Damage Level Prediction of RC Building for Future Earthquakes Based on Seismic Response Observation

Abstract

This paper proposes a method of damage evaluation of reinforced concrete buildings based on seismic response observed by sensors, and prediction of expected response by future earthquakes. Real performance curve and damping of a structure are predicted by updating of the analytical model based on the observed seismic response, further predicting the response and evaluating the damage level corresponding to the future possible earthquake. A single-degree-of-freedom system is proposed to verify the influence of the accuracy of analyzation on the accuracy of the methods. First, by considering the output of the time-history analysis as the observation, a trial calculation is carried out to verify the performance of the proposed methods compared with the condition without applying the method. Then, a series of cases are considered to investigate the applicability of the proposed methods by 1) limiting the observed range to a maximum ductility factor of 1.2, and 2) introducing artificial error in the analytical model by modifying initial stiffness, yielding stiffness, using factors between -40% to 40%, and cracking strength, yielding strength using factors between -20% to 20%. The proposed methods were observed to increase the accuracy of the prediction of response and damage level corresponding to future earthquakes. With the increase of the accuracy of the analytical model, the prediction of the characteristic points and future response becomes much more accurate, leading to a better prediction of the damage level corresponding to the future possible earthquake.