Evaluation of the Seismic Performance of a Code-Conforming Reinforced-Concrete Frame Building – Part II: Loss Estimation

Performance-based earthquake engineering (PBEE) is a methodology that incorporates desired performance levels into the design process. Performance in PBEE can be economic (e.g., expected annual losses), or expressed in terms of operability and safety performance (e.g., expected downtime due to safety tagging and/or repair). These performance objectives are relevant to various types of stakeholders and should be addressed in building loss estimation procedures. In this study, we consider the structural and economic performance of a codeconforming office building. An analytical approach for PBEE is implemented to evaluate the performance of this reinforced-concrete moment-frame building. The PBEE approach used is consistent with the Pacific Earthquake Engineering Research (PEER) center’s framework, which is divided into four core analytical stages: hazard analysis, structural analysis, damage analysis, and loss analysis. Future losses of the building are uncertain because they depend on uncertain quantities, such as the shaking intensity of the earthquake, the mechanical properties of the facility, and the uncertain damageability and unit repair costs of the facility. An analytical approach is developed to propagate these uncertainties. This paper presents the mathematical foundation for the damage and loss analyses, and a description of its implementation into software. The results from running this software on multiple design variants of the building are presented, including seismic vulnerabilities as a function of shaking intensity and corresponding expected annual losses