Seismic performance evaluation of an existing school building in Turkey

A great part of existing RC structures built in Turkey is that they have been designed without considering seismic-induced actions and seismic criteria for strength and ductility design. In this context, after the recent devastating earthquakes in Turkey, there has been a concerted effort to address the seismic vulnerability of existing public buildings in Turkey. The need for the evaluation and strengthening of these public buildings have come into focus following the enormous loss of lives and property during the past earthquakes. This study aims to assess the seismic performance evaluation of a typical school building in accordance with the rules of Turkish Earthquake Code-2007. The performance analysis is carried out by using nonlinear static analysis. The analytical solutions show that the intended performance level has not been satisfied for this building and decided to retrofit the structural system. The proposed procedure is applied to the retrofitted system and the obtained results are tabulated and discussed.