Seismic performance assessment of a G+4 school building in Gujarat, Ahmadabad

Abstract

Recent earthquakes have demonstrated that masonry infill walls cause major damage to the structure. Schools and hospital buildings are not built to achieve adequate lateral strength and stiffness as per seismic codes. The 2001 Bhuj earthquake is one of the examples where 1900 school buildings collapsed and 971 children died due to improper design. The present paper discusses the seismic damage of a G+4 school building through fragility curves. For the purpose of analysis, a severely damaged school building during the 2001 Bhuj earthquake was taken. The building is modeled in Applied Element Method. A non-linear static pushover analysis is performed in displacement control to understand the capacity of building. Finally, the seismic damage is estimated through fragility curves. The building has experienced 15% probability of moderate damage, and less than 1% probability of collapse at peak ground acceleration of 0.11 g.