Investigation of the Influence of Damage Correlation Between Nonstructural and Structural Components on Earthquake Loss Evaluation

The economic, functional, and other losses caused by nonstructural components play a crucial role in earthquake risk assessment of buildings. Although the impact of nonstructural components on seismic damage assessment has been recognized, the correlation of damage among nonstructural components has not been adequately taken into account in current research. Since fragility analysis of nonstructural components is an important part of earthquake loss evaluation, this study proposes a modified fragility method that reflects the damage correlation of nonstructural components. Due to the complexity of the nonstructural systems, most current research focuses on individual components. To address this gap, a calculation method for determining damage correlation using the existing fragility database is introduced. Using three prototype RC moment‐resisting frames of 4‐, 8‐, and 12‐story heights, this study investigates the impact of damage correlation between structural and nonstructural components on loss assessment. The results highlight that damage correlation significantly influences the failure probability of nonstructural components under certain conditions, underscoring the necessity of considering such correlations in loss assessment. The proposed method is simple, effective, and provides a valuable tool for improving the accuracy of earthquake loss evaluations.