Abstract
Seismic vulnerability is very important for buildings, especially old and dilapidated buildings that did not take into account the impact of earthquakes. In the past years, the seismic effect has not been taken into account, and recently Iraq has experienced a growing seismic activity. For this reason, it is crucial to create a seismic database for all cities. The present paper used SPT-N test results to assess seismic vulnerability for Al-Najaf city by producing five geotechnical maps using the GIS program for all seismic design categories. The data utilized in this research are obtained from 130 boreholes at 30 m depth distributed in the study area. The results show that the new RC frames must be designed as moment-resisting frames to resist future earthquakes. All the existing RC buildings are vulnerable to earthquake effects and need to be strengthened to act as seismic-resistant systems. The strengthened structure should act as ordinary reinforced concrete moment frame (ORCMF), intermediate reinforced concrete moment frame (IRCMF), or special reinforced concrete moment frame (SRCMF), depending on the building location and its risk category type. The use of soil investigation data to assess the site class of soil (instead of assuming D for unknown soil) gave more economical choices for the reinforced concrete moment-resisting frames. Hence, for buildings types I, II, and III in some regions of the city, ORCMF can be used instead of IRCMF. In the same areas, IRCMF can be used instead of SRCMF for building type IV.KeywordsSeismic vulnerabilityGeotechnical mapsGISSPT testAl-Najaf citySeismic risk assessment
Published Version
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