Development and rapid visual screening analysis of an Italian masonry building portfolio using post-earthquake damage observations

Abstract

The damage observed during the seismic events occurred in Italy over the years have highlighted the seismic vulnerability of the existing masonry buildings. A significant percentage of the Italian masonry building heritage was built before the introduction of seismic provisions and their design was essentially based on the experience of professionals. Depending on the main characteristics of these buildings, both local and global damage mechanisms were observed during the post-earthquake inspections following the seismic events that occurred in Italy in the last 50 years, which have been cataloged by the Italian Civil Protection Department in the Da.D.O. platform (Observed Damage Database - Observed Damage Database). Using the data available in the Da.D.O. platform, this paper processes the main characteristics of the masonry buildings damaged by the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake to develop a representative masonry building portfolio. Such masonry buildings were then evaluated through nonlinear static analyses to identify the main sources of structural weakness and to develop or calibrate a simplified rapid visual screening (RVS) procedure. For this purpose, various RVS methods were applied to a number of buildings of the portfolio, obtaining different vulnerability indices to be scrutinized and compared with those obtained through FEM analytical methods. This ultimate goal is to identify the most seismically vulnerable buildings, with a view to prioritization, and to assist decision makers in implementing seismic risk reduction strategies.