Seismic risk assessment of an existing reinforced concrete school building

Recent earthquakes in Italian regions have pointed out the high vulnerability of existing reinforced concrete buildings to seismic excitations. As a matter of fact, such structures were typically designed according to old standard provisions without considering seismic actions. Therefore, they are characterised by limited ductility, low strength and lack of capacity design principle. Particularly, extensive damage has been observed in school buildings during past earthquakes. For this reason, in this study it is evaluated the seismic risk of the middle school in the municipality of Inveruno (Milano), using linear analysis with elastic response spectrum and non-linear static analysis. The estimation of the seismic risk classification was performed based on the straightforward procedure outlined in the recent Italian guidelines "Linee Guida per la Classificazione del Rischio Sismico delle Costruzioni". Finally, some suggestions about seismic retrofitting are discussed.