Seismic fragility of short period reinforced concrete structural walls under near-source ground motions

The Bayesian parameter estimation technique is used to develop probabilistic displacement and strength capacity and demand models for reinforced concrete structural walls. Experimental data are used to develop the capacity models, and nonlinear dynamic analysis is employed to develop the demand models. Both flexural and shear failures are accounted for. These models are used to assess the seismic fragility of an example RC structural wall. As a new measure of the ground motion intensity, the significant peak ground acceleration is defined and incorporated in the probabilistic demand models and fragility assessment. It is shown that, for short period structures, this measure better correlates with the inelastic response than the elastic response spectrum.