Seismic Performance Assessment of a Reinforced Concrete School Building

Abstract

Earthquakes represent one of the major natural hazards affecting structural safety in Türkiye due to the country’s location along active fault systems. Recent destructive earthquakes have highlighted the necessity of reassessing the seismic performance of the existing reinforced concrete (RC) building stock, particularly structures constructed according to older design codes. According to the Turkish Building Earthquake Code 2018 (TBEC 2018), school buildings are classified as public facilities that are expected to remain operational after earthquakes; therefore, they must provide sufficient structural performance to ensure life safety and continuity of service. In this study, the seismic performance of an existing RC school building was evaluated by ProtaStructure 2026 structural analysis software. Building survey studies, including concrete cover removal, reinforcement scanning, and tests conducted to determine the concrete compressive strength, were carried out through detailed on-site investigations. Based on the obtained data, a three-dimensional structural model was developed, and seismic hazard parameters, local soil conditions, and material properties corresponding to the building location were incorporated into the structural model. Subsequently, nonlinear incremental pushover analyses were performed for the DD-1 and DD-3 earthquake ground motion levels defined in TBEC 2018. The analysis results indicated that some structural members reached the advanced damage and collapse regions, demonstrating that the building does not satisfy the target performance levels specified in the code. The findings reveal that detailed seismic performance assessment of existing reinforced concrete public buildings using advanced analytical methods is of critical importance for accurately evaluating structural safety.