Seismic fragility curves for tall concrete wall building in Malaysia subjected to near-field earthquakes

Abstract

Tall buildings have been widely constructed in Malaysia, and most of them have been designed only for gravity and wind loads. This study addresses the seismic vulnerability of two tall concrete wall buildings in Malaysia through the framework of seismic fragility curves. The studied buildings shared a similar plan, but the first building had five parking levels while the second building had three parking levels. The structural system of both buildings at the parking levels was an ordinary moment-resisting frame, and at the residential levels was a low-ductile concrete shear wall system. The reference structures were subjected to 15 near-field earthquake records. Fragility curves were obtained by relating the inter-story drift demands to the peak ground accelerations using a reliable statistical model. It was observed that in both buildings, the probability of exceeding minor damage to the exterior frame was larger than that of the interior frame. Besides, a decrease in the number of parking levels increased the probability of collapse. It was also found that only minor damage was expected for tall concrete wall buildings in Kuala Lumpur when subjected to near-field earthquakes.