This study highlights the major contributing factors to the observed damage distribution in the city of Boumerdès after the 2003 Algeria earthquake. The results of field investigations and statistical analyses show that a majority of the damaged buildings, mostly mid-rise reinforced concrete (RC) moment-frame systems, were located on steep slopes and small hilltops, along river valleys. The horizontal-to-vertical (H/V) ratios from free-field microtremor measurements at these sites did not show clear results. In contrast, buildings with the same structural characteristics located on flat ground did not suffer much damage, and clear peaks were observed from the H/V ratio curves. The amplification effects of topography have not been incorporated into the revised Algerian seismic code, but the results from this study show the importance of considering this factor when designing new buildings for earthquake resistance.
Algeria is a country with a high seismic activity. During the last decade, many destructive earthquakes occurred, particularly in the northern part, causing enormous losses in human lives, buildings, and equipments. In order to reduce this risk in the capital and avoid serious damages to the strategic existing buildings, the government decided to invest in seismic upgrade, strengthening, and retrofitting of these buildings. To do so, seismic vulnerability study of this category of buildings has been considered. Structural analysis is performed based on a site investigation (inspection of the building, collecting data, materials characteristics, general conditions of the building, etc.) and existing drawings (architectural plans, structural design, etc.). The aim of these seismic vulnerability studies is to develop guidelines and a methodology for rehabilitation of existing buildings. This paper presents the methodology followed in our study and summarizes the vulnerability assessment and strengthening of one of the strategic buildings according to the new Algerian Seismic Design Code RPA 99/version 2003. As a direct application of this methodology, both static equivalent method and nonlinear dynamic analysis are performed and presented in this paper.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.