Vulnerability analysis of performance-based seismic design criteria for rural buildings

Since the differences in structure type, income and the level of social and economic development between the urban areas and the rural areas are not considered, it is not realistic to apply the same seismic design criteria for the rural buildings and urban buildings. Especially when the rural areas are far away from the metropolitan area and the seismic intensity are relatively high, it is really a great challenge to resist earthquake disasters. In this study, the performance-based design theory is adopted in view of the characteristics and seismic resistance of rural buildings, economic development level in different rural regions as well as other factors. In this theory, the rural regions are classified into three areas, namely the village, the town and the county. Based on the multi-level seismic fortification criterions, the vulnerability analysis is carried out. 18 typical masonry structure models with different layers, different structural measures, different brick masonry intensity and different mortar intensity are established. By using the Monte Carlo simulation method, the randomness in the masonry structure model and the earthquake ground motion are considered and 1080 masonry structure-earthquake ground motion samples are generated. Using MATLAB non-linear analyzing program, the displacement ductility ratios of the masonry structures models are computed. A large amount of response data are calculated by the regression analysis, and the seismic fragility curves of masonry structure model with different performance level are obtained. The results show that the rural buildings designed with different level in seismic resistance may have different seismic performance, indicating that it is reasonable to classify the rural regions into three areas in studying the seismic design criteria.