Vulnerability assessment for reinforced concrete buildings exposed to landslides

• Published in: Bulletin of engineering geology and the environment Vol. 73; no. 2; pp. 265 - 289
• Main Authors: Mavrouli, O., Fotopoulou, S., Pitilakis, K., Zuccaro, G., Corominas, J., Santo, A., Cacace, F., De Gregorio, D., Di Crescenzo, G., Foerster, E., Ulrich, T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.05.2014; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Architecture; Buildings; Civil engineering; Concrete; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earthquakes; Environmental risk; Foundations; Frames; Geoecology/Natural Processes; Geoengineering; Geological engineering; Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences; Hydraulics; Instability; Landslides; Landslides & mudslides; Mathematical analysis; Nature Conservation; Original Paper; Rapid flow; Reinforced concrete; Risk assessment; Sciences of the Universe; Seismic engineering; Slope stability; Stability; France; Italy; Spain; Slow-moving landslides; Vulnerability; Flow-type landslides; Rockfalls; Quantitative assessment; Fragility curves
• ISSN: 1435-9529; 1435-9537
• DOI: 10.1007/s10064-014-0573-0

The methodologies available for the analytical quantification of the vulnerability of buildings which are subject to actions resulting from slope instabilities and landslides are relatively limited in comparison with other components of quantitative landslide risk assessment. This paper provides a general methodology for calculating the vulnerabilities of reinforced concrete frame structures that are subject to three types of slope instability: slow-moving landslides, rapid flow-type slides and rockfalls. The vulnerability is expressed using sets of fragility curves. A description of the general framework and of the specialised procedures employed is presented here, separately for each landslide mechanism, through the example of a single-bay one-storey reinforced concrete frame. The properties of the frame are taken into account as variables with associated uncertainties. The derived vulnerability curves presented here can be used directly by risk assessment practitioners without having to repeat the procedure, given the expected range of landslide intensities and for similar building typologies and ranges of structural characteristics. This permits the applicability of the calculated vulnerability to a wide variety of similar frames for a range of landslide intensity parameters.