Seismic Response of Built Structures
Period: First Semester
Course unit contents:
- Basic principles on the structural behaviour of masonry and reinforced concrete buildings. Damage to structures due to earthquakes. Damage related to local stability and site effects.
- Elements of structural dynamics. Single-Degree-of-Freedom systems, undamped and damped systems, free and forced vibrations. Impulse loading and arbitrary dynamic load. Multi-degree-of-freedom systems. Elastic response spectrum and design spectra.
- Soil-structure interaction effects (SSI). Notes on amplification due to soil deposits and liquefaction. Kinematic interaction and inertial interaction. Direct and simplified methods of analysis. Case studies, with particular reference to recent earthquakes in Italy.
- Seismic risk. Definition of hazard: origin, intensity, classification of earthquakes. Definition of exposure, costs and losses. Definition of seismic vulnerability and criteria for classifying the vulnerability of existing buildings. Risk assessments on a territorial scale: empirical, heuristic, mechanical methods. Derivation of losses (usability and damage to buildings, injuries, displaced persons, human lives). Risk mitigation strategies and cost/benefit analysis.
- Introduction to experimental dynamic identification of structures and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) for real-time evaluation of structural conditions, with reference to real case studies.
Planned learning activities and teaching methods: Class lectures. Supplementary videos and images of damage to structures due to earthquakes for better understanding the behaviour of structures. To provide updated information and effectively contribute to the acquisition of the broad and diversified knowledge that is required in this area, the course will benefit from experts’ seminars from various sectors. To deepen the acquired knowledge, it is possible to carry out specialised training activities in the context of research projects and collaborations at national and international level.