Effect of Buoyancy Loads on the Tsunami Fragility of Reinforced Concrete Frames Including Consideration of Blow-out Slabs
Abstract Currently available performance-based methodologies for assessing the fragility of structures subjected to tsunami neglect the effects of tsunami-induced vertical loads due to internal buoyancy. This paper adopts a generalized methodology for the performance assessment of structures that integrates the effects of buoyancy loads on slabs during a tsunami inundation. The methodology is applied in the fragility assessment of three case-study frames (low, mid and high-rise), representative of existing masonry-infilled reinforced concrete (RC) buildings typical of Mediterranean region. The paper shows the effect of modelling buoyancy loads on damage evolution, structural performance and fragility curves associated with different structural damage mechanisms for RC frames with breakaway infill walls including consideration of blow-out slabs. The outcomes attest that the predominant failure mechanism of selected case-study is the brittle shear failure of seaward columns, which is slightly affected by buoyancy loads. When brittle failure is avoided, buoyancy loads significantly affect the damage evolution during a tsunami, especially in the case of structures with blow-out slabs. The rate of occurrence of slabs uplift failure increases with the number of stories of the building but only slightly affects the fragility curves of investigated structures. However, it can significantly increase their vulnerability, affecting both direct and indirect costs deriving from the repair of the damaged interior slabs.