Computational and rapid expected annual loss estimation methodologies for structures

Type of content
Journal Article
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Publisher
University of Canterbury. Civil and Natural Resources Engineering
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Date
2008
Authors
Solberg, K.M.
Dhakal, Rajesh
Mander, J.B.
Bradley, Brendon
Abstract

Expected annual loss (EAL), which can be expressed in dollars, is an effective way of communicating the seismic vulnerability of constructed facilities to owners and insurers. A simplified method for estimating EAL without conducting time-consuming non-linear dynamic analyses is presented. Relationships between intensity measures and engineering demand parameters resulting from a pushover analysis and a modified capacity-spectrum method are combined with epistemic and aleatory uncertainties to arrive at a probabilistic demand model. Damage measures are established to determine thresholds for damage states from which loss ratios can be defined. Financial implications due to damage can then be quantified in the form of EAL by integrating total losses for all likely earthquake scenarios. This rapid loss estimation method is verified through the computationally intensive incremental dynamic analysis, with the results processed using a distribution-free methodology. To illustrate the application of the proposed method, the seismic vulnerability of two highway bridge piers is compared; one bridge is traditionally designed for ductility while the other is based on an emerging damage avoidance design (DAD) philosophy. The DAD pier is found to have a clear advantage over the conventional pier; the EAL of the DAD pier is less than 20% of its ductile counterpart. This is shown to be primarily due to its inherent damage-free behaviour for small to medium earthquake intensities, whose contribution to EAL is significantly more than that of very rare events.

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Citation
Solberg, K.M., Dhakal, R.P., Mander, J.B., Bradley, B.A. (2008) Computational and rapid expected annual loss estimation methodologies for structures. Earthquake Engineering and Structural Dynamics, 37(1), pp. 81-101.
Keywords
expected annual loss EAL, performance based earthquake engineering PBEE, incremental dynamic analysis IDA, seismic financial risk, damage avoidance design DAD
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