Numerical simulation is commonly used to assess structural seismic risk, notwithstanding its high computational burden and the limitations of stochastic models used to generate synthetic ground motions. In the effort to overcome these difficulties, the last decades witnessed a considerable amount of research focussed on the development of approximate affordable alternatives, which are conditional on a seismic intensity measure (IM) and rely on the hazard-fragility split of risk. Contributions focussing on one of these classes of methods, or on the comparison between them, are welcome. Submission of papers dealing with the treatment of uncertainties is also encouraged. It is known that the seismic vulnerability and risk assessment of structures is affected by several sources of uncertainties, which can be categorised as either aleatory or epistemic and should be properly taken into account. For the analyst, the final goal of the treatment of uncertainties should be to provide the confidence in the estimate and quantify the contribution of the adopted models and parameters to the total output uncertainty. The scope of this Special Issue also extends to exploring the impact of recent structural modelling advancements on fragility functions or seismic risk assessment. Amongst such modelling refinements, the following non-exhaustive examples are cited: dynamic nonlinear soil-structure interaction (SSI), flexure-axial-shear interaction, explicit modelling of progressive collapse and debris accumulation. To summarise, this Special Issue will include contributions whose topics fall in the general framework of seismic reliability analysis of structures and advanced structural modelling. Both state-of-the-art papers and original research contributions are welcome.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: Probabilistic methods (simulation-based, IM-based) for seismic risk assessment of structures, the latter including reinforced concrete, steel, masonry, precast buildings and steel storage racks; Treatment and sensitivity of uncertainties; Nonlinear modelling of structures; Ground motion selection methods; Stochastic models for artificial record generation; Physics-based models for synthetic record generation; Derivation of hazard and fragility curves; Dynamic SSI modelling, encompassing linear substructure approach, direct approach with a finite element soil-block, hybrid methods (e.g., employing a nonlinear macro-element); Comparative assessment of SSI models in affecting seismic risk.
Keywords: Seismic risk assessment; Nonlinear dynamic analysis; Treatment of uncertainties; Numerical simulation; IM-based methods; Record selection; Fragility functions; Dynamic Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI); Soil nonlinearity; Progressive collapse.