Seismic Risk Scenario in Grenoble (FRANCE) Using Experimental Dynamic Properties of Buildings

TL;DR

This study presents a low-cost, experimental method to assess seismic vulnerability of buildings in Grenoble by analyzing ambient vibrations to estimate their elastic properties and damage thresholds.

Contribution

It introduces an innovative approach using ambient vibration data to evaluate seismic resilience of buildings, reducing costs and time compared to traditional methods.

Findings

Masonry buildings are more vulnerable, with 70% showing damage.

Ambient vibration analysis effectively estimates buildings' seismic support capacity.

The method provides a practical tool for seismic risk assessment in moderate hazard regions.

Abstract

Assessing the vulnerability of a large set of buildings using sophisticated methods can be very time consuming and at a prohibitive cost, particularly for a moderate seismic hazard country like France. We propose here a low-cost analysis using an experimental approach to extract the elastic behaviour of existing buildings. An elastic modal model is proposed for the different types of building tested in Grenoble (France) thanks to their experimental modal parameters (resonance frequencies, modal shapes and damping), which are estimated using ambient vibrations surveys. Sixty buildings of various types were recorded. The building integrity is then calculated considering an accelerogram scenario provided by seismologists as input and considering an integrity threshold based on the FEMA inter-storey drift limits. Even if the level of damage remains unknown, we conclude that masonry buildings undergo more damage (70% of buildings damaged) than RC buildings. Finally, extracting modal parameters from ambient vibration recordings allows us to define, for each class of building, its ability to support seismic deformation in case of earthquake.