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The Impact of Nonstructural Damage on Building Function

Published

Author(s)

Dustin Cook, Siamak Sattar

Abstract

To reduce the impacts of disasters on communities, recent initiatives have focused on improving the performance of the building stock by designing for limited damage and downtime. Through these initiatives, researchers and engineers have highlighted the key role that nonstructural damage plays in building performance, especially in terms of maintaining or regaining the post-earthquake functionality of a building. Indeed, a 2012 survey of damage in hospitals from the 2010 Maule Earthquake (Chile), among other examples, highlighted how nonstructural issues significantly impacted the post-earthquake occupancy and use of these facilities. While new performance-based frameworks have emerged that allow the functional recovery of a building to be probabilistically estimated based on the vulnerability of the various structural and nonstructural components within the building, it is unclear which types of nonstructural components or configurations have the largest impact on building function and the types of nonstructural system that need further research to better define vulnerability and reduce uncertainty in the assessment. To quantify the impact of nonstructural damage on building function, we perform a sensitivity analysis of nonstructural fragility models using the latest performance-based frameworks. This study investigates how variations in fragility capacity and uncertainty impact estimates of post-earthquake building function. The sensitivity study is performed on a set of simplified structural response models covering shear-type (frames) and flexure-type (cantilever walls) response behavior and considering uncertainties in ground motion, structural response, and component performance. This study provides key insights into the design and assessment of nonstructural components, targeting functional recovery, and helps focus the next efforts in nonstructural research. Results from the study are compared with documented empirical data on nonstructural performance in previous earthquakes and recommendations are made for future studies to improve our understanding of nonstructural performance in the areas that are most critical for recovery.
Proceedings Title
5th International Workshop on Seismic Performance of Non-Structural Elements
Conference Dates
December 5-7, 2022
Conference Location
Menlo Park, CA, US

Keywords

Functional Recovery, Nonstructural Loss Analysis, Performance-Based Earthquake Engineering.

Citation

Cook, D. and Sattar, S. (2022), The Impact of Nonstructural Damage on Building Function, 5th International Workshop on Seismic Performance of Non-Structural Elements, Menlo Park, CA, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=935380 (Accessed January 1, 2025)

Issues

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Created December 7, 2022, Updated December 18, 2024