Seismic performance evaluation of unreinforced masonry school buildings in Turkey

Abstract

In this study a seismic performance assessment of school buildings, which have been built in accordance with template unreinforced masonry school projects in Turkey, has been conducted. For this purpose, the most widely used three template projects have been selected. The seismic performances of these buildings have been evaluated for various earthquake levels. This evaluation has been carried out in compliance with the Turkish earthquake code entered into force in 2007. The effects of material strength and plan features on the performance of masonry school structures have been investigated within the scope of this study. It has been concluded that school buildings with template design are far from satisfying the required performance criteria. For spectral acceleration of 0.80 g, which is expected in a 475 year period in the seismic Zone 1, the average exceedance ratio for life safety performance limit is more than 80% considering different material strengths. Upon evaluation of the results a building capacity index is proposed for rapid seismic assessment of masonry school buildings. © The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.