and the chain process from structural damage to complete failure is often not described, which is unconducive to decision-making and optimization. In addition, the research on certain new or complex structural systems such as base-isolated structures has rarely been reported.Therefore, a framework for assessing the robustness of base-isolated buildings is proposed in the present work, which is grounded in analysis through accident chain risk theory. First, the damage accident chain of the base-isolated building is established, and the initial damage and the indirect consequences caused by the initial damage defined. Second, a chain risk assessment framework for the damage accident based on chain risk theory is proposed, which is employed to calculate the direct and indirect risks caused by disaster in terms of a building. Third, a quantitative evaluation index of the robustness is proposed by integrating the damage accident chain of the building structure, which is measured by the sensitivity of the indirect risk. Finally, numerical studies of one prototype base-isolated building are performed using this framework. The results of this study will broaden the notion of structurally robust optimization design for multi-hazard risks based on complex networks.