Browsing by Author "Aydin, Mehmet Firat"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2

Analyzing Structural Performance of Buildings in the Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes: the Role of Structural Systems
(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2024) Aydin, Mehmet Firat; Yildirim, Meltem Eryilmaz; Koroglu, Fahri Baran; Sonmez, Egemen
The devastating earthquakes that struck Kahramanmaras on February 6, 2023 impacted 11 cities and millions of people in Turkiye, leading to immediate demolition of over 270,000 buildings due to extensive damage or collapse. The aftermath left more than 2 million people facing accommodation issues, underscoring the urgent need to enhance residential building structural performance beyond the standard "life safety performance level". This study, focusing on reinforced concrete structures, explores the correlation between structural performance and the structural systems of buildings. In the earthquake-affected region, around 90% of buildings utilize reinforced concrete (RC) structural systems. RC moment frames with or without shear walls dominate building construction in Turkey. Besides regular moment frames, wide-beam RC frames with thin slabs and one-way joists are also common. The current seismic design code allows these systems if adequate shear walls are provided, but it is observed that some recently constructed buildings violate this requirement. Both types of structural systems experienced damage during the earthquakes. A less frequent building type was shear-wall buildings, which rely solely on shear walls for lateral-load resistance. It was observed that the buildings with evenly distributed shear walls in both plan directions exhibited robust seismic performance if these wall amounts were sufficient compared to their height. Otherwise, these buildings suffered heavy structural damage. The findings of this study stress the need for a comprehensive assessment of structural systems to enhance earthquake performance and ensure the safety of lives and property in seismic regions.
Citation - WoS: 8
Citation - Scopus: 7
Seismic Performance Assessment of Structural Systems in the Aftermath of the 2023 Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes: Observations and Fragility Analyses
(Sage Publications inc, 2025) Sonmez, Egemen; Yildirim, Meltem Eryilmaz; Aydin, Mehmet Firat; Koroglu, Fahri Baran
This article evaluates how different reinforced concrete (RC) building systems in T & uuml;rkiye behaved during the extreme 2023 Kahramanmara & scedil; earthquakes. The analysis relies on a comprehensive field survey covering 242 RC buildings across various heavily affected locations. Most surveyed buildings were low- and mid-rise RC moment frames and frame-wall (hybrid) systems, with RC wall construction being less commonly observed. Both RC frame and hybrid buildings exhibited several common deficiencies, resulting in significant structural and non-structural damage due to high drift demands. The performance of RC wall construction varied, with some buildings sustaining severe damage while others remained largely unaffected. An analysis of structural plans revealed that RC wall buildings with adequate wall amounts demonstrated exceptional performance, while those with inadequate amounts of walls experienced severe damage. In addition, fragility analyses using simplified models based on surveyed buildings reinforced these findings. The analyses suggested that RC frame and hybrid systems were insufficient in ensuring life safety during the earthquakes. Conversely, properly designed RC wall buildings are expected to perform well. This alignment between field observations and fragility analyses underscores the reliability of the study's findings and emphasizes the effectiveness of RC wall construction in mitigating seismic risks and protecting life and property.