A proposed methodology for seismic risk evaluation of existing reinforced school buildings

Abstract EN

In thelastfewdecades,therewasanoticeableincreaseinearthquakesactivitiesthat cause greatlossesrelatedwithhumanandstructures.Thelosseshaveanegativeeffectontheecon- omy especiallyindevelopingcountriesthatshouldfollowallpossiblescientificmethodstominimize that badeffect.Schoolbuildingshaveanimportantroleintheeducationalprocessandtheymay serve asemergencysheltersafterearthquakeevents.So,schoolbuildingsneedacompletestrategy for evaluatingtheircapabilitytofacetheprobableearthquakes.Thispaperisconcernedwithan important stepforthatrequiredstrategytoevaluatetheseismicvulnerabilityofexistingreinforced concrete schoolbuildingsonthenationallevel.Aproposedmethodologyispresentedforthatpur- pose bydevelopingqualitativenormsforfactorsthatsupposedtohaveamajoreffectontheseismic behavior oftheschoolbuildings.Thismethodologyisbasedmainlyonquestionnaireformsanda computer programinordertoexecutethismethodologyquicklyandwithreasonableaccuracy based onscientificfundamentals.Theproposedmethodologyiscalibratedusingsomeaffected school buildingsbyvariousearthquakeeventsindifferentcountries.Theresultsshowedgood agreement withthestateofdamageoftheschoolbuildings,soitcanbeappliedbytheofficial authorities forpreparingaprioritizationplanofthestructuralsafetyofallexistingreinforcedcon- crete schoolbuildingsinEgypt