Seismic fragility functions of industrial precast building classes

• Analytical fragility functions are developed for twelve classes of precast buildings.
• Bare frame buildings and buildings with non-structural components are investigated.
• Horizontal panels are more vulnerable than masonry infills and vertical panels.
• Non-structural components can have a pronounced impact on collapse fragility.
• Higher seismic design force does not necessarily improve seismic performance of precast buildings.

The seismic vulnerability of twelve industrial precast building classes has been investigated by conducting nonlinear dynamic analyses on sample buildings from these building classes and taking into account selected seismic events. The results of the study can be used for seismic risk and loss estimation of precast building stock by considering the collapse of buildings and several other damage states, which were defined on the basis of the physical damage occurring to the vertical panels, horizontal panels, or masonry infills. The use of fragility functions derived on the basis of spectral acceleration corresponding to the so-called optimal period of the building class is suggested. Fragility functions are also presented for the peak ground acceleration, which is an intensity measure, independent of the building class. This means that all these fragility functions can be used to discuss how the variation of structural configurations, code levels, and the type of non-structural components and their fastenings affect the overall seismic response of industrial precast building classes, at a given level of the seismic intensity measure. It can be concluded that the vulnerability of non-structural elements is the largest in the case of precast buildings with horizontal panels, followed by those with masonry infills and vertical panels. It was also observed that non-structural components have an impact on the structural collapse, both in terms of reducing the median and increasing the dispersion of the collapse fragility functions. It was also observed that a higher seismic design force may worsen the seismic performance of a precast building if the connections are not adequately designed.