Seismic Response Simulation of a Reinforced Concrete Wall-Frame Building That Collapsed During the February 2023 Kahramanmaras Earthquake

ABSTRACT

In this study, the seismic response of a newly constructed RC building, which suffered collapse-level damage during the February 6, 2023 Kahramanmaras earthquake, is simulated through nonlinear response history analyses, using model configurations representing the as-built state of the building, as well as hypothetical code-compliant and CFRP-strengthened states. Analysis results show that in its as-built state, the collapse of the structure was not unexpected, whereas code-compliant confinement detailing would have probably resulted in collapse-prevention-level performance, and CFRP-strengthening of the building would have significantly improved its seismic performance and would likely have prevented total collapse.

KEYWORDS:

• Concrete
• building
• collapse
• earthquake
• Kahramanmaras
• performance
• FRP
• strengthening
• confinement
• retrofit

Acknowledgments

The travel and logistics support provided by Istanbul Technical University; Boğaziçi University; and the Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would also like to thank Mr Ali Hoca, a structural engineering professional, for his support. We would like to express our gratitude to Professor Shiobara, Chairman of the Disaster Committee of the Architectural Institute of Japan. We also received assistance from the National Earthquake Network Committee and the Building Center of Japan in conducting the survey. In addition, we would like to thank many people for their help during the survey, including the Embassy of Japan in Türkiye, the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, the Turkish Ministry of Environment, Urbanization and Climate Change, researchers from various universities including Istanbul Technical University, and AFAD.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

Data will be made available upon reasonable request.

Disclaimer

All findings reported and opinions expressed in this paper are based on analysis results that are sensitive to assumptions/simplifications adopted in modeling and analysis, as well as limitations of the site investigations conducted, and are therefore not definitive.