Lifetime seismic performance assessment for chloride-corroded reinforced concrete buildings

The main aim of this paper was to build an estimating procedure based on the static nonlinear analysis (pushover analysis) such that structural engineers can evaluate the seismic performance of a deteriorating reinforced concrete (RC) building. For engineers' convenience, this paper suggests the probabilistic deterioration prediction model and the visual estimation of deterioration degree to evaluate corrosion-induced weight loss of reinforcing steel bars. In addition, flexural and shear capacity models for a corroded column or beam are proposed and verified by full-scale corroded beam specimens, allowing engineers to simulate its nonlinear mechanical behaviour. This paper incorporates these mechanical models of corroded members into the static nonlinear analysis to construct a procedure for assessing the seismic performance of a deteriorating RC building. An elementary school at Lanyu Island, Taitung, Taiwan, is used as an example and its lifetime seismic performance is identified utilising the proposed approach.